Halloween Parade

I think I've mentioned before that our little town loves parades.  The Halloween parade never ceases to amaze me as it's possibly the most well attended.

A wall of people came and in the blink of an eye all of the candy in the downtown area was gone!  Funny how that happens with kids in costumes.

David anxiously awaited trick or treaters, as it's his favorite time of year.  He stared out the door, greeted each person.  He was called beautiful, cute, sweet, cool and whatever other complimentary words young Frankensteins and Captain Americas can think of.

Last Week

Last week, Bob went out of town so I worked a little more than usual.  Happy late Birthday, Bob, by the way.  I also had a recital on Saturday.  All of my current students participated and did a fabulous job.   Because I wasn't thinking, I don't have pictures of the recital.  So here are just some quick pictures from the past few days.

Fall is here! I love walking through town and finding trees in the fall.  This one is the brightest yellow tree I think I've ever seen!

On Friday night, Jim got some Chinese takeout.  One of the fortune cookies made me smile.

Jim lost something under the couch and David was more than willing to help.  

I mentioned treats while Princess Rory was sleeping... this is what it looks like when a Chihuahua wakes up to the magic word...

Go Band!

I think it is well established by now that I am an unapologetic band geek.  I also have an interest in encouraging younger generations of band geeks, mainly because of the lack of encouragement I received.  My mother attended every concert I performed in until they moved to Nevada, but otherwise, the music department at my high school (and later college) were not eagerly participated in or recognized.  So I think it's important that the kids in our schools know that there are people in the community that support them-- not just parents going to support their own kids, but just a community member who wants to watch students perform well in a passion I share with them.
That is why I found myself on a bus at 5:30 Saturday morning, traveling two and a half hours to a marching competition.  I walked along side the band in a parade and watched as they performed their field show.  Got off the bus late in the evening, plopping down on my couch well after dark.
The band did so AWESOME.  They won the inspection award and got a superior rating (the highest rating) on the parade portion AND the field show portion.  They were the only band to get the inspection award, so we consider that a solid win.
Apparently, Mr. Schlake promised to shave his head if they did that well.  I am hoping to catch a glimpse of him later on in the week to see if he looks much different sans hair.

Here are a few pictures of the festivities yesterday.

 Preparation for the show

 Doing their little "dance" during the cadence.

 Schlake marching along side the band

 Drum major Phoebe leading the group

We won!

Meal Binder

I'm a bit obsessive.  I'm a little organized.  And this little project is the most obsessive and organized I have ever done.  And because I'm rather proud of it, I thought I'd share.
I hate preparing for grocery shopping.  I don't like to go more than a couple of times a month, so I try to do one big trip and another smaller trip later on in the month to replenish perishables.  This way, I'm not as tempted to buy a bunch of stuff every time I go in because I need one quick thing.
Anyway, I used to sit down a week before the "big trip" with a printed calendar of the following month.  I would write in meals, trying to get meals with similar ingredients close together so I wouldn't be wasteful with leftovers.  I would factor in all the times we would be gone, then I would try to remember which meals needed what as I wrote out the list.  Some people thought I was organized and crazy then.  They would probably have me institutionalized now.
Fed up with the system of spending a couple of evenings trying to think of meals (because, while I successfully feed my husband and I every day each month, I for some reason can only think of a few recipes I've made when I need to think of more) and make up a grocery list, I had an idea.
First, I got an allrecipes account.  Not a huge fan of paying for a service I probably could have done on my own but I took the $20 for 2 year plunge for convenience.  I started making my own recipes and saving others like mad.
Second, I started making weekly menus based on three things; season, prep time and main ingredient.  For example, Fall Chicken Recipes.  I find that it's cheaper to cook a whole chicken and use leftovers all week in other recipes, same with beef and turkey.  So, I went through the recipes I had under chicken and found ones that seemed like good fall recipes (some grilling, some baked, some salads).  Then I took my schedule into account and applied them to the night we would most likely eat them--I make homemade chicken noodle soup but it takes a couple of hours, so it wouldn't work on a day I work.  This doesn't mean we will exclusively eat these dinners or that we will eat them in order.  It just ensures I have the ingredients for all of those meals and we can have them whenever we want.  I've already used some ingredients from various recipes to make something not even listed, but it sure helps! 
Most seasons have multiple menus for main ingredients.  So, I have a "Fall Chicken Recipes 1" and "Fall Chicken Recipes 2".
I printed all of these menus and put them in a binder based on season.

This is sounding a lot more complicated than I meant it too.

So, for the next two months, I will probably do all of my "Winter 1" recipes in November, and "Winter 2" in December, picking a few to repeat through February.

I will just put those menus in the front of the binder, go to allrecipes.com, have them make a grocery list for me for those recipes, email it to my phone and go shopping.  I usually go through the list once before I go to the store, deleting the things I already have and adding breakfast and lunch foods. 

While I make dinner, I just pull down my binder, open to the recipe I'm making, and the directions are already there.

I will slowly add more recipes to the list as I learn of them.  But for now, I have the whole next year covered at least. 

Think I'm crazy yet?

My Story: Relay Racing.

So as I mentioned, we have been staying with the Nate and Danielle in Omaha the past few nights in preparation for the Market to Market relay race.  I had three legs-- 4.3 miles, 3.6 miles and 2.9 miles (originally 3).
Months ago, Danielle put her name in the lottery to be a team captain and I happened to be present when she found out she had been selected.  Naturally, after just running a long run with me, she asked if I would like to be on the team.  A definite yes.  I am not much for racing, to be honest.  I ran a 5k and a 10k this year and was happy to call that good.  I'm not that competitive, I get stressed with groups of people and I run to "keep this a 10" (reference to Gieco commercial).  But, a chance to run with other runners sounded fun.
Originally, the team consisted of 4 different couples.  Nate and Danielle, Joe and Alicia, Micah and Amy and Jim and I.  Because the girls were, in most cases, the primary runner of the family, the team was correctly titled "She Made Me Do It".  Then the craziness began.
A while later, Nate found out he couldn't participate because of All-State auditions for his choir members.  He was replaced by Melissa, Micah and Amy's friend.
After that, Micah and Amy had to pass for medical reasons.  Melissa replaced one with Mindy, and Danielle's dad Dave stepped in.
And our original team dwindled even further.  Joe and Alicia had to bow out later on.  They were replaced by Taylor "Sunshine" and Curt V from our very own Ogallala.
So our team of married couples ended up with one married couple, a few strangers, a high school cross country kid and a borrowed vehicle from the Holthusen's in Ogallala (thanks again, by the way).

Ok, on to the day itself.
With the lovely start time of 5AM, we were up at 3:30 getting ready for the race, listening to the thunder and watching the lightning from the window.  We got the text a little while later-- lightning rule was in effect (lie; actually they couldn't spell "lightning" it was always a lighting rule...) until 6 AM.  Not knowing what that meant exactly, we took off at the original time to get our timing chip and go from there.
Danielle becomes a different person behind the wheel of a large vehicle.  "I'm in a Suburban, I'll do what I want!" became a quote of the day.  We went down the wrong way of a divided street to get our running chip to start off the day, finding out later that we weren't supposed to have our vehicle up there.
They told us to proceed to site 2.  When we were there, we were told to proceed to site 3.  Both runner 1 and 2 had to give up their first legs of the race due to the storm.  And other than two disappointed runners-- it also meant I started the race for the whole team as runner 3.

So I ran in the dark following blinking red lights ahead of me and passing a few along the way.  I was not passed in my first leg and was happy for that, having actually started the race.  The transition was sloppy at best when I handed a pile of things to Curt who only wanted the timing chip and I had no idea where to go.

Sitting in the van was as you would expect.  The occasional drink of water, the conversation with other runners and listening to the great times of the other runners.  About that; we had some kick butt runners on our team this year.  Danielle did under 8 minute miles in her second run.  Her dad was consistently speedy.  Curt was always in the low 7 minute miles.  And our kid, "Sunshine", really made our team speed ahead with his miles consistently in the 6's.  Jim even pulled it out with 7-8 minute miles in his run.

Jim is injured from a bike accident and also from trying to pick up the dog and Dave was kind enough to take Jim's first run to help out.  Other than that, the only strange thing that happened race-wise was runner 7 getting lost and without hardly any help from the volunteers we had to drive out to get her (sorry, Melissa) and another runner from a different team.

My second run was awful.  A bug landed in such a way in my windpipe that I literally couldn't breath in, so I had to stop and walk while I tried to get the thing removed.  It was awful and I was so mad to mess up my time for the team.  I didn't think I would worry about my times but I felt pretty awful about it. 
My third run was by far the best feeling, though I actually was faster in general on my first run.  The last run was flat and in the daylight and nice and I didn't push myself too hard.  Had I, I may have knocked some time off.  But at that point I didn't care.

Other highlights of the day were Danielle's socks hanging out the front window to dry them off.  Going through three pairs of socks because of the rain.  Having to continually back into parking spaces in a huge vehicle.  Getting stuck in the mud a little bit.  Cheering each other on.  The crazy, no room for anything sensation in a van full of bags and food and shoes.

After our short time at the shindig, we came back to the apartment where Nate had made some pretty awesome Curry Quinoa soup.  Then we went to the Orange Leaf and had some amazing frozen yogurt, something I had been wanting to do since we got here. Then, as exciting as it sounds, we went to bed.

I am typing all of this Sunday morning but won't post until Sunday night since I can't get pictures to upload right now.  We drive back today and clean the Holthusen's car.

A Day In Bike Shop City... er... Omaha

**Pictures to be uploaded later.  I didn't have my camera, so I used my phone and apparently that was a terrible, terrible idea.  I will post them again when I am home and have the time to drive myself crazy.  Check back Sunday night**

I am married to a cyclist.  I've been corrected a few times when I misused the term "biker" (apparently, the difference is a motor).  This has never been so apparent as today.  But that is only a small portion of the so far both boring and eventful vacation we have had thus far in Omaha.
It all started Wednesday during lunch when Jim tried to pick up David (yes, that's the 80 pound one).  Setting him back down, he simply said "ow".  By Thursday morning, I was frantically calling every chiropractor in a 50 mile radius trying to get an appointment for my husband who seems to be attracting injuries for this race.  We found one in Grant and he went to his 10AM appointment... we had planned on leaving in the "early" morning.
At noon we finally left Ogallala in a white vehicle that is much bigger than our own, borrowing from our friends Nikki and Nate for the race.  This wasn't uncomfortable at all until we pulled up to a gas station and the reflection made me do a double take.
We drove through hours of endless construction, making us even later than anticipated.

When we finally made it to town, we had Jim's favorite (Hardee's... great place, but really hard to find something "healthy" on the menu).  Ate quickly at the Helzer's apartment than went to the metro college to hear our own Danielle read from her essay that was published in What Teaching Means.  I felt kind of artsy, being at a book reading, but of course, I don't often find myself as a friend of an author, so I felt a little extra privileged, too.
I slept in, having woken up to the air mattress being completely empty (I vaguely remember Jim waking up and saying he was going to deflate it.  I remember standing next to the bed and wondering why.  He actually ended up leaving me on the floor and slept on the couch after that... I remember telling him that was ok).
Went for a nice 2 miler, sticking close to the apartment, just to get a feel for the air around here.  I discovered that my "rolling hills" leg of tomorrow's race might suck.  I should have done more hill workouts.

Back to being married to a cyclist. 
We started out the day as boring as possible.  Wal*Mart.  Isn't that an exciting place to shop in a bigger city?  We thought so.
I can't remember the order, even though we just got back, but we went to lunch somewhere in there and I had a blast at Old Navy.  The rest of the stores, if you can catch the theme, were Scheels, Bike Way, Bike Rack and Dicks Sporting Goods.  I have this feeling I missed at least one of them.  I can't remember at this point.  I also called a couple other bike shops, including a Trek shop, to confirm that they didn't sell Peal Izumi... which apparently is THE brand to have as a cyclist.  Dear Jim would not be swayed to try anything other than the items he wanted.  I saw more pants with padded butts and helmets than I ever want to see again.

And now I sit in the apartment by myself, sometimes saying a word or two to Sampson (the cutest dog in Omaha), as my husband is BACK at the Bike Rack, deciding that he could really buy something not quite what he wanted.
Tonight, if I understand correctly, we are possibly eating at the Blue Planet, and hopefully stopping by Trader Joe's for some race day snacks and such with the Helzer's.  I'm hoping to get some get-the-sweat-off-of-my-face wipes whil we are there, as well as some more Burt's Bees facewash.  I'll have to tell you the story on that later.
I am having fun with the Helzer's and feel like our time here is already flying by.  I was kind of excited to experience the zoo today... but that didn't happen.

Next post will hopefully be tomorrow night, sharing the details of our Market to Market experience!

Family Fellowship and Quinoa

Sunday was another family fellowship dinner at our church.  In other churches I've attended this have been "potlucks", or as my dad would joke "pot providences" (since the church that called them that frequently gave sermons about not believing in luck).  Anyway, I always enjoy these dinners for the most part.  I like trying to sit by different people and get to know them a little better.  I sat next to Barb this week, a woman who, I'm sorry if this sounds offensive, has scared me since we moved here.  It isn't that she is particularly scary herself, but I guess I just worry about what her opinion of me is, as she seems proper and try as I might I just am not.

The blurry fella' in this picture is our pastor.  We celebrated pastor appreciation month this meal, especially since he and his family have been here for TWENTY years.  Twenty.  I've never heard of a Pastor remaining in one place for that long.  But I'm glad they stayed long enough to get to meet us.  Ha, kidding. A church is only as good as it's leadership and we have a good one, so there you have it.

Fellowship dinners do pose one problem for me.  I have shown up to a few too many where there is only one or two things on the table that I would eat on a daily basis.  It isn't that I wouldn't eat any of it, it's just that when you are eating healthy, you don't want to have a meal full of things you typically avoid unless you want to feel it sitting in your gut for the next week.  So this time, I came prepared.  I packed a salad for myself and had Jim grab me a couple pieces of watermelon as he got one of his three servings.  I swear that guy makes it look like I don't feed him. 

Of course, I do feed him, but I guess what he's been getting lately hasn't been as substantial as the warm, comfort type foods you get at fellowship meals.  He did get a casserole this week, though, that should've helped.  A Quinoa Spinach casserole.  Ok, so it didn't have any meat.  But it was yummy.

If it looks like something you'd like, I modified a recipe for what I had on hand.  It was a Quinoa Broccoli Casserole.  Click on the name and you'll go to the recipe. I ended up using spinach, used only about half the cheese, and probably more Quinoa that was originally asked.  Also didn't put any sugar or salt or pepper in it... because I was too lazy to pull those things out of the pantry (and I have been sugar free for a while now... more on that later, possibly).  Jim says the Parmesian on top was absolutely essential, but he loved it regardless.  It was one of a few meals where Jim didn't even notice we had a vegetarian week (don't raise your eyebrows at me... I'm not going vegetarian full time.  One week a month was my idea to drop grocery costs and to use all the good vegetarian dishes I find!). 

Tomorrow we take off to Omaha to run the Market to Market relay with Danielle, to see her book reading and to hang out with Nate and a few people we've never met.  I'm SO EXCITED!!!! ... !!!!!

I can NOT wait for this weekend.  A little over 10 miles of probably horrible running on my part, and being in a stinky suburban, and of course seeing Nate and Danielle, and experiencing Omaha a little bit, and just having a weekend away, and getting to go to Whole Foods (yes, that makes a vacation for me!), and, and, and...

Snowy Saturday

I woke up this morning to snow gently falling but melting as it hit the ground.  I then woke up again, about an hour later, to a similar scene, but this time I decided to get up.

(Our little trees first snow-- how sweet!)

I usually love running in the snow but didn't get out this morning.  Treadmill training today.

Today was a lot of nothing.  I planned on doing a lot of different things but ended up napping on the couch, Jim gave the dogs a bath and I gladly watched.  The snow gathered on the ground then melted away.

I love te snow but I feel really lazy today.  Though, I did discover a great drink combination for snowy days-- Suisse Mocha brand (the sugar and caffeine free version) with a hint of mint extract and coconut milk.  Yum!

RIP: Super Cute Skirt

An unfortunate event happened in the Parrish household on Tuesday.

Tragic, really.

The super cute skirt died.

(If you can't tell, those are pink spots all over the rear-region of the super cute skirt)

The first time I wore a skirt to the store, I was teased a bit about being dressed up.  I don't know how the comment came up, but I defended myself by saying it was comfortable and "I look super cute in it".  "Super cute?"... thus, a nickname was born.  Possibly the most flattering nickname I've ever had and therefore my favorite one ever.

But a laundry mishap made my fluffy white skirt most like a pink spotted mess.  So, after a few summers of being my "super cute" staple, the skirt is being laid to rest.

Farewell, dear fluffy super cuteness. 



Now, just because the skirt is gone, that doesn't mean I lose the nickname, right?!

Before and After: Kitchen

A few years ago in late January, Jim and I got in the car and drove to Ogallala to look at houses.  It was a snowy day and we were late for all of our appointments.  We got a home loan from the local bank and had a small list of houses to look at it. 
It had been a few weeks since Jim's initial interview, so the researcher in me had been looking at houses every free moment I had.  I had loved a particular house in our price range above the rest so I made sure it was on the appointment list.  To make that house better, the day before we headed out I got a call from our realtor that it dropped TWENTY THOUSAND dollars.
So the first house we saw was the one I liked online.  I still liked it in real life, but knowing you can't choose the first house you see, we went to the rest of the appointments.  By the end of the day, however, we made an offer on the original house.  This house.
While I loved the house, I also had plans for it.  Like a burgundy kitchen to match my burgundy and black plates.