Running!

It's official, this morning Paul and I signed up for our very first 5K run! The event will be hosted by Cross Connections, a Christ centered counseling organization here in Ft. Wayne, and it will take place on the seminary campus. We heard about the run last week, and we have decided to make it our work-out goal.

The day after I moved up here, Paul and I started hitting the gym every other day. We want to make exercise a regular part of our life, and we've been doing a pretty good job so far. Usually, Paul does weights while I do stretching and calisthenics for 30 minutes or so, then we both go out to the track and run. Right now we're both at a mile, but our goal is to work up to the 5K by June 30th.

Since my goal is a tighter and stronger core, I've been doing sets of push-ups, sit-ups, leg lifts, and sitting leg curls. This week, my goal is to move up to 50 of each. (Right now I do 40.) I also do hip and shoulder exercises that I learned from Yoga, since those seem to be the muscles where I hold most of my tension. I welcome any suggestions for other exercises I can incorporate into my routine. :-)

The challenge of training for a specific event is very exciting, and we both really look forward to exercise days. (Sadly, today is not one of them). It's amazing how much regular exercise does to improve my mood, disposition, and sense of well being! Paul seems to be deriving very similar benefits as well. Progress updates and pictures from the run will hopefully be forthcoming in the days and weeks ahead. 

Craft-a-Holic

It's time to admit it; I have a problem. I am utterly addicted to crafts. (That is probably not a surprise to most people.) Currently I draw, paint, crochet, knit, cross stitch, carve stamps, make candles, and wood-burn. I would really like to learn how to sew, quilt, embroider, scrapbook, and stamp, but alas, now is not the time to accumulate new things.

In the midst of cleaning the clutter from our lives, Paul and I have managed to get rid of whole stacks of clothes, books, CDs, and assorted junk. We've chosen other clothes, books, CDs, and assorted junk to pack and store for the next year while we are in California. It has been quite liberating to free ourselves from our earthly belongings. Except now, I have come to the dreaded task of sorting through my craft supplies. Ordinarily, I love sorting through my craft supplies. It gives me new ideas for crafts I can do. =) I have boxes and boxes of yarn, paints, sketchbooks, wood burning supplies, needlework, and books, and I want all of them with me at all times. For a period during college, I carried around several boxes of craft supplies in my car, just to be sure I would have the things I needed when I needed them!

How to go about this task of sorting through my most prized possessions and choosing what will come to California, and what will sit, unused, unwanted, unloved in an attic for an entire year... There is only room for one box in the car. What will go into that box? We shall see...

Update

This is just a quick update about what we have going on right now. Paul just finished up his work from last quarter. Yesterday he ran the service at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, where he has been serving as a field worker for the past two years. The church's pastor recently took another call, so Paul has been filling in on the non-communion Sundays. His summer classes begin tomorrow, which left us yesterday afternoon and today to get things organized. We have made the most of our time though, and have managed to get everything sorted, if not actually packed or unpacked.

Today in, "adventures," I battled the foul odored demon under our sink for a second time. The sink in the "kitchen" area is not designed to handle food. We scrape everything, but a lot still gets through, and it has been growing into a nightmarish smelling monster. I first battled this monster a few days ago, and a good dose of bleach seemed to do the job. We'll see if that same strategy works tonight.

Any suggestions that could give me the upper hand and lead to the ultimate demise of this creature would be very welcome. :-)

Pictoral Evidence

I've finally gotten around to uploading a few pictures, not many, but you can get a sense of what things are like at the Ferderer home. ;-)

Breakfast with Paul- Lessons on new and exciting
 ways to drink coffee. ;-)








This doesn't even begin to describe the mess that is actually our living/bedroom. This was just when it was only my stuff, and I hadn't started opening boxes yet. At the height of the chaos, I didn't have the heart to take pictures...





Paul, with living/bedroom mess in the background. ;-)









Our humble kitchen table. (What it doesn't show is the toilet directly behind me... That's right, we have a Critchen: a crapper/kitchen. Paul's terminology)

I finally got a baking win! We got together with some of our friends for dinner and a movie last night. We were asked to bring a side dish, so I found an interesting recipe for "beer n' brat biscuits." They turned out great! They were a big hit at the dinner, and they will definitely become a Ferderer tradition. :-) I think I'll make a recipe page and post this in case anyone wants to try it.

Kitchen Nightmares

As we were eating dinner last night, trying to stay warm and scarf down our food before it iced over, Paul joked, "I sure hope we move up in life someday." This was a very literal sentiment, as we are currently living in an actual, unfinished basement.

As unfinished basements go, it's actually very nice. The lady we are renting from loves to do home improvement projects. She installed a bathroom, kitchen area, lights, locks, and a shower, put in a bed, dresser, desk, some tables, painted the walls and ceiling, cleaned the floors, and decorated so the place looks quite cute and kitschy.  Oh, and did I mention that she has moderately advanced Multiple Sclerosis and Disautonomia, both degenerative neurological conditions? And I thought I had problems! Myrtle is determined to live each day to the fullest, even in the midst of great physical pain and the knowledge that her days are numbered, and she will not get better. She is quite inspirational.

And so, inspired by Myrtle, I am trying to live each day to the fullest as well. Right now, I'm trying to expand my mind by learning some new and practical skills. Yesterday, I learned that baking biscotti requires some specific skill sets which I do not currently possess... The recipe was telling me to do strange things like "make a well in the mixture." So I dug a little hole in the middle of my bowl of flour. "Pour the melted chocolate into the well and stir until a soft dough forms." So, I poured it in and stirred everything vigorously until I had a bunch of little dough clumps. "Turn out dough on to lightly floured surface." Turn out? Couldn't they just say pour? So I scraped my little doughlets onto a floured cutting board. "Gently knead mixture until combined. (About 1-2 minutes.)" So they wanted me to combine the dough balls? I grabbed my concoction and tried smushing it together, but the more I smushed, the tougher and more crumbly it got. About 13 minutes later, I decided to move on to the next step. "Place dough on the pan," Why were they talking about it as though it should be a singular entity? "And form it into a log." I pushed my crumbled pieces of chocolate flavored clay into something that looked like it could be a log. "Gently flatten dough to 1/4 inch." I didn't think I could get my log to stand taller than 1/4 inch if I tried! I slipped the pan in the oven, and followed the baking directions to a tee. When I pulled my log out... It did not look like biscotti. Not even a little. I thought it might still have a chance of tasting like biscotti, but when I managed to crack a small piece between my teeth and grind it down enough to taste it, it was not all I had expected and more. Where had I gone wrong!? At that point, I turned to my encyclopedia of cooking terminology and realized several ways in which I had gone terribly wrong.

I will be attempting to bake biscotti again, perhaps tomorrow. I will not be defeated by pastry! And next time, I think I'll read my terminology BEFORE I botch the baking.

Introduction

Here it is, a modern way to chronicle our adventures as Paul and I set out on our first year of married life. (Well, married life in which we actually live in the same state as one another.) This blog will be a simple way for those who are interested to check in on us and see what we've been up to. I'll be posting pictures, updates, things I've learned, and fun recipes, projects, and assorted creative and crafty tid-bits.

For today in the "things I've learned" category:

Unpacking is far more challenging than packing! The blending of two domiciles into one is more difficult than I had expected, especially when there is limited space. I finally got the kitchen/ dining room area organized, functional, and looking quite cozy. The living room/ bedroom area... that's another story. It looks like an actual tornado went through there. There are boxes piled high, clothes and assorted belongings strewn everywhere. It's a little overwhelming. Paul has promised to help me sort through the wreckage once he finishes the paper due tomorrow, and his sermon due Sunday. I guess it's a good thing we're getting a chance to practice now. We'll only get to do this moving thing three more times in the next two years!!! ;-)

All that said, we're having a blast. Well, I am anyway, Paul has mostly been working on his paper... I'm having a great time setting up house, and I'm especially enjoying my new kitchen. It's so nice to be able to cook my own food! More to come on fun food adventures, but I'll save that for another day.

So there you have it, the introduction to our upcoming chronicles as we pass through this adventure called life.