a long awaited, long winded post about pretty much nothing

Ah, well.  Can’t win them all. 

And I know, I know, I promised more after pictures soon and I will get to them but, really, it’s not that exciting.  I mean, since we can’t paint and Steve and I have agreed to not put any holes in the walls since we don’t plan to stay very long, there’s really nothing more in those pictures besides beige walls and hand-me-down furniture.  But, I digress.  This post isn’t about that, anyway.  It’s about something much more exciting: Valentine’s day, lent, and cottage cheese.

Oh boy.  

So, Steve and I are not incredibly emotional, sentimental, exciting, surprising, spontaneous (etc.) people.  Therefore, when it comes to celebrating holidays, we rarely do anything over the top.  But, given that Reggie woke us up extra early this Valentine’s morning past, we decided to take advantage of the special occasion and go get my favorite breakfast treat.  Donuts! 

 Here we all are on the way to go get donuts:

And here are the delicious and festive donuts we chose:

I know.  They’re really something, aren’t they?  Anywho…the reason this is important is because way back in December, my friend Jane was in WI and we spent an afternoon together.  During that afternoon, we got to talking about family traditions and Jane was saying that sometimes you need to decide to institute a tradition in order for it to happen.  So, it got me thinking about my family and if we had any family traditions that I really enjoyed and wanted to carry on in my own family someday.  And that is when I remembered donuts.  I believe it was Saturday mornings when my dad would get up early and go to the gas station to get a bear claw for his self and a white-frosted long john donut for me.  I can’t really remember how long this lasted or if it happened every Saturday but I remember sitting at the kitchen table eating my donut and a glass of milk and I remember the taste of the frosting and I remember pajamas and, in general, it’s a good memory.  So I thought, Steve and I should definitely have a donut tradition in our family.  We had decided on the first Saturday of the month (only one Saturday a month because, let’s face it, Donuts aren’t really good for you) but when the opportunity presented itself, we also got them for Valentine’s Day.  And what a splendid way to celebrate it was.  Hopefully we remember to do this again next year to carry on the tradition.  (And by the way, Steve also carved a piece of cheese into the shape of a heart for me.  What a dear!)

Next we gotta talk about lent because it’s coming up on us fast.  Today, being as it is Fat Tuesday, Steve and I are getting one last pizza and I am eating one last bowl of spaghettios before we embark on a healthier, happier lent.  We decided to give up processed foods.  I have actually done this before.  My senior year of college a few roommates and I (Lindsay and Jane I believe) gave up processed foods.  (Oh, and by processed foods I mean things like lunchmeat and mayonnaise and pudding and Doritos and flavored yogurt, etc.  We can still buy pasta and rice and bread and even chicken and things like that.)  Anyway, I really liked doing this because not only does it help you to get healthier, it also helps you remember that this is the type of food you were created for and, it helps me get a better perspective on food.  It helps me realize that food isn’t what makes me happy and makes me really focus on what does.  Anyway, I’m also very happy because we have inspired one of Steve’s co-workers to give up eating out for lent, in an attempt to get healthier as well.  So, you know, yay Jesus!  Oh, and if you can’t think of something you’d like to give up for lent, my friend Lindsay sent me this the same year we gave up processed food together.  You could pick one of these.  Or all of them.

Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling in them.

Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of life.

Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.

Fast from thoughts of illness; feast on the healing power of God.

Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.

Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.

Fast from anger; feast on patience.

Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.

Fast from worry; feast on divine order.

Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.

Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.

Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer.

Fast from hostility; feast on non-resistance.

Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.

Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.

Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal truth.

Fast from discouragements; feast on hope.

Fast from facts that depress; feast on verities that uplift.

Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm.

Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.

Fast from shadows of sorrow; feast on the sunlight of serenity.

Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.

Fast from problems that overwhelm; feast on prayer that undergirds.

—William Arthur Ward (American author, teacher and pastor, 1921-1994.)

Finally, I have something to say about cottage cheese.  Here’s some cottage cheese, though not my own:

 

(I found the photo on this blog: http://peanutbutterfingers.wordpress.com/2009/09/20/cottage-cheese-if-you-please/) 

I didn’t eat cottage cheese as a kid.  It always looked too lumpy and watery for my taste.  And I’d once or twice left some milk out for a few days and it looks mighty similar…I’m just saying.  But, it’s considered a healthier alternative to some other cheeses and I decided to start using it in my recipes. First I tried it as the base cheese in a lasagna (which also used uncooked noodles, which I don’t recommend) and then I mixed it with veggies and stuffed some chicken breasts with it.  And, I have to say, in both recipes, I like the cheese.  It’s not super flavored so it just kind of makes a nice creamy tasting base in those recipes and then just a little flavored cheese does the trick.  Anyway, I am now a cottage cheese fan. 

So, that’s really it.  I haven’t got much more to say except that I promise that the next post will have the rest of the after pics and that Reggie and his daddy looked real cute taking a nap together yesterday.  See: 

 

Cheers,

Amanda 

Our Little Boy is Growing Up

Oh boy. 

I cleaned today.  After I spent 30 solid minutes looking for (and finding!) my cleaning CD, aka: Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack.  It’s an awesome soundtrack, in case you need some new tunes.  But, I digress.  The point is that I cleaned!  Yay!  Which means that very, very soon you will have the privilege of seeing some more after photos of the apartment. 

But not yet.  No, first I must catch up on some other news that I know you are all dying to know more about: Reggie’s date. 

 Meet Alice:

Isn’t she lovely?  Reggie thought so.  While he spent a lot of time playing with her, he also spent a decent amount of time trying to get in her britches.  And he wasn’t exactly discrete about it…if you know what I mean.  Anyway, here are a few more pics of the pups playing in the yard. 

The spectacular yard that you see belonged to a friend of Steve’s from work by the name of Jessica.  Jessica and her boyfriend Dave hosted us for the puppy play date, a wonderful dinner of lasagna, and a football game...though we felt it important to leave before the Vikings game against the Saints as some of us can become quite irritable when our choice of team doesn’t do so well.  Not to fear, though, our choice did great J. 

But, back to the play date.  It was a lot of fun.  So far in Reggie’s life, he hasn’t really had the opportunity to play with a dog his own size one on one.  The really cool thing was that Reggie and Alice were about the same size in both height and weight, and they played the same way.  They boxed.  It was really fun to watch and, next time, I’ll take my little camera and try to video tape some of their playing.

But, the best part of the play date was this:

 

For the entire play date, Reggie panted because Alice was wearing him out.  And for the next two days, he pretty much slept. Poor guy.

Cheers,

Amanda