Happy birthday to.....ME

I adore birthdays. And not just my birthday. I don't discriminate. It is equal opportunities birthdays around here. I will like yours too. But it just so happened to be mine last week and I like it best.

Overall number 26 was a pretty fantastic one. My dad and becky came up the weekend before. My dad started the trip out wonderfully by leaving his wallet and phone at home. Luckily he just got a new car and it comes with a telephone number (kids and their gadgets these days...). I can call it and be broadcast over the car speakers like voice of God. Pretty powerful stuff. Any way. Becky has never been to St Louis, so we did the tourist thing Saturday, which was fun...because even though I have lived here 3 years, I still consider myself a tourist. We rode the egg of death up to the top of the arch and back. Becky is terrified of heights. And apparently a masochist. But it was fun. For my birthday Becky took me to get new makeup. I had a 40+ year old woman with purple, green and yellow sparkly eye shadow do my eyes. It was a scary process, but I didnt care because I was being pampered. And even if it looked like I had been punched in the eye after I got finished, it was totally worth it because, like I said, I was being pampered. THEN I got to pick out new make-up (squeeeeeeeel!) and my dad and becky took us out for my birthday dinner at Mosaic....a trendy tapas restaurant. Oh. My. Lord. Delish. And super uber trendy. Pretty sure my cool points increased the moment I walked in the door. After a great weekend, I was so sad to see them leave Sunday morning. I swear, the clock moved double time that weekend. Uncool.

My actual birthday day was pretty uneventful. Well actually it was full of events, just not ones I wanted to do (i.e. finishing Rileigh's science fair project....7-year-old +glue gun = bad). But Justin redeemed the day by bringing home Chipotle. Quick word of wisdom. A burrito the size of a newborn baby makes any day the best day. Justin had already given me my present about 3 weeks prior (new video camera....holla!)

The weekend following my birthday, Abby flew in for a girls weekend. I took her to my school, ate a chili dog and made her fold my laundry. She said she is going to come back every weekend. That night we went out for sushi followed by a comedy club. Sitting at dinner, I felt a tap on my shoulder, followed by a "hey." I had a momentary panic attack trying to rack my brains as to who in the world I would actually know in St Louis. Not only know, but someone who could recognize me from behind. That was a total of no one, so I was prepared to turn around and have an awkward "i have no idea who you are" conversation and was shocked to turn around and see Jessi standing there. WTF. How did she even get here? Turns out those two concocted a plan to surprise me....which is impossible because I am Nancy Drew and I find out everything. Serious. They totally got me. So we stuffed ourselves with sushi and all headed to the comedy club. I love those things. People are so much funnier in person. The next day after a delish breakfast prepared by my loving hubs, we shopped til we dropped...and I mean that literally, not figuratively.

That evening we went to....wait for it......wait for it.....ROLLER DERBY. Yep, I am serious. It was....interesting. Jessi said that you could group the crowd into 3 categories: People who belonged in porns, People who look like they could be on Beetlejuice, and normal folks. I am hoping for the latter category, but I think the jury is still out. After roller derby, we rallied and headed to a local bar, where I realized kids these days are skank-tastic and old men are creepy. Sunday I had to drop off both at the airport. I had an amazing weekend and was bummed to see them go. Have I mentioned that I have the best family ever?

So to recap #26 entailed using the voice of God, riding in an egg , letting miss mardi gras have her way with my eyes and eating small plates of goodness--followed by unprecedented surprise, raw fish, no tabasco on cupcakes, a million miles at the mall, women on wheels and creeping people at a bar. YAHOO! it was a success! Thanks to all for making my bday so special!

Stuffed like a Turkey

A day later and I am still recovering. Since Thanksgiving dinner yesterday at 4, I have yet to wear anything without an elastic waist. Yep, that means dinner was a success.

My mom came up and it was a completely low-key holiday for us. No-stress occasions are the perfect time to try new recipes....and try them I did! After a frigid viewing of Miss Ri marching in the Thanksgiving Parade,

we headed home to hit the kitchen.

Our Menu:

Turkey w/ simple stuffing

Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Groovy Gravy (as my mom ALWAYS says)

Green Bean Casserole

Creamed Corn

Butternut Squash with Brown Butter

Sweet Potato Casserole

Brussels Spouts with Bacon and Blue Cheese

Creamed Onions

Hazel Beason Rolls

Okay, so I may have gone a little overboard. When we finished with dinner it looked like we had not ever started. My mom was in charge of the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and gravy....all the staples that are necessary for Thanksgiving. I took on all the "accessories." Here is the low-down on the new recipes.

Sweet Potatoes:

Justin absolutely loved these. My mom said they tasted like candy. They were also super easy, which is a must for any recipe that wants to be added to my repertoire. They have a brown sugar-butter-pecan topping that is fabu. It comes from my absolute favorite site, allrecipes.com, and had five-stars, so I had little doubt that it would be anything but fantastic. If you want to try it, here is the link: p://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Yummy-Sweet-Potato-Casserole/Detail.aspx

Creamed Onions:

Sorry, no photos of these. In fact, I made them in advance, so I almost forgot to set them out. I did scour food&wine for their photos, but they didn't have any either....jip! These were also very easy. They are extremely rich (heavy cream base) so they have to be eaten in moderation. I didn't get much feedback on them, but I did see that Justin had packed them as part of his lunch the next day....I will take that as a good sign. I get the Food & Wine magazine and adore Top Chef, so I have been dying to try something from their recipe box, but frankly I have been a bit intimidated. I will probably make these again, but only on special occasions. For the recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/creamed-onions-with-thyme-and-sage

Creamed Corn:

So, I messed up the picture on this one too...its the bottom left. If you think you hate creamed corn, this corn will make you change you mind....and eat the whole pan. These were SO good (which means, of course, that they were an allrecipes.com 4 1/2-star) These were the first of the leftovers to be gone. If you want to try: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cream-Corn-Like-No-Other/Detail.aspx

Brussels Sprouts:

I had never, ever had brussels sprouts. I didn't even know they were brussel"S" sprouts until I typed this. I wish I would have taken a picture of these when we got them at the store. They only came on a stalk, so they looked very bizarre. This was the biggest experiment of all my new recipes which was tough because I had no idea what I was doing. You have to steam the sprout first, then start on the recipe. They had bacon, which makes every thing better, and blue cheese, which can make or break a recipe. All in all they were okay. My mother loved them even though she hates blue cheese. I just asked Justin and he said "I though they were great"...in complete monotone. He is so helpful. If you aren't scared off by blue cheese and want to give them a try: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/brussels-sprouts-with-bacon-and-cheese-recipe/index.html

Squash:

Frankly I picked these because brown butter sounded delish. More specifically, brown butter and brown sugar sounded extra delish. These were the biggest let down. I don't know what I was expecting...but they just weren't....really....anything. They weren't bad, but they weren't memorable enough for me to ever make again. However, I did learn how to brown butter, which I have never had to do before. But should you simply LOVE butternut squash, you should give it a try: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/butternut-squash-with-brown-butter?comments_page=1

Oh, how could I forget....the most unusual (but SO GOOD) dessert. Mountain Dew apple dumplings. No seriously. If you don't try anything else, try these. To put this in Rachel Zoe terms---I die! Click on over and don't be scared: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Country-Apple-Dumplings/Detail.aspx

Now, if you will excuse me....I am off to have some more leftovers....(looks elastic will be making an extended stay in my wardrobe)

Happy Halloween-Turkey Day!

Lets talk about sects, baby

Religion has been at the very core of the world's most brutal and deep-seeded disputes. So it seems only fitting for it to also be a constant internal battle in my life.

I was raised a Catholic, if you can call it that. We were holiday church-goers, but my dad always went (and still does)....and I did occasionally take CCD classes, but mostly for the social aspect. In my younger years, I always fought to bring books or toys to church to occupy myself and my dad always adamantly refused to allow me to do so, leaving me no choice but to fake like I fell asleep so I didn't have to partake in the kneeling. Somewhere in my late teens, I became disenfranchised with Catholicism. Things hit a peak when the whole "no birth control, natural family planning" aspect took a prominent role. Slowly but surely, we are working through our beef, but I think we will both agree that we will never see eye to eye. I respect the tradition it entails (and can still participate in a service...and sing the songs....from memory), however, that tradition holds some of the things that bother me most....like sexism and elitism. It seems strangely poetic that my husband is currently being bombarded by literature and invitations from his Catholic friends....and he is really interested and excited about it.

I started attending the Nazarene Church in Dodge City when Rileigh started attending daycare there as a 2-year-old. Walking in to the service for the first time was as close to what I would call a spiritual moment as I have ever had in my life. I spent the first 30 minutes of the service with tears streaming down my cheeks, but I was really not sure why. The singing moved me to my core and it felt as though the pastor was speaking directly to me.

Even then, the internal battle of logic and faith raged inside. Any active involvement I took in a religious context seemed completely artificial to me. Once, Justin and I decided to attend a bible reading class through this church. It was incredibly uncomfortable for me. It was almost a feeling of "oh no, when are they going to find out I am a complete poser....and am not actually sure what I believe in." I quit going before they ever found out.

Since leaving Dodge, I have only dabbled in religion. I have yet to experience what I felt the very first day I walked through the doors of the Nazarene Church, and frankly, haven't felt it again even when I go back to that church. I have thought about it, pretended to encompass it, forced it, just about everything....but was completely numb to it. I suppose I would compare knowing Jesus to having an orgasm. If you've had one, you know. If you haven't, you act like you have and fake it until you do. I am a total faker. I can't even say 'God bless you' when someone sneezes because it feels so foreign to me. You know when you write in cards for people who have recently lost a loved one....common thing to write "You are in my prayers." Not this gal. I can't even write it. Its not that I haven't tried praying. I have tried it in all different forms. A scripted meal time prayer, a freeform meal time prayer--once I became so determined that I was going to learn to pray that I made myself shut off my music on my commute home from work and silently attempt to pray the whole way home. My mind wandered aimlessly. That felt ridiculous. So I tried to pray out loud. Even more ridiculous, so I quit.

It is not that I am religious-less. Its just that I think faith is so inherently personal that when we try to place it inside the box of organized religion, it loses that. I have certain things that I believe and others that I just can't get down with. I had a woman I worked with once that was incredibly religious and she believed that all people were inherently rotten to the core. I can't get down with that. I can't get down with a wrath-filled God. I can't get down with "an eye for an eye." I can't get down with Adam and Eve. What I can get down with is the notion that there is good in everyone, even if you have to strain your eyes to see it. I believe in forgiveness and sacrifice. I believe in open-minded thinking and wholehearted exceptance of all persons. I believe in free will and faith. I have yet to be able to wrap that all up in a nice bow and call it a church. However I won't stop looking.

I suggested to Justin that we search for where we fit....and try a new church, a new religion every Sunday and allow ourselves to really expand and evaluate our belief system. Rileigh, who happened to overhear, said she would like to as well, as long as she didn't have to be Jewish because she didn't want her dad to have to wear one of those weird hats.

Give me a reason to celebrate.

I adore holidays. Any of them. In fact, just tell me its a holiday and I will find a way to decorate and/or celebrate. Always #1 is birthdays (that's a holiday...right?) followed closely by Christmas. Both mean lots of celebrating and lots of family. 

So the next holiday on the list is Halloween. Last year was so much fun for us. We decided to dress up as a family. It turned out so adorable: 

This year we decided we would keep going with the family halloween. I have been trying to start the planning early, as last year I was wrapping Justin's jeans with duct tape at 2am. Rileigh went through various ideas before finally deciding on Mariokart. I was pretty excited about the idea.....and then I started looking for costumes for Rileigh (aka Princess Peach)

It was much harder than I thought it would be. All the Princess Peach costumes I found looked cheap but cost a fortune. I thought it would be super easy to find a premade costume....but now I am going with plan B....making the costume. This is a problem because I can't sew, but I think I may have found the perfect solution (thank you ebay!)

My plan is to remove the bow around the waist and replace it with a dark pink one and add on the dark pink draping at the hips. I am going to attempt to add some poofy sleeves....but as a non-sewing person, I am not sure how that will work. I also found a long blonde wig that I am going to hot glue a crown onto. Find some blue jewels......add some white loves.....and VIOLA! Perfect Princess Peach. 

I think Addison will be Toad. My plan for that is to paper mache a mushroom hat onto a bike helmet and paint it to match toad's. Other than that, its just white pants and a vest....and VIOLA! Perfect little Toad. 

And....I think its pretty obvious which of one of us will be mario and which will be luigi. Hmm....wonder if I can grow a mustache by then.....

What was your favorite Halloween costume of all time?

love and marriage....go together like a....well...i dunno

This is sort of a debbie downer post, so if you are having a bad day, save this post for another occasion. 

Yesterday Justin's brother called us from the Greyhound station in St Louis. He had left his wife and was on his way back to Kansas to get back on his feet. So naturally, today I have been thinking a lot about divorce....(don't freak on me...not within the context of my marriage) My parents are divorced. I work at a family law firm so I am surrounded by divorce daily. 

I have come to a conclusion. I think it I would rather be a child of divorced parents then the divorced parent of a child. (following me here?). It sucked when my parents divorced. It did. Sometimes it still sucks. But, I still have my family. I still get my mom's side. I still get my dad's side. I still have two parents (...and I now get two christmases....i kid, i kid). What I had to give up is having 2 parents that live together as a unit. I don't mean to trivialize this by condensing such an emotional event to one sentence, but at its core, that is how I see it. 

When you get divorced, one sentence just does not seem to suffice. You lose a best friend and a constant companion. You lose 1/2 your family. You lose time with your kids. You lose 1/2 an income. You lose your routine. You lose your tag-team (which is completely necessary after coming home from a hectic day of meetings, school, homework and work to hyper, screaming children).  The losses are immeasurable. 

Faced with the possibility of all those losses (and more) I cannot imagine being at a point where you can say 'I understand what I have to lose and even faced with all of that, my life will be better if I am divorced." Now don't get me wrong. I am not at all saying that this is not the reality for some people. I think it is very real and very necessary for some. Misery is not healthy for you, and not healthy for your children. I just cannot imagine coming to such a crossroad. It just seems like a point of no return (not counting those ross and rachels who marry, divorce, repeat) and  that you first need to have some vision where a winged figure flies down and tells you you are at that point. 

My brother-in-law is at that point. This week, he packed his bags and began to walk the 60 miles (yes, I said 60) to the bus stop with his life in 3 suitcases. Great people still exist because a man mowing his yard saw him, asked where he was going and voluntarily drove him the last 50 miles. (that story renewed my belief in the goodness of mankind).

Although I find no comfort in his struggles, it has made me oh-so-grateful for my husband and my beautiful babies. I think Justin felt the same as he called me this afternoon just to tell me how lucky we are and how much he loves me. I love him not despite his enormous appetite, freakish workout obsession, ridiculous big headedness, constant requests to "do it," and grade-school sense of humor, but because of it!

I decided I need a schtick. Its a lame one, but I like it because I am nosey and like to know things about other people. So my schtick will be a blog-ending question. Today's edition: What is your FAVORITE thing about your significant other?