Mystery Boxes?

Friends & Family,

Our family has been lucky enough to get to spend Christmas in Germany with my mom. One of my favorite things to do, of course, is walk the aisles of the German stores and drool over all the candies and treats. It was also fun to do in France, where my daughter & I stopped after a trip to a German town close to the border. It got me thinking about my friends in the states and how cool it would be to share these things with them if they wanted.

So, I'm going to offer (temporarily, obviously) a "mystery box" of sorts for those who are interested in getting a box of random German (or French) treats. I thought about creating an Etsy page for it, but don't want to worry about the fees or not being able to "sell" products that I didn't make, so I'm just putting it here!

This should be very simple. If you send me $10 (not including shipping), I will fill a flat-rate box with $10 worth of things! Shipping will depend on the size of box you want. I rounded up to the nearest dollar to cover gas, but I'm not trying to make any money--just share some of the cool things I'm finding here!

Small: $6

Medium: $12

Large: $16

You can send payments to me using PayPal. Go to the "Send Money" tab, plug in my email and the amount of money you want to send, click over to "Personal" instead of "Purchase," and select "Payment Owed" in order to avoid any fees.

When I get your payment, I will touch base to get an address. I can't guarantee certain products and they will be completely random. If you end up with something that doesn't appeal to you, give it to someone and share the awesomeness that is German candy.

I hope this works! It sounds like a lot of fun and I'm excited to share my experience with you guys.

Crunchy Coconut French Toast with Maple-Pineapple Compote

My husband doesn't like super sweet breakfast items (pancakes, waffles, french toast, etc), which are my specialty, so I usually have to get creative when making them. We've learned that he just doesn't like "typical" sweet breakfasts: full of sugar, topped with more sugar, sprinkled with sugar.

So, this morning when he asked what I was making for breakfast, I said I could make french toast. He grimaced, but I had some ideas up my sleeve that I was wanting to try.

Crunchy Coconut French Toast with Maple-Pineapple Compote

You will need:

bread (I used sliced whole wheat)
1 cup half & half
3 eggs
1 tsp real vanilla extract
cinnamon
nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 can pineapple rings in pineapple juice
maple syrup
shredded coconut
corn flakes, crushed
canola oil

Directions:

1. Drain the can of pineapple into a cup. Now you have a glass of pineapple juice to enjoy while you cook! Empty the entire can of pineapple into a blender and blend until "crushed." You could just use crushed pineapple, I suppose, but I liked the different sized chunks of pineapple.

2. Using a cheese cloth, squeeze out all of the juice from the crushed pineapple and put into a small sauce pan. Pour maple syrup over pineapple until you get the proportion you want---for us it was more pineapple, less syrup. Heat on low to get all nice and warm while you make the french toast.

3. Get a pan going on medium heat. It will be hot enough to use when you flick some water from your fingers into it and the water sizzles and steams away quickly.

4. In a small bowl, beat half & half with eggs. Add desired amount of cinnamon and nutmeg, pinch of salt, and vanilla.

5. On a large plate, mix about 1 cup crushed corn flakes and add about 1/2 cup shredded coconut with your fingers until well combined.

6. Dip bread into egg mixture on both sides until completely saturated. Drip off excess goo and coat both sides well with corn flake mixture.

7. Use a paper towel to lightly coat the pan with canola oil (PAM would work, too) and cook the french toast on both sides until golden brown. Top with the Maple-Pineapple Compote and serve!

And if you're curious as to what my husband thought of it.... "Not bad?" I asked. "Better than that! It's good!" Woohoo!

My Not-so-Bucket List

Though I consider myself pretty adventurous, I've realized that I have a list of things I've done once and have zero interest in doing again. I thought I would share these things and my experiences.

1. Raw horse.

I spent the summer of 2007 in Japan with my mom. I had just recently discovered the Travel Channel program "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" and just knew that anything he ate, I could eat, too. Japan was my chance to go Bizarre and I definitely took advantage of the interesting things this wonderful country has to offer. Most of my gastronomical adventures ended very well. A random water-milky looking drink with no English or pictures to clue someone what it could be? Creamsicle in a bottle. And don't even get me started on the kit-kats! Green tea, peach, red bean, red apple, tea, ... Every one a pleasure to my taste buds.

So, one night, a (insert glittery text) fabulous friend of my mom's took us out to a small, local place. He knew of my crave for the bizarre, and he pulled through. Skewers of little chicken hearts? Really chewy, but tasty nonetheless. Dishes of random Japanese treats that I don't remember, but excitedly gobbled up. However, everything came to a screeching halt when the plate of horse sashimi was placed on the table.

....You want me to eat what?

And I tried it, because Stubborn is my middle name, and I was determined to start my own show on the Travel Channel.

I've already given away what I thought of it, since it's in my list of "things I'll never do again," but, horse is definitely not palatable for this little lady. Especially not raw. The taste was indescribable... meaty, bloody, gross. Bleh. Luckily there were plenty of other yummy treats that followed this slimy piece of livestock I just swallowed.

2. Tattoos

This is a good one. So, at 16, I decided I was ready for a tattoo. My best friend & I found a place in our small Texas town that would give a tattoo to minors with parental consent. Perfect, right? She drew hers up, got her mom to consent, and ta da! She had a tattoo. My mom wasn't so easy to convince (thank you, mom!). I had the coolest moon & star design picked out for my ankle and how dare she not let me get it done? I got over it pretty quick, even though I think I do remember crying and being all angry at her.

So, there I was, finally almost 18 and have actually done some research and planning for my tattoo. I've been working with a legit Houston artist and my appointment is set! My birthday rolls around, and I'm so ready to get my first tattoo. How come nobody told me how bad this hurts? Gah, it's awful! Needles are ripping into my skin at super crazy speeds and this is supposed to be awesome? Psh. The outline is done, and I get up to look at it and probably complain a bit.

"Do you want to stop now and come back to finish it?" "To be honest, if I stopped now, I'd have an outline for the rest of my life. Let's just get it over with."

Three hours later, I have a tattoo. After he makes the final stab into my precious skin, the first words out of my mouth are "One and done." Everyone tells me that I'll change my mind. "You'll get addicted," they say. I laugh, because I know I'm only going to have one tattoo for the rest of my life.

3. Raw Oysters.

Maybe even all oysters, in general. They say it's an acquired taste, but dang, these things are foul. Not pleasing to any of my six senses. Ugly, smelly, slimy, and just plain revolting. If anyone has seen the movie Elf, you know the reaction he has to trying the fruit spray? I did that for like half an hour.

----

Those were the ones I brainstormed. When I think of more or experience more, I'll add them!

Olivia's Birth Story

It's been awhile, but here is Olivia's Birth Story!

We found out I was pregnant back in early March, with a due date of 11 November. I'm not one to just sit back and do nothing with any change in my life (especially one this big), so I took it upon myself to become as educated and prepared as possible. I wanted to know what my options were. Honestly, when I first found out I was pregnant, I thought I would be the "give me the drugs, I don't want to feel a thing" type woman, but the more I read and the more I learned, the more I realized how crunchy I really was.


My husband and I found a fantastic natural childbirth class that gave us the tools we needed to make the choices we wanted in a birth. Being in the military, I hadn't really put much thought into where I would deliver, but as time went on, I realized that I didn't want a hospital birth.


Unfortunately, I felt it was too late in the pregnancy (I was like 30 weeks) to figure out a different plan and be able to afford it. My husband and I went back and forth between doing an unassisted home birth and doing the hospital birth on base so often. We would talk things out. Pros, cons. Finally, we decided that we would still deliver on base, but just labor as long as possible at home with our doula. I thought I would get through early labor, start active labor, and trust my doula to let me know when a good time to go to the hospital would be for transition and pushing. It's funny how you try to plan how things will go during a birth, especially your first....

So, fast forward to 8 November, midnight. I wake up because I thought I heard my cat in the bathroom getting into something she shouldn't, but when I go in the bathroom, the cat is just sitting, watching me. Confused, I start to walk back to the bedroom, but then I feel it. Wet. Did I just pee myself? I squeeze, it stops. I jump into the shower anyways to let the rest of it go. It's clear, with some white specks in it and doesn't smell like pee. "I think my water just broke," I told my husband. After a phone call to my doula, she confirms that my water broke and told me to get some rest, as contractions would most likely follow.

Lying in bed, however, is not pleasant. These contractions feel way different from the Braxton Hicks I'd been having recently. They're lower, where I've read they should be. Wanting to try out a different position to help with the contractions, I go upstairs to the recliner and try sleeping in that. Impossible. So, I start timing them to the best of my ability. Are they really six minutes apart? Maybe I just need to rest instead of worrying about timing them. Still impossible. My mind is going crazy! If this is early labor, and it's only supposed to get worse and worse from here, there is NO way I can go through with this without drugs.

I head downstairs and call my doula. It's 2:46am. She's on the phone with me through a couple of contractions to time them for me. Two minutes apart. I bounce on the edge of the bed as it seems to help and soon find myself in the stand-up shower, letting the hot water run on my lower back. I sway my hips side to side and try to just breathe through this intensity my body is going through. My doula shows up and holds my hands as I lean half out the open shower door.


"My mind feels too clear," I tell her, "I mean, I don't want to pet my cat or anything, but I feel too clear-headed for this." She laughs. The cat-petting thing is a reference to a story she told us about a client she had who would pet her cats in between contractions, a sign that she wasn't in hard-active labor just yet. "Have you tried getting in the tub yet?" she asks. I tell her no and that if this was early labor, I knew getting in a warm, relaxing bath could slow things down and make it a bit harder to progress through labor how my body needed to. "I REALLY think you should get in the tub," she insists. (I don't know this at the time, but my body skipped early labor completely and just went straight into hard, active labor.)

I'm in the tub and things are still really intense. The warm water definitely helps to relax me, but doesn't slow anything down by any means. I'm vocal, but low and mellow instead of high-pitched and screechy. My mom says I was singing, but I was just trying to keep things under control with my vocalization. Anytime I caught myself saying something negative, I would turn right around and say something positive. I wouldn't let any negative thoughts stay in my head. 

"This is awful. This is the best. This is the best. *growl*" --a quote from the notes my husband took.

Soon, I started feeling the urge to bear down.

"What do I do?" I asked my doula. "Do whatever feels right," she replies. "Nothing feels right!"

She had me try some different birthing positions to get my hips open as wide as I could. I found one that suited me, even though my husband said I looked uncomfortably squeezed into the cramped little area by the faucet. But, it was perfect. Pushing calms me. I realize that I'm quiet, focused. My doula tells me to push with the contractions, and I do just that. I keep my hand down at the baby door to feel how things are going. I can feel her head and it's pretty close! When asked how far in she is, I hold my thumb to the area between the first and second knuckle of my index finger. As calming as it is to be pushing, I still feel like I'm holding myself back, so I start counting to ten during pushes. Soon, I feel her hair! It's flowy, downy, and soft. My husband wants to feel, but there's only a small window of opportunity where I will let him and he doesn't quite make it.

My mom is trying to keep the fragile balance between helping me and staying out of the way. I feel her love as she scurries around making sure I have everything I need. Olivia is coming and I threaten to ground her---See, I can be funny even during childbirth!

Olivia is crowning and I know that I can get her out whenever I'm ready. One or two pushes, max.

"Mom, sit down. You're about to have a granddaughter." She says something, and tries to go somewhere, but I sternly tell her again, "Mom! Sit down! You're about to have a granddaughter! Where is Michael?" "He's making tea." "Now is not the time to be making tea!!"

Michael comes into the bathroom and gets ready to catch our daughter. I push, still in this state of calm and peace. Her head comes out and daddy says he can feel her cute little face. One arm, then the other, and with one final push, the rest of her body slides out. 5:36 in the morning. Michael puts her on my chest and she's the most amazing little thing I've ever seen. I haven't been around many newborns in my life, but I can tell she's a big, healthy baby. She's not crying, but incredibly alert and active. Our doula tells us to talk to her and, though nothing's wrong, to try to get her crying so she can have that first big breath.

We're transfered to the futon in the spare bedroom and wrapped so snuggly in warm blankets. She starts to cry and it's so hard to believe that this amazing little girl is finally here with us! Best of all, we're in the comforts of our own home with people that we trust.

Now, I know people say that you immediately forget about all the pain of childbirth when you see your baby, but I think those are the people that get some kind of intervention, because shit! I'm still having those awful (err, wonderful) contractions..... My body is pushing out the placenta and it is NOT pleasant. Michael has a tupperware ready for it, and with one quick push, it lands right in. Our doula checks the placenta for any missing pieces and me for tearing, but the placenta is whole and I haven't torn, so she leaves us alone. My mom is taking pictures of our first moments together as a family of three and I could not be more proud and happy.

I'm finally ready to go downstairs to bed. Olivia will need a good, long sleep, and so will we!

After we all wake up, we decide to go to the hospital. I'm not anxious to go, but I'm definitely curious as to how much she weighs. We get her dressed, load her up in the car seat, and head to the hospital. When we walk into Labor & Delivery, they laugh when we announce that we had our baby and are here for the "business" part because they think we're joking.

Olivia is weighed, measured, and hooked up to some machine that checks her heart rate and temperature. She's 8 pounds, 14 ounces! Heck yes! 21 1/4 inches, and doing perfectly. She has her first poop in the bright green cloth diaper we put on her at home. Meconium is some serious stuff! I have to sign some paper saying that I'm refusing treatment when I don't want them to put some kind of goo on her eyes. "What is the reason you put that on her eyes?" "To prevent infection from Chlamydia and Gonorrhea." "Okay, well, I don't have either, so we don't need it." They fight me a little more on it, but when I, again, tell them that it's not necessary, seeing as how the only reason they have for using it is to prevent spreading two diseases I don't have, it's not warranted.

My heart drops when they tell us that they want to keep her at the hospital for observation---48 hours! I was not prepared for that. They say something about me not having to stay if I didn't want to. Seriously? You're delirious if you think I'm leaving my 9-hour baby alone at a hospital for two days without me. The two days go by faster than I had imagined. Forget the Kindle I brought, forget the T.V. in the room, our entertainment was caring for and watching this beautiful baby girl. They release us early, because everything is going so well and there's absolutely nothing wrong with her. Yay! Time to go back home, where we belong!

Funny how the only time our family was ever stressed or unhappy was when we were at the hospital. Definitely makes me glad that we had our home birth, as risky as it was in hindsight. Next time, though, we're going to be even more prepared and plan for the birth we want from the get-go. If I remember anything else, I'll add it in, but I just wanted to get this story finished while it's still fresh in my head.

Oh, and I've heard that some women miss being pregnant after they have their baby, but I most definitely do not! I never hit the "I don't want to be pregnant anymore" wall during pregnancy, but I definitely hit it afterwards. "Ugh, I don't want to be pregnant anymore.... Yes! I'm not!"

Cloth Diapers and Hitchhikers;

The smoky, peppery smell of bacon fills the air as oil festively crackles underneath the marbled slivers of soon to be crumbled pork rubies. A bowl of freshly shredded smoked cheddar cheese sits next to me, almost as eager as I am to be united with it's salty counterpart in their homemade buttermilk biscuit honeymoon suite. I realize, standing here at our quaint little island, making breakfast for my small and growing family, that this, to me, is happiness.

 We have just under five weeks until Olivia's due date and I couldn't be more excited. It seems that everything is lining up just how it should. It's a gorgeous sunny Saturday, and I am perfectly content in our cozy living room, the dew still shining in my hair from a refreshingly cool shower and the happy jingling sounds of our cats softly dancing around the living room.

I keep waiting for that nesting instinct to kick in, because Olivia's room is splattered with baby shower gifts and random things that I have purchased from babysteals (a wonderfully evil site for moms). I think my first step in cleaning her room will be to wash the cloth diapers I've accumulated. I've been looking at cloth wipes recently, and had no idea how many different kinds were out there. I've settled on using etsy, as the prices are reasonable and I can freely communicate with the woman selling them. It struck me last night, when I was looking at the different patterns, that it really didn't matter if there were large pink flowers or chubby little bumble bees, because I was going to be using them to wipe poop from Olivia's butt. Also, knowing me, I would always try to save my favorite ones for last and they would never get used, which defeats the purpose entirely.

Michael and I had quite an interesting day yesterday. Early in the afternoon, we decided to bring up a map of Alaska and pick a destination for a road trip. We chose Hope, a town with one restaurant and a population of 137. On the drive South to Hope, a man with fiery red hair and a rugged brown leather coat was standing on the side of the road, his thumb strongly in the air. "What do you think?" Michael inquired. "Yeah," I responded, giving my shoulders a little "why not?" shrug. We stopped the car, and the man jogged towards us, his whale tooth beaded necklace bouncing enthusiastically off of his worn clothes. He entered the car and introduced himself as Andrew, a fisherman who was traveling from Canada to somewhere near Homer to visit his two daughters.

I pulled out my phone to take a picture, just in case, but realized that that would probably be a little obvious. Instead, I opted for a voice memo. If anything were to happen, the police would have his voice and the personal details I made sure to ask him. It was a bright day with lots of traffic and I knew nothing bad was going to happen, but I can't help it if I've seen too many episodes of CSI for my own good!

He made friendly conversation for the 40-something miles we rode with him, his life stories full of entertaining holes, as if he wasn't quite sure, himself, what he was really talking about. "What time is it?" he asked. "Just about two o'clock," I replied. He mumbled something about the low tide and four hours. We dropped him off and made our way to Hope. It was a very pretty drive, as this time of the year is the most beautiful with all the changing colors and cool breezes that warrant a light jacket and scarf. Historic Downtown Hope was a small loop that contained a library/gift shop/coffee stand, closed for the season, and an ice cream shop, also closed for the season. We stopped in the only restaurant, Tito's Discovery Cafe, and had a late lunch before venturing off into the wilderness that surrounded this small town.

We drove out to Resurrection Pass, a hiking trail, and walked out a little on that. The path was spotted with horse droppings, but the trail was magically beautiful nonetheless. We turned around, as it was getting late, and made our way back to the car, deciding that next summer would be a good time to come back and enjoy more of the camping/hiking Hope has to offer.

Driving back to Anchorage, Michael laughed and said something about how our guest maybe wasn't completely full of crap after all---the tide was high and it was just turning six o'clock. "What an interesting day," I said aloud. He nodded in agreement and kept singing to the song drifting out of the speakers.

Happiness and Waterfalls;

My day started pretty early. I woke up before my alarm had the chance to bring me out of what little sleep I got, spending the night anxiously checking my phone to see if it was time to get up yet. I sensed that Michael was up, too. We were both awake, laying there, silently enjoying the energy that filled the room. "I'm going to get you flowers," he said, wrapping his arms around me.

We got up to start getting ready for our big day. While I gathered my things, he made phone calls to his best friends back home. I overheard him telling someone how much I and Olivia meant to him while searching for my makeup bag, almost giving up. He came downstairs and just as I was telling him that I didn't need makeup anyways, he held up a bulging purse from the move. "Did you check in here?" Zziiipppp. My happy Hawaiian themed LeSportSac makeup bag greeted me, almost as if it knew it was being sneaky on such an important day.

I took a shower, and shortly thereafter was greeting my dear friend, Sam, and her husband at the door. She came over to help me with my hair, as the most I would've probably done with it was try to straighten my bad haircut of a mullet into something less $1.99 Korean barbershop.

After I got all prettied up, I got dressed and made my debut. It was almost time to leave, as our small wedding party was going to meet up before driving out to the waterfall. "I can't take my eyes off of you, you are so pretty," he lovingly told me as we started our drive. He handed me his iPod, and told me to "make this do something," like he normally does. "What music should I put on on this, the day of our wedding," I thought aloud. My fingers scrolled, almost on their own, to Iron and Wine's Our Endless Numbered Days. My groom gave me a strange look and turned up the music, almost in disbelief. "I was thinking about putting this exact album on right before we left," he told me. Out of all the music he has that I could've chosen, I picked not only the same artist, but the same album that had been on his mind only moments before. Five words came to mind: This is meant to be.

Michael and I had hiked out to this waterfall before, but we went the long 3-miles out, 3-miles back route instead of the 1/2-mile out, 1/2-mile back option, so we were a little unsure as to where the parking for that was. In the end, it was right where it was supposed to be! No wrong turns, no backtracking.

Walking up the path to the waterfall, I immediately wished I would've brought the comfy shoes I was thinking about bringing to walk out with instead of the cute wedges I wore for the ceremony. They were comfy, but not 1/2-mile hike on a rocky path comfy. The walk out to the falls was perfect. This time of year is probably my favorite, it seems as though you can almost smell the leaves changing into their magical autumn colors. Beckoned by the welcoming sound of the waterfall, we eagerly approached her and had a few words with Les about how the ceremony would take place.

It went beautifully. I could tell that Les really put some thought into what he wanted to say, and more importantly, that he genuinely meant every word. Michael and I then exchanged the vows we wrote for each other. I went first, a little nervous and probably a little louder than I should've been since I wanted to make sure he could hear me over the rushing falls. It was then Michael's turn and our eyes sparkled, from both wedding bliss and the tears, welling happily in our eyes. It was then time to exchange rings, kiss the bride, and start our life together as Mr. and Mrs.

Now it's our wedding night, and I have been in happy-hormone overload. Being pregnant has made me a happy person nearly 24/7, so now that I'm married, I feel like I would bleed glitter and rainbows if someone were to cut me open. (A little morbid, for talking about being super happy, no?) The night is young and the world is ours! The only day that could possibly be better than today will be here in two short months.

Being married and having Olivia is an adventure I cannot wait to go on! Life is amazing, and I couldn't be happier to be sharing it with anyone else.

Going Granola;

I've been feeling really crunchy lately.

Where this new change of pace came from, I have no idea. I think it all started with getting pregnant. I suddenly became acutely aware of what impact I not only had on myself, but on this developing human inside of me. What I put in my body, I also put in her body, and, though I never ate badly before, I was all of a sudden looking to more organic, natural ways to nourish our growing family.

But, things didn't just stop there. I took great interest in natural birth, and, through a recommendation from our birth photographer, looked into Brio Birth. I've had a couple of people interested in what this is, so I'm going to take the opportunity to share a little of what I know about it.

Brio Birth is a new way of looking at the childbirth process. It takes tried and true methods of going through labor and delivery naturally, but also provides a modern spin, using today's research and knowledge. It's supposed to be ideal for a "21st century mom" who not only wants to be educated on what's going on (and what will go on) with her body, but also wants to be active in such an amazing life experience. There is one Brio instructor in our area and she's fantastic. I highly recommend looking into Brio if you're pregnant and not wanting an "on your back, knees to your ears" labor.

From there, I took interest in cloth diapering. I am very excited to start doing this and have plenty of cloth "nappies" coming my way, thanks to one of my awesome baby sites.

So, who is this woman I'm becoming? I distinctly remember thinking "epidural, all the way" and "only disposable diapers" early on. Could I have changed that much? And most importantly, am I getting in over my head with all this? Really, only time will tell. But with all the support I'm getting from Michael and the preparations we're making through our birth class, I honestly don't think so. I'm strong, stubborn, and ready to bring our little girl into the world in the best way that I can!