My Favorite Recipes

(I know it's been a while since my last post, but hey, I'm here now. Don't judge me.) :)

I have family coming into town this weekend and I started thinking about the menu for when they come. I've kind of been in a rut and tend to make the same few things when guests come, but I usually don't have the same people returning very often, so I can get away with serving the same few things. Lame, I know, but there you have it. I wanted to make sure I didn't make the same things I did last time, so I've been looking at other recipes, searching for some online, etc. That led me to finally do something that I've talked about doing for years--organize my recipes.

I was telling my sisters over Christmas how I need to put together my own recipe book with just the recipes that MY family enjoys. I have plenty of recipe books, I'm sure you do, too. I have some family ones, some church ones, 'regular' ones from the store, but I hate having to track down the one or two recipes that I might like in each book . . . so I rarely do. Also, I have my recipe box and various emails with recipes that I like or think that some day I'll try.

While this isn't a book, I thought I could start keeping track of the recipes that I really like here on my blog. I'll have to find some way of keeping track and organizing them (I'm not used to tagging or anything fancy, so we'll see what I figure out), but at least I'll have them all in one place.

And if any of you have a REALLY good recipe that you would like to share, pass it on and it may make it on here. . . eventually. :)

**Disclaimer- For those of you who read this blog (all 2 of you), I make no claim that any of the food posted on this site is meant to be healthy. Some of it may be, much of it probably won't be. That is the risk you take if you decide to try one of the recipes.

**Disclaimer #2- The first disclaimer, and this one as well, could sound much more legal and official if Todd helped me come up with something, but I'm really not that motivated to make it sound really clever.

Starting again

Last Saturday I decided to buckle down and really watch what I'm eating and start making myself exercise . . . and it has paid off. I've lost 4 1/2 lbs. in 8 days! (That's a small bag of flour!) Obviously that's not going to be my normal rate of weight loss, but it's a nice jump start to my diet. My goal was to lose 12 lbs. by July 1st, so now I only have 7 1/2 to go, and with almost 5 weeks left, that shouldn't be too bad. Just a little over 1 1/2 lbs/week.

Since Todd is gone, I know it's going to be a little harder to stick with it, but hopefully I can keep it up.

My Narrative Essay

I feel like an endangered animal, bordering on extinction. But unlike other endangered animals, there is no one trying to save me. I am unique, but not in the right way it seems. Like an animal in the zoo that is gawked at, I feel increasingly alone while surrounded by the masses. Caged into my own separate area--accepted, but not completely understood. With the answer to one seemingly simple question, there are looks and words of amazement, curiosity, and also of reproach and disdain. Not knowing which reaction will come, I tense every time I reveal the truth of who I am. I am a mother of seven.

The answer is surprising to most and immediately the questions start. The questions tend to go in the same order, with little variation. The first question is always "are they all yours?" "Yes." The surprise is evident in their eyes. The first thought is that I must have a blended family because no one would choose to have that many children. When that question is answered incorrectly, the next logical reason for having so many children leads people to ask "are any of them twins?" "No." Again, my answer is incorrect. My answers seem to baffle the listener.

The next question is the one that hurts the most. "Were they all planned?" "Yes." I love my children and wanted and planned each one of them, and the presumption that some of my children must be "mistakes" hurts. "Do you plan to have any more?" Somewhere between the last two questions is usually where I sense a change in some people. Sometimes it leads people to ask, "Don't you know what birth control is?" Often times it is said jokingly, but the meaning is still clear. I am obviously one of "those" people who have more children than they can care for. This is when I try to let slip the fact that my husband is an attorney, so that I can fix the misguided perception that they have formed of me.

This encounter happened with a bagger from the grocery store just in the minute or two that it took to walk to my vehicle and unload my groceries, but similar encounters happen everywhere. I was never going to see this person again, yet the fact that I had a large family seemed to override the normal societal rules that would keep a person from asking such personal questions. Normally, I do not mind. I know that most people do not mean anything by the questions; they are just curious. But to me, it seems like with every encounter, society is trying to remind me that I do not belong.

Surprisingly, most of the whispers, piercing looks and negative comments come from other women. I feel like they are harder on me, because to them I am a step backwards for women. Women have worked hard to have the right to be what they want to be, but I sometimes feel that that does not apply if a woman wants to fulfill the traditional role of motherhood. By choosing to stay home and have a large family, some women view me as not smart, motivated, or capable enough of doing anything else. If I were smarter, then I would be "doing" something with my life. I believe I am. I believe having and raising a family is one of the most important things I will ever do. I am a woman, but I am looked down on by other women for not making the "right" choice.

Society judges people on what they do and accomplish, and unfortunately, motherhood does not afford many opportunities for outward validation. In a society where fewer women stay home and have large families, what does that say about the women who do? I grew up in a family with eight children and large families were uncommon then. Now they seem to have disappeared to the point where the only large families people know of are the ones where parents are "uneducated," "irresponsible," or had "mistakes."

I recently went back to school, and interestingly enough, while I still get the surprise for the number of children that I have, "doing" something with my life seems to have made being a mother of seven more acceptable. I always wanted to be a mom and have a large family, and I am happy with my choice. I only wish I did not have to justify my choice to everyone I meet.

Last essay

My final essay in my English class is a narrative essay. I'm a little nervous about this one because I don't consider myself a 'writer.' I like the technical part of writing, but the fact that one person can like something and someone else may not like it drives me crazy. I want it right or wrong. I've done very well on my essays, but I'm not a person who has always wanted to write and spends my free time writing poems or anything. I'm likely misguided, but that's still how I see writers.
Anyway, back to the narrative essay. This one is different because I don't have to do any research for it; it will come from my experience. That sounds like it should be easier, but it has to be more than just telling a story; it has to have a 'bigger' reason behind telling it. I've decided to write about my experience being a mom of seven and how that is perceived by people . . . in 750 words.
If all goes well, meaning my teacher actually thinks that it is good :), I will try to submit my essay for publication. (Not anything big, just a local column in a paper that publishes essays.) As long as it's not bad, I'll probably post it here on my blog, too. Mainly because I need to post more, but also because I figure this is the kind of thing someone would post on a blog. Right?

A Box of Crackers

I woke up this morning and found that I've lost 2 lbs! That's a large box of crackers! (I know that's silly, but I like to visualize things.) Understandably, I'm pretty excited.

Since moving here, I'd put on about 10 lbs., and it seemed like half of those I put on since I found out that Todd and I would be going to the Air Force JAG dining out. So, instead of really getting to work and losing weight, I ended up gaining weight! Now my goal is to try to get back to what I was when I originally wanted to lose the weight before the April 8th dinner.

I'm a little upset at myself, but I'm on the right track now. Having my spring break has really helped, since I actually have some real 'free' time. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this going.

Orange sweater

For the last 5 or 6 years, I have been wanting an orange sweater, but I had very specific ideas of what it should look like. I wanted a long sleeved, hooded, knit sweater, and I wanted it to be a certain shade of orange. I've looked in stores and online, but I never found anything that was right. I found orange sweatshirt hoodies, orange knit sweaters with short sleeves or the sweater itself was too short, orange knit sweaters with no hood, or perfect sweaters in EVERY color of the rainbow except for orange. I began to think my sweater didn't exist.

Well, last fall I found my orange sweater. When I was outside waiting to pick my kids up from school, I saw my friend, Rebekah, wearing 'my' orange sweater. (It still wasn't exact, the shade was slightly different, but pretty darn close.) Naturally, I asked her where she bought it, but it was a while ago, so the store no longer had them. I just resigned myself to the fact that I may never get my perfect orange sweater.

Then, last night, Rebekah asked me if I ever got the orange sweater that her husband gave to Todd. . . . What?! I was so excited! She was giving me her orange sweater?! I told her that, no, I hadn't gotten it, otherwise I definitely would have said something to her. She said that she had her husband give it to Todd back before Christmas! I called Todd to see if he had ever gotten it, and he didn't remember getting it. Gary, her husband, said that he remembered giving it to Todd. Where was my sweater?! We thought that maybe it was left at the church, so today, after church was over, I went to the lost and found to look for it, AND IT WAS THERE!!! I'm sure some of you are reading this thinking, 'Really? All this for a sweater?'

(Like I said, the color isn't the exact shade

I wanted, and it's really hard to tell the color

from the picture, but I love it.)

Well, maybe it doesn't make much sense to others, but I am SO excited to have my sweater! :)

Observation

I think I'm a pretty nice person. I always try to be nice to others, not put people down, and I try to never be condescending to people or make myself sound better than them (not too hard, since I'm usually not). Yet, there have been a couple of times during the last couple of semesters that I can tell that people think I'm acting like I'm better than them. (Who knows, maybe elsewhere, but this is where I've really noticed it.)

If I answer too many questions, if I try to explain why I think something is a certain way, or if I just do well, there's always someone who doesn't like it. Instead of people thinking, 'wow, good job', there are always those who think, 'she thinks she's so great' or 'she thinks she's better than me'. On the contrary. I don't think about them at all. What they don't seem to get is that I don't care if they do or don't understand the material; I don't care if they do or don't do well. If they do - great, good for them, I'm happy. But I'm there for me. I ask and answer questions because I want to learn. I work hard and try to do my best because I want to make sure I really understand everything that I'm being taught, not just enough to get by. I don't do any of it to make myself seem better than others. Yet, that's the way it's perceived.

But I realize that, to some extent, this is human nature. How many times do we see someone who seems perfect--perfect children, they never seem to get angry, beautiful house that's clean all of the time, smart, talented--yet, instead of thinking, 'wow, good job', we think, 'she's so perfect' and try to find some kind of flaw in the person. I try not to, but I know I'm guilty of that. Why can't we be happy for others and cheer them on for being somewhere that we hope to be someday.