Review: Dreams from my Father (Barack Obama)

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama
My rating: 3 of 5 stars




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Belated Honeymoon Bliss

the view from our room

eighty five.

i'm pretty sure that was the average temperature while we were in jamaica. not bad for the first week of january. and boy did we take advantage of it. we spent as much time as we possibly could outside. we snorkeled. we drank cocktails and read books on the beach. we ate meals outside, we took walks outside, and we sat on the couches outside and listened to guitarists, bob marley tributes, and other local talent. it was absolutely fabulous. we were told by a few people that the staff at whitehouse are the best at what they do; frankly, we couldn't imagine it being much better.

i decided early in the trip that i didn't want to have to wait to experience the trip through our photos. that is, as much as we wanted to be able to share our experience with friends and family, we wanted to worry less about "getting good shots" and be open to just experiencing such an amazing time. there's an article or video (which would be ironic) online somewhere of a band (perhaps Wilco?) asking their fans to turn off their cell phones and cameras and just be part of the show - part of what they were doing in that moment. it's made me think a lot about how much of experiences we might miss behind our devices because we choose to record them rather than take part in them. it becomes kind of a conundrum: some things are so precious, we feel that we must capture them. some things, on the other hand, are too precious to miss being a part of. i'm getting off track. in fact, this rant started as a way for me to explain why we don't actually have a ton of photos from our honeymoon. in fact, we don't have one picture of ourselves dressed up for dinner. we did, however, have an amazing time.

most of our days were spent sleeping in, wandering out the the beach, reading books, sipping drinks, wandering in and out of restaurants, taking a nap, getting ready for dinner, and ending the night with a tropical drink in front of a local musicians. not to shabby.

we did meet a couple from minnesota who we liked a lot. they got married two weeks before we did, snorkeled the day before us, and went on the zipline/waterfall excursion the afternoon before we ventured out. we kept teasing them that we were living their lives with a one day lag. matt's bengals lost their playoff game just about an hour before the vikings started what would be their exist from postseason football. that's about the only thing we were out in front on.

our one journey away from the resort was to YS Falls, a former sugar cane plantation that has been converted into a host of different things. many of them are tourist activities, but there is also a stud farm, apparently. we were there for a zip line through the canopy followed by fun in the water falls. it was perhaps the cleanest natural water that i've ever been in. lots of fun. even after my first rope swing attempt, when i was coughing and sputtering after getting quite a bit of it up my nose. . .

for better or for worse, that's really the gist of the trip. it was so wonderful. such a nice time away after such an insanely stressful fall (and not exactly moving slowly since our return, might i say). our tour guides helped us to make sure we got photos and videos of the excursion, though, so i can share some of those. we highly recommend it for anyone who wants to visit the caribbean. . . or who wants to finance a return trip for us!! :)

i've included some of our pictures - from the resort and from the trip to YS here. there are some more on my facebook page. and, of course, don't forget to check out the video of one of the ziplines (there ended up being 5 or 6 in total, i think).

yummy winter pasta dish

i know i'm such a streaky poster lately and i literally just put something up, but i also wanted to get one more recipe up before Christmas, so i'd maybe better do it while i'm in the mood. my mom sent this one home with me from thanksgiving and it was delicious! so good and one of those much-appreciated dishes that is also yummy as leftovers.

i actually added mushrooms to the recipe below, which turned out to be a bit much for me in the protein department. BUT, that means that a better way to go would be to consider skipping the sausage and using mushrooms instead. so, if you're a vegetarian, everything is kosher and if you're an omnivore, you're getting two recipes for the price of one. it doesn't get much better than this.

also, rather than dealing with extra sausage links, i bought two spicy italian sausages from the meat department, removed the casing (i know. . . definitely in the top ten for grossest jobs ever), and then cut the 1/2" slices from what was left. it was delicious i don't have a ton of leftover sausage links taking up space in my tiny, tiny freezer.

Sausage and Veggies with Linguine Pasta
1/2 lb. linguine
1 package (12 oz) sausage links, cut into 1/2" thick slices
1-3 bell peppers (assorted colors make it pretty), coarsely chopped
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Cook sausage (or mushrooms) and peppers in skillet on medium/high heat for 4-6 minutes (until sausage/mushrooms are browned) and peppers are starting to tender.

3. Stir in tomatoes and cover. Simmer 5-6 minutes until tomatoes are soft.

4. Add drained pasta and mix well.

5. Add in cheese and toss until all ingredients are mixed.

(note: I use tongs for steps 4 & 5 - as with recipes like this - but if you have a better way of getting everything mixed together, let me know!)

Let me know if you try it!!

wisco-winter wonderland

i had started a whole post in my head about my concern regarding people's extremist attitudes lately (really - all guns or no guns? we speak as though those are our only options?) and the shocking lack of informed rhetoric on important hotbutton topics (if your google works like my google, when you type in "gun control options," you don't see one reputable source). however, i don't think that this blog is ready for such serious topics yet. nor am i ready to be quite that vulnerable on the internet, so i'll keep it light.

and by light, i mean 19.5" deep.

did you guys see that winter got here just in time to celebrate its official first day? this was the first snowstorm that matt and i weathered together (pun TOTALLY intended)! matt was in madison december 14-21. he had a temp of 103 degrees just before he left, so we kept things pretty low key in hopes of helping him recover before we head to jamaica. but we did make sure to have our date night and get the needed groceries before we bunkered down on wednesday to watch the storm roll in.

and in it came.

it never seemed to be snowing all that much, but suddenly things were covered in a way that they hadn't been since last winter. we didn't notice until we left the house today, but my neighborhood is decorated with snowpeople of all shapes and sizes. clearly not everyone adopted our "stay inside unless you really HAVE to go out" strategy of coping with the storm. it kind of reminds me of that crazy rainstorm over the summer. i thought i was miserable getting so wet until i realized that there were bunches of people playing outside and having fun. i know that i hate being cold. and i know that shoveling snow and scraping windows gets really old. but i do like these little reminders that make you stop and wonder, "why do i complain so much about this again?" because when someone is building a snowperson with charcoal eyes, an oversized scarf, and a flower pot for a hat, it sort of suggests that things aren't quite as dire as they may seem! :)

plus, a fresh coat of snow makes things look really fresh and pretty.

that being said, i was feeling really, REALLY pouty about finding my car looking like this (see photo on right) when it was time to take matt to the milwaukee airport today. the only saving grace for me was knowing that i was lucky to have matt around. because if he'd taken the bus (as per our plan b), i would've been digging this thing out by myself in the morning.

i'm waiting for one last holiday package to arrive before i head back to iowa (the first one that i ordered, naturally) and then matt and i will resume our efforts to keep the airlines in business. i'm just in for a trip to ohio and the honeymoon adventure. matt is really putting on his frequent flier cap for january.

hopefully we will have enough settled on the job market front so that we can update you on that next month. there is a lot to share.

happy holidays!

three updates in 24 hours? best. blogger. ever.

an update that includes wedding photos, as promised. although i can't always figure out how to post the pictures with her logo in them, i want to point out that all of the photos below were taken by my incredibly talented cousin, Melissa. she gave us a great deal on wedding photos and was so flexible, responsive to e-mail, open to ideas, and just overall easy to work with, i can't even explain it. if you're in the northern iowa/southern minnesota area, you should totally check her out at her website, Michaelis Photography. tell her that i sent you. it won't earn you any special deals, but at least you'll have something to talk about ;) and tell her that she did a great job with these. because she totally did!

a new topic, potentially

i *think* that i've just figured out how to copy and paste my opinions on the latest books that i've read into my blog. my "reviews" tend to be pretty broad, but at least give you a general sense of what i've been reading and may be helpful if you're just looking for something to get your hands on (especially if you live close enough to just borrow my copy).

point of interest: i buy most of my books from www.half.com. i like having copies of books that i've read (particularly the ones that i enjoy) and for most of the stuff that i purchase, i'm virtually paying only for shipping. there are inexpensive used copies of textbooks on here, too, FYI.


Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i am a big fan of the way that jon krakauer writes, so this read was pretty great for me. it's a story about two brothers from a sect of morman fundamentalism that were involved in the murder of a mother and her child in the 1990s. the book flip-flops back and forth between the history of the FLDS faith (and its many branches), the nature of fundamentalism in general, and the story of the killers' crime and trials. not necessarily a must read, but a good one if you're looking for well-researched, easy-to-follow, and interesting nonfiction.


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Christmasy catchup

want to hear something exciting? earlier this month, my blog got 80 views. 80! in one day! i wish that i had said something funny or intelligent. . .or anything at all. obviously, my travel schedule has meant that there has been very little blogging lately. so, whoever those people were pretty much just got to see old postings and photos. sorry, new friends. i hope you come back. and i hope you leave comments :)

i feel a little bit more like i can breathe now. in the last five weeks, i've been in 11 states and 2 countries. i've been on 19 planes.  i've found a dry cleaner. i know exactly how many days of parking i can pay for until taking a cab is less expensive. i ate duck for the first time. i broke in my new passport. i read three novels (now that we're in de-icing season, you can really spend forever on the ground without access to electronics). i revised a manuscript. i have a newfound appreciation for the importance of amoxicillin. i got some pretty pictures. i got a haircut. i got a dry cleaner. i got some pretty weird pictures (to be shared later). AND i somehow finished my Christmas shopping.

so far my favorite sign from traveling

there is an equally long list of things that i haven't done in the past 43 days. not the least of which is keeping up my running. i think my last good run was at the end of october. i'm supposed to have a "running meeting" with the program director early monday morning. so, we'll see how that goes. i'm not even sure that i have the appropriate winter running attire (actually, there are many things i need before this, but look at how smart this cap is. why have i been trying to fit my ponytail UNDER my cap for all of these years?!). the goal is to be back in shape enough to do a 10K training program in the spring. so, if you're lucky, you'll read me whining about that in just a few short months! :)

belated share from Lacey's wedding

now i'm just hoping to settle in for a few weeks at least. i, of course, have a "to do" list assembled for the rest of the month. and then i suppose i have to get back on a plane and go on my honeymoon. you know. . .hard times.

i am checking off a few things weekend, i hope (including maybe posting some more of the beautiful wedding photos that melissa took). however tonight i'm settled in with an unpacked suitcase, my first quart of apple cider for the season, and either friends reruns or some basketball games (my fantasy team is currently about even [18-20-2] and i'm playing against matt this week. go, my team!) i can't tell you how long i've been waiting for a low-key night like this one. hope everyone else gets a chance to relax this weekend, too.