Domestic Divas

For the sake of this post, you can call my Holly ... not because my birthday is on Christmas, but because Holly Homemaker seems appropriate after my recent accomplishment.

I've blogged about my Tuesday lunch dates with my dear friend Beth {who is always referred to as my dear friend cuz that's what she is} which we have been enjoying for 2 years now. What started as a celebration when our kids went back to school a few years ago has turned into something that I look forward to immensely. Summer usually throws us off our schedule so I am always anxious to get back to our weekly "catch up" lunches. We've gone from toting 3 kids with us {Kendyl, Alex, & Cougar} to just the 2 boys, and this year Cougar is the lone child who gets to enjoy our company now that Alex is in Kindergarten (a moment of silence for Beth sending her baby to Kindergarten). P.S. This photo is from a lunch date last year as we stood with the boys and let them throw pennies in the fountain outside of Paradise ... Beth will probably kill me for posting it.

This year we've made a few adjustments to our Tuesday lunch date plan. You see, both of us are making an effort to change/improve our eating habits. I know .... Anyway, rather than eating at Paradise Bakery, Chipotle, or Einstein's Bagels once a week we've been "eating in" a bit more and just enjoying our time catching up at one of our houses. That was, until this past week. My dear friend Beth {who will now be referred to as Becky ... as in Becky Homecky} had a brilliant idea. She suggested that we spend our afternoon making freezer jam!

Now, canning is something that is very new to me. I've canned chicken twice {and need to do it again}. I got a canner this past Christmas and have been wanting to learn to use it for more things to add to our food storage. I know a canner is not required to make freezer jam, but the mere idea of canning something just FEELS so domestic, doesn't it?

I had never made freezer jam before. I have had so many people tell me how easy it is but had never taken the opportunity to do it myself. Beth's suggestion was exactly what I needed to get me moving!! With raspberries being on sale I loaded up, bought jars, pectin, and was ready for my first freezer jam experience.

Beth was an expert, of course, having made it before. I followed the directions on my package of pectin (I ended up buying the reduced sugar formula on accident but it ended up being just as easy) and in less than an hour had 9 beautiful half pints of homemade raspberry jam!!!! I honestly could have stared at those bottles all afternoon ... I was so proud of myself! Beth made a batch of strawberry and a batch of raspberry and hers were just as pretty as mine. I was totally basking in our domestic goodness!!

The best part? We had a fabulous time catching up, swapping stories, AND had the pleasure of being domestic and doing something useful for our families {and I got to learn a new skill}! We have now decided that we are going to spend more of our Tuesday lunch dates doing fun things like this ... our next project will likely be making aprons to wear during our domestic endeavors ;) Both of us have been wanting to learn/practice basic sewing skills and we're hoping aprons would be quick, easy, and something we could make again for gifts! I'm also thinking of craft projects, home decor, baking, and more canning to be done ... peaches are next on my list of things I want to learn to can.

Of course we will still make trips to Paradise Bakery - we can't give up the "regular" lunch dates that we love so much, but I'm excited about this new domestic outlet and look forward to the things we will learn and make together :)

P.S. The very same night I actually made another batch of raspberry jam, but made COOKED jam in the canner that can be stored in my pantry for a year ... how's THAT for domestic? I'm still gushing over the mere idea of it all!!

Happy 13 {and 1/2} Year Anniversary

We actually celebrated our 13th anniversary back on March 6th but since I was taking my blogging hiatus I didn't write about it. We aren't really big anniversary celebrators ... it typically involves dinner at the Outback Steakhouse. We don't usually do gifts, either - probably sounds super unromantical and unthoughtful to most, but it works for us ... it certainly doesn't go unacknowledged, we just don't celebrate in huge fashion like others do and we both like/want it that way. Heaven knows we buy enough for ourselves throughout the year!! That will all change in a few years, of course, when we celebrate 15 years with a trip back to Maui ... worth saving the money from the other anniversaries to make that happen!!!

This year we DID do something out of the ordinary, though. In January I decided that I needed some motivation {again} to get back to a more regular exercise routine and decided that training for a race would be the perfect solution. The only other race that I had ever trained for was the triathlon that I had completed almost 2 years earlier. I knew that the city we live in hosted a run every year around the first part of March so I looked into it ... it fell on our anniversary, March 6th. I had the option of a 1 mile fun run, 5K, or 10K. I knew that in the past I had been able to run the distance of a 5K pretty well (not PRETTY, but well enough to run the distance without stopping) and decided that a 10K would push me harder and farther than I had ever pushed myself to run and felt that would be a great challenge for me.

I talked to my friend Kasey - who had become an avid runner - about training programs and what she had done to prepare for her first races. She sent me a copy of the program that she had followed. It was broken down into 3 runs a week for 8 weeks leading up to race day. I started with running for short amounts of time with walking in between to build endurance and distance. I did most of my training on a treadmill and almost broke down sobbing when I ran outside for the first time and it was SO MUCH harder than my treadmill was. My next outside run was better and I felt more confident in my ability to finish. That was my goal, after all ... to finish the race. Not to be the fastest in the pack, but to be consistent in my training and to finish. My longest training run before the race was 5.5 miles so I worried about finishing the entire 6.2 miles. I really wanted to RUN the entire way but didn't want to be too disappointed if I had to slow down to walk.

My stomach was in knots the morning of the race. I worried about keeping a decent pace because the treadmill had always kept my pace for me. I was nervous that I would get to 3 miles and want to stop because it was hard. I was terrified that I would have to go to the bathroom {we've all heard stories of runners with pee dripping down their legs ... or worse. Sorry to be graphic but these were my thoughts}. I hated the idea of being passed up by grandmas and having people along the side of the road actually watching me run ... and sweat ... and look as glamorous as I do when I run.

My reality was that the race was exhilarating!!! It was so fun to have people cheering me on - I didn't even think about how awful I looked, how bad my running form was, or that I wished I could run faster. I fell into a good pace and the crowds and other runners kind of faded into the background as I concentrated on my breathing and the music on my iPod. Cute Tatum & Abby (two of the young women from our church) were sitting the curb in front of Tatum's house in their PJs cheering and waving me on. My friend Brenda came to cheer with her husband and baby Brody and it seemed like they were there every time I looked up!! They moved all along the course and were at every spot when I needed just a little push ... and they were taking pictures the whole time!! I was super sad thinking that I wouldn't have any pictures of my first running race since I had conned my husband into running the race with me!!!

That's right ... Steve ran the race, too! What a way to celebrate 13 years together, huh? I know ... 13 years ... we should have done a half marathon (13.1 miles) ... um, no. The 10K was a huge challenge for me. Of course Steve's training consisted of running one night a week and playing basketball on Tuesday nights. And, of course, he finished before me with a much better time. I told him to run his race and I would run mine ... I can't talk when I run anyway and I told him he'd look like a pansy if he didn't finish before me. We started together and ran the first short stretch together but once we rounded the first corner he was off on his own and I was falling into my own pace and moving toward my 6.2 mile goal. It certainly wasn't easy but I ran every step of the race and crossed the finish line feeling strong and accomplished ... and proud of myself ... and tired. I plan to run it again next year, too, as long as my old body can hold up ;)

I found that 13 years of marriage is sort of like training for a big race ... some days you easily fall into pace and can go much farther than the day before. Some days you just hope to make it 2 miles. Some days you worry about what you look like, how fast you're going, or if your "form" is any good. Some days you worry about embarrassing yourself or falling short. Some days you wonder if you can push through when it gets hard. But, we have friends and family lining the course who are cheering for us and helping us along, we know we have the support of each other, and we know that when we struggle, the other is there to help us push through and make it to the end. And, at the end of it all, there's something so rewarding about the feeling of celebrating that kind of accomplishment together ... just like the accomplishment of a lifetime of wonderful memories - like our first 10K.

P.S. Our official chip times were 58:12 and 1:04:09 ... just so I have it recorded somewhere. Nothing spectacular but we weren't in it to be spectacular ;)