Honoring the Sabbath

Last night on my way home from the airport I was scanning the stations and stopped on a Christian station. Now while it is not uncommon for me to listen to Christian music, it is very rare for me to listen to a radio sermon. I'll be honest, I usually find them incredibly boring. I truly believe that God places things in your life and that there are no accidents, so when I actually stopped to listen and enjoyed the message, I knew it was no accident. I have no idea of the pastor's name, but he spoke about the craziness of life, and how the Sabbath is actually a gift from God to us. He spoke about the need to really take one day and truly relax. In my last blog I talked about how crazy things have been, and if you read between the lines, we aren't exactly honoring the sabbath. I'm not sure how to fix that at the moment. There isn't one single day that we simply relax. As I write this, Adam has been gone since 7 this morning studying, and I imagine he will be gone until dinner at the earliest. I just got back from Jamaica late last night, and while that sounds relaxing, I'm exhausted. It was a very fast trip for work, and of course I come home and know I have a million and one things to do. I've already got laundry going, found that Sadie decided her bathroom counter was a good place for her shoes, so I cleaned her entire bathroom, cleaned the kitchen which was a mess, reorganized the pantry, went shopping for Father's Day, all while playing with Sadie in between. So the question is, how do I honor the Sabbath? Do I just put everything on the back burner for the day? The pastor said that he actually "unplugs" on his sabbath day, which happens to be Fridays. I typically work 7 days a week between my business and day job, so do I just start saying "no" to things and even taking a day off editing and cleaning? I'm trying to relax today, but obviously having a hard time. These are rhetorical questions, but ones that I do need to figure out a way to find a little more balance and peace in our lives. 

"I don't know how she does it"

Lately I feel like Sarah Jessica Parker in the movie, "I don't know how she does it." I really do. I think Adam feels like that too. Adam works full time 45 minutes away and is also going to school to be a mechanical engineer. I am beyond proud of him. He just finished Cal 3 with an A, and has just started physics. It is a one month course, so is a lot of work. He is getting up at 5 and heading to work and then going to class from 1-5:40 every day. The class is grueling so he needs to spend a lot of time studying as well, which means a lot of time away from Sadie and me. Right now it is 10:45 and he is still gone studying. It's a very hard time of life. I would give anything for him to be able to go to school full time and be done in 2 years. As it stands right now, we don't know how long he has left. I HATE it when people ask me how long he has left. When you can only take one class at a time, maybe two, we are looking at 12 years if he can't get on with the co-op program through BP or another oil company. I am sure he will, but I really hope it happens sooner rather than later.
The sacrifices that he makes extend to Sadie and me as well, in that we don't see him much. Not many people know, but I have a full time day job in addition to running my photography business. Yep, I finally said it-I work. I have this fear that if my photo clients knew that I work that I won't have time for them, so I have kept it very quiet. I am a banker by day. I really like what I do, and feel like I make a huge contribution to our family by doing so. It's definitely wearing on me though doing both. I work 40 hours during the week and shoot basically every weekend, and in summer on weeknights after work many nights. I try to squeeze in a workout each day and spend time with Adam and Sadie. I also like to have a clean house. I truly don't know how I do it all.
To give you an example of a day in the life....today up at 5:30 when Adam was leaving, back to sleep until 7, lay with Sadie to wake her up, feed her breakfast, pack lunches, get her to school, get to work, get on conference call, fill in at my old office until 4, drive to my main office and work until 6:30...get home around 7 and run on the treadmill while Adam cooks dinner, eat dinner, Adam leaves to go back to school while I take Sadie swimming, showers for both of us, Sadie bedtime routine of brush teeth, Nasonex, story, cuddle, say "goodnight and I will be back to check on you..." head out to kitchen, do dishes, wipe counters, go back to check on Sadie, then finally sit down for Marissa time, and Adam is still gone....
While I will always always always remember the important words my dad said to me, "don't wish your years away," at the same time, I can't wait for this season of life to pass. I am ready to spend time with my husband again without us being passing ships and rarely seeing one another.

Thoughts on Facebook and parenting

Is it just me or is anyone else sick of reading the "I'm a better parent than you" type of posts on Facebook? I'm so tired of it. I have several "friends" that feel the need to bombard their friends with posts about their parenting style and such. I'm sick of reading about it. There is such an obvious tone to posts like that that scream, "my way is the right way and no one else's."

I think that every family is unique and I'm sick of the judgment. Who are we to judge the way another family parents their children??? Just because something is right for you, doesn't make it right for your neighbor. So to all those that post things like that-get over yourself. 

Every once in a while I do see something good on parenting on Facebook and this really spoke to me- (especially about breast feeding-I tried so hard with Sadie and only was able to for 4 months. Due to all the complications that I had after her birth I had a very hard time with my supply. I am also very private when it comes to feeding and would just stop when someone tried to look over my shoulder; I am sure that had something to do with my supply as well. I STILL to this day have guilt for not producing enough for her and I think a lot of it stems from people "bragging" for lack of a better term, on Facebook about feeding. I think there is a big misunderstanding out there that says that just because a mom doesn't breast feed, means that she doesn't want to. Nothing could be further from the truth-at least in my case.) Anyways, here is the post:

To the mom who's breastfeeding: Way to go! It really is an amazing gift to give your baby, for any amount of time that you can manage! You're a good mom.

To the mom who's formula feeding: Isn't science amazing? To think there was a time when a baby with a mother who couldn't produce enough would suffer, but now? Better living through chemistry! You're a good mom.

To the cloth diapering mom: Fluffy bums are the cutest, and so friendly on the bank account. You're a good mom.

To the disposable diapering mom: Damn those things hold a lot, and it's excellent to not worry about leakage and laundry! You're a good mom.

To the mom who stays home: I can imagine it isn't easy doing what you do, but to spend those precious years with your babies must be amazing. You're a good mom.

To the mom who works: It's wonderful that you're sticking to your career, you're a positive role model for your children in so many ways, it's fantastic. You're a good mom.

To the mom who had to feed her kids from the drive thru all week because you're too worn out to cook or go grocery shopping: You're feeding your kids, and hey, I bet they aren't complaining! Sometimes sanity can indeed be found in a red box with a big yellow M on it. You're a good mom.

To the mom who gave her kids a home cooked breakfast lunch and dinner for the past week: Excellent! Good nutrition is important, and they're learning to enjoy healthy foods at an early age, a boon for the rest of their lives. You're a good mom.

To the mom with the kids who are sitting quietly and using their manners in the fancy restaurant: Kudos, it takes a lot to maintain order with children in a place where they can't run around. You're a good mom.

To the mom with the toddler having a meltdown in the cereal aisle: they always seem to pick the most embarrassing places to lose their minds don't they? We've all been through it. You're a good mom.

To the moms who judge other moms for ANY of the above? Glass houses, friend


(I would add, thanks to my friend Dianne for making me think of it: To the mom that had a natural childbirth-good for you-that could not have been easy. I admire your strength and courage. To the mom that had an epidural-that must have hurt like Hell-I don't blame you for asking for one. To the mom that had a c-section-wow, that must have been hard, but I am sure it was for good reason, whether it be your health, the baby's, or both. To all of you-glad you had a healthy baby from the outcome. One does not make you better than the other.)

Being color blind

Being color blind can be so frustrating. When I tell someone that I am they immediately start asking, "what color is this, what color is this?" When I answer correctly, they think I'm not actually color blind. It applies more to small things...you know that number test that you take to test for it? I see 1 number in that whole book! Anyways, I recently bought an almost identical bottle of nail polish because I had no idea I had one super similar at home. In fact, I would not have even known they were different if they didn't have different names. Maybe they are more different than I realize but I couldn't believe that they were so similar.  I just showed them to Adam and he thought they were the same thing. (He is also color blind.) 

Summer is here!

Summer is officially here! We had several cold fronts that kept coming through but finally it's warm! Sadie and I went swimming for the first time this season and she of course loved it. She also got to go fishing with her daddy at the lake in our neighborhood. She caught 5 fish!!! We have also been picking lots and lots of blackberries. Life has really come full circle. All of this reminds me of my childhood and spending summers at the cabin. We'd fish and pick blackberries. At the cabin I'd often bake blackberry tartlets while the 3pm rain happened. It is one of my fondest memories, baking and or playing games on the porch listening to the rain on the tin roof. Well, nowadays I don't have the same kind of time on my hands, but really wanted to do some sort of tartlet type thing. I bought puff pastry and cut them into 12 pieces and put a blackberry sugar mixture in each and baked them. They were nowhere near as good as when I'd make a pie crust from scratch at the cabin, but good nonetheless. Here are a few photos:

Red door!

We have been in our house for 3 years and FINALLY have a pretty front door! We bought a foreclosure and the door still had a little of the tape from the foreclosure sign on it. Bad, right? It is a great door so naturally, we didn't want to replace it. It looks like brand new! We love it!
See before and after below! :)

Italian cooking

I picked up some truffle oil while in Italy and had been searching for a recipe to try it with. I found this recipe from Whole Foods and thought it looked good:

Rosemary-Seared Pork Tenderloin with Truffle Porcini Sauce

Ingredients: 

• 18 dried porcini mushrooms
• 3 pounds pork tenderloin
• 3 tablespoons dried rosemary
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Canola oil cooking spray
• 1 teaspoon flour
• 4 teaspoons white truffle oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon salted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped

Method: 

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Pour 1 1/2 cups hot water over mushrooms in a medium bowl and set aside to let soak until softened while you prepare the tenderloin.

Season tenderloin with dried rosemary and salt and pepper. Lightly spray the tenderloin all over with canola oil spray. Preheat an oven-proof skillet until you start to see wisps of smoke rising from the pan. Add tenderloin and sear on both sides. Transfer to oven and roast 10 to 15 minutes to finish cooking the tenderloin. Transfer to a plate and set aside to let rest.

Meanwhile, drain mushrooms, reserving soaking liquid, and cut into small pieces. Set aside. Mix flour, 1 teaspoon of the truffle oil and butter in a small bowl and set aside. Heat olive oil and 2 teaspoons of the truffle oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until translucent. Add mushrooms and cook for 1 minute more. Deglaze the pan by pouring in the reserved mushroom liquid. Bring to boil and then whisk in the butter mixture until well incorporated and the sauce begins to thicken. Pour any juices from the resting tenderloin into the skillet along with the remaining 1 teaspoon truffle oil. Stir to combine.

Slice the tenderloin into medallions and spoon the sauce over top. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Info: 

Per Serving:460 calories (170 from fat), 19g total fat, 4.5g saturated fat, 150mg cholesterol, 330mg sodium, 15g carbohydrate (5g dietary fiber, 1g sugar), 55g protein

 

My review:

It was a little tough. Instead of cooking 15 minutes after searing, I'd slow cook it for a couple of hours. The 15 minutes didn't cut it anyways, and it was way underdone inside. I had to put it in the oven for another 15 minutes at least. I served it with asparagus risotto with Parmesan cheese, which did compliment it nicely.