Summer veggies

Aside from the meager amount of vegetables we've acquired from the small square-foot garden, I've been loading up on the seasonal produce whenever I hit Sunflower or Costco. I spent all summer eating frozen zucchini and canned tomatoes, and the fresh stuff is so much tastier, and now I can justify buying it since it's in season! Our everyday staples have been salads with fresh greens and cherry tomatoes and those tasty little snacker cucumbers topped with Annie's organic dressings. Pasta with sauteed zucchini, summer squash, and tomatoes. Thai green curry with bell peppers, tofu, and carrots. Oh, and grilled chicken. Ohhhh, grilled chicken. Too bad we don't have a real grill though and have to rely on the Foreman.

One thing that's awesome about food stamps is you have this amount of money to spend on food, and you have to spend it because it can't go to anything else. I feel like I always skimped on food (like spent $100 a month or less) because it seemed like eating lentils and rice every day was a healthy/cheap meal that was fine with us (and we needed to save for studying abroad).... boy, did I not know what I was missing!! I think there really was a period of 2 or 3 months pre-Egypt where all we ate was lentils/rice/canned tomatoes and whatever we got with WIC. Not to mention the food from Egypt was... less than desirable. But now! Oh, the possibilities! I am dreading Tim finishing school and getting a real job because then I won't feel justified in mooching off the government (can we say grad school!?) Or.... we could just make real money (like more than the meager $1000 a month I take home from my government job at WIC), and then allocate $500 a month to food. I just don't think I could go back to the way things are before. Organic veggies of all varieties (red peppers! avocado!), raspberries and blueberries, grass-fed ground beef, Luna bars, boneless skinless chicken breasts, Brown Cow yogurt, Kettle chips, Breyer's ice cream, real maple syrup, brown eggs.... all were oft-wanted but never-bought luxuries in our previous life before food stamps. I think few people realize how much I love food. Well, I do. I love food. And food stamps has made our foodie-lifestyle infinitely more attainable. If not for the adding money to our budget, but adding the forced-spending of money.

Oh, the luxuries of taxing the rich to give to the poor.

Sometimes I'm so conflicted... but usually not.

Sigh.

Yesterday:

Family trip to the library in the morning. Naps. And camping in the afternoon, which we will post about soon. 

Staying at Home

On the Slide

It's been three months now. It's been fun staying at home and a nice break from trying to mix being a stay-at-home parent with being a student and sometimes employee. Cait's job is not very time consuming either, so that means I get a lot of time to do my own things like read and run. It also stops me from being a totally legit stay-at-home parent, as Cait still does most of the cooking. I don't mind cooking, but having to think up something to cook every night would be tough for me. Cait is very creative at finding things to eat, even when there is not much around the house.

It's been very interesting being the primary parent. I feel like I bring something different to the table than Cait, but I would have a very hard time deciding which one of us is better at staying at home. I have to admit I seem to enjoy it more.

My strengths as a parent:

Patience

Willingness to allow Theo to explore

Relaxed

Cait's strengths:

Creative in finding activities

Very active concern for his health and development

Having lots of stay-at-home friends for play groups (they're my friends too, but it's harder for me to call them up and say "let's hang out" for sure)

So, looking to the future, I think there's a fair chance that this will not be my only experience at stay-at-home parenting. And of that, I am glad.

Yesterday:

Hung out around the house, early nap for the Guy, park and Seven Peaks in the afternoon and then Cait let me go to a party for my friend Leland because the Guy had fallen asleep. Then he woke up from 12-3AM after having slept all night long the night before. Oh, the guy.

Our everyday activity

Something awesome about this summer in Provo: The Pass of All Passes. When I first heard about it, I thought it was way too good to be true (we paid $40 for ours). Well, it wasn't. It's THAT good, and it works, and it's true and everything. There were rumors Seven Peaks would be way too crowded, but it actually hasn't been that bad. We tend to go in the morning when they first open and there are no lines for anything, you just walk right up. Kids can go down most of the slides on their parents' laps. There are two huge kid areas, a lazy river, and a giant wave pool. It's pure summer enjoyment at its finest.

To capture our now-pretty-much-daily activity, we made a great purchase of a waterproof digital camera. I think it takes pretty decent pictures for $140-plus-waterproof and shockproof. Thank you, Costco! (also thank you for the Julie's organic yogurt bars and those tasty/cheap organic animal crackers).

On the lazy river... a favorite activity of Theodore's

Austin and her sister Katie came with us this evening, it was rad

Signing "cat"

Theodore and I at the end of the "Caved In" slide

Learning to swim

Mmmm... what a fine specimen of a husband

Needless to say, life continues to be bliss. Can summer never end!?

'Thon Thursday: Ryan Hall

One of my running inspirations lately has been Ryan Hall. He is the American record holder for the half-marthon, the only one to have ever run under an hour in the event on a sanctioned course. He also ran the fastest time ever for an American in the Boston Marathon, taking fourth in 2:04.58. That's a 4:44 minute mile the whole way. I doubt I could run one mile in 4:44 (although I was just a bit faster than that in high school in the mile, but still). It was also the fastest marathon by an American ever, but not a record because Boston is too much of an overall drop for it to be an official record (although it is still a super-tough course from what I hear.

What makes me really relate to Ryan Hall, besides his passion for running, however, is his mixing of sport and religion. I felt like running has always been a really spiritual experience for me. It's something about the combination of solitude and pushing a body to its limits that helps me to touch the divine in some small way, I think. Ryan is a lot more open about this connection than I have been ever, which I appreciate. I can see how such bold assertions as "I feel God running in me" could be off-putting to some, but I find it refreshingly honest. Check out these videos:

What a guy. I don't have a problem with the sport of long distance running being dominated by African runners or Kenyan runners. They need every boost they can get, certainly. But it's great to see someone from around here doing some really great things. It's a big inspiration for sure.

Yesterday:

Seven Peaks in the morning, with a little barefoot run there and back. Bike ride to get a nap in in time to go to the doctor, an undisclosed location in Orem, Pirate Island (I won a gift card, the Guy love it, even though he ate nothing), Costco, and then a goodbye party for Celia  where we ate delicious cupcakes and swan in the indoor pool while it rained. Read more about the party here and probably here, in the near future.

Hobbler Update

Here's the link to the professional photos from the event. Some of my best ones yet. Let me know if the link doesn't work. And if you want to buy some for me.

Pizza Night

Due to my forgetting to post about the once-in-a-lifetime greatness that was Tallia and Jon's neighborhood block party, I will post about the regular awesomeness that is pizza night. Most every Friday night we head over to their house to eat delicious homemade pizza and other goodies. The quality and originality of the pizzas and ingredients has increased, along with the sides (I didn't snap any pictures of the watermelon with lime, but it was incredible). Here's a glimpse of the awesomeness (and read more about Tallia and Jon's life at their blog):

Cait with her sexy, "Why are you taking a picture of me while eating" look

Atticus did not want much pizza, he wanted an apple

This was my creation, although based on Cait's idea, Ranch/Potato/Egg pizza. It received high praise. I almost put chex mix on top, but resisted.

The Great Chef Jon

Tallia and Jon's daughter finishing others' watermelon

That is Jon, but not Tallia. That is Ashmae. I got no pictures of Tallia. Sorry Tallia.

Atticus got tired.

So we took him inside to play with Pizza Chef Elmo.

And Sesame Street Little People. Check out that pillow.

Yesterday:

Playing around the house and cleaning in the morning. Our friends Melissa and Raquel came over along with Melissa's sister Ali and all the kids to play in our Little baby pool and enjoy some nice July weather. Then Cait worked forever to get The Guy to sleep And we relaxed for a bit. Then dinner., the park, yoga and running.

Cait's Garden

Cait has been working hard on her garden this summer and I am very proud of her. I haven't been as supportive as I probably should have been, forgetting to water and not helping to plant as much as I should, so I figured I would try to make up for that a little by praising her here. So far, we have eaten some delicious peas, lettuce and peppers with much more to come. She gets down on herself for not having as much stuff as she would like, but I know that if she sticks with it (and I help out some) she'll become a gardener of an extraordinary kind.

Yesterday:

While Cait worked, the Guy and I went to the park, where we saw Eliza of the Robbins fame with her grandma. We played there for a while and then we ran, the guy and I, to his doctor's appointment, during which run he fell asleep. The doctor checked Theo's ears and throat post surgery and everything looked fine. I forgot to ask about another hearing test, but we will probably want one soon. Home for lunch with mom, cleaning and back to North Park, which has more shade for the warmer afternoon. Theo followed another family around the entire time, evidencing how much he loves being with other kids. We biked to meet mom at work, biked home and Cait cooked some delicious Thai food and Casey and Melissa and children joined us for a nice evening meal outside. We put Theo to bed early and watched Precious, which we both really liked. Then to bed.

Hobbler Half

I just finished the Hobbler Half marathon (although this post will take a few days to make it through the queue). It was a great race and I feel very satisfied. The course was fast, but challenging. It was down a canyon so the overall drop was significant, but there were also some rolling hills and spots of tough terrain (including rocky streets in town that were hard on the vibrams).

I did run the entire race in my five fingers. They felt great, although I feel like they transferred a lot of the work to my calves (something I've felt since I started wearing them). So my calves are pretty sore. Everything else feels great. I felt nice and relaxed until about mile 10, when I really had to start to push. I maintained a good sub 6:40 pace (my goal) for most of the race until that point and ended up with a 6:45 average. That gave me a PR in the Half of 1:28 and put me 28th overall and 3rd in my age group. Even though this is only my second half marathon (the other was Provo City in 1:39) and the course was quicker, I felt like there has been a lot of improvement in my running and now I am excited to tackle the Marathon on the 30th.

I didn't take any pictures, but I might add a link to some of the official photographer pictures when they come up.

Bonus Material:

Here are links to videos of my first ice bath. My legs were really sore after the race and this is supposed to really help. It was terrible. I warn you that I only have shorts on in the video and I am a very pale and skinny fellow in a lot of pain. If that sounds like fun viewing, feel free to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxMwd2BjW5g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2PyxdgzfP0

Yesterday We:

Had a very relaxing Sunday. We got up just in time to make it church and struggled to keep the Guy quiet. He just gets so anxious to go to nursery, which he loves, that he refuses to sit still during sacrament meeting, except for with the iPad, which we try to limit. We came home, ate lunch, took naps, cleaned the house, and ate pasta for dinner. Cait went visiting teaching. My sister Charity came over and we had one of those Browning type chats. We all went to be rather early because we were up so late the night before. A very nice, relaxing Sunday.

Today's Sunday School lesson

The introduction:

Teacher: "Marriage is UNDER FIRE. There are those people who wish to "redefine" marriage as between two people other than a MAN and a WOMAN. Doesn't that bother you?" (nope, actually, not really, in fact, legally and politically I believe any consenting adult should be able to marry another consenting adult.. so I guess I'm one of them)

Comments, comments, comments....

"blah blah blah... other ignorant statements... those "same-sexed-gendered attraction people" are ruining our families and our marriages... "(I don't think that is what they prefer to be called, and how can they possibly ruin YOUR marriage?! They have nothing. to. do. with. YOUR. marriage. People always want a scapegoat for community and moral degradation, and now the Irish and African-Americans are off-limits so the homosexuals it is!)

"I HAVE prayed about it and HAVE a testimony that marriage should only be allowed between a man and a woman..." (well, woo-hoo. good for you)

The rest of the lesson continues on how to have a good marriage:

Comments begin: "My husband and I like to... {insert cheesy suggestion for keeping your marriage happy}"

Yet another: "Dr. Phil says you should... {blah blah blah to not get divorced}"

These utterly slay me: "I think a good way to keep your husband happy is to... {cook for him/clean/do a nice thing for him/let him play golf}"

"I had an MFHD professor that said...."

"Well, IIIIIII'm a Family Life major at BYU, so I know these things to be true..."

"The reason LDS people have better marriages is because we give 100% but those in the WORLD only give 50%, so that's why we are better at being married..."

*Amen*

My Testimony of the US

This post is directed towards the Mormon readers of our blog. If you have any questions about Mormon specific terms or lingo, leave a comment. Thanks.


Like I said in an earlier post, I bore my testimony on Sunday about my feelings for the US. I know no one in the church would say they have a testimony of the US, but judging from what I heard in Church the past to Sundays, and looking at my own past, I would say that a lot of members of the Church do have a testimony of the US in some form. Please feel free to contest.


I think, looking back, I did have a testimony, or a belief in the special spiritual status of the United States. I say that looking back and mainly from the feeling of absence where that testimony used to be. What I am trying to say is that the United States and being a citizen used to mean something very different to me then it did before. I still feel very lucky to be a citizen of this country, but a lot more like how I feel lucky to be a part of my family, because they're mine and a part of me, but not because they're better than other families. It's no longer the feeling of being on a winning baseball team, like it used to be.


I think the idea of American exceptionalism runs very deep in the church. We've taken scriptures and teachings which seem to me designed to teach the early saints not to hate the country that was doing nothing to stop and sometimes encouraging their persecution and turned that instead into a belief that America has some sort of divine privilege or favor above any other country on earth. Much less excusable, I think, is taking promises out of the book of Mormon that were applied to America as a whole and as a land, and even more particularly to the native peoples that our ancestors drove to near extinction and then applying them directly to the political state that is the United States.


Even if God had designated the United States as some kind of privileged group or people, which I find highly doubtful, it is foolish, I think, to assume that God intentionally wanted one group of his children to be favored higher than another, rather than using one group to further his purposes, which is to spread his love to all God's children. There is no denying that the US played an important part in preparing a land in which Joseph Smith could start a church, but he also allowed it to be filled with enough evil people as to drive the Saints out of the country. Missionary work was very strong in the US early on, but even then, outside sources like the UK and Scandinavia were providing a lot of converts. Today its not even close. South America is exploding (especially the parts that maintain a significant Native American population).


Overall, I think the greatest danger here is that we, like ancient Israel, or like the Jews of Jesus time, hold onto our imagined or temporary favored status and miss out on the blessings that come from being a part of a worldwide church. Or perhaps even worse, we run the risk of turning away honest seekers from other lands by insisting that this is a church designed to be guided by the privileged "American" saints.


I love the United States. I love it because it is a core part of who I am and of the identity I've established. I love it's beautiful vistas and diverse and fascinating people. But I love it because it is mine, not because it is superior.


Yesterday We


I ran the Hobbler Half marathon in the morning while Cait slept in and took the guy to the farmers market. Then naps and cleaning. Later in the afternoon we went on a hike to Bridal Veil Falls which was a challenging but short hike with a cool misting waterfall on top. Then we went and got dinner at Iggy's Sports Grill with a gift certificate we have and realized why we don't eat out more often: The guy doesn't sit still and greasy food makes us sick. Then we came home and watcwhich movie and went to bed, late again.