Goals.

As I prepared for this deployment, I spent a little time thinking about goals. Even though I work much longer hours here than at home, there is still plenty of time for other activities. Some people focus on schoolwork, others on fitness, and some people spend their free time drinking and socializing. I decided to do a little of each.

 Accordingly, the tentative title for my goal was 100/100. That stands for 100 drinks/100 miles. However, as I worked along towards my goal, I realized that the 100 drinks part is counter-productive. Why bother working out and eating clean if I’m only going to drink at the end of the day? Therefore, I am dropping the drinking.

 On the running front, as of today, I’m down to 85 miles to go. I run 3 miles, 3 times a week and swim on the opposite days. That gives me 6 solid workouts a week, with one day to rest. I plan on upping the mileage weekly as well. My goal is to both increase endurance and drop my 5k time. Over time, I’d like to get somewhere near the 25 minute mark.  Right now I’m around 28 minutes. How awesome would it be if I got good enough at swimming to do a (short) triathlon?

In addition to running and swimming, I’m focusing on eating clean. That means not only eating healthy overall, but dropping several “bad” foods from my diet. In an effort to achieve my most defined abs ever (which really isn’t saying much), I’m eliminating all carbonated beverages. This includes diet soda. I’m sticking to water (with or without Crystal Light added) and skim milk. Overall, I already am a healthful eater, but I want to really concentrate on cutting out the junk.

 Today I had one of my best runs ever. By that I mean that I was able to up my speed continuously and finish strong, all while still feeling fairly comfortable. In my opinion, the key to running success is music. I downloaded a few songs this week and added them to my playlist. I think they’re motivating, so if you’re looking for some new additions, I recommend:

1. Anything from the new Coldplay album
2. Give It 2 Me– Madonna
3. Moneymaker- Ludacris
4. Maneater- Nelly Furtado

I also have a few dieting/healthy eating tips to pass along.

1. Instead of blended coffee drinks, try plain iced coffee. You can even add skim milk and a little sugar without consuming nearly the amount of calories and sugar in traditional blended drinks. At home, I make a pot of hazelnut coffee, put it in a pitcher, and store it in the fridge. That way it’s always ready to drink! Way cheaper than Starbucks- and since I don’t buy soda, it’s a low-fat, low-cal caffeine source when I’m dragging.
2. As I mentioned earlier, drinking water is key. There is a huge variety of drink mixes out there that you can add to “mix it up”- I particularly like Crystal Lite Sugar-Free Iced Tea with Lemon. It’s delicious!
3. If you’re craving ice cream (or something equally bad for you), try just a bite. Usually that is enough to make me happy without wrecking my day, eating-wise. Try eating a spoonful of ice cream or only a few fries. I find that eating 3 fries now is better than denying myself and downing a whole serving later.

Do you have any diet/fitness tips you'd like to share?

Finally an update......

Hey everybody! Sorry it's been so long since I updated this thing. In case you don't know, I am currently deployed. I won't give you any info on where I am, or what I am doing, or how long I will be gone, because that's not smart and/or allowed. Instead I will try to update occasionally on anything I find interesting and worth sharing.

One of the things that make deployments easier for me is online shopping. Last time I was here I was bad about shopping the JCrew online sales, so I've vowed not to repeat that mistake next time- at least not to the same extent. I have, however, put in an order with Amazon that I am anxiously awaiting. I am so looking forward to reading the books I bought!

The first is Spiritual Midwifery by Ina Gaskin. I have been meaning to read this one for quite a long time! I have heard from several people that this book is amazing- and for more than a few - life changing. It is considered by many to be the single most important piece of literature about midwifery, and to be an important read for not only midwives and midwifery students, but for all women. I recently came across this quote and I think it's awesome. Ina says: "Midwifery is an essential profession. A midwife's work means something: It prepares the woman to go through childbirth in a way that's transformative and empowering. The empowerment and self respect she learns in labor is passed on to the child in a loving relationship." I found an interesting article about Ina here.

The second book I ordered is another I have been meaning to read for a while. For months now I have been reading a few different blogs referencing attachment parenting. Shout out to Babyfingers! Anyway, I wanted to read a book for myself that fully explains the concept and the views behind it. To that end, I bought William Sears' The Baby Book. I chose this one because (according to the summary and reviews) it encompasses a broad variety of topics from birth all the way through the early toddler years.

Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson was one of my favorite books growing up, but unfortunately, I haven't read it in a long time. As I've discussed in either entries, I am in the process of building up our library at home. I have a list stored on my computer that details all the books I plan on buying to add to that library, and this is one of them. I can't wait to read this one again, either! I hadn't noticed it until now, but in that book the main character ends up being a nurse or midwife (I can't quite remember which). Maybe my inclination towards delivering babies started earlier than I thought!�

When I finish reading these books, I'll update with reviews.

I also promise to try harder to be more consistent with updating this while I'm overseas.

For my next Amazon order, I plan on ordering:

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, and Steven L. Hopp

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Home Cheese Making: Recipes for 75 Delicious Cheeses by Riki Carroll

So expect an update on those books (and the ones I just ordered) in the next month or so.

Savannah's having puppies!!

No, these puppies aren't mine. They're actually my parents', and they are the puppies of Savannah's full sister, Georgia. Ladies and gentlemen, I am super excited to announce that my dog, Lady Savannah of Cambridge (aka Savannah Pearle Nolan) is expecting! Brett is taking her to the vet today for the ultrasound so that we'll know how many puppies to expect. The daddy's name is Jake, and believe it or not, the two of them met at a Braves game in Atlanta! Back in June, Brett and I took Savannah and Chuck-Chuck to Bark at the Park, which is a special day at Turner Field when dogs are welcome. My dogs had so much fun eating treats, playing with other dogs, and of course cheering on their heroes (Savannah is partial to Jeffrey, while Chuck idolizes Brian McCann). And, yes, I know I'm one of those crazy dog people. 

Anyway, Jake is a beautiful dog. He is a bit bigger than Savannah, with that beautiful, blocky head so prized in Golden Retrievers. His coloring is a little darker than Savannah's, and he has a beautiful feathered coat. Jake's parents live in Atlanta, and Jake works as a certified therapy dog. He has an amazing disposition. We already have had several people inquire about the puppies for use as cadaver and bomb id dogs, as Jake is such an amazing worker. With the combination of Jake's discipline and Savannah's drive (especially in the water!), the puppies will surely be great as therapy dogs, hunting retrievers, sporting dogs, and especially family pets. 

Both Savannah and Jake are AKC registered Golden Retrievers with dysplasia-free hip certifications. Jake is elbow and eye certified as well. The puppies should be here mid-September, and be ready to go home in beginning-to-mid November- just in time for Christmas! If you're interested, let me know by commenting or through email. Savannah and the puppies will be in Clemson (not Warner Robins) and we will hopefully have Jake for a week or so when the puppies are ready to go, just in case you want to see him in person. For now, I will work on getting a picture of him up here. Here's my favorite picture of Chuck and Savannah together- this was actually taken at Bark at the Park:

Tagged! Six things you might not know about me...

I thought I was done blogging for the day- until I checked out Jenny's blog! Since I am all caught up with both my housework and schoolwork (having had a productive day, as evidenced in my earlier blog), I am glad to comply :-)

Here we go...

1) I am OCD when it comes to getting up on time in the morning. I am such a routine person that I fear that a few minutes lost sleeping in will throw off my whole morning, then my whole day, etc. I actually set three alarms in the morning, and as my husband points out, double-check them multiple times to be sure they're set correctly! But to be fair, I do need to get up at the same time everyday to be sure my BBT is accurate for FAM charting purposes.

2) I am sort of glad that I work with mainly guys (yeah military!) As much as it kills me to admit it, there is definitely less drama. I am also glad that I wear a uniform to work- otherwise, who knows how long it would take me to get ready!

3) I may seem put together, but I have no clue what I want to do with the rest of my life. Midwifery, law school, full-time philanthropy, stay-at-home mom...who knows what I'll end up doing?

4) I have trouble pronouncing L words. If I'm not paying attention, I'll slip and say something like "Warren" instead of "Lauren." Super embarrassing, I know. 

5) I am really weird about running out of stuff. As soon as a bottle of something I use daily runs low, I'm out buying another. This means that my bathroom is in a constant state of clutter, despite my best efforts. I am extremely loyal to my particular products as well. In fact, I have bought the exact same planner for 5 or 6 years running. Ridiculous.

6) I spend a lot of money on my hair. My husband still does not know how much. I think he prefers it that way!

Last-minute preserving.

As I get ready to head out on my "desert adventure," which sounds much more exciting than it really is, I came to the realization that I had plenty of veggies in the garden that I needed to use up before I leave. So, what do you do with loads of green tomatoes? Make green tomato pickles! Although I don't have any pictures of the pickles I canned, I am really pleased with how they look, and I was lucky in that all the jars sealed properly. I cannot wait to come back home and try them out! Here is the recipe:

Dilled Green Tomato Pickles
yield about 6 pints

5 pounds small, firm green tomatoes
1/4 cup canning salt
3 1/2 cups vinegar
3 1/2 cups water
6 or 7 cloves garlic
6 or 7 heads fresh dill or 1/4 cup dill seeds
6 or 7 bay leaves
Wash tomatoes; drain. Core tomaotes; cut into halves or quarters. Combine salt, vinegar and water in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil. Pack tomatoes into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Add 1 clove of garlic, 1 head of dill (or 2 teaspoons dill seeds) an 1 bay leaf to each jar. Ladle hot liquid over tomatoes, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

To take care of the mass quantities of jalapeno peppers, I decided to dry them. It's really simple to do! Just thread a need with a double length of thread, and string the peppers along it. Then hang them up and wait! Here is a picture of some peppers I started drying a couple weeks ago. They will be great in chilies and sauces later.  

Finally, I mentioned before the winter garden I put in last week. I cannot believe that the peas and beans are up already! You can also catch a glimpse of the tiny lettuce(s?) behind them. Take a look:

Hummingbirds! (and book recommendations)

After months of mentioning how much I love my hummingbird visitors, I finally managed to capture some decent pictures of them. Since Brett was here this weekend I borrowed his camera and snapped more than a few pictures of my feathered friends. Here are a few:

I also want to mention a few books that I read recently that I think are amazing. The first is The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant. You can read more about it here. Since I'm lazy, here is a summary of the book via Amazon (thanks, Amazon!): 

"The red tent is the place where women gathered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and even illness. Like the conversations and mysteries held within this feminine tent, this sweeping piece of fiction offers an insider's look at the daily life of a biblical sorority of mothers and wives and their one and only daughter, Dinah. Told in the voice of Jacob's daughter Dinah (who only received a glimpse of recognition in the Book of Genesis), we are privy to the fascinating feminine characters who bled within the red tent. In a confiding and poetic voice, Dinah whispers stories of her four mothers, Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, and Bilhah--all wives to Jacob, and each one embodying unique feminine traits. As she reveals these sensual and emotionally charged stories we learn of birthing miracles, slaves, artisans, household gods, and sisterhood secrets. Eventually Dinah delves into her own saga of betrayals, grief, and a call to midwifery."

 

The best quote I have read to sum it up comes from Gail Hudson, one of the editors at Amazon, who writes, "Remembering women's earthy stories and passionate history is indeed the theme of this magnificent book. In fact, it's been said that The Red Tent is what the Bible might have been had it been written by God's daughters, instead of her sons."

Bottom line: I love, love, love this book! I borrowed it from the church library last week, but I will definitely be borrowing it to add to my own collection. 

Another book in the same vein is The Witch of Cologne. Although this book, which was written by Tobsha Learner, lacks the same biblical backbone that The Red Tent has, it carries the same theme throughout: the mysteries surrounding women, their gifts, and their relationships. It also has some really neat references to old-school midwifery practices. And we all know I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. I'm still finishing this one. 

 

Finally, Brett and I visited this new book store that just opened near us. It carries old and new books, and is organized in such a way that it's easy to find what you're looking for. For anyone reading this that is familiar with the area, it's located next to Thai Pepper, at the intersection of Russell Parkway and Carl Vinsson. Brett found some nerdy Star Wars (maybe Star Trek??) books he was looking for, while I contributed to my stash of kids' books. I love books and the memories I associate with the first (or maybe millionth time) I've read each one. In fact, I think books are so important that I am collecting a considerable number of them with the intent of having a large "library" established by the time I have kids. I want my *future* children to be surrounded by amazing books- I can think of few things that are more important to the intellectual development of children than books. Some of the books I picked up yesterday:

- Where the Wild Things Are

- Three books about Laura Ingalls Wilder, including a picture book (not to be confused with the Little House series, which of course I already have)

- Little Grown-Ups

- I Like it When...

What's your favorite children's book?

Amish country.

I know I crack on Pennsylvania a lot. I mean A LOT. As in, I never could live there again, the cold kills me, the people (for the most part) are rude, etc. etc. However, as hesitant to admit it as I am, the Keystone State has some redeeming factors. The general lack of humidity in the summer, the fact that fire ants can't survive there, and the awesome soil that allows for growing all sorts of cool pumpkins, melons, etc. that don't grow well here in middle Georgia are a few of them. I also (on occasion) miss the landscape. My parents live in northwest PA; that's directly north of PIttsburgh, just east of Cleveland, and slightly south of Lake Erie and the New York border. The land is utterly beautiful there. Rolling hills are everywhere, and everything just seems so, well, green. Anyway, my hometown is tiny. It has (at last count) 3 traffic lights, 1 decent gas station, and numerous dairy isles (for you Southerners, as dairy isle is kind of like an independently-owned, smaller version of a Dairy Queen, but somehow a million times better). I graduated from high school with, like, 85 other people. As small as Cambridge Springs is, I didn't even grow up within the town's borders. I lived out in the country. Seriously. As in, we lived on a dirt road (gasp!), my parents had (have) a dairy farm, and for the longest time we had an address like this: RR3 Box 101, Cambridge Springs. RR, by the way, stands for "rural route." It was a sad day when we got a new address, one that complies with the 911 code (to make it easier for emergency services to find you). 29727 Hogback Road just doesn't sound as quaint.


One of the cool things about growing up where I did is that we had some, well, different neighbors. Several Old-Order Amish communities make their homes near us. I grew up familiar with the buggies that drove by, the bearded, plainly-dressed people who stopped to talk to my dad, and the barefoot children racing each other home from school (see post below), bonnet strings blowing back in the wind. Now, these aren't the kind of Amish that people normally think of, the kind that inhabit popular places like Lancaster, PA. The Amish that live near my parents are infinitely more strict in terms of plain living. We're talking lighting a lantern to walk through a woodstove-heated house, out through three feet of snow to use the outhouse in the middle of winter. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration. I bet they probably have bedpans for those occasions.


One of the things I find most interesting about the Amish are their enormous families. As the oldest of seven children, I definitely have a big family, especially by today's standards. However, compared to Amish families, my family is very small. The family that lives closest to us, for example, is composed of a man, his wife, and their 17 children. That's considered normal. Being as extremely interested in midwifery as I am, I am dying to know about Amish birth traditions. I know for a fact that they practice home birth in nearly all situations. Once the neighbor lady, knowing my mom's background in both nursing and neonatal care, came and asked her to attend her delivery and help. My mom refused, for several reasons, one of which being that the woman said she was carrying twins. This leads me to believe that Amish women likely either practice unassisted birth, or are attended by female family members who aren't necessarily trained in midwifery. Another possibility is that there simply wasn't a midwife available. However, because the Amish community near our home is so big, that seems unlikely. Anyways, I will be keeping my ears and eyes open to learn more.