Yay short week!! It is really feeling like summer around here and even though we don't technically have a "summer break" (since we are not in school and are not teachers) we still get the summer break feeling. Shorts and t-shirts, less crowded subways, lunches outside, summer Fridays (I get to leave work early), and causal dress at work all week.
Last summer never really felt like summer to me. We were crazy stressed trying to finish wedding planning, move apartments, and desperately keep afloat. It never got summer hot and it went super fast. This summer I am hoping we do more, have fun, and really soak in summer.
This week Dan and I got to celebrate one of our friends from church graduating with her Masters Degree. They have awesome rooftop access at their apartment so it was fun to be outside around sunset, until the rain hit.
I also enjoyed visiting with the cutest and most popular gal at our church. This sweetie is nearly five months old and starting to show some personality.
We are also having some pretty awesome sunsets lately. Now that the sun is setting later in the evening I actually get to see them.
Tonight is Couples Club in Harlem and tomorrow is mural painting, field games, chores, church missional Sunday, and the usual pre-week prep.
I am sure you all have been waiting with bated breath to hear about the twin study MRI I mentioned last week.
Well, I survived. We survived.
The trip was great fun so much so that I hardly took any pictures. Just enjoyed time with my Momma and Poppa and sissy, Mandy. Oh, and the dog.
Mandy and I arrived in Denver around the same time on Thursday and our parents took us immediately to get burgers at Ted's Montana. They know the way to good attitudes is a big piece of meat. After lunch we went to Hobby Lobby. Now people, Mandy and I lived at this Hobby Lobby in high school. We went there practically every week. I have only been home twice since 2009 when I moved to NYC and so I hadn't been to this Hobby Lobby in likely eight years. It felt good. Then we went to Joann's and another art supply store because that's what you do when you don't have access to craft stores.
That night we snuggled with the pup (who is now over 15 years old and has lost her hearing but is still just as sweet as ever). I went through the family snapshots drawer and brought back a wealth of memories to keep close to me. As an archivist I feel it is best to spread copies of photographs across multiple locations in case anything happens it's not all in one place.
On Friday morning our Momma drove Mandy and I to Boulder to do the twin study testing. I went first and started with practice tests of what we would be doing in the MRI machine. This was so we wouldn't waste time in the machine. Then I gave my consent to the study and sealed it with a spit and urine sample. Oh joy. Changed into some smashing purple scrubs and walked down the cold hallway to my doom.
Now, the MRI. I told you all that I am moderately claustrophobic and my previous experience with an MRI was less than pleasant. This time the gentle and kind lab tech informed me that my head would be in the middle of the machine and that I would NOT be able to see the ceiling and NO I could not arch my back and tip my head in order to see the ceiling. That information started things off well. Then he had me lay down as he proceeded to tell me that I HAD to wear the ear buds and NO it was not an option and it didn't matter that I didn't wear them before. When I told him I would like to put the ear buds in by myself (so I could control how far they went) he refused. I gave up on that issue but told him that once I got in the machine I might need him to take my socks off on account of the fact that my wind pipe is obstructed if my feet are sweaty. Oy.
The tech was super nice and calming and reassuring and patient with me. He put the plastic contraption over my head (which I wasn't expecting and not happy about) and adjusted the mirror above me so that I could see the projection of the computer screen behind me. I closed my eyes and told him to tell me to open them only after I was completely in the machine and in position. As he started to roll the bed into the machine (with my eyes closed) I could feel my heart rate increase, my mouth dry up, my body temperature rise, and my mind was spinning wildly in panic. When I opened my eyes I could see the computer screen which was behind me on the opposite end of the machine but the mirror in front of me was projecting the image as if the computer was right in front of me. My brain was tricked into thinking I wasn't in a small tube with no air but was sitting in front of a computer and I instantly calmed down. Then, I rocked that 1.5 hour MRI test. I laid still and finished all the cognitive tests and answered all the questions and did not spaz out...and I kept my socks on the entire time!
To say I was proud of myself is an understatement. I feel my claustrophobia is conquered, perhaps.
We both got $200 and a picture of our brains. And no incidental discoveries (this is when they accidentally discover a tumor or something). Mandy put the photos in Paint so we could see them side by side. I'm on the left. Yes, I have a big head. Call me Square Face from now on, Mandy does.
After, we went shopping with our money and had homemade steak fajitas for dinner. Yum.
It rained the entire time we were in Colorado. It made everything super green but gloomy. This was the only picture I got of the mountains when the clouds cleared a bit. These are called the Flatirons and are just outside of Boulder.
The rest of the weekend was filled with more shopping, visiting with family, and being in total shock over how much has changed in our neighborhood since we were kids.
The sun came out as we were heading to the airport yesterday. What a tiny lil city.
Next time I'll bring Dan along to join the fun. I reunited with him last night and it was SO WONDERFUL to be together again. We missed each other hard. I brought him back a goofy but fun souvenir.
By now you all know that I am an identical twin. Here is my cutie other half, Mandy.
Even though I am only one minute older than her, she is the baby of the family through and through and I love her. I can't imagine life without her. Even though we live in different states we text daily and talk on the phone weekly. It's hard to explain but we are truly part of each other.
Ever since we were nine months old we've participated in a twin study program at the University of Colorado. Throughout our growing-up years we did phone interviews and on-site testing that collected an array of cognitive and behavioral information basically over the course of our entire lives (to this point). We never really know what happens with the information they collect but it seems like they use it to help determine how genetics and environment effect the cognitive and behavioral development of a child. Who knows, you can check out the study's website here.
Mandy and I liked it because we got special attention, sometimes toys, and now that we are adults, they pay us. One of the tests I remember most from when we were little was they had our mom take us, one at a time, into a room (with a video camera set-up) and we had to play with infant toys even though we were like eight years old. We had to play with those toys for a certain amount of time without being distracted or touch a giant wildly wrapped present sitting on the table in front of us. I guess they were testing self-control? Anyways at the end of the test they let us open the present. It was sidewalk chalk. You can't imagine our disappointment.
Another time they had us race each other outside. Yeah, that caused a fight.
We've done tons of computer tests, tests where they had us stare at phone numbers or faces of people with their names below them and then look at a piece of paper with the faces without the names and see how many we remembered. We had to memorize strings of letters and numbers and answer a bunch of questions about our drug use, alcohol use, whether or not we con people, if we mutilate or harm animals, etc. etc.
Since we aged out of the program we don't do annual tests but every once in awhile they contact us to participate in a specific study. They pay for our transportation out to Denver and give us a little cash for doing the test. Woot!! Free trip home, yes please.
Mandy and I are flying out to Denver tomorrow and on Friday we will go to Boulder for a three hour MRI. Guys, this horrifies me. I had an MRI on my pelvis last year and it was a whole ordeal. I'm moderately claustrophobic so I knew I might flip. It ended up being okay but the tech totally thought I was crazy when I yelled at him as he was trying to move me into the machine. I said "wait!! I need to take my socks off. I can't breath when my feet are sweaty." So he rolled me out and I took my socks off. Then I yelled at him again and insisted that I could not wear the noise cancelling headphone because "I can't breathe when I can't hear." Drama much? Eventually he convinced me that if I just waited for him to roll me into the machine I would be able to see the ceiling above me. As long as I can see the outside I'm ok. My eyes convince my irrational brain that there is plenty of air.
Anyways, the three hour MRI on Friday should be a real treat. At least I know what to expect, somewhat. Also the study lady said it costs them $500 an hour to use the machine so I better not bail. Shame is enough to force me out of a panic, I think.
While we are in the MRI machine (we will be taking the test at different times - not sharing a machine, although that might help me not to freak out) they will have us answer questions and do other cognitive tests. My guess is they are doing this to see which parts of the brain are active during specific questions and tests. At the end we each get $200. Then our mom is taking us shopping.
Man did we get lucky with weather this weekend. Today is cool and completely overcast including fog. This weekend was the complete opposite and I am grateful for that.
Some weekends Dan and I do a lot and other weekends we accomplish a lot. This weekend was a "do" weekend.
Friday night Dan took some of the teenage boys to a Mets game. Since I would have been the only lady in attendance, I opted out.
I went to Target instead which is always a risk on a solo trip. I had to get a lot of supplies for the Children's Ministry and to restock our household needs. I ended up having to buy another granny cart because I wasn't going to be able to carry it all. Fortunately, I looked like a damsel in distress when I got to Bay Ridge and a nice man helped me carry the cart up the two flights of stairs from the Subway platform. Chivalry is not dead people! Even in New York.
We had to wake-up early on Saturday so we got some donut motivation to get us going. We met-up with two of my friends from grad school (they also live in Bay Ridge) and took the subway into the city to participate in the Lung Force walk. We were walking in memory of a former friend and colleague who recently passed away from a lung related cancer. We wore purple for NYU which is where we all met and where we got to know our archivist mentor who passed. Dan and I were walking for her as well as other family and friends with lung related diseases.
It was a beautiful day, albeit a little crowded, as we walked part way over the Brooklyn bridge and back. We had fun and our team raised over $1,200.
When Dan and I got home we took a quick cat nap and then I met a friend to window shop and catch-up. Dan is having a tough allergy season so he stayed inside and rested.
For dinner I made my favorite summertime flavor combination (aside from bbq). I picked-up fresh french bread, basil, mozzarella, and sliced up some tomatoes. I seasoned with salt and pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Yum.
After dinner Dan and I organized some new bins and supplies for church and got caught in the rain. We ended the evening watching "Undercover Boss" on Netflix.
Sunday was wild as usual. I got to church early to sort and organize all of the bins and replaced all of the old ones with brand new clean ones. I love me some organizing. Dan did a baby dedication (so bummed I didn't get to see it or take a pic). He took over the elementary class and I had a nice week off from the pre-k/K class and got to hear the sermon.
By the time we got to tearing down the equipment it was scorching hot and humid outside. Fortunately we got some cloud cover so Dan and I enjoyed our first picnic of the season at Prospect Park. You guys, we had crazy awesome subway luck. We took four trains yesterday and we never waited more than three minutes for any of them. That is UNHEARD OF, especially for a Sunday. Sweet serendipity.
Sunnies and a kiss bomb!
We did some people watching in the park and then headed to the nearby theater to see Pitch Perfect II. It was great. Dan and I used a gift card we got from Will and Rebekah so the movie was free!! Thanks you guys!!! We shared popcorn and Hi-C and had some good laughs. Fat Amy is my favorite. I'm not sure if I would say it was better than the first one but it was good. My favorite song is "Lollipop" sung by the Treblemakers. Go check it out.
Since it was a "do" weekend I effectively accomplished nothing. We didn't do laundry, I didn't meal plan or go grocery shopping. But it's a three day work week for me so I am PUMPED!! Happy Monday!
Guys, (I call everyone guys, even if you're a lady)
I need Friday to fly. I am so done with this week. Unfortunately this
weekend is shaping up to be pretty busy so I can't say I'm super
excited about that. BUT, Dan planned an after church date for Sunday to
have a picnic in the park and see Pitch Perfect 2. So that's something
to look forward to!!
This week was pretty bland but I did make it a solid week sticking to our meal plan. That makes two successful week under my belt, so I thought I'd share my strategies today.
As I have mentioned before, I am not very good at meal planning. Initially I was having issues because the thought of having to pick a meal so far in advance with so many recipe options made it really difficult. I solved that problem by creating standard "themes" for each day of the week. I know this isn't an original idea but it was new to me. Usually I start off strong with meals picked for the week and a grocery
list. I fill out my little meal planning menu for the week at the same time I make my grocery list.
These our are themes:
Monday - Quick and Easy/Dan's Choice
This is typically something with box directions like hamburger helper, tacos, blue box mac, chili, fish sticks, etc. I have dance class on Monday nights so it is great to come home from work and Dan has dinner ready right away which gives me a little break before going to dance. He does really well in the kitchen and awesome solo, since I'm not breathing down his neck trying to control him. His repertoire is growing! However, due to my fear of raw poultry I haven't taught him how to cook chicken so it is typically something with no meat or ground beef.
Tuesday - Breakfast for Dinner
I LOVE breakfast food and I pretty close to never make hot breakfast in the morning so dinner it is! There are so many great breakfast options that it is typically the easiest night for me to pre-plan a meal. Our favorite is waffles. We also have done breakfast burritos, pancakes, fried eggs, etc. Sides include sausage, bacon, fresh fruit, or smoothies, etc.
Wednesday - Beef
We have small group every other week on Wednesday nights so I get a good cooking break on those weeks. When we don't have SG I will pick a recipe that has beef in it for Wednesday. The whole point of the theme is to narrow the recipe options and cut down on the daunting selection process.
Thursday - Chicken
A recipe with chicken in it. Nothing complicated there. Last night we made pot-sticker stir fry. All I had to do was open the bag of pre-made frozen chicken pot stickers from Trader Joe's, add a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies, and make a simple Asian flavored sauce. Dan helped and it was ready to eat in under 20 minutes. Quick, yummy, and stuck with the chicken theme.
Friday - Pizza
Who has the energy to cook on Friday? Not me. So we designated Friday as pizza night (I know a lot of people do this and it is genius). Basically we can choose to order Papa Johns, pick-up slices or a pie from our favorite local pizza joint, bake a frozen pre-made pizza, or make our own fresh. If we make our own I use either the Pillsbury refrigerated crust or something similar to the Bobili pizza crust. I do not have the energy to deal with yeast and sticky dough so no, I don't make my own.
I discovered that the jar pizza sauce is WAY too much for one pizza so when I open a new jar I divvy 1/4-1/3 cup into the snack-size ziplocks and freeze them. I do the same for pre-shredded cheese and pepperoni. I buy a bulk bag of mozzarella cheese and divvy two cups per ziplock bag. Seal the bag and use a drinking straw to suck all of the extra air out of the bag. The pepperoni go in snack-size ziplocks. Pull one baggie of cheese, one of sauce, and one of pepperoni out of the freezer while the oven is preheating. Nothing is wasted and we have pizza supplies for weeks!
Saturday/Sunday
I still haven't mastered these nights. I'm thinking something crock-pot related on Sunday nights and Saturday is likely going to remain random and weird. Baby steps people.
So, two fully successful weeks under my belt and minor other successes here and there. I might actually get this wife thing down after all. But, life is not perfect and stuff happens. Sometimes it falls apart when I can't get everything I need at the
store...because something isn't stocked or what is stocked doesn't look
very good (I'm talking to you red peppers at Key Food). Sometimes I get lazy and we end up going out one night. When we have guests the meal plan goes out the window because who wants hamburger helper when there are a million amazing and unusual places to eat just around the block?
Anyways, those are my tips. I'll report back on our future success or failure.
Current song obsession (yes, I know, I'm late to the KC game)
I first shared about the tiny treasures Dan has been stashing in my lunch back here.
The trend has not faded.
Years and years from now when our maybe future kids dig through my treasure boxes filled with tiny memory keepsakes, they will find ziplock bags filled with these napkin notes. I am not a hoarder, in fact I find great joy in throwing things away. But these, I just can't. Whatever happens, I want these bits of love to look back on.
We hope everyone enjoyed a nice Mother's Day weekend. We had lovely summer muggy weather yesterday and I was nice change even if it meant uncomfortable sleeping conditions.
Dan and I didn't have a lot of plans this weekend so we worked through a to-do list that included two-weeks worth of laundry. Dan also replaced the shower head which made me happy because the other one was so gross.
We made smoothies, I had quality time with a friend, and we took cousins Kaleigh and Kourtney out for Indian food in celebration of their birthday.
On Sunday, at church, all the little kids were supposed to hand out carnation flowers to all the ladies in the service (not just the moms). The twin pip squeaks in my pre-k class were not happy about giving away the flowers. One of them came up to me, handed me the flower, and said "I do not want to give you my flower." I let her keep it.
You guys, I need to figure out how to control my pre-k/kinder class. They are wild.
Sunday afternoon I did meal planning and we went grocery shopping. Then we called the moms. Shout-out to these lovely ladies: Terri Mom and my Momma. We love you both *hugs*
I made steak for the first time EVER on Sunday night. I truly tired my hardest to cook it to medium. It was pretty well-done. Sorry, I tried. I probably won't cook it that often. One, it was expensive. Two, I didn't cook it right. Three, the entire apartment still smells like steak this morning.
And one last thing...I love this wax warmer that Cheryl and Jeff brought me. It is cute soft light and makes the apartment smell beautiful without the risk of open flames or the cost of an outlet plug-in. It's my new favorite thing.
Well, happy Monday. Here's to hoping the week goes quick.
