On the move

So all summer I've sort of felt like a bump on a log. Strike that. I've been feeling rather unhealthy since the week right after my wedding, when I realized I didn't have to worry about fitting into the wedding dress I bought 10 months before my wedding. I know. Some said it wasn't smart and I must admit I got worried a few times. And though I never actually dieted, I did say no to a few of my crazier stress cravings that I indulged in right after the wedding. Like eating a whole box of Uh-Oh Oreos in two sittings. Or eating Wendy's for lunch and dinner everyday for a week. Ugh.

In case you're wondering, my dress fit perfectly. Observe:

But I know I couldn't fit into right now. And once summer began I started feeling really gross and tired, which is usually the opposite of how I feel in the summers. Usually I get a lot of energy and I get pretty active. Not so much this summer. And as the days got hotter it got worse. So I've decided, now that it's not so hot during the day, to get back into moving more and sitting around less. This post was really supposed to be my back-to-running post (since the kids in my area are all going back to school), but since I woke up feeling sick, it's not meant to be. So instead I'll share the first step of my return to running.

Step one: Buy running shoes. I've tried to run a few times and the Reebok Classics I have right now (which I've had ever since high school!) make most of my body hurt. So I've been doing research. And I've figured out that my feet have normal arches (thanks to the get-my-feet-wet-and-stand-on-some-cardboard test) and I have mild overpronation (which means I walk on the inside of my feet). It' a good thing I looked it up because I would have said I have flat feet and walk on the outside of my feet. Which would have led me to get running shoes that would have caused me to hurt my knees and ankles while running and likely would have caused me to give up.

Anyway, next I checked out reviews. And I kept coming across this brand name for beginning runners:

And then I did a bit more research into the shoes they offer for my type of feet/gait, and I found these:

Saucony Women's Grid Cohesion 4

Yes. They are black and pink. But those were the only one's available at the store where I found them, and they were on sale at said store. And I'm hoping they will soon be covered in dust from me running so much.

And before you say anything, yes, I know you aren't supposed to buy running shoes on sale so that you buy high-quality shoes that don't hurt you. But these really are the shoes I needed and most reviews said they were great for beginning runners. Plus, they were cheap enough that if I stay serious about running, I can afford even better ones when I'm ready for them.

And Miyagi loves them:

At least I think so, since he immediately shoved his nose inside my shoes and wouldn't stop huffing the new-shoe scent.

And yes, I think whether he likes my shoes is important, since he'll eventually be my running partner. Well, once I am actually able to keep up with him, anyway.

Around the house: Not "Welcome to the Jungle" anymore

I have a love-hate relationship with weeding. On the one hand, I love the results. The plots looks so loved and cared for. I also get the satisfaction that I did something that day, instead of doing what I do everyday (sitting on the couch, watching TV). I even sort of like the healthy muscle soreness in my arms. It's almost like I worked out (which I sort of did)! But I hate the sore lower back. Or the bug bites and stabs from particularly vengeful plants that I end up covered with by the time I'm done. So maybe that's why our house was beginning to look something like this:

 *Not an actual picture of our house*

But this was the weekend I had enough. And I attacked. I ripped and dug and yanked. And I discovered the candytufts I planted a few months ago. And the azalea plant that I brought back from the brink with a little acidic plant food. I even found a flower that had shown up all on its own.

An Anderson's expert (read more about Anderson's here) identified the little guy as a Vinca, a flowering annual that likely was brought to our little plot by a bird. While we were at Anderson's we snagged some hardwood mulch (for $3.50 per bag) as well as some topsoil to fill in some holes that were bequeathed to us via the previous' residents' children. By the end of the weekend our front plot now looks like this:

Gorgeous! Though, it's hard to be amazed when you don't have a before. My bad. I guess I'm not the best blogger when it comes to that.

Culinary bucket list: The great pie experiment, part I

I began cooking when I was young. To be honest, though, I can't definitively tell you what the first thing I helped my mom make was or when I made my first complete meal. My memory is fuzzy from those times. I've read that divorce will do that to young people.

What I do know is that cooking has always been an escape for me. When I am stressed or troubled or tired, taking a few moments to cook something has always focused me and helped me solve my problems.

As time has gone on, cooking has become a way to challenge myself. So in the back of my head I've begun to list the things I want to eventually accomplish as a cook, call it my a culinary bucket list. The list includes things like making biscuits from scratch (check, though I think I really need to keep practicing to be a success at these), beating egg whites to stiff peaks by hand (halfway there!) and making pie.

I've never made pie by myself, though I LOVE pie. That may be my problem, though. I may love pie too much. My standards involving pie are so high and my ability to tolerate my own failures is so low that, until recently, I thought I might implode if I couldn't create a delicious version of my own favorite food.

But in every cook's life there's a moment in which you suck it up and make the damn pie. And that is what I did last night - I made pie crust. And today, after letting the dough chill in the fridge overnight, I will make my very first honest to goodness apple pie with pie dough that I made all by myself and if I screw it up, I have husband who will eat it anyway and pretend to love it.

If you feel like it's time to suck it up and make your own pie, I have collected a vast knowledge of pie tips. Much of the advice contradicts itself since it is coming from a wide variety of sources who have spent many a night crying themselves to sleep after ruining their pie. Luckily for me they didn't implode, but instead got back up the next morning and made pie again, thereby perfecting their recipes for the rest of us to try out. So here's my current base of knowledge. Read them all. Because food bloggers have a knack for being hilarious. And Alton Brown is just awesome, even if I'm not planning to do a shortening and butter pie crust (BUTTER ALL THE WAY!):

• Alton Brown, "Apple Pie," Good Eats (video)
• Smitten Kitchen, "Pie Crust 101," "Pie Crust 102: All butter really flaky pie dough" and "Pie crust 103: Rolling and crimping" (blog posts)
• Pastry Chat, "A pie crust tutorial" (blog post)
• Joy the baker, "How to make pie crust...do it" (blog post)
• The Kitchen Sink, "Open-face fresh blueberry pie" (blog post - scroll all the way through, there are two pastry dough recipes with instructions)

When I have my own experience, I will definitely be sharing with you what I've learned and I hope you will do the same.

Saying goodbye to my best friend

When I was about 4 or 5 years old, a dog appeared in my life. All I remember of this dog was that it might have been black, it might have been big and it definitely chewed a chunk of my parents' orange couch off. If I remember correctly we were taking care of the pup for a family friend, but the incident with the orange couch swiftly ended that dog's time with us.
I tell this story because it quite possibly was the first time I became obsessed with owning dogs. At the time we'd had a cat for a while and I loved cats. But a few days (maybe even weeks) with a puppy brought out the dog lover in me.
Over the years we got a new kitten, a couple of fish and a cockatiel, but my pleas for a dog went unanswered.
But, when I was about 8 years old, we went to visit a litter of brittany spaniels. The wriggling mass of reddish-brown and white fur might have been the cutest thing I'd ever witnessed in my relatively short life. But it was one in particular, the apparent "runt" of the litter, who stole my heart (and the hearts of my mom and sister).
We took that little girl home and named her Kelly (after the uninspired name "Brittany" was tossed about). To this day I have no idea why we dubbed her that, but I generally called her Kellybelly. 8-year-old's will do that.
Two years later, my frustrated stepdad decided to get a new dog because Kelly was too "bullheaded" to be the bird dog he had wanted. That year Kelly was exiled from the most of the family's hearts. She was no competition for a younger, more amusing puppy. Yet, when everyone was drawn to Misty, our new German shorthaired pointer (who, incidentally, turned out to be even more unsuited for hunting), I would join Kelly on her bed. She would put her head on my leg and I would tell her about my day. That's when she became my dog.
Over the years we protected each other and I could always count on her to comfort me when it was called for. She would be there to keep my toes warm during the freezing winter nights in the mountains. When I had fights with my step-dad, I would usually escape to the side porch, where she would come running and shove her head under my arm in her version of a hug. She never failed to make me smile.
These memories are what I hold onto now that I am forced to say good-bye to my best friend. Home is not really "home" without her.
But the cycle continues. The night after Kelly was put down, I crawled into my own bed and promptly started to cry. Miyagi has generally slept on the floor because of my husband's allergies, but when allowed on the bed, he usually prefers to sleep on Travis' side and doesn't want to be touched. If you pet him he'll move farther away and if your feet are touching him, he'll often chuff at you and jump off in disgust. But that night, Miyagi got up and walked over to my side of the bed and stared at me. Eventually, he put his head on the bed next to my face and licked some tears off my nose. Then crawled in to bed next to me and I wrapped my arm around him, just like I had done so many times with Kelly. Instead of protesting, he snuggled closer. I will never forget Kelly. But it hurts slightly less knowing that I can build a similar relationship with Miyagi.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: "Bottom line" reviews

You may or may not have noticed, but I have tweaked my layout again. It looks almost the same, but I have tweaked my font and color choices. But really I did all this because I have also added a new page to my blog.

As time has gone on, I've found myself offering more and more reviews on books I've read, movies I've seen and other things I felt you needed to know about, good or bad. I've finally gathered these reviews in one place. I've named the page "Bottom Line" (found between the blog name and posts) because I tend not to be wishy-washy with my reviews. If I hate a novel, I'll tell you. And if I love a movie, I'll insist you see it. I'm all about the bottom line in my opinions.
These reviews span back at least two years, so feel free to check out the page and reread (or read for the first time) those posts. In the process, I revamped and reorganized some of the reviews so there is a little continuity between posts. I also ended rereading every post, and I actually want to go back and read at least one book and I definitely need to sit down and watch the biopic Chaplin again. Maybe after we've moved in and I'm not in the middle of a six-day workweek.

EDIT: Not to change things up too much for you, but I've added a second page (called "An outsider in Suffolk") featuring links to all the columns I've written for the Suffolk News-Herald. I've allowed comments on that page, so if you have any thoughts on my columns or ideas for new column topics, please share. Thanks.

Turtles and cake toppers

This is our cake topper. It's so awesome we're getting a cake so that we have something to put it on. It was gonna be a small cake, but now I'm worried people will want cake instead of pie. Plus you KNOW the cake will be awesome. I suppose we'll have to figure it out soon. I mean I only have a week and 3 hours.

On blog upkeep and life updates

What can I say? I've been busy. While I haven't gotten much accomplished in the past few months, I've still felt as though my life is full of everything I'm doing and everything I need to get done. In any case, I've been neglecting my blog specifically and my writing in general. My editor asked me if I would write a column for the paper and I froze. Imagine that! Me, the writer, refused to write. And I felt I was justified since I didn't really have anything to say. And yet, that is blasphemy of the highest order to a self-proclaimed writer. As F. Scott Fitzgerald said "You don't write because you want to say something; you write because you've got something to say." And it's been eating at me ever since that day and I wish I could say that I have offered to write a column to make up for my earlier refusal. Unfortunately, I cannot say that since I haven't actually done it.

So if I haven't been writing, since I obviously haven't, what have I been doing?

Well, if you're reading this post I am relatively confident you've seen the new redesign of my blog. I love the new look of my blog. Sometimes I'll just scroll up and down the page to see how my posts look on the new backdrop. Apparently along with having lost my ability to want to write, I've also lost my ability to have a life.

I've also been cooking. If you are reading this post I am also reasonably confident that you've seen my many posts detailing recipes I've been trying out. You'll have to deal with seeing many more of those since I just received 3 awesome cookbooks for my bridal shower. I've also been spending quite a bit of time with Miyagi, though mostly we just cuddle on the couch together as I watch this or that t.v. show online. And I've been working and planning a wedding (Less than a month to go!).

The books I've read in the last month (I'm almost done with Crescent).

But most of all, I've been reading - a lot. And that, at least, is good penance for my recent blasphemy. As my good friend Leighton has often said on her highly entertaining blog, "Read a lot, write a lot – that's the golden rule for all writers to follow." I'm just bulking up on the first part before I get on with the second. And let me say this: There is nothing better than reading a book because you want to read it and then enjoying almost every single moment you've been reading. I get to the point when I near the end of a book where I'll struggle with wanting to get to the end because I want the fulfillment and wanting to put the book down so I can prolong my enjoyment. Such is the curse of finding so many good books to read. Honestly, I have no idea why I still don't have a library card. I would read those books so hard if my bank account didn't take such a hit with every book I buy.

But it's not just books. Every month I read the new National Geographic Magazine, every week I check out the Sunday Magazine from the New York Times and almost every day I scan a huge assortment of blogs, ranging from anecdotal blogs written by friends, to food-, design-, book- and wedding-based blogs written by people whose names I don't even know, nor care to. But I do know the title of their blog and have often enjoyed the stories, photos, inspiration and advice they've shared.

When I was a child, books were my friends, sometimes my only friends, if you don't count the cats or dogs I've confided in over the years. From the age of three (thank you, Hooked on Phonics), I've devoured any scrap of the written word that I could find. Even now, I remember the mistakes of characters in what I've read and I use those mistakes to shape my own path. Many of the Sunday Magazine articles, which are often first-person ruminations on a writer's marriage or another's life in therapy, have helped me recognize aspects of myself. In fact, you could say that my love of reading has increased my circle of friends exponentially. Though, I guess not knowing most of these sources keeps them from truly being my friends. I say all this to counter my mother's old admonishments that I was wasting my life with my nose stuck in a book.

And yet, I must acknowledge that I've been using reading as an escape from what I should be doing, be that writing, taking classes in multimedia journalism and nonprofit communication or even planning a wedding. While reading has been beneficial, and still is, it's time I recognize when I've had too much of a good thing (people who know me know that's never been my strong suit).

I find trying to make myself productive harder and harder when I'm not letting anyone down by not accomplishing a task (I always worried about letting professors down. Letting myself down has been a non-issue since I tend to just revise my expectations of myself as I fail to meet previous ones).

And now I will be getting to the point: I'm going to try to write more, without getting caught up in what I think people want to read. This is about what I have to say, which, it turns out, is a lot if this post is any measure. But here's the caveat: Just because what I'll be writing is what I "have to say," doesn't mean it's of any interest to you, dear reader. The point is to get those juices flowing again, regardless of the menial subjects I will likely be writing about. But please yell at me if I seem to stop writing for a long period of time. I would like to be held accountable for not living up to my proclamations about who I am. So, let's see if I can prove, even to just myself, that am a writer.

Wedding Notes: Dancing with my dad

One of the first things I thought about upon getting engaged was my dad. I was excited that he would walk me down the aisle and that we would have a father/daughter dance. I remember a father-daughter dance we had in Illinois which was sponsored by the girl scout troop my mom was a leader in. It's a pretty foggy memory for me because I was only five or six, and yet it's stayed with me for most of my life. It's this memory I want to honor at the wedding, but I also want to honor all of the great times we've had together. We really are great friends. When I make huge decisions in my life, he's always the first person I call. In fact, I called him first when Travis proposed. I even called him before adopting Miyagi because I didn't know if it was the best decision.

In that vein I've been putting a lot of thought into what our song will be and I'm torn between songs that convey love and what our relationship is and songs that remind me of him, but don't necessarily speak to our relationship.

For the former I've come up with two songs:

Nickel Creek -"When you come back down"

Beatles - "In My Life"

When I think of my top three favorite bands, Genesis(and Phil Collins) always makes the list, and that is all thanks to my dad. The first song I remember learning the words to was "I Can't Dance." (The music video is hilarious; you must click on the link and watch it).

While the song always invokes memories of driving in my car with Dad, that song isn't exactly appropriate for the occasion. I have come up with a Genesis and two Phil Collins song I could see dancing to:

Genesis - "Follow You, Follow Me" (This actually makes me think of having nightmares as a kid and knowing it would be alright because Dad was there.)

Phil Collins - "You'll Be in My Heart"

Phil Collins - "Can't Stop Loving You"

It's been awhile since I've posted. Since my failed run at NaBloPoMo in June, it has been very difficult to talk myself into bothering with blogging. To be truthful, the NaBloPoMo debacle isn't the reason I've been sporadic. While I could blame working (which is a small part) or spending time with the puppy (who is now a year old), I have to admit that it mostly has to do with the simple act of writing. Having spent such a long period of my life with only one goal in mind (to record my thoughts and observations on paper and, later, on the interwebs), it is hard to admit that I rarely have the strong urge to write anymore. I think I've been purposely pressing that innate urge down (because, really, we cannot change our true selves so easily) and so choosing not to write so that I won't miss it so much.

In any case, I am not promising that I am back for good or that I will even compose another post in the near future. What I can promise is that I will be trying to figure myself out more and so I may feel the need to record those explorations here.

For now, I will share a photo that best reveals how Travis has (finally) decided to dress the groomsmen:

"Michigan Farm Style Wedding," Weddingchicks.com

Essentially, Travis would like all his men to wear whatever suit they have and then the same color tie (or bowtie, in Graham's case). I happen to think it actually looks cool, but then I don't usually focus on matching things. So I hope that little wedding tidbit will hold you over until I am able to share more.

NaBloPoMo: Parental distinctions

My parents are very different. This week brings that fact into sharp focus.

As my wedding date nears, my mom has suddenly taken more of an interest in being a part of the planning, which is fine. What is so clarifying for me is that before committing to coming to visit me this weekend I had to assure her several times that there would be stuff to do. In essence, she needed a play-by-play before she decided that she was definitely coming down.

With dad, all he wants to know is that he can see me. What we do is irrelevant, it's the fact that we are spending time together that matters. Don't get me wrong, when dad and I hang out our time is usually jam-packed with activities. But we are much more spontaneous. And he is also content just talking or just sitting.

I sometimes wonder if my mom can handle just being near someone. She constantly needs to "do," despite the fact that she often complains about being too busy. Sometimes I think that she wants to be unhappy on purpose. In any case, I was never good at just scheduling every moment of my day so there would always be something to do; I am more laid-back, like dad. This is likely the reason that mom and I don't get along at all. Our sensibilities are so different that a natural tension develops when we spend time together. This state is exacerbated by the fact that mom can't accept that our ideologies differ. The experience is such that I look towards spending time with my mom with dread, and I search for reasons to avoid the experience.

When people ask me what my parents are like I tend to say my mom is my mom and then move on to describe my dad in more detail. I know him better, despite how little time we've had to spend together. According to mom, I have even developed some of his mannerisms over the years.

It is with this in mind that I know that mom and I will never have the experience that most do when they are planning a wedding. Mom and I approach things so differently that when I told dad that mom wanted to help, he said that I should remember that the day is about me, not mom. And he's right, of course. Dad's contribution to the wedding planning has always been as a sounding board (as he is for so much of my life) and I am grateful to him for reminding me what matters. Mom's contribution will likely be to remind me what I don't want for our big day.

But as I continue to plan my wedding, there is a certain resigned sadness that shadows the process. Not because of the relationship we won't have, but because I am sad that I can't give her the experience she so obviously wants. But this is the way it's been since high school and I don't ever want to compromise myself or my ideals just to make my mom happy. And it's not that I don't love my mother, because I do. But some things need to be accepted for life to move on.

NaBloPoMo: Navigating the waters of uncertainty

I've been neglecting my blog lately. This isn't an apology; it's more of a fact. I needed a break from writing, and I'm sure you needed a break from reading.

As you know, I've been desperately searching for a job. Any job would do, but I believed my heart was telling me to stay in journalism, if I could. And somehow I found myself being wooed by an actual newspaper. And here I am, working in the field I've always wanted to work in.

Well, that's not exactly true. While I have been on the path to journalism since my junior year of high school, it was not my first love. When I was a child I wanted to work with animals. Like most children I changed my mind about my future profession several times, but it always involved animals. From a horse trainer to a veterinarian, there was always a clear focus on animals in my daydreams. And I still would drop everything if someone told me I could make a living caring for animals without having to go to school or get specialized training. In fact it was the heavy emphasis on math and chemistry in all courses of study at veterinarian schools that eventually kept me from fulfilling that childhood dream. A fleeting obsession in the 10th grade led me to explore the idea of forensic science, but again the math and chemistry requirements were just too much.

There was a turning point at the end of my junior year that led me to where I am today. As I was registering for my electives I was given a chance work for a semester under a professional. I agonized over the choice between a vet's assistant and a reporter position at the local newspaper. As fate would have it, I ended up choosing the newspaper and that was it: I had the bug.

And since then I've never wavered. Newspapers held me under their sway through college and my first real job.

And now here I am, working at my second job in newspapers. I'm living the "dream." Except it doesn't feel like that anymore.

My excuse for ignoring this blog for so long was that all my creative energies had to be directed towards the job search. But a month after landing a job in newspapers (the only one in my group of displaced journalists to do so), I still haven't really returned here to celebrate.

To be honest, the dream I've pursued for 7 years is fizzling for me. Now I no longer obsessively read newspapers, I don't love working at one and I can't even remember why I loved newspapers so much to begin with. Don't get me wrong, I still respect the media. When I reach my first permanent home, I will likely have a subscription to the local newspaper. I don't hate my job, either. I more or less just subsist there. I go to work and I come home. I break that up with trips to the dog park with Miyagi and yoga sessions, but I largely stick to that routine. And I cannot say that I am happy. Or I could, but I'd be lying.

It's truly disconcerting to be so lost. Despite all of the instability and fluidity that has marked my life, I have never felt this unsure about where I am going. It's worse because I feel as though I am regressing. All my friends spent college with no idea where they were headed, while I had it all but intricately mapped out. Now that most of them are finally finding their way, I am suddenly losing mine. And it is actually a scary way to live.

Quick update on life

I'm sorry for the long absence, guys. What can I say? Sometimes life just gets away from you. So here is what has changed so far:

~ I am gainfully employed again. I now work part time as a page designer for both the Suffolk News-Herald and the Tidewater News. Part time is great because it gives me a chance to get back into the flow of working. Part time is bad because it is obviously less money.

~We set a date for our wedding and then promptly had the date taken away from us. We are in a holding pattern now which is giving me all kinds of stressed feelings. Hopefully I will eventually get over them and there will be a wedding in the near future.

~I have not cooked a meal in a very long time, which is unfortunate since it was such a great stress relieving activity.

This weekend the fiance and I are dog-sitting the fiance's family dog, Dylan. He's a sweet and mischievous 16-year-old English Setter. It's been lovely to get a chance to teach Miyagi how to be with another dog without having to play with them. He needs this lesson because he has a habit of getting into sometimes painful trouble when he won't leave a dog who doesn't want to play alone. They are currently cuddling together on the couch. It was another feat altogether to get him to realize that the couch was not his, a distinction necessary when teaching him to leave Dylan alone when he wanted to sleep on the couch.

Miyagi and Dylan nap together on the couch

Lessons in dog training: Working for food

I'm a general fan of Jon Katz's basic training philosophy: Research as many dog training methods as you can find information on, then decide for yourself what will work for you and your dog. As he writes in Katz on Dogs, "Each dog and each owner is different. What matters is what works for you and the dog you live with." I mentioned this philosophy in my previous post about my decision to crate train Miyagi. Katz explains that "We need a patched-together training method that understands the dog's nature and our own..."
One thing I've done research on is how feeding can make or break your relationship with your dog. This is actually a pretty huge area that is often intertwined with all areas of training. For example, many say hand feeding is the best way to quickly bond with your dog. An easy way to help a dog learn his or her name is to repeat it while the dog is eating. Even handing out kibble in exchange for good behavior (thus cutting down on overfeeding by cutting out treats) is often encouraged.
For Miyagi, all of these things are working. But one that I was highly skeptical of was the idea of making a dog work for his food. It seemed a little cruel to me, but I was having trouble keeping my high-energy pup entertained. Then I realized I was again putting my human emotions on my dog. Because I thought withholding food until satisfactory work was accomplished seemed cruel, I assumed I was hurting Miyagi by doing just that.
But dogs have always worked for their food, in fact many dogs are happier to solve a puzzle in order to partake of breakfast than to have it plopped in front of them (Miyagi often didn't finish his food because he got bored with it).
Having a dog expend energy mentally can often help him be calmer overall. So with Miyagi, I began feeding him by stuffing some of his kibble into a Kong ball.



The rest I fed to him during training sessions. Because of this, his training has also improved as he became more willing to work for a treat when he hasn't already stuffed himself with breakfast or dinner. Here's a video of Miyagi eating dinner recently.



Of course, Miyagi didn't quite get it at first. But now it takes him less than 2 minutes to pull all of his kibble out. This morning I stuffed the openings with peanut butter to challenge him more. It's been fun to see his mind click and suddenly figure out just what to do.

Wax on, wax off...

So I apologize for my absence. Last weekend I went home and then on Monday the fiance and I adopted a puppy, so I haven't had much time to update this lovely blog. The first few days of having a puppy has been a mix of stressed panic attacks and wonderful moments. I grew up in a house with a cat, two dogs and a bird, so I'm no stranger to animal care. But, it's very different to adopt a puppy and take responsibility for another life, especially one so helpless.
At the same time, it's been great to see him grow and learn in such a short time.
Miyagi (after The Karate Kid sensei) is an 8-month-old lab/terrier mix with a cute wire hair beard, hence the sensei reference.
When we adopted Miyagi, we vowed to be very consistent and firm in his training. And there have been amazing moments when he suddenly got what we were teaching him. And it's so wonderful to just hang out with him. So, don't be surprised if you see some of my training experiences and stories about Miyagi.



What about you? Have you had a dog or do you own one right now? Feel free to share you stories about your pets or tips on training them here.

Saving money versus eating awesome food

Here's the deal: I'm a miser. I find it very difficult to spend money. I don't purchase clothes all that often. I believe I bought a shirt on New Year's Eve. Before that, I think I bought a pair of jeans in July ... maybe. I've needed a laptop for about 6 months now and I still haven't purchased one. But there is a caveat in all this thriftiness: Food. It's my weakness. I love buying food to try out new recipes. In any given month I spend about half my paycheck on food. I only spend a quarter of it on rent/utilities. I have decreased that number in recent months, thanks to my obsessive use of coupons and sales, but I still buy things I don't need. I still spend a lot on delivery/eating out.
The solution here is really a combination of things:

• Eating out less frequently
• Buying cheaper food and taking full advantage of coupons and sales
• And tracking the amount the fiance and I spend on food

I've been implementing these things off and on, but I can't tell you if it really has decreased. So for the next month I'm hoping to track food spending a little bit better, while at the same time cooking with an eye on saving money. Making steak instead of ordering Chinese really doesn't save money, now does it? After tracing food purchases and uses, I might be able to implement a plan. So, in April you can look forward to my account of all my struggles to save money but still satisfy my passion for cooking.
Until then, here are some inspirational blogs you can visit if you want to know more about cooking and eating on a budget:

• Budget Bytes: My favorite blog covering cheap eating! Beth is a New Yorker who started out hoping to help herself and her other 20-something friends eat well and cheaply in the city. She breaks down her recipes by price (total and per serving). She also has some great resources, like how to build your pantry so you don't have to go to the store every time you need a specific spice or thrifty rules to live by. Her mouthwatering photos don't hurt, either.
• Money Saving Mom: Everything for recipes to menu planning to links to coupons and deals, Crystal Paine seeks to "help you become a better home economist."
• Cheap Healthy Good: With a combined focus on eating healthy and saving money, a group of women in New York offer you cheap, healthy alternatives. This site has other great features, like roundups of awesome finds on the Web and a list of in-season foods to help you focus on produce that is more readily available and, therefore, cheaper.
• 30 bucks a week: Can you eat three meals daily on 30 bucks a week? Apparently you can often do that with less. A couple in New York posts scans of their weekly receipts and offers recipes. It's a pretty unique way to stay accountable and prove to us all that it's possible.

Less than a week left

I have bad news, dear readers. National Blog Posting Month is nearing its end. There is less than a week left of this exercise in wordiness, and I admit I feel accomplished. The first week, I had to remind myself (almost hourly, as I often put it off most of the day) to remember to write a post every day. But now, as I surf the Web in my downtime, I am constantly coming up with new ideas for posts. I've even found myself remembering to take a camera places so that I can write about that experience later on.
I set out in this endeavor with no clear goals, except the whole one-post-a-day-every-day-for-a-month thing. As I went along, in the back of my mind, I began coming up with what I hoped would come out of this experience. Here's what I've been thinking:

• Write something REAL in every post. Whether I am pointing you to new Web sites, showcasing inspiring photos from Flickr or sharing my review of a book, I decided almost at the beginning to make sure I wouldn't disrespect you by offering a lame post.


• Make regular posting a habit, so that I end up wanting to post and share my thoughts. In essence, I'm trying to train myself up for my other (more professional) blog.


• Come up with a theme or at least a general idea of what the point of this blog is. If I want to grow my reader base beyond my friends and family (and I would like to, one day), I have to come up with a "brand". Essentially a brand (a very popular term when it comes to blogging) is what you, as a blogger, are all about. Maybe your brand is sharing recipes and photos of healthy and organic meals, or your brand is showing your picks of the best new interior design finds in the Internet (both are brands of blogs I currently follow). In any case, brands are meant to not only attract readers with the same interests, but to also give them structure, so they won't be unpleasantly surprised when you start blogging about something that they have no interest in at all.


• Connect with people. I am a self-professed loner. But I do enjoy debating with people, sharing in a worldwide conversation about this book, or this food. I want people to comment on my blog, to respond to the crazy (or boring) things I have to say.

I haven't accomplished all of these goals. I have definitely passed even my own expectations on number one and two. I haven't quite accomplished number three, but I admit I have discovered that there are certain subjects that I enjoy posting about more often than others. The comments they generate are also more interesting. Maybe that's the first step in figuring out what this blog will become? And, slowly, I am getting you all, my faithful readers, to join the conversation that I hope this blog will become. So thanks for helping me get closer to that goal.

As we enter a new month, I can't promise that I will have a new post every day, but right now I can see myself posting three or four times a week with regularity. From food to Web sites to photography, know that I will continue to share my finds on the Internet. Please stay with me on this journey.

~Beth~

Directions

I've been thinking a lot lately. About my wedding and my relationships with my friends, and yes, even about how hilarious the new Big Bang Theory is. But what is ALWAYS in the back of my mind, simmering back there with the money issues and how much I want a dog, is what I want to do with my life. Every once in a while, it boils over and floods my brain with such extreme worry that it borders on anxiety, my shoulders tense up without me realizing it and suddenly I can't sleep at night, whether I'm being kept up by my thoughts or having vivid, distracting and disturbing dreams.
That's how my week has been.
It's not that I hate my job. If I get right down to it, I am thankful for my job. My schedule is such that I never rush to work. I work during the hours that I am naturally most awake and I get to flex creative muscles by designing pages and writing headlines. And I get paid and have benefits. I think I'd be in worse shape if I didn't have these factors in my favor.
But I still feel lost. I'm not doing what I always thought I'd be doing (writing) and I just feel like something is missing. I don't dislike my coworkers, but I'm not friends with any of them. And, I suppose, I don't feel like what I'm doing makes any meaningful difference.
All this comes together to make me consider abandoning journalism for a different field. I discovered a Web site where you can search for openings at nonprofits, and many of these organizations need people with my set of skills to come and widen their exposure to the public. I am beginning to feel that old excitement, of contemplating the possibility of changing my life for the better. I spend 8 hours a day at the workplace, I need to justify those hours doing something that I believe in. It's sad, but I have finally admitted to myself that I just don't believe in journalism anymore.

An answer only future me has

I bet you didn't think I would post today, making all the previous posts pointless since the whole idea of NaBloPoMo is to make it all the way through no matter what; to keep putting up posts, real ones that have a purpose not fake last minutes ones that are really a waste. Last time I did this, I did a lot of those pointless posts and in the end, I didn't feel nearly as accomplished as I do right now.

I am way more than halfway done and I am actually happy with what I've put out so far. All my posts are ones that interest me, that I have actually gone back and read over a few times.

For me, this NaBloPoMo was going to have a bigger purpose. With my job, there is a serious lack of real writing. Some say that the craft of headline writing is the biggest writing challenge there is. To not only convey meaning but to also entice the reader, all in generally less than ten words is a massive undertaking. But, it's still not real writing for me. Crafting words and organizing them into sentences, paragraphs and articles that come together to serve some higher purpose, that's what writing is for me. For one article I wrote for the Captain's Log it was to expose the purpose (and failures) of the teacher evaluation system. For an opinion piece I wrote I was finally writing about something I felt passionately about and in fact got the most feedback on. That was fun.

Headline writing, editing, even designing wasn't nearly as fun or satisfying as those few articles I wrote.

So, I was hoping, in this month, to inspire myself to come up with a higher purpose for this blog. I was hoping to come up with a theme, or overarching mission that would give me and readers a reason to keep coming back. Alas, with only days left and little inspiration for the rest of my posts, I still have no idea what this blog could be. And, therefore, what reason would I have to return and update it? Maybe all it really can be is just a public diary for me. Or maybe I will turn it into something else. Only future me knows that, and I am content to let her deal with that question when this month is over.

Introducing some friends

Can a I take a moment to introduce you to some people? These people are funny and dreamy and creative and stunning in their ability to update their blog daily, or at least often enough to make me jealous.
So I guess I should admit that I don't personally know any of the people I'm about to tell you about, but through their blogs I've gotten an idea of them, and I'd like, at the very least, to support their endeavors by asking you to take a second to look at their work.

decor8
Holly Becker is a writer and interior design consultant. Her blog was the very first blog that I discovered when I discovered the world of semi-professional blogging (by this I mean people who use their blog not to talk about every tiny thing they did that day or as a personal diary, but to share some of their expertise and experience with the world). decor8 is a blog about "fresh finds for hip spaces." For example, her Etsy Take Five Tuesday series is where she shares her discoveries of handmade objects from the people over at Etsy.

Pretty Good
Mary Swenson is a "self-taught photographer" who shares dreamy and fun photos of what she sees around her. Then she puts a message on the photo to describe it or her mood when taking that photo. I love this site because the photos are so lovely.

Smitten Kitchen
Deb is a New Yorker offering up "fearless cooking from a tiny kitchen in New York City." She's full of humor, fun recipes and gorgeous photos of food. Her's was the first food blog that I began to follow, and since then I've become slightly obsessed with the genre. My favorite recipe that I've attempted from her vast collection: Strawberry-rhubarb crumble. What I can't wait to try: Baked chicken meatballs, along with just about every recipe in her recipe index.

Language skills

I don't really make New Year's Resolutions. I make to-do lists, or really, what-I-hope-to-do-this-year lists. That way, I can cross something off said list if I feel like I don't have time to accomplish it. Lists are a little more fast and loose than resolutions.
Unfortunately this had led me to put off one pretty major task on my rolling to-do list. This one has been on there since I was a junior in college.
I took one semester of Italian. I would have taken more, but I had a minor to think about and I didn't feel like I was learning much from the professor. So I didn't finish out the series, and instead recieved an Italian (Levels 1 and 2) Rosetta Stone set.

I was excited. I set out right away on lesson 1. Then I stopped for a year. A new year rolled around and it was time to update my to-do list. Again I restarted the program with lesson 1. Again I stopped. The pattern continued.
But this year might have changed that. I've finally moved on to lesson 2!. It might not seem like much to you guys, but it's a massive accomplishment for me. And I'm enjoying the program enough, and how much it's making sense to me, that I plan to finish it up. I hope that I will be partially fluent by the time I go to grad school, and that I will be able to fulfill the inevitable language requirements with a simple test. Here's hoping!