We're still cleansing and it's been quite the ride. We're past the first week mark now, actually we're 10 days into a 21 day cleanse. So about 1/2 way! We're craving meat! But we're planning quite the celebration for when it's over.
The cleanse, in a nutshell, is a mostly raw, vegan cleanse. It's basically sugarless, with a few exceptions, caffeine free, and alcohol free. Here's a typical day...
Wake Up - lots of water
Breakfast - green smoothie
Throughout the rest of the morning - more water and tea
Lunch - big salad and something small cooked. (samosas, rice and veggies, udon noodles)
Throughout the rest of the afternoon - more water and tea
Around 3 or 4 - a snack. Either raw nuts and dried fruit or a rice cake with peanut butter
Dinner - big salad and another something small cooked. We've done burgers one night, we've done rice, we've done hummus and veggies, we've done vegan chili.
That's about it! We've both definitely been emotional during the cleanse. I've been teary and crabby. Ryan's mostly just been crabby and hungry. But now that most of those toxins are leaving our bodies we're feeling calmer. We're definitely sleeping WAY better at night and I have a lot more energy (that may have something to do with the no running for two weeks thing too).
We're also taking some vitamin supplements, which has been interesting to learn about. And slowly making the change to better-for-us-and-the-environment cosmetics and household supplies.
There are certainly things that we'll incorporate into our lifestyle even after the cleanse is over but I am just not ready to give up my morning cup of coffee and we're both not ready to give up alcohol and meat!
If you're interested in more information read this book: Crazy Sexy Cleanse by Kris Carr.
MULUB,
Taylor
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Fritada
Someone out there is searching for fritada recipes from Ecuador! We'd love to tell you everything we know about fritada and Ecuador!
Crazy Sexy Cleanse
Ryan and I started a post marathon cleanse on Monday. It's from the book Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr. This woman is seriously inspiring. She was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer, changed the way she lived her life, became her own health advocate and is healthier then she's ever been. This all might sound familiar if you saw her on Oprah or her documentary on TLC called Crazy Sexy Cancer. Check it out...
Now that we're back in the States, we're still trying to figure out 'what does healthy mean'. In Ecuador it was drastically different answer than here in the States. This cleanse is just the next part of that journey. So far it's been full of lots of green juice and salads.
We're having to learn how to cook differently, as it's a vegan, gluten and (processed) sugar free cleanse. There are a lot of ingredients that I've always shied away from in the past that we're having to confront. It's intimidating, to say the least. And when you're hungry and just want to eat, it's frustrating. But we're working on it.
Any ideas or suggestions just pass them on!
In other news I am now, officially, a marathoner. It was quite the experience! More on that later though!
MULUB,
Taylor
Now that we're back in the States, we're still trying to figure out 'what does healthy mean'. In Ecuador it was drastically different answer than here in the States. This cleanse is just the next part of that journey. So far it's been full of lots of green juice and salads.
We're having to learn how to cook differently, as it's a vegan, gluten and (processed) sugar free cleanse. There are a lot of ingredients that I've always shied away from in the past that we're having to confront. It's intimidating, to say the least. And when you're hungry and just want to eat, it's frustrating. But we're working on it.
Any ideas or suggestions just pass them on!
In other news I am now, officially, a marathoner. It was quite the experience! More on that later though!
MULUB,
Taylor
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
How early is too early...
We're planning this wedding, right. We're super excited about it! Especially now that the big stuff is over. We've got a date, a location, two officiants and a hotel! We've started working on all of the rest, or at least some of the rest. But there's just so much to do!
A girl comes into the salon last week and hands Ashley, the other receptionist, a printed out excel worksheet with these categories... Name, Role, Phone, Hair, Make Up, Mani, Pedi, Misc. And it's all nicely filled out with all of her wedding party, family members, etc for her wedding day. Then she hands Ashley a hand written schedule and politely asks if she'd make all of these appointments for her. Now, I'm sitting there thinking, 'WOW she's really organized; her wedding must be right around the corner.' Then I look at Ashley entering the appointments and they're not until the weekend after our wedding. WHAT?
Talk about making me feel like a slacker. The bride and I get to talking and she's like, 'oh you should see my wedding binder at home. It's all organized and filed and blah, blah, blah.' So needless to say I went to the store and bought a binder and have been slowly assembling it! Although, most of its contents are lying in various states on the floor in the living room.
Then another girl was in the salon yesterday talking about her wedding coming up on Saturday and her wedding purse. Apparently she through out her shoulder carrying her wedding purse. I kept racking my brain, 'what the heck is a wedding purse!?' Well, for those of you like me, a wedding purse is a bag that you keep your wedding binder and all other pertinent wedding information in. And hers was just so heavy that she hurt her shoulder from carrying it.
Also, I can't tell you how many time's I've already heard "Oh well, we're already booked for that weekend." Like seriously, it's over a year away!
Bottom line, I need to get a move on. That's why I'm meeting with Sarah today and hopefully we'll be really super duper productive!
A girl comes into the salon last week and hands Ashley, the other receptionist, a printed out excel worksheet with these categories... Name, Role, Phone, Hair, Make Up, Mani, Pedi, Misc. And it's all nicely filled out with all of her wedding party, family members, etc for her wedding day. Then she hands Ashley a hand written schedule and politely asks if she'd make all of these appointments for her. Now, I'm sitting there thinking, 'WOW she's really organized; her wedding must be right around the corner.' Then I look at Ashley entering the appointments and they're not until the weekend after our wedding. WHAT?
Talk about making me feel like a slacker. The bride and I get to talking and she's like, 'oh you should see my wedding binder at home. It's all organized and filed and blah, blah, blah.' So needless to say I went to the store and bought a binder and have been slowly assembling it! Although, most of its contents are lying in various states on the floor in the living room.
Then another girl was in the salon yesterday talking about her wedding coming up on Saturday and her wedding purse. Apparently she through out her shoulder carrying her wedding purse. I kept racking my brain, 'what the heck is a wedding purse!?' Well, for those of you like me, a wedding purse is a bag that you keep your wedding binder and all other pertinent wedding information in. And hers was just so heavy that she hurt her shoulder from carrying it.
Also, I can't tell you how many time's I've already heard "Oh well, we're already booked for that weekend." Like seriously, it's over a year away!
Bottom line, I need to get a move on. That's why I'm meeting with Sarah today and hopefully we'll be really super duper productive!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Hiatus. Is it over?
I know, I know... sorry. Now we're moving on.
Here's a quick update on all that's been going on:
Ryan is working 50+ hours at a Japanese restaurant in Rockford. You know the kind where they cook in front of you, it's that kind! He's really enjoying it because it's busy and he's learning how to do something new. He works everyday, doubles 3-4 days a week, and has Sundays off.
I'm working about 30 hours at the Salon... of all women. It's what it is, which is work.
We're still living at my parents' house. We're loving not paying bills and very, very grateful for that.
We've been visiting Ryan's family a lot lately. I think our relationships are deepening, which is something Ryan and I hoped would happen while we're in closer proximity.
The marathon is this Sunday... WHAT? If you'd like to donate click here. Training has been hard but so much fun. I would definitely do it again. But I am looking forward to just running an hour and not being so gosh darn hungry ALL OF THE gosh darn TIME!
We're totally slacking on the cooking for ourselves realm. But after the marathon is over we'll be back with a vengeance. We're planning on doing the Crazy Sexy Cleanse from Kris Carr. I'm excited. Then we're thinking about doing either P90x or Insanity or Shred. I'd eventually like to find a yoga or pilates studio too.
It's been great to see our friends more often, although to be honest... we don't see them as much as we'd like. We're trying to do better at that.
Wedding planning is in full swing. I even made a binder! Crazy, I know! We have a lot of ideas but I'm having a hard time doing more than just thinking, 'oh it'd be fun to do this...' Hopefully as we get closer it will become more concrete and less abstract!
Here are a few things that we've been loving about being back in the States:
Edward's Apple Orchard
Sunday/Monday Night Football with friends
Having a little bit of money in the bank
Being able to be present and be helpful with our families (Matson's included :)
Until next time....
MULUB,
Taylor
Here's a quick update on all that's been going on:
Ryan is working 50+ hours at a Japanese restaurant in Rockford. You know the kind where they cook in front of you, it's that kind! He's really enjoying it because it's busy and he's learning how to do something new. He works everyday, doubles 3-4 days a week, and has Sundays off.
I'm working about 30 hours at the Salon... of all women. It's what it is, which is work.
We're still living at my parents' house. We're loving not paying bills and very, very grateful for that.
We've been visiting Ryan's family a lot lately. I think our relationships are deepening, which is something Ryan and I hoped would happen while we're in closer proximity.
The marathon is this Sunday... WHAT? If you'd like to donate click here. Training has been hard but so much fun. I would definitely do it again. But I am looking forward to just running an hour and not being so gosh darn hungry ALL OF THE gosh darn TIME!
We're totally slacking on the cooking for ourselves realm. But after the marathon is over we'll be back with a vengeance. We're planning on doing the Crazy Sexy Cleanse from Kris Carr. I'm excited. Then we're thinking about doing either P90x or Insanity or Shred. I'd eventually like to find a yoga or pilates studio too.
It's been great to see our friends more often, although to be honest... we don't see them as much as we'd like. We're trying to do better at that.
Wedding planning is in full swing. I even made a binder! Crazy, I know! We have a lot of ideas but I'm having a hard time doing more than just thinking, 'oh it'd be fun to do this...' Hopefully as we get closer it will become more concrete and less abstract!
Here are a few things that we've been loving about being back in the States:
Edward's Apple Orchard
Sunday/Monday Night Football with friends
Having a little bit of money in the bank
Being able to be present and be helpful with our families (Matson's included :)
Until next time....
MULUB,
Taylor
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Let me start by saying there have been many a thoughts and many a conversations since the last post. We still aren't in a routine and that makes it hard to blog regularly. Here are just a couple of things that we've been up to...
- Chuki got neutered and is signed up for his first private lesson training session to try and figure out what makes his crazy with other dogs and with the vet. We're both really hopeful and just me, I'm a little nervous.
- Ryan had one interview last week and has another one this week. He's still applying and looking so if anyone knows of anything out there, he'd love to hear about it! We're keeping our fingers and toes crossed.
- We picked the first actual thing from our garden, besides just herbs. It's a pepper and we're going to use it to make Green Chicken Curry tonight. We had to put up a fence around our garden because the little rabbits ate all of the snap peas. But now we've got some room to plant a couple of more things so we're headed to the store soon (we keep saying today, but then today comes and goes).
- The big conversation that we've been having lately is about food and what is important to us and then how that fits into our budget. For example, does 100% organic really matter, and if it does what can we afford to buy/week. We're really happy with Anderson Organics and we're really happy with the eggs that we're getting from the Griesbachs! We've been doing a lot of chicken research lately. I mean what do those labels at the super market really mean? What's the difference between cage free and free range and free roam. Or all natural and pure. We finally decided on a chicken to buy from pure chicken. Check out the company it looks pretty legit. We can't afford to shell out $20 for ONE organic chicken but $8 for a healthy chicken sounded better. We'll let you know how it tastes.
- Wedding planning is going well. We're getting there, slowly but surely. Our Wedding Elf, Sarah, has been a HUGE help in the creativity department (seriously she's amazing!). We've got about 8 or 9 venues in the Seriously Possible column and a whole heck of a lot in the I Dont Think So column. So I'm feeling not-so-overwhelmed and actually really excited about the wedding. I know I'll feel REALLY excited once we have a venue and date but that will come. We're having engagement photos taken next week when dear, dear Brad is in town! So we're moving in the right direction.
- As far as social life... We went to our high school friend's wedding on Saturday and that was a TON of fun! Ryan has seen the guys a couple of times, I've seen Amy a couple of times. Hannah and Brian came up for the weekend which was SO much fun! We had a PERFECT day this past Sunday that ended in a grill out with great friends and a camp fire with s'mores.
- Things we're looking forward to... Visiting venues, going into Chicago this Friday to celebrate Hannah, Brad coming to town, the 4th of July, going to watch my little cousins in their Track regionals, family reunions on both sides, and lunch with Jenna, amongst many other things!
MULUB,
Taylor
- Chuki got neutered and is signed up for his first private lesson training session to try and figure out what makes his crazy with other dogs and with the vet. We're both really hopeful and just me, I'm a little nervous.
- Ryan had one interview last week and has another one this week. He's still applying and looking so if anyone knows of anything out there, he'd love to hear about it! We're keeping our fingers and toes crossed.
- We picked the first actual thing from our garden, besides just herbs. It's a pepper and we're going to use it to make Green Chicken Curry tonight. We had to put up a fence around our garden because the little rabbits ate all of the snap peas. But now we've got some room to plant a couple of more things so we're headed to the store soon (we keep saying today, but then today comes and goes).
- The big conversation that we've been having lately is about food and what is important to us and then how that fits into our budget. For example, does 100% organic really matter, and if it does what can we afford to buy/week. We're really happy with Anderson Organics and we're really happy with the eggs that we're getting from the Griesbachs! We've been doing a lot of chicken research lately. I mean what do those labels at the super market really mean? What's the difference between cage free and free range and free roam. Or all natural and pure. We finally decided on a chicken to buy from pure chicken. Check out the company it looks pretty legit. We can't afford to shell out $20 for ONE organic chicken but $8 for a healthy chicken sounded better. We'll let you know how it tastes.
- Wedding planning is going well. We're getting there, slowly but surely. Our Wedding Elf, Sarah, has been a HUGE help in the creativity department (seriously she's amazing!). We've got about 8 or 9 venues in the Seriously Possible column and a whole heck of a lot in the I Dont Think So column. So I'm feeling not-so-overwhelmed and actually really excited about the wedding. I know I'll feel REALLY excited once we have a venue and date but that will come. We're having engagement photos taken next week when dear, dear Brad is in town! So we're moving in the right direction.
- As far as social life... We went to our high school friend's wedding on Saturday and that was a TON of fun! Ryan has seen the guys a couple of times, I've seen Amy a couple of times. Hannah and Brian came up for the weekend which was SO much fun! We had a PERFECT day this past Sunday that ended in a grill out with great friends and a camp fire with s'mores.
- Things we're looking forward to... Visiting venues, going into Chicago this Friday to celebrate Hannah, Brad coming to town, the 4th of July, going to watch my little cousins in their Track regionals, family reunions on both sides, and lunch with Jenna, amongst many other things!
MULUB,
Taylor
Monday, June 13, 2011
Mint.com
As part of our financial learnings we signed up for mint.com. Does anyone else out there use it? I don't think it's very easy to use/user friendly. We actually signed up for it back in Ecuador but because we weren't using our cards EVER it didn't really do anything. We're trying to use cash for things back here in the States too, so I don't know how practical it is for us. I do like that it reminds me when payments are due, when accounts are low, and the goal feature. But I don't like that I can't set up payments with it. Anyways, does anyone out there have a good budget tool for cash purchases too? I wish I had a smart phone that could download those cool apps, because I've seen some good ones for budgeting cash!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
?
When we say we don't have a date yet (for the wedding) the number one response is: look of confusion accompanied by a disappointed 'oh.' Why is that?
Friday, June 10, 2011
Adjustments
It's been a hard adjustment living back in the USA for me. Harder than I expected, that's for sure. Everything is changing but everything isn't new. I'm a different person, we're both different people, but in an old setting. It's difficult.
We went to a wedding tonight. It was the first wedding that we'd been to as an engaged couple. I was really excited to look at the wedding from a different stand point... to look for ideas and such. The wedding was beautifully reflective of the couple and that I really appreciated. But there, in the middle of this huge wedding, instead of thinking about wedding I felt so much anxiety, a sure sign that I'm still adjusting.
It's strange because I've never really posted on church before. I've written many a posts about it, but never published them... But here goes. So the wedding was at our church, our old church. Ryan and I were both really involved in church during high school and the first two years of college. Like really involved. Like, I didn't go away to (my dream) school because I was doing an internship at my church. I don't really know how to write about tonight without a little bit of back story.
So we both invested a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of emotions and relationships in our church for six years. We worked there, volunteered there, worshiped there, were mentored there, were members there, etc. It's taken me five years (and counting) to piece together my time there into something understandable, instead of just something spiritual. Anyways, we were there tonight, right back in the middle of the things and the people that were so formative during those six years and we were both really disheartened, really anxious and mostly, disappointed. Maybe this is silly and juvenile, but no one misses us, very few people recognized us, even fewer said hello and only 2 people asked us about our lives. Now granted we did our best not to talk to many people, I won't even pretend that we didn't. It just stinks to think that all of the good that you thought you were doing doesn't matter to those that you did it for once your gone. (And yes I realize the intrinsic flaw in this statement, but as a high schooler you do things for people.)
Some people talk about dreading their high school reunion because it will bring back all of those old feelings and insecurities like not being pretty enough or popular enough. I've never felt that way about high school but boy did I feel that way tonight. I love the life that Ryan and I have created for ourselves. I think it's pretty baller and impressive and fun and amazing. I love the people that we have become. We have depth of interest and perspective, we like to talk about things, not just people. We're pretty awesome. But there, at church tonight, I felt uncool. Like I would never be cool enough to be accepted as a friend and equal by these people. How does that happen at church? And this is the crux of my adjustment issues... In Ecuador we dealt with these things on a philosophical level because we didn't have to confront them face to face, but here in America everything is head on, in your face, here I am, let's do this. And I just don't know how to reconcile my philosophical stance and my reality.
What Ryan and I have realized through many conversations with each other and the two wisest people we know is that we had it all wrong before. But still it just stinks to leave our church and feel worse about ourselves than we have felt in almost two years. That's a crappy feeling, made only crappier because of all that it entails.
So while the wedding was beautiful and emotional, we both needed a glass of wine when we got home! Of course, my dad was up with Chuki (long past my dad's bed time). Someday he'll learn to just put him in his crate!
One thing I did love from tonight was this statement (or something like it): Find the most generous explanation of someone's behavior and choose to believe it.
So while these people and this place hurt us, I have to believe that they don't realize it and they don't do it intentionally and that it's just a byproduct of the megachurch and then be done with it.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Oh ya know...
We've been busy and the 'To Do List' is growing! We went camping at Kettle Moraine for one night. It was nice, not my favorite campground but still nice to get out into nature. We did it cheaply (hotdogs and potatoes) but still ended up spending about $20 more than our $50 budget which meant Ryan couldn't go see the new X Men movie like he had hoped.
We also went to the GLEE concert. It was super fun! Our dear friend Roz gave us free tickets! We went out to dinner before hand at a yummy Mexican restaurant. We still ended up spending about $50 between dinner and gas. Geeze Louise!
Now we'll be home for a while to restock the cash piles =) I had wanted to go into the city tonight for a party with high school friends but it's just not in the cards. Plus there are TWO parties this weekend for another dear friend's birthday but sadly, they also aren't in the cards.
We have a wedding to go to this weekend and still need to buy the gift! I'm really excited about the wedding! It will be the first wedding that we're going to while we're engaged! So it will be fun to pay attention to all of the details in a new way.
It's a whole new learning curve for both of us in terms of self-control. We're having to pick and choose our social outings. Where as in Ecuador we didn't go out much to begin with so we weren't saying no to a lot of things. And then also when it comes to eating. My parents graciously cook/buy for all of us but it's usually not the healthiest of options. We need to start cooking dinner more regularly so that way we're eating healthfully. Oy vey!
In other news, we went out to the Anderson Organics farm yesterday for the first time to pick up some surplus greens. SO GOOD! We'll be going out to the Rockford Market (or whatever the heck it's called) on Friday to pick up some more. We're super excited about our shares this summer. Plus we picked up some eggs from the Griesbach's. Good things happening in the food department (when we choose to cook).
Today will include more rock moving (wahoo), working outside, cleaning, laundry, dishes, and organizing. It's taking a lot of time to really get situated but it's worth it because there's NO RENT PAYMENT!
MULUB,
Taylor
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Chuki's Life in Illinois
Oh The Chukester Bear! We haven't really updated how Chuki has been adjusting to life in Illinois. I don't know what other way to describe it besides HE LOVES IT! Chuki is in heaven here. First of all, we have a yard which is AMAZING for both us and him. Second of all, everything is new for him. New smells, new sounds, new people, new food. EVERYTHING IS NEW! Plus, it's HOT here and HUMID here and that tires him out so quickly. And lastly, he's spoiled rotten and loves having all of the attention. You thought we spoiled him, you should see my Dad! (I know you're reading this Dad =) One pathetic look from Chuki and their in the gym or outside or playing rope in the kitchen! Chuki's already had a couple of ham bones, a pigs ear and gobs of cheese!
In short, Chuki loves life in Illinois. We love having a yard where he can run around. Plus all of the new people he meets everyday really helps him learn how to greet people. Long gone are the days of jumping on everyone!
I'll have to post some photos soon, but for now, just take my word... He's in heaven!
In short, Chuki loves life in Illinois. We love having a yard where he can run around. Plus all of the new people he meets everyday really helps him learn how to greet people. Long gone are the days of jumping on everyone!
I'll have to post some photos soon, but for now, just take my word... He's in heaven!
31 May 2011
The Food Journal Returns -
Yesterday we both worked for a couple of hours midday but before we left we made time for breakfast. Stonyfield Organic French Vanilla Yogurt and homemade Granola. Mine had a banana in it too.
I ate shortly after at work. They had leftovers from their Memorial BBQ. I had a chicken strip (maybe it was a breast cut in half?) and a little bit of pasta salad.
We stopped at the Matson's and we're gifted about 5 pieces of candy, which we both ate up immediately!
When we got home we did a lot of yard work and at about 6:30 hunger hit me. I had a small piece of pizza while I was making dinner. We ended up eating leftovers but they were fabulously repurposed: jasmine rice, cauliflower and green beans, and a hamburger crumbled up. It actually was pretty good.
For dessert we had Culvers custard with a pint of strawberries. Sinfully delicious.
And then we were hungry again around 9 and so we each had a piece of pizza.
As you can see our eating habits have changed drastically. We're working on curtailing them but it's hard. We're certainly learning self control!
Yesterday we both worked for a couple of hours midday but before we left we made time for breakfast. Stonyfield Organic French Vanilla Yogurt and homemade Granola. Mine had a banana in it too.
I ate shortly after at work. They had leftovers from their Memorial BBQ. I had a chicken strip (maybe it was a breast cut in half?) and a little bit of pasta salad.
We stopped at the Matson's and we're gifted about 5 pieces of candy, which we both ate up immediately!
When we got home we did a lot of yard work and at about 6:30 hunger hit me. I had a small piece of pizza while I was making dinner. We ended up eating leftovers but they were fabulously repurposed: jasmine rice, cauliflower and green beans, and a hamburger crumbled up. It actually was pretty good.
For dessert we had Culvers custard with a pint of strawberries. Sinfully delicious.
And then we were hungry again around 9 and so we each had a piece of pizza.
As you can see our eating habits have changed drastically. We're working on curtailing them but it's hard. We're certainly learning self control!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Our New View
While I love and miss the mountains and our beautiful view in Quito. It is SOO SOO SOO great to be home. I love being able to pick up the phone whenever I want to call someone and I love being able to hop in the car and visit with our friends and family. My dad suggested I share a photo of our new view, and I think it's a great idea. While there are no mountains, there is the comfort of home. And for now the later outweighs the former.
 |
| Not too shaby! |
Financial Freedom
I've gotten quite the response about the money post and I must say this is a topic that people my age are really thinking through. I guess a couple of other observations that I've had after talking with people are...
At some point in our lives we are all going to have to learn the lessons of financial freedom. Financial freedom will look differently for everyone. I would rather start to figure it out now, when it's just Ryan and I, instead of in the future when there are so many more consequences.
Saying no to things is different for everyone. For me and Ryan right now, we're eliminating buying stuff because that's the place we're in. But I have friends that are making decent money and they might have to say no to international vacations but not to buying stuff. Does that make sense? It's about living within your means, not living without just for fun.
And lastly, it seems that a lot of friends are thinking this way and feeling this way. Feeling stress about going out for an expensive dinner or drinks. So, especially in Chicago, I feel like we should try and take more advantage of all of the free events that the city has to offer. That way we can enjoy spending time with each other and still stay within our budget. Or something like that.
It's an interesting learning process and I'm glad we're talking about it.
MULUB,
Taylor
At some point in our lives we are all going to have to learn the lessons of financial freedom. Financial freedom will look differently for everyone. I would rather start to figure it out now, when it's just Ryan and I, instead of in the future when there are so many more consequences.
Saying no to things is different for everyone. For me and Ryan right now, we're eliminating buying stuff because that's the place we're in. But I have friends that are making decent money and they might have to say no to international vacations but not to buying stuff. Does that make sense? It's about living within your means, not living without just for fun.
And lastly, it seems that a lot of friends are thinking this way and feeling this way. Feeling stress about going out for an expensive dinner or drinks. So, especially in Chicago, I feel like we should try and take more advantage of all of the free events that the city has to offer. That way we can enjoy spending time with each other and still stay within our budget. Or something like that.
It's an interesting learning process and I'm glad we're talking about it.
MULUB,
Taylor
Friday, May 27, 2011
In Chicago
I love Chicago. It's such a great city where everything feels at the same time BIG CITY and SMALL TOWN. It's just a great place to live. I hope to be able to move back some day and possibly raise a family here but that day is not TOday.
Here are some random musings:
Everything is so expensive. My parent's used to say living in the city is just more expensive than not and I never agreed with them. Sad but true, I was wrong. It's expensive. My dad also always used to tell me "Sometimes you just have to say no. You can't afford to do everything." While I absolutely HATE the idea of this, it also is true. Ryan and I lived on such a tight budget while in Ecuador that the prices in the city are absolutely absurd to me. Last night I went out for pizza with girls that I love. Hannah and I paid together and it cost us $45 FOR TWO PIZZAS, tax and tip. We didn't have wine, we didn't have an appetizer, we didn't have dessert. We literally had two pizzas and tap water. Ryan and I could have gone out to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner for two days with $45. The bus here is $2.25 in Ecuador it was $0.25. The cost of living and the quality of living is just so much higher here that it makes it ridiculous.
Here's the hard thing... my friends live here in the city. So dinners like last night are more common than not. And I have a REALLY hard time saying no. But if we ever moved back here we would have to just say no. Which to me just seems counter productive. If we move to Chicago to be close to family and friends but we can't afford to see family and friends, then what's the point?
Another observation... there is such rampant consumerism and materialism here. Now I know that individuals have very little control over it because its a product of the society that we live in. But pizza costs $15 because enough people pay it. Hannah and I stopped into a coffee shop before we met the girls for dinner and I just asked how much a banana costs. The response = $1. In Ecuador I could buy a whole bunch of bananas for $1.50. I know that isn't a truly fair comparison but still. There is so much temptation here in Chicago to spend money on things that really don't matter. In Ecuador we learned to live without things because they didn't exist and so it was easier. Now our lesson has to be resisting the temptation to buy and consume when the options are plentiful. I love pretty things and I used to shell out a lot of money for things that were just pretty. That abruptly stopped in Ecuador because they make things useful, not pretty. Now I have to learn self control.
Which brings me to something I've said before and I'm saying again. People here in the USA have so much stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. This one has been easier for me in our 'home' (read - my parents' basement). We have what we need and all of the extra stuff we either through away before we left for Ecuador or is still in the storage bins. It's a truly freeing feeling. I don't feel tempted to go to Target and buy things just because I want them.
My biggest temptation is when it comes to friends. If a friend says lets go out to eat or lets meet for coffee or lets do this or that, I have a really hard time saying, "I can't because I don't have the money." But I need to get better at it.
Let me preface this by saying, I completely 100% am still trying to figure this out! Which makes me wonder, how many people out there don't have the money to live the life that they are living? How many people are too embarrassed or self conscious to say 'No, I can't' and so they do it anyways and go into debt to continue the lifestyle? I know that I struggle with it all of the time. But it's crazy. I used to have an astronomical credit card bill because of dinner dates, coffee and shopping trips. Not because of anything of substance. I realize that this is probably just more for me now. So with that, I leave you with these two thoughts: Would my friends understand if I said 'no' to an invitation because I couldn't afford it? And would they welcome the idea of a cheaper option, i.e. a potluck dinner at someone's house instead of a dinner out?
Here are some random musings:
Everything is so expensive. My parent's used to say living in the city is just more expensive than not and I never agreed with them. Sad but true, I was wrong. It's expensive. My dad also always used to tell me "Sometimes you just have to say no. You can't afford to do everything." While I absolutely HATE the idea of this, it also is true. Ryan and I lived on such a tight budget while in Ecuador that the prices in the city are absolutely absurd to me. Last night I went out for pizza with girls that I love. Hannah and I paid together and it cost us $45 FOR TWO PIZZAS, tax and tip. We didn't have wine, we didn't have an appetizer, we didn't have dessert. We literally had two pizzas and tap water. Ryan and I could have gone out to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner for two days with $45. The bus here is $2.25 in Ecuador it was $0.25. The cost of living and the quality of living is just so much higher here that it makes it ridiculous.
Here's the hard thing... my friends live here in the city. So dinners like last night are more common than not. And I have a REALLY hard time saying no. But if we ever moved back here we would have to just say no. Which to me just seems counter productive. If we move to Chicago to be close to family and friends but we can't afford to see family and friends, then what's the point?
Another observation... there is such rampant consumerism and materialism here. Now I know that individuals have very little control over it because its a product of the society that we live in. But pizza costs $15 because enough people pay it. Hannah and I stopped into a coffee shop before we met the girls for dinner and I just asked how much a banana costs. The response = $1. In Ecuador I could buy a whole bunch of bananas for $1.50. I know that isn't a truly fair comparison but still. There is so much temptation here in Chicago to spend money on things that really don't matter. In Ecuador we learned to live without things because they didn't exist and so it was easier. Now our lesson has to be resisting the temptation to buy and consume when the options are plentiful. I love pretty things and I used to shell out a lot of money for things that were just pretty. That abruptly stopped in Ecuador because they make things useful, not pretty. Now I have to learn self control.
Which brings me to something I've said before and I'm saying again. People here in the USA have so much stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. This one has been easier for me in our 'home' (read - my parents' basement). We have what we need and all of the extra stuff we either through away before we left for Ecuador or is still in the storage bins. It's a truly freeing feeling. I don't feel tempted to go to Target and buy things just because I want them.
My biggest temptation is when it comes to friends. If a friend says lets go out to eat or lets meet for coffee or lets do this or that, I have a really hard time saying, "I can't because I don't have the money." But I need to get better at it.
Let me preface this by saying, I completely 100% am still trying to figure this out! Which makes me wonder, how many people out there don't have the money to live the life that they are living? How many people are too embarrassed or self conscious to say 'No, I can't' and so they do it anyways and go into debt to continue the lifestyle? I know that I struggle with it all of the time. But it's crazy. I used to have an astronomical credit card bill because of dinner dates, coffee and shopping trips. Not because of anything of substance. I realize that this is probably just more for me now. So with that, I leave you with these two thoughts: Would my friends understand if I said 'no' to an invitation because I couldn't afford it? And would they welcome the idea of a cheaper option, i.e. a potluck dinner at someone's house instead of a dinner out?
Our Engagement!
You heard right, we're engaged! It's all very exciting! Here's the story...
We were at the beach in Ecuador, just a few days before we left to come home. Ryan had been carrying the ring across hell and high water. Well not actually, but he did carry it up a mountain, down a mountain, on many dangerous bus trips, on hikes in which we got lost and then to the beach. Just a little back story, we LOVE the beach. Both of us. And my favorite thing about the beach, any beach, is watching the sunset. There's something very magical about watching nature put on a show for you. So anyways, every time we go to the beach we don't come in until after the sunset. After a day of swimming, laying out, reading, walking and eating the best end is to cozy up with a yummy snack or beverage and watch the sun sink. Our engagement day at the beach was no different, except that Ryan hadn't been feeling well so I spent a large part of the day solo. We thought that it was going to be a cloudy sunset but just in time the clouds rolled away to reveal a HUGE sinking red ball of sun: a truly perfect sunset. But while we were waiting for those clouds to roll away the family in front of us had two little puppies that we played with! Maybe Ryan arranged that too =) So the night started with playing with puppies, then we had these yummy pizza bread snacks (as typical in Ecuador, someone is always walking around selling food), and then the sun came out. Ryan and I had a great conversation about our time in Ecuador. He asked a lot of questions that usually I ask (i.e. What are your favorite five things we did here?). And then he said something about how much we love watching the sunset and how he hoped there would be a lifetime of watching the sunset together and then he got on one knee and asked me to marry him! My response was something a long the lines of OH MY GOD! IS THIS HAPPENING? WE'RE GETTING MARRIED! for about the next 3 days!
So after he proposed we called my parents and his parents and went for a celebratory feast! We decided to try and keep it quiet until we got home so we could tell our friends and family in person. I believe everyone knows now and so onto the blog it goes! We've begun the planning process and already I'm overwhelmed. Originally we were thinking of getting married in the Fall of 2011, so like a six month engagement. But I had one week of that and decided there was no way. It was all too fast and I wouldn't have enjoyed it. So now, the plan is to get married next late spring/early summer.
All that we know is that we would like an outdoor ceremony and reception, if possible. We want something small and intimate full of friends and family that know and love us. We want a night full of great food, lots of laughter, sharing, and candlelight, good wine and music. Other than that, I'm not sure. I have a vision of what I've always dreamed of but I need help making it a reality. I'll be sure to post more details as they come. For now here are a few photos from the very magical night.
We were at the beach in Ecuador, just a few days before we left to come home. Ryan had been carrying the ring across hell and high water. Well not actually, but he did carry it up a mountain, down a mountain, on many dangerous bus trips, on hikes in which we got lost and then to the beach. Just a little back story, we LOVE the beach. Both of us. And my favorite thing about the beach, any beach, is watching the sunset. There's something very magical about watching nature put on a show for you. So anyways, every time we go to the beach we don't come in until after the sunset. After a day of swimming, laying out, reading, walking and eating the best end is to cozy up with a yummy snack or beverage and watch the sun sink. Our engagement day at the beach was no different, except that Ryan hadn't been feeling well so I spent a large part of the day solo. We thought that it was going to be a cloudy sunset but just in time the clouds rolled away to reveal a HUGE sinking red ball of sun: a truly perfect sunset. But while we were waiting for those clouds to roll away the family in front of us had two little puppies that we played with! Maybe Ryan arranged that too =) So the night started with playing with puppies, then we had these yummy pizza bread snacks (as typical in Ecuador, someone is always walking around selling food), and then the sun came out. Ryan and I had a great conversation about our time in Ecuador. He asked a lot of questions that usually I ask (i.e. What are your favorite five things we did here?). And then he said something about how much we love watching the sunset and how he hoped there would be a lifetime of watching the sunset together and then he got on one knee and asked me to marry him! My response was something a long the lines of OH MY GOD! IS THIS HAPPENING? WE'RE GETTING MARRIED! for about the next 3 days!
So after he proposed we called my parents and his parents and went for a celebratory feast! We decided to try and keep it quiet until we got home so we could tell our friends and family in person. I believe everyone knows now and so onto the blog it goes! We've begun the planning process and already I'm overwhelmed. Originally we were thinking of getting married in the Fall of 2011, so like a six month engagement. But I had one week of that and decided there was no way. It was all too fast and I wouldn't have enjoyed it. So now, the plan is to get married next late spring/early summer.
All that we know is that we would like an outdoor ceremony and reception, if possible. We want something small and intimate full of friends and family that know and love us. We want a night full of great food, lots of laughter, sharing, and candlelight, good wine and music. Other than that, I'm not sure. I have a vision of what I've always dreamed of but I need help making it a reality. I'll be sure to post more details as they come. For now here are a few photos from the very magical night.
 |
| Puppies!!! |
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| Pizza!!! |
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| Perfect Sunset... |
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| Gets even more perfect! Ryan on one knee. |
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| We're getting MARRIED! |
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| The ring |
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| The sun keeps setting |
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| An amazing dinner! |
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
You thought we'd never post again...
We've been unpacking and visiting and resting since we've arrived in the US of A and it feels good. Here are just a couple of things I'm noticing...
Everyone can drink the sink water, yet doesn't. Why is that America?
The pots and pans are so much heavier and more substantial.
Every time I go to light the stove I look for the matches and every time I'm in the bathroom I look for the garbage can.
It's amazing to have a yard!
Everyone can drink the sink water, yet doesn't. Why is that America?
The pots and pans are so much heavier and more substantial.
Every time I go to light the stove I look for the matches and every time I'm in the bathroom I look for the garbage can.
It's amazing to have a yard!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Our Week of Fun!
We're back from a whirlwind tour of the South of Ecuador! We left Sunday morning (Ryan's Birthday) and took the bus to Ambato. We wanted to eat the traditional dish from Ambato but it was late and we ended up eating chicken and rice. Then we hopped on the overnight to Cuenca.
We arrived in Cuenca Monday morning around 5am. We were tired, hungry and crabby. We navigated to the hostel but it was 5am and so we crashed on some couches in the living room until around 8. Then we spent the day exploring about 50 churches and museums in Cuenca. We went out for dinner and then back to the hostel for the night.
Tuesday morning we got up and got ourselves together and left for Loja. We didn't really spend any time in Loja, just changed buses to Vilcabamba. We arrived in Vilcabamba around 6 and had dinner in the little town. We decided to splurge and stay at a more expensive place outside of town. IT WAS AMAZING. We were really sad to leave Vilcambamba. So we got to the place and crashed. Then Wednesday we got up and hung around the hotel for a while until about 10:30, when we checked out and got ready for a nice 4 hour hike on the ridge line. Well the first couple of hours of the hike were great but then we got extremely lost. We ended up hiking for something like 6 hours, not on any particular path. In fact a machete would have been nice to create a path. Anyways, there was a while when I was pretty sure we might not make it off the mountain by nightfall but then we did and it was fun, when it stopped being scary. After the craziness of the hike we decided to stay another night at the nice hotel and have a big meal with wine! Which is exactly what we did. We made friends with a Dutch couple and spent the night eating, drinking and chatting with them. There was a bonfire and a sunset and just general merry making. Then on Thursday we got up and... get this... got massages! 75 minutes for $18. One of the best massages I've had. Still doesn't beat the little lady is Martinique but pretty amazing. We went swimming, laid out by the pool, played chess, ate dinner and then left again for Loja and another bus around 8pm. We went back to Loja and caught the overnight to Guayaquil.
Friday morning we arrived in Guayaquil around 6am and then changed buses to get to the beach. We arrived at the beach around 10 and found a place outside of town to stay. Montanita is a crazy beach town with infastructure, which is nice, but it is pretty loud at night so it was a great relief to not be staying in town. We walked around a bit, ate, and then napped. After our nap we did what everyone does at the beach... nothing. We walked a bit, sat on the beach, swam, you know. We were exhausted and so we made dinner at the hostel and went to bed early.
Saturday Ryan had an upset stomach so I spent a good part of the day on the beach by myself and walking around town picking up things he wanted (bread, pepto, water, etc). I got a nice little sunburn but of course went back for more! Saturday night we watched an AMAZING sunset. The kind where you see the sun as a big red circle sinking into the water. It was pretty awesome! We had some snacks on the beach and then went back to shower and get ready for dinner. We went out for dinner to a delicious italian place. I had linguini with all different fresh seafood and Ryan had ravioli with seafood. It was yummy!
Sunday we got up and went to buy our bus tickets in the morning but they were all booked for the day. EEKS! The bus guy told us we could just keep hopping city buses until we eventually got to Guayaquil, which was really our only option because we had to be back today so we can take Chuki to the vet and the airport. But that didn't matter because we had SURF LESSONS to deal with first. We've learned a lot of things in Ecuador and now we can add surfing to the list! IT WAS SO FUN! Seriously so fun! We both managed to surf! We need lots of practice but now we know how you do it. I can't wait till the next time we're at a beach and we can rent surfboards! Let me just say this, it's exhausting! I understand why surfers usually have great arms and why they only go out for like 30 minutes at a time. After our surf lesson we went back to the hostel, packed up, showered, and feasted! We had bought a pound of fresh shrimp and one side of a tuna fish the day before and we were going to have both for lunch! We made rice with cilantro, a big salad, shrimp in garlic and seared tuna steaks with cilantro. It was SO good and SO much food. We put what we couldn't eat in a bag and gave it to one of the million dogs roaming around Montanita. After lunch we cleaned up and headed to the bus station. It was great because there was like a minibus (15 passenger thing) that had two more seats to fill. We threw our bags on top, hopped in, and off we went. Then we got the 7:30 night bus from Guayaquil to Quito and we were home in our own 'bed' (read : super thin mattress on the floor) by 3am.
It was a great trip! Lots of fun! More to come but first, we've got so much to do! Pack, take care of Chuki, sell the rest of our things, celebrate Ryan's birthday/going away with our friends, shop, go to the park, stop by one last time at inlingua, etc!
We arrived in Cuenca Monday morning around 5am. We were tired, hungry and crabby. We navigated to the hostel but it was 5am and so we crashed on some couches in the living room until around 8. Then we spent the day exploring about 50 churches and museums in Cuenca. We went out for dinner and then back to the hostel for the night.
Tuesday morning we got up and got ourselves together and left for Loja. We didn't really spend any time in Loja, just changed buses to Vilcabamba. We arrived in Vilcabamba around 6 and had dinner in the little town. We decided to splurge and stay at a more expensive place outside of town. IT WAS AMAZING. We were really sad to leave Vilcambamba. So we got to the place and crashed. Then Wednesday we got up and hung around the hotel for a while until about 10:30, when we checked out and got ready for a nice 4 hour hike on the ridge line. Well the first couple of hours of the hike were great but then we got extremely lost. We ended up hiking for something like 6 hours, not on any particular path. In fact a machete would have been nice to create a path. Anyways, there was a while when I was pretty sure we might not make it off the mountain by nightfall but then we did and it was fun, when it stopped being scary. After the craziness of the hike we decided to stay another night at the nice hotel and have a big meal with wine! Which is exactly what we did. We made friends with a Dutch couple and spent the night eating, drinking and chatting with them. There was a bonfire and a sunset and just general merry making. Then on Thursday we got up and... get this... got massages! 75 minutes for $18. One of the best massages I've had. Still doesn't beat the little lady is Martinique but pretty amazing. We went swimming, laid out by the pool, played chess, ate dinner and then left again for Loja and another bus around 8pm. We went back to Loja and caught the overnight to Guayaquil.
Friday morning we arrived in Guayaquil around 6am and then changed buses to get to the beach. We arrived at the beach around 10 and found a place outside of town to stay. Montanita is a crazy beach town with infastructure, which is nice, but it is pretty loud at night so it was a great relief to not be staying in town. We walked around a bit, ate, and then napped. After our nap we did what everyone does at the beach... nothing. We walked a bit, sat on the beach, swam, you know. We were exhausted and so we made dinner at the hostel and went to bed early.
Saturday Ryan had an upset stomach so I spent a good part of the day on the beach by myself and walking around town picking up things he wanted (bread, pepto, water, etc). I got a nice little sunburn but of course went back for more! Saturday night we watched an AMAZING sunset. The kind where you see the sun as a big red circle sinking into the water. It was pretty awesome! We had some snacks on the beach and then went back to shower and get ready for dinner. We went out for dinner to a delicious italian place. I had linguini with all different fresh seafood and Ryan had ravioli with seafood. It was yummy!
Sunday we got up and went to buy our bus tickets in the morning but they were all booked for the day. EEKS! The bus guy told us we could just keep hopping city buses until we eventually got to Guayaquil, which was really our only option because we had to be back today so we can take Chuki to the vet and the airport. But that didn't matter because we had SURF LESSONS to deal with first. We've learned a lot of things in Ecuador and now we can add surfing to the list! IT WAS SO FUN! Seriously so fun! We both managed to surf! We need lots of practice but now we know how you do it. I can't wait till the next time we're at a beach and we can rent surfboards! Let me just say this, it's exhausting! I understand why surfers usually have great arms and why they only go out for like 30 minutes at a time. After our surf lesson we went back to the hostel, packed up, showered, and feasted! We had bought a pound of fresh shrimp and one side of a tuna fish the day before and we were going to have both for lunch! We made rice with cilantro, a big salad, shrimp in garlic and seared tuna steaks with cilantro. It was SO good and SO much food. We put what we couldn't eat in a bag and gave it to one of the million dogs roaming around Montanita. After lunch we cleaned up and headed to the bus station. It was great because there was like a minibus (15 passenger thing) that had two more seats to fill. We threw our bags on top, hopped in, and off we went. Then we got the 7:30 night bus from Guayaquil to Quito and we were home in our own 'bed' (read : super thin mattress on the floor) by 3am.
It was a great trip! Lots of fun! More to come but first, we've got so much to do! Pack, take care of Chuki, sell the rest of our things, celebrate Ryan's birthday/going away with our friends, shop, go to the park, stop by one last time at inlingua, etc!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Traveling
Sorry there haven't been many/any updates as of late. We've been traveling and busy finalizing things here. Since the last update we've...
-Sold most of our belongings. We still need to sell baking trays, cutting boards,glasses, a vase, two pitchers, some tupperware, the coffee pot, a french press, an electric griddle, pots, a small desk, a small bed, two plastic shelve things, a side table and a tv stand. It sounds like a lot, but considering that we're selling all of it for around $100, it's not that much.
-Gone to the jungle. We spent four days in the Amazon. THE. AMAZON. It was pretty great! They had had a lot of rain lately so everything was luscious and green. We saw lots of birds, some snakes, lots of bugs, lots of monkeys, some caimans, spiders, and more. We went to a native community and made yuca bread. We saw a shaman. We spent a lot of time riding around in boats.
-Climbed Cotopaxi. Well we didn't actually summit but we got pretty darn close. The way was impassable. Well, probably not impassable but there was a high chance you would die doing it, so we decided not to. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. The half marathon didn't even compare and I don't think the full marathon will either. This mountain is famous because it's a perfect cone and we basically just chose a side and climbed up the cone. UP. Straight UP. We spent the night in the refuge, not sleeping, so we were exhausted from the start. After about an hour and a half I didn't think I could go anymore. 4 hours later we sat and watched the sun rise just below the summit. We had to get going before the sun was completely up because there was a fear that the sun might melt some of the passes we had crazily gone over. It was crazy and if I hadn't been so tired and it hadn't been so dark I probably would have said I wasn't going to keep going. But I did and I'm impressed no one got hurt. With all of that said, it was SO fun and there's a chance I might even try it again.
-Celebrated a birthday. Well, actually we're celebrating it today. Ryan turns the big 25 today! We'll be celebrating by packing up and heading out on a week long trek across Ecuador, to the south first and then to the beach.
We probably won't write while we're gone. Check facebook for photos. I'll upload some to the blog once were home, but that will be a while.
MULUB,
Taylor
-Sold most of our belongings. We still need to sell baking trays, cutting boards,
-Gone to the jungle. We spent four days in the Amazon. THE. AMAZON. It was pretty great! They had had a lot of rain lately so everything was luscious and green. We saw lots of birds, some snakes, lots of bugs, lots of monkeys, some caimans, spiders, and more. We went to a native community and made yuca bread. We saw a shaman. We spent a lot of time riding around in boats.
-Climbed Cotopaxi. Well we didn't actually summit but we got pretty darn close. The way was impassable. Well, probably not impassable but there was a high chance you would die doing it, so we decided not to. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. The half marathon didn't even compare and I don't think the full marathon will either. This mountain is famous because it's a perfect cone and we basically just chose a side and climbed up the cone. UP. Straight UP. We spent the night in the refuge, not sleeping, so we were exhausted from the start. After about an hour and a half I didn't think I could go anymore. 4 hours later we sat and watched the sun rise just below the summit. We had to get going before the sun was completely up because there was a fear that the sun might melt some of the passes we had crazily gone over. It was crazy and if I hadn't been so tired and it hadn't been so dark I probably would have said I wasn't going to keep going. But I did and I'm impressed no one got hurt. With all of that said, it was SO fun and there's a chance I might even try it again.
-Celebrated a birthday. Well, actually we're celebrating it today. Ryan turns the big 25 today! We'll be celebrating by packing up and heading out on a week long trek across Ecuador, to the south first and then to the beach.
We probably won't write while we're gone. Check facebook for photos. I'll upload some to the blog once were home, but that will be a while.
MULUB,
Taylor
Friday, April 15, 2011
This and that
Our friends, Grant, Pablo and Eddie, came last night to take the desk, the couch, a set of plates and all of the kitchen utensils.
There are two other projects that I want to do in the apartment (fix the hinges of the door and fix the window that Chuki broke). But Ryan thinks we don't need to because she (the landlady from you know were) has $400 to pay for all of that.
Today is our last day of class! We have to go into inlingua this afternoon and drop off books and reports.
Tonight we're going to a dinner party. Tomorrow we're going to Otavalo. Sunday we're hiking to the refuge at Cayambe. Then Sunday night we're off to the jungle.
We're watching an insane amount of LOST. We're halfway through Season 5. WHAT? We just started watching Season 3 a couple of weeks ago. We're lame, we know.
MULUB,
Taylor
We noticed under the couch that there are some scratches in the wood floor. Any ideas on how to remove them? I'm going to see if I can find some wood polish at Megamaxi today. Wish me luck!
There are two other projects that I want to do in the apartment (fix the hinges of the door and fix the window that Chuki broke). But Ryan thinks we don't need to because she (the landlady from you know were) has $400 to pay for all of that.
Today is our last day of class! We have to go into inlingua this afternoon and drop off books and reports.
Tonight we're going to a dinner party. Tomorrow we're going to Otavalo. Sunday we're hiking to the refuge at Cayambe. Then Sunday night we're off to the jungle.
We're watching an insane amount of LOST. We're halfway through Season 5. WHAT? We just started watching Season 3 a couple of weeks ago. We're lame, we know.
MULUB,
Taylor
Thursday, April 14, 2011
What's in Your Pack?
So we've been hiking these last two weekend and it's been fabulous. I could go on for ages (and I might in a later post) about all of my gear envy and ESPECIALLY my camera envy that I've been having within our hiking group. But I won't do that right now. Right now, I thought you might want to know what we take with us in our packs. Usually when we're just hiking in Metropolitano, or taking a pack for a day trip, we share one. There's no use in both of us carrying a 1/2 full pack. But yesterday when we hiked Illinizas we both took our own because we needed a little more stuff. So without further a do...
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| Ryan's Pack |
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| Chapstick with sunscreen |
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| Headlamp |
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| Garbage bag... can't leave it in the forest |
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| Extra bags |
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| Snacks |
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| Dry and clean change of clothes |
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| Lots of water |
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| Warm layers |
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| Rain layer |
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| First Aid |
Project Number 2 - Day 36 (Wednesday)
Yesterday I had the first of my 'last classes'. Does that even make sense? I finished a class yesterday. It was one of my private classes with the kids. It was good/awkward. They gave me a present, which I LOVE! They're these hand formed clay figures of indigenous people that have these little napkin holders on them. I was instructed to use them on Thanksgiving, which I will! I brought the little boy and myself treats to eat in class while we did his homework. Then the dad drove me to where the taxi driver was waiting and made me promise that if we EVER came back to Ecuador we would call them. (This is the family that took us to the LIGA game in their suite.) Then I left.
I didn't really eat much because, I think I forgot to.
Breakfast - I made oatmeal with a plantain and some frozen strawberries.
Lunch - I had a Coke and a small bag of papas. Plus then with my student I had a guagua de pan (bread filled with blackberry jam).
Dinner - Ryan and I chatted with Ryan's parents while we were cooking dinner. It was a late one because I had late class and then we had to go to Mega. We contemplated buying a rotisserie chicken but they were $8 and we can get a chicken, rice, soup, and potatoes for $10 at GUS. We decided on pasta, without sauce, fresh veggies and smoked mussels. DELICIOUS but not super fast. I was so hungry that I ate two bowls.
I didn't really eat much because, I think I forgot to.
Breakfast - I made oatmeal with a plantain and some frozen strawberries.
Lunch - I had a Coke and a small bag of papas. Plus then with my student I had a guagua de pan (bread filled with blackberry jam).
Dinner - Ryan and I chatted with Ryan's parents while we were cooking dinner. It was a late one because I had late class and then we had to go to Mega. We contemplated buying a rotisserie chicken but they were $8 and we can get a chicken, rice, soup, and potatoes for $10 at GUS. We decided on pasta, without sauce, fresh veggies and smoked mussels. DELICIOUS but not super fast. I was so hungry that I ate two bowls.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Crate Training
So we figured Chuki would never like his crate BUT last night he slept in his crate all night without whining until breakfast this morning. We want him to at least be used to sleeping in there before we fly! This is major success! The longest time that he's been in there with the door closed is maybe 3 hours.
Project Number 2 - Day 34 (Monday)
So I'm a day late in posting this and it's always harder to remember what I actually ate... But I remember because I only ate two things.
For breakfast I had coffee and yogurt with a banana, uvillas and frozen strawberries.
For lunch and for dinner I had a bowl of chili. For lunch I had it with some corn bread, for dinner no corn bread.
I also had a snack of chifles.
Thats it!
For breakfast I had coffee and yogurt with a banana, uvillas and frozen strawberries.
For lunch and for dinner I had a bowl of chili. For lunch I had it with some corn bread, for dinner no corn bread.
I also had a snack of chifles.
Thats it!
Project Number 2 - Day 35 (Tuesday)
Yesterday I was really hungry again... who knows why?
For breakfast I had coffee and yogurt with a banana and uvillas.
For lunch I had a sandwich from a little store.
For dinner Ryan made a super delicious naranjilla chutney with rice and chicken. MMM. He also made an appetizer; fancy, I know. We had an avocado with some seasonings!
For a snack, because I was still hungry, I had some dried cranberries.
For breakfast I had coffee and yogurt with a banana and uvillas.
For lunch I had a sandwich from a little store.
For dinner Ryan made a super delicious naranjilla chutney with rice and chicken. MMM. He also made an appetizer; fancy, I know. We had an avocado with some seasonings!
For a snack, because I was still hungry, I had some dried cranberries.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Our Psychic Dog (and his skin)
So Chuki had another psychic experience on Friday. We were on our way back from the bank and we were stopped on the median waiting for a green light. Ryan was walking him and all of a sudden he started doing that low bark again at this group of people across the street. We're teaching him not to stare, because it's impolite but also because it's usually accompanied by some serious pulling. So Ryan stands in front of him to break his view but Chuki was having none of that. He just kept staring at this group of people. Ryan and I just assumed it was some lady selling fritada or something on the street with her customers around her. So Chuki is staring and doing this low bark, which isn't an intimidating bark at all. It's more of an alert. There's nothing aggressive about it. It almost sounds worried, if that's possible. Anyways, when we crossed the street and walked past the group of people there was a lady laying on the ground having a seizure. CRAZY!
Is this normal for dogs to do?
On another note, it appears that what we've been doing the last couple of days has been working. He's not itching as much, I think largely due to the medicine. But also his 'wounds' aren't open sores anymore, they're all scabbing over. That's about it. Other than that, he's doing great.
MULUB,
Taylor
Is this normal for dogs to do?
On another note, it appears that what we've been doing the last couple of days has been working. He's not itching as much, I think largely due to the medicine. But also his 'wounds' aren't open sores anymore, they're all scabbing over. That's about it. Other than that, he's doing great.
MULUB,
Taylor
Job Search...
So the job search has begun. It actually began last week. I hate the whole process because I'm not a very good waiter. I'm the type of person who likes to send an email and get a response within 24 hours! I've been looking and looking for just about anything online. There's actually quite a bit out there but a lot of it I'm not qualified for.
I got super excited a couple of days ago because I received an email back from one of the positions I had found on craigslist but it turned out to be a scam. Note to self - don't apply for real jobs via craigslist. I've been looking mainly for babysitting jobs and office work jobs so far (secretary/admin stuff). And this week I'm about to branch out into the retail sector. I've been talking with a couple of families about regular sitting hours, which would be great. So everyone pray and keep your fingers crossed that those pan out, if they're supposed to.
If you know of anything in the Rockford area, send it our way. We'll do just about anything. I'd love to learn how to do something new!
MULUB,
Taylor
Ps. Our neighbors dogs are driving us crazy! They've always been barkers. When you open the door, when we lock the door from inside, when we get in the elevator, when we throw our trash down the tube, they bark. But for the last couple of days they have been barking all day for no apparent reason. I don't know what's going on but I seriously want to knock on their door and complain. It's so annoying!
I got super excited a couple of days ago because I received an email back from one of the positions I had found on craigslist but it turned out to be a scam. Note to self - don't apply for real jobs via craigslist. I've been looking mainly for babysitting jobs and office work jobs so far (secretary/admin stuff). And this week I'm about to branch out into the retail sector. I've been talking with a couple of families about regular sitting hours, which would be great. So everyone pray and keep your fingers crossed that those pan out, if they're supposed to.
If you know of anything in the Rockford area, send it our way. We'll do just about anything. I'd love to learn how to do something new!
MULUB,
Taylor
Ps. Our neighbors dogs are driving us crazy! They've always been barkers. When you open the door, when we lock the door from inside, when we get in the elevator, when we throw our trash down the tube, they bark. But for the last couple of days they have been barking all day for no apparent reason. I don't know what's going on but I seriously want to knock on their door and complain. It's so annoying!
Project Number 2 - Day 33 (Sunday)
Yesterday was a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory day. We literally watched LOST all day. No, like seriously, all day. We've started season 4 now. It's good. Real good. I was super hungry yesterday and spent most of the day snacking. I don't really like to do this, but that's what happens when you're lazy. I'm just going to list everything that I consumed... don't judge. I did expend 4000 calories the day before.
Yogurt with strawberries, banana and uvillas
Crackers and peanut butter
Chili and corn bread
Peanuts and a banana
A pumpkin scone
Another package of crackers
*I forgot that I also had some ham and cheese rolls!
And that was just breakfast and lunch. We went to our friend, Grant's house last night for dinner! It was the first 'going away' thing we've done. Dinner was amazing but it's such a strange feeling to only have one more week in Quito. Grant is a fabulous cook and he completely spoiled us with ingredients we NEVER buy! For dinner we had a simple salad of baby spinach, capers, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Seriously we have NEVER bought these ingredients in Quito because they're too expensive! We felt treated! Then after salad we had an amazing wild rice and mushroom casserole. Ryan and I both usually shy away from mushrooms but this casserole was so good without any of the texture problems I usually have with mushrooms! We also had homemade quinoa bread and ham! And there was dessert! It was a custardy/cheesecakey pie-ish thing with an oatmeal crust and fresh blackberries on top. AMAZING! I'm actually searching for the recipe right now. As soon as I find it, I'll link it!
The best part of the night was the company and the conversation. We talked about a wide range of topics: from crazy families, to the food industry in the States, from dogs, to traveling. It was fantastic! I'd be lying if I didn't tell you we also consumed quite a bit of cheap wine and quite a few rum and cokes! But it wouldn't be Ecuador without them!
Today it's back to 3 meals a day! Starting with coffee, which is much needed after last night!
Yogurt with strawberries, banana and uvillas
Crackers and peanut butter
Chili and corn bread
Peanuts and a banana
A pumpkin scone
Another package of crackers
*I forgot that I also had some ham and cheese rolls!
And that was just breakfast and lunch. We went to our friend, Grant's house last night for dinner! It was the first 'going away' thing we've done. Dinner was amazing but it's such a strange feeling to only have one more week in Quito. Grant is a fabulous cook and he completely spoiled us with ingredients we NEVER buy! For dinner we had a simple salad of baby spinach, capers, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Seriously we have NEVER bought these ingredients in Quito because they're too expensive! We felt treated! Then after salad we had an amazing wild rice and mushroom casserole. Ryan and I both usually shy away from mushrooms but this casserole was so good without any of the texture problems I usually have with mushrooms! We also had homemade quinoa bread and ham! And there was dessert! It was a custardy/cheesecakey pie-ish thing with an oatmeal crust and fresh blackberries on top. AMAZING! I'm actually searching for the recipe right now. As soon as I find it, I'll link it!
The best part of the night was the company and the conversation. We talked about a wide range of topics: from crazy families, to the food industry in the States, from dogs, to traveling. It was fantastic! I'd be lying if I didn't tell you we also consumed quite a bit of cheap wine and quite a few rum and cokes! But it wouldn't be Ecuador without them!
Today it's back to 3 meals a day! Starting with coffee, which is much needed after last night!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Project Number 2 - Day 32 (Saturday)
We eat differently on hiking days then normally. The biggest difference is we have a lot more snacks and only really one actual meal.
Remember the scones I had made the night before for the car ride that got soaked in the rain? Well turns out you can put them back in the oven on low heat and they'll taste almost good as new! I had a pumpkin scone in the car on the ride to Illinizas.
On the trail Ryan and I had packed (to share between all of us) a bag of peanuts, a bag of habas, two individual packages of these new crackers we bought called TOSH (they're supposed to be healthy but they just tasted like crackers), two mandarins, and two bananas. For lunch when we stopped at the refuge I had also made each of us a small ham and cheese sandwich. Plus I had made us each a peanut butter and strawberry sandwich. Ryan ate his on the trail and I ate mine once we got home. Now we share all of these things with everyone (not just the two of us). So I also had a couple of nibbles of papas, one chocolate covered coffee bean, a couple of pieces of chocolate and a couple of gummies. Plus at the refuge I ordered a cup of herbal tea. We came home with about 1/2 a bag of peanuts and a tangerine left over.
For dinner we had a big bowl of chili over jalepeno corn bread! It was delicious and filling and all we had to do was reheat it (which was the best part!).
Remember the scones I had made the night before for the car ride that got soaked in the rain? Well turns out you can put them back in the oven on low heat and they'll taste almost good as new! I had a pumpkin scone in the car on the ride to Illinizas.
On the trail Ryan and I had packed (to share between all of us) a bag of peanuts, a bag of habas, two individual packages of these new crackers we bought called TOSH (they're supposed to be healthy but they just tasted like crackers), two mandarins, and two bananas. For lunch when we stopped at the refuge I had also made each of us a small ham and cheese sandwich. Plus I had made us each a peanut butter and strawberry sandwich. Ryan ate his on the trail and I ate mine once we got home. Now we share all of these things with everyone (not just the two of us). So I also had a couple of nibbles of papas, one chocolate covered coffee bean, a couple of pieces of chocolate and a couple of gummies. Plus at the refuge I ordered a cup of herbal tea. We came home with about 1/2 a bag of peanuts and a tangerine left over.
For dinner we had a big bowl of chili over jalepeno corn bread! It was delicious and filling and all we had to do was reheat it (which was the best part!).
Saturday, April 9, 2011
A mountain and an engagement!
We're home from Illinizas! We had a ton of fun but now we're so tired and hungry! I'm so glad that we made dinner for tonight last night. Such a huge relief! Ryan is playing with Chuki right now then we're about to hop in bed and watch LOST. More details and photos to come!
A BIG BIG BIG Congratulations to one of Ryan's closest friends, Josh, on his engagement! Josh and Tina we're so happy for you! Hopefully we'll be home for the wedding!!!!
MULUB,
Taylor
A BIG BIG BIG Congratulations to one of Ryan's closest friends, Josh, on his engagement! Josh and Tina we're so happy for you! Hopefully we'll be home for the wedding!!!!
MULUB,
Taylor
Project Number 2 - Day 31 (Friday)
Yesterday was a good day! We have been diligently checking things off of our to do list for the last week or so and it's decidedly smaller. Which makes me happy. This morning (in about an hour) we're going to climb number 2 or 4 mountains and I'm so excited I can't sleep. But guess what. The scones that I made last night for this morning were cooling overnight by the window and it rained! So now they're drenched =( Plus the fact that it's raining and we're going to be hiking. I have faith that the rain will stop once we get to where we're going.
Anyways, yesterday morning started like all Fridays. Class at 7am! But my 8:30 class canceled so I was able to come home and squeeze in a sprints run all before class at 10! After my run and before I ran out the door I ate breakfast. The usual. Yogurt, 1/2 of a banana, strawberries and uvillas (a super sweet/sour little fruit that looks like a grape but is yellow).
After class I came home and made a salad of swiss chard, carrots, green peppers, tomatoes, and chochos. It was tasty but certainly didn't fill me up. We left the house to go book our tour to the jungle. Then we went to inlingua to pick up our visas. By the time we were walking up the hill, I was starving but we still had to go to Megamaxi. We bought some crackers at MEGA and Ryan and I split a pack of 3 on the way home.
For dinner Ryan made pasta, smoked mussels, and cream sauce with veggies. It was super yummy and one of the best and lightest cream sauces! MMMM!
We packed our packs, watched a couple of episodes of LOST, and went to sleep!
Anyways, yesterday morning started like all Fridays. Class at 7am! But my 8:30 class canceled so I was able to come home and squeeze in a sprints run all before class at 10! After my run and before I ran out the door I ate breakfast. The usual. Yogurt, 1/2 of a banana, strawberries and uvillas (a super sweet/sour little fruit that looks like a grape but is yellow).
After class I came home and made a salad of swiss chard, carrots, green peppers, tomatoes, and chochos. It was tasty but certainly didn't fill me up. We left the house to go book our tour to the jungle. Then we went to inlingua to pick up our visas. By the time we were walking up the hill, I was starving but we still had to go to Megamaxi. We bought some crackers at MEGA and Ryan and I split a pack of 3 on the way home.
For dinner Ryan made pasta, smoked mussels, and cream sauce with veggies. It was super yummy and one of the best and lightest cream sauces! MMMM!
We packed our packs, watched a couple of episodes of LOST, and went to sleep!
Friday, April 8, 2011
VISAS!
We have VISAS! Woo Hoo! I was so relieved I could have cried, but I didn't. Plus they're fancy visas! Also, we registered and paid for our jungle trip! Another thing crossed off the check list. We decided on this trip.
Tomorrow we're heading off bright and early to climb Illinizas. We've got tasty snacks packed. I'm baking pumpkin scones for the car ride in the morning. Plus I made chili for when we get home. That way we don't have to think about cooking, just reheating. I'm assuming we'll be drained!
Photos to come!
MULUB,
Taylor
Tomorrow we're heading off bright and early to climb Illinizas. We've got tasty snacks packed. I'm baking pumpkin scones for the car ride in the morning. Plus I made chili for when we get home. That way we don't have to think about cooking, just reheating. I'm assuming we'll be drained!
Photos to come!
MULUB,
Taylor
Just a few things...
1. We have one week of class left. WHAT?!
2. We're going today to book our jungle trip and to pick up our visas. Wish us luck.
3. I'm so proud of Ryan because he figured out how to post our bed and refrigerator on Mercado Libre and the bed has already sold! WOO HOO! Keep your fingers crossed that the refrigerator sells soon too!
4. We're climbing Illiniza tomorrow and still looking for someone to come and give Chuki a walk! If you're in Quito and are available tomorrow afternoon to walk and feed the pup, call us! There's a bottle of rum waiting for you!
5. Our to do list is getting much shorter. Almost everything concerning Chuki is done, except for his last vet visit and going to the airport to pay his export fee (or whatever the heck it is).
6. Speaking of Chuki, I feel like he's doing better already. He has no fresh scratch wounds and his eyes look clearer. It could just be my imagination...
7. We've watched almost 2 seasons of LOST in less than a month. It's borderline obsession.
8. We're taking 'orders' if anybody wants anything Ecuadorian brought home to them. There will be a post on it coming soon!
I think that's about it. If I think of anything else, I'll update!
MULUB,
Taylor
PS. I've been reminded to let everyone know that commenting is now much easier then in the past. You don't have to sign in any more. Just click comment and click on Anonymous/Name and you can just type in your comment that way.
PSS. For all you haters out there about the photos, I've got something planned just for you!
2. We're going today to book our jungle trip and to pick up our visas. Wish us luck.
3. I'm so proud of Ryan because he figured out how to post our bed and refrigerator on Mercado Libre and the bed has already sold! WOO HOO! Keep your fingers crossed that the refrigerator sells soon too!
4. We're climbing Illiniza tomorrow and still looking for someone to come and give Chuki a walk! If you're in Quito and are available tomorrow afternoon to walk and feed the pup, call us! There's a bottle of rum waiting for you!
5. Our to do list is getting much shorter. Almost everything concerning Chuki is done, except for his last vet visit and going to the airport to pay his export fee (or whatever the heck it is).
6. Speaking of Chuki, I feel like he's doing better already. He has no fresh scratch wounds and his eyes look clearer. It could just be my imagination...
7. We've watched almost 2 seasons of LOST in less than a month. It's borderline obsession.
8. We're taking 'orders' if anybody wants anything Ecuadorian brought home to them. There will be a post on it coming soon!
I think that's about it. If I think of anything else, I'll update!
MULUB,
Taylor
PS. I've been reminded to let everyone know that commenting is now much easier then in the past. You don't have to sign in any more. Just click comment and click on Anonymous/Name and you can just type in your comment that way.
PSS. For all you haters out there about the photos, I've got something planned just for you!
Project Number 2 - Day 30 (Thursday)
We finally had groceries yesterday morning for breakfast so I made my favorite. I guess I didn't really make anything; I more like assembled it. Yogurt, strawberries and 1/2 a banana. The other half with peanut butter. Plus coffee. MMM I missed it.
Then for lunch Ryan and I had the other two flatbread doughs. I topped each with 1 tomato, 1.5 green peppers and 1/2 an onion. Plus a little salt, pepper, garlic powder and mozzarella cheese.
For a snack I had a banana and a glass of warm milk (courtesy of my student).
Dinner was one of Ryan's favorites... rice. Rice and veggies to be exact. Since we switched Chuki's food to quinoa and not rice, we have a lot of rice made in the fridge. Basically all he does is chop up some veggies (last night we had peppers, onions, broccoli, and carrots); saute them; add rice; add seasonings; eat. Super simple. Super tasty!
The day was basically food, LOST, and class. That's it because we were both feeling blah.
Then for lunch Ryan and I had the other two flatbread doughs. I topped each with 1 tomato, 1.5 green peppers and 1/2 an onion. Plus a little salt, pepper, garlic powder and mozzarella cheese.
For a snack I had a banana and a glass of warm milk (courtesy of my student).
Dinner was one of Ryan's favorites... rice. Rice and veggies to be exact. Since we switched Chuki's food to quinoa and not rice, we have a lot of rice made in the fridge. Basically all he does is chop up some veggies (last night we had peppers, onions, broccoli, and carrots); saute them; add rice; add seasonings; eat. Super simple. Super tasty!
The day was basically food, LOST, and class. That's it because we were both feeling blah.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Chuki's Dry Skin - Revisited
No longer do we think that he just has dry skin. We're pretty sure he's allergic to something. So after reading and reading and reading on forums, and vet's websites and news articles we've come up with a treatment plan.
Remember when he cut his leg about a month ago and he wasn't going out for walks because he couldn't? Well the itching started shortly after we took him back to Metropoliatno for the first time post-accident. I'm thinking he's allergic to one of the flowers, grasses, trees, or something up there. Metropolitano isn't just a park like Central Park, it's more of a forest preserve, like a prairie. And of course his favorite thing to do is to run around like a crazy person in all of the tall grass. But I think that's the problem.
Anyways, treatment plan is going something like this...
1. Switching food to beef and quinoa, instead of rice. Switching food has helped lots of dogs with all sorts of allergies, not only food allergies.
2. Omega 369 daily. This is supposed to help reduce inflammation in his skin and rebuild healthy skin and hair growth.
3. Increased yogurt and oil in diet. The yogurt has probiotics in it that is supposed to help relieve itching.
4. Benadryl when needed.
5. Wiping him down completely after he comes in from a walk.
6. Limiting the amount of time in Metropolitano. We were taking him like every day because he loves it so much but we're going to have to reign that in.
7. Continual cleaning of his ears, his paws and his red scratches with the solution from the vet.
That's the plan.
MULUB,
Taylor
Remember when he cut his leg about a month ago and he wasn't going out for walks because he couldn't? Well the itching started shortly after we took him back to Metropoliatno for the first time post-accident. I'm thinking he's allergic to one of the flowers, grasses, trees, or something up there. Metropolitano isn't just a park like Central Park, it's more of a forest preserve, like a prairie. And of course his favorite thing to do is to run around like a crazy person in all of the tall grass. But I think that's the problem.
Anyways, treatment plan is going something like this...
1. Switching food to beef and quinoa, instead of rice. Switching food has helped lots of dogs with all sorts of allergies, not only food allergies.
2. Omega 369 daily. This is supposed to help reduce inflammation in his skin and rebuild healthy skin and hair growth.
3. Increased yogurt and oil in diet. The yogurt has probiotics in it that is supposed to help relieve itching.
4. Benadryl when needed.
5. Wiping him down completely after he comes in from a walk.
6. Limiting the amount of time in Metropolitano. We were taking him like every day because he loves it so much but we're going to have to reign that in.
7. Continual cleaning of his ears, his paws and his red scratches with the solution from the vet.
That's the plan.
MULUB,
Taylor
Project Number 2 - Day 29 (Wednesday)
Yesterday I ate...
Breakfast - 1 bowl of burnt oatmeal (it's gross) and 1/2 cup of coffee. After the burnt oatmeal I couldn't get anything else down. Plus we were out of milk and I drink milk in my coffee. It was just a bad breakfast all around.
Lunch - We finished up the last of the veggies in the fridge and made a salad. The salad included cabbage, green peppers, red onions and carrots. Plus a couple of pieces of cut up ham. Topped with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and sage. It was really good. Cabbage is a lost vegetable. It's so tasty, it lasts forever and it gives things a nice crunch. You should buy cabbage and eat it instead of iceberg lettuce.
Dinner - We had to go to the grocery last night because our fridge was BARE. It was strange though because we're starting to taper what we're buying. So instead of buying a big box of 12 milks, we only bought 3. And instead of buying the big flour, we bought the little one. Strange! Anyways, it was late and we both had headaches when we got home. Ryan's eyes are bothering him with his contacts so he's been wearing his glasses all day but the glasses aren't the right prescription, which is causing him to have headaches and to be sleepy. I've just had a headache for weeks now. Who knows? Anyways, back to dinner. Ryan had made flatbread dough during the day. So when we got home I just cut up some veggies, assembled and popped them into the oven. Homemade flatbreads are really super easy and not too bad for you either. To our crust I added: a drizzle of oil, a layer of tomatoes, caramelized onions, wilted spinach with basil and garlic, a smattering of 'mozzarella' cheese. Bake for 7-10 minutes and eat! YUM!
We watched 2 episodes of LOST and then hit the hey.
Breakfast - 1 bowl of burnt oatmeal (it's gross) and 1/2 cup of coffee. After the burnt oatmeal I couldn't get anything else down. Plus we were out of milk and I drink milk in my coffee. It was just a bad breakfast all around.
Lunch - We finished up the last of the veggies in the fridge and made a salad. The salad included cabbage, green peppers, red onions and carrots. Plus a couple of pieces of cut up ham. Topped with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and sage. It was really good. Cabbage is a lost vegetable. It's so tasty, it lasts forever and it gives things a nice crunch. You should buy cabbage and eat it instead of iceberg lettuce.
Dinner - We had to go to the grocery last night because our fridge was BARE. It was strange though because we're starting to taper what we're buying. So instead of buying a big box of 12 milks, we only bought 3. And instead of buying the big flour, we bought the little one. Strange! Anyways, it was late and we both had headaches when we got home. Ryan's eyes are bothering him with his contacts so he's been wearing his glasses all day but the glasses aren't the right prescription, which is causing him to have headaches and to be sleepy. I've just had a headache for weeks now. Who knows? Anyways, back to dinner. Ryan had made flatbread dough during the day. So when we got home I just cut up some veggies, assembled and popped them into the oven. Homemade flatbreads are really super easy and not too bad for you either. To our crust I added: a drizzle of oil, a layer of tomatoes, caramelized onions, wilted spinach with basil and garlic, a smattering of 'mozzarella' cheese. Bake for 7-10 minutes and eat! YUM!
We watched 2 episodes of LOST and then hit the hey.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Food
Yesterday we signed up with Anderson Organics for our first ever CSA! I'm super excited! We're going to be receiving a half share every week from June until October of delicious organic veggies.
Our signing up has been a long time coming. Ryan and I have had lots of great conversations about food since we've been in Ecuador. We've both seen some pretty dramatic weight loss (yes, Ryan too!) with the change in lifestyle that Ecuador has brought. We feel livelier, we have less cravings, we eat better and we get regular exercise.
So as the 'regressamos' looms less than a month away, we've been talking about our attitude towards food when we're in the USA. Here, as you know, we really stock up on veggies and fruits. We eat a lot of rice/quinoa/beans. And we mostly only eat chicken. I'm sure the chickens that we eat here aren't the cleanest or really organic in the way that the USA would deem them. But the chickens are normal sized, they eat grass, and they aren't full of hormones. We rarely eat beef. But when we do it's life is similar to the chickens'.
What does that mean for us back at home? Neither of us want to put the weight back on, neither of us want to go back to feeling tired and sluggish, and neither of us want to support the corporate food industry in the States. (If you haven't watched the movie FOOD INC, please do.)
These are the principals rolling around in our heads...
1. Grow an organic garden. We're really excited about this because we'll be living with a gardening expert (my mom) and we have Grandpa Jo just down the street! We're going to build a raised bed and go from there!
2. Buy local and organic. I understand that these cost more and I know that we don't have a lot of money, which I know will be the argument of some. But it all comes down to priorities. Our priority is not quantity, it's quality. My priority is my health and the health of the Earth. If we keep eating food with pesticides and hormones, the industry will keep producing them. Which will continue to deteriorate the health of the nation and the health of the Earth. Plus local tastes better. It tastes more real, fresher. This is where Anderson Organics comes into play. I'm also so excited to hear about this great farmer's market Rockford has going! Go Rockford! I know that we'll run into problems come the winter, but we'll deal with them then.
3. Avoid processed foods. We rarely buy something in a can or a jar or a box or a bag that has already been processed. Here, in Ecuador, we eat slow food; real food. And that's been probably the biggest contributing factor to our health improving. I like to have a snack in the afternoon but it's usually a piece of bread, a piece of fruit or a bag of papas or chifles (potatoes fried or plantains fried). It's amazing to me what happens when you remove corn syrup from your diet and replace it with real sugar, or better yet with panela. Your body has to work (burn calories) to burn those types of sugar down. This is a good process. With corn syrup, it breaks down so quickly that there are very few calories burned. This is a bad process. So we're going to try and avoid it. At least in our home and when we are in control of the food on the proverbial table.
4. Keep moving. We walk, run, hike, climb, lift, and swim here all of the time. In the States we drive. Granted we have convenient weather and we live in a big city with public transportation. In IL that will be harder because of the location of my parents' house. But I'll be training for a marathon and Ryan can't wait for regular soccer games and basketball games. Plus we've got Chuki to walk and we both want to start lifting actual weights (not the water bottles we've been lifting here) together. There are tennis courts just down the street, bikes to be rode, and hikes to be had within hours of Rockford! We're looking forward to doing a lot of exploring in our own neighborhood for new hikes and forests to enjoy, something we've gotten extremely used to here.
There you have it! There's really nothing more important than your health and doing what you can to preserve it for as long as you can. Everyone owes it to themselves to take care of your body in a healthy, non-abusive, non-judgmental way. It's not a competition of who can be the skinniest. Life is so much more than that. It's about maintaining your health so that you can enjoy all that life has to offer: the people you love, the smiles, the laughter, the tears, the adventures, the delicious food, the nature, and the beauty of this Earth.
MULUB,
Taylor
Our signing up has been a long time coming. Ryan and I have had lots of great conversations about food since we've been in Ecuador. We've both seen some pretty dramatic weight loss (yes, Ryan too!) with the change in lifestyle that Ecuador has brought. We feel livelier, we have less cravings, we eat better and we get regular exercise.
So as the 'regressamos' looms less than a month away, we've been talking about our attitude towards food when we're in the USA. Here, as you know, we really stock up on veggies and fruits. We eat a lot of rice/quinoa/beans. And we mostly only eat chicken. I'm sure the chickens that we eat here aren't the cleanest or really organic in the way that the USA would deem them. But the chickens are normal sized, they eat grass, and they aren't full of hormones. We rarely eat beef. But when we do it's life is similar to the chickens'.
What does that mean for us back at home? Neither of us want to put the weight back on, neither of us want to go back to feeling tired and sluggish, and neither of us want to support the corporate food industry in the States. (If you haven't watched the movie FOOD INC, please do.)
These are the principals rolling around in our heads...
1. Grow an organic garden. We're really excited about this because we'll be living with a gardening expert (my mom) and we have Grandpa Jo just down the street! We're going to build a raised bed and go from there!
2. Buy local and organic. I understand that these cost more and I know that we don't have a lot of money, which I know will be the argument of some. But it all comes down to priorities. Our priority is not quantity, it's quality. My priority is my health and the health of the Earth. If we keep eating food with pesticides and hormones, the industry will keep producing them. Which will continue to deteriorate the health of the nation and the health of the Earth. Plus local tastes better. It tastes more real, fresher. This is where Anderson Organics comes into play. I'm also so excited to hear about this great farmer's market Rockford has going! Go Rockford! I know that we'll run into problems come the winter, but we'll deal with them then.
3. Avoid processed foods. We rarely buy something in a can or a jar or a box or a bag that has already been processed. Here, in Ecuador, we eat slow food; real food. And that's been probably the biggest contributing factor to our health improving. I like to have a snack in the afternoon but it's usually a piece of bread, a piece of fruit or a bag of papas or chifles (potatoes fried or plantains fried). It's amazing to me what happens when you remove corn syrup from your diet and replace it with real sugar, or better yet with panela. Your body has to work (burn calories) to burn those types of sugar down. This is a good process. With corn syrup, it breaks down so quickly that there are very few calories burned. This is a bad process. So we're going to try and avoid it. At least in our home and when we are in control of the food on the proverbial table.
4. Keep moving. We walk, run, hike, climb, lift, and swim here all of the time. In the States we drive. Granted we have convenient weather and we live in a big city with public transportation. In IL that will be harder because of the location of my parents' house. But I'll be training for a marathon and Ryan can't wait for regular soccer games and basketball games. Plus we've got Chuki to walk and we both want to start lifting actual weights (not the water bottles we've been lifting here) together. There are tennis courts just down the street, bikes to be rode, and hikes to be had within hours of Rockford! We're looking forward to doing a lot of exploring in our own neighborhood for new hikes and forests to enjoy, something we've gotten extremely used to here.
There you have it! There's really nothing more important than your health and doing what you can to preserve it for as long as you can. Everyone owes it to themselves to take care of your body in a healthy, non-abusive, non-judgmental way. It's not a competition of who can be the skinniest. Life is so much more than that. It's about maintaining your health so that you can enjoy all that life has to offer: the people you love, the smiles, the laughter, the tears, the adventures, the delicious food, the nature, and the beauty of this Earth.
MULUB,
Taylor
Project Number 2 - Day 28 (Tuesday)
I don't know if I've said before, but knowing that I am going to blog about what I ate really, at times, helps me eat better. Anyways...
Yesterday I ate...
Breakfast - Yogurt with a small spoonful of honey and peanut butter.
Lunch - A take on a fry up... beans, 2 eggs sunny side up, and a tomato
After run snack - I split a piece of bread with Chuki. He thought he should run with me yesterday, and then it decided to rain. It wasn't a very good run. But I did manage to get in about 5 minutes of sprints, sandwiched in between two longer jogs. The problem is Chuki thinks sprints are for him too, and I can't run that fast!
Dinner - We had breakfast for dinner! So that means we both had breakfast for 3 meals yesterday. Last night I made egg free oatmeal pancakes and banana oatmeal. Banana oatmeal was super good. Egg free oatmeal pancakes not so much, we each only ate one topped with a little honey and peanut butter.
Yesterday I ate...
Breakfast - Yogurt with a small spoonful of honey and peanut butter.
Lunch - A take on a fry up... beans, 2 eggs sunny side up, and a tomato
After run snack - I split a piece of bread with Chuki. He thought he should run with me yesterday, and then it decided to rain. It wasn't a very good run. But I did manage to get in about 5 minutes of sprints, sandwiched in between two longer jogs. The problem is Chuki thinks sprints are for him too, and I can't run that fast!
Dinner - We had breakfast for dinner! So that means we both had breakfast for 3 meals yesterday. Last night I made egg free oatmeal pancakes and banana oatmeal. Banana oatmeal was super good. Egg free oatmeal pancakes not so much, we each only ate one topped with a little honey and peanut butter.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Project Number 2 - Day 27 (Monday)
Mondays...
Yesterday marked 30 days left in Ecuador. To celebrate I ate yogurt and granola for breakfast. Soup with a scoop of rice for lunch. And Ryan made a chicken wing for each of us, baked potato wedges, canary beans - menestras style, and carrots for dinner.
I also managed to get in a 5K recovery run in just around 30 minutes.
Yum!
Yesterday marked 30 days left in Ecuador. To celebrate I ate yogurt and granola for breakfast. Soup with a scoop of rice for lunch. And Ryan made a chicken wing for each of us, baked potato wedges, canary beans - menestras style, and carrots for dinner.
I also managed to get in a 5K recovery run in just around 30 minutes.
Yum!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Project Pichincha - Day 18 (Monday)
I realize I'm missing a weeks worth of photos of Pichincha. Sorry about that. Let me see what I can do. Here's today's.
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| 4 April 2011 @ 8:00am |
Project Number 2 - Day 26 (Sunday)
Oh Sundays... How I adore you! I used to dread Sunday evenings because all of the anxiety from work would come rushing back. I would start to compose a TO DO list a mile long of things that I was behind on, people I HAD to call, etc. But not anymore! Thank God! Now, I love Sundays. It's one more day to relax. Yesterday, we woke up slow, like bears. We chatted with my mom and dad. We went to the park with Chuki. We came home and watched A LOT of LOST. We're into season 3 now because we found a site that we can reliably and quickly stream the episodes even here in Ecuador. It's great! Or terrible, depending on how you look at it and your propensity to LOST.
What did we eat yesterday.... hmmm.
Well for breakfast I had 1.5 cups of coffee and a bowl of yogurt, granola and 1/2 a banana.
We had a banana snack at the park.
For lunch I had left over soup and left over fried rice. It was a BIG lunch.
I munched on 3 pieces of chocolate during LOST.
And for dinner I made chicken, garlic smashed potatoes, and oregano green beans.
That's about it!
What did we eat yesterday.... hmmm.
Well for breakfast I had 1.5 cups of coffee and a bowl of yogurt, granola and 1/2 a banana.
We had a banana snack at the park.
For lunch I had left over soup and left over fried rice. It was a BIG lunch.
I munched on 3 pieces of chocolate during LOST.
And for dinner I made chicken, garlic smashed potatoes, and oregano green beans.
That's about it!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Pichincha Hike
So as you know we're training to climb Cotopaxi in a couple of weeks. We've been running sprints for two weeks now and yesterday was the first training climb. We climbed Pichincha. Pichincha is the volcano straight to the west of Quito. We see it every day. I love this volcano. It's the one I've been taking photos of (although I'm seriously behind on this project).
Sebas is organizing the whole thing. We just show up where and when he tells us, ready to climb. Yesterday we were to be in Plaza d'Argentina at 8:15am. Our hiking group was Sebas, us, and Edgar and his son Daniel. Edgar is the pro. He's climbed all but two volcanoes and mountains in Ecuador. ALL BUT TWO! Holy Mackerel! He's summited Cotopaxi 10 times and he's summited Chimborazo, the biggest mountain in the world, twice. His son Daniel is 12 and a trooper.
We drove to the Telefirico, took it up part of the mountain and then hiked from there.
The hike took us about 3 hours up and 1.5 hours down, I think. For the most part it's just a nice hike. Mostly uphill, but nothing too steep, nothing too strenuous. The last hour is the most difficult. There's about 30 minutes of hiking uphill in volcanic ash, which is a pain in the butt because for every step you take uphill you slide a little back downhill. It's just really slippery and you have to be sure of your footing and you have to just move fast. Then the last 30 minutes was an actual climb. Not a technical climb, there were no ropes and harnesses. But you're climbing over rock faces and you have to be careful of where you put your hands and feet or else you would seriously die. I found that part a little bit scary but mostly exhilarating. It's pretty stinking amazing to think of what your body is capable of doing.
We summited and ate lunch. The summit is 4696 meters. Which means we only climbed around 500 meters from the TeleferiQo. And we were about 1800 meters from Quito.
The way down is always a million times worse for me. I much prefer going up than going down. I prefer my hamstrings to burn than my quads. Plus I feel much more in control going up. Going down you have to work with gravity and just go for it. Way scarier, I think!
The craziest part about the hike was the change in weather. When we started it was nice, sunny and warm. By the time we got to the top the fog was so thick you couldn't see anything. On the way down we had rain and hail. And then when we got back home to the apartment it was sunny.
We're feeling good! The plan is Illinizas next Saturday at 6am. Then maybe Cayambe and then maybe Cotopaxi. We're not quite sure. If we add one more mountain, which sounds like we will, then we'll probably have to rearrange the jungle trip. We're thinking we might be done teaching on Monday instead of Wednesday and then go during the week. Who knows? We'll figure it out as we go!
If there's one thing I love, it's being on top of a mountain! And I'm so happy that Ryan loves it too! (This was his first time!)
MULUB,
Taylor
Sebas is organizing the whole thing. We just show up where and when he tells us, ready to climb. Yesterday we were to be in Plaza d'Argentina at 8:15am. Our hiking group was Sebas, us, and Edgar and his son Daniel. Edgar is the pro. He's climbed all but two volcanoes and mountains in Ecuador. ALL BUT TWO! Holy Mackerel! He's summited Cotopaxi 10 times and he's summited Chimborazo, the biggest mountain in the world, twice. His son Daniel is 12 and a trooper.
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| Pichincha at 8:00 in the morning while we were walking to the Plaza to meet Sebas. |
We drove to the Telefirico, took it up part of the mountain and then hiked from there.
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| Ryan and me at the TeleferiQo lookout |
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| Quito from the TeleferiQo lookout |
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| Pichincha from the trail |
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| The volcanic ash part |
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| The ridge that we had to climb over |
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| Sebas climbing |
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| The group at the summit! |
The way down is always a million times worse for me. I much prefer going up than going down. I prefer my hamstrings to burn than my quads. Plus I feel much more in control going up. Going down you have to work with gravity and just go for it. Way scarier, I think!
The craziest part about the hike was the change in weather. When we started it was nice, sunny and warm. By the time we got to the top the fog was so thick you couldn't see anything. On the way down we had rain and hail. And then when we got back home to the apartment it was sunny.
 |
| One of the hailstones during the hail storm. |
We're feeling good! The plan is Illinizas next Saturday at 6am. Then maybe Cayambe and then maybe Cotopaxi. We're not quite sure. If we add one more mountain, which sounds like we will, then we'll probably have to rearrange the jungle trip. We're thinking we might be done teaching on Monday instead of Wednesday and then go during the week. Who knows? We'll figure it out as we go!
If there's one thing I love, it's being on top of a mountain! And I'm so happy that Ryan loves it too! (This was his first time!)
MULUB,
Taylor
Dog's Intuition?!
At around 2:00 am last night Chuki ran into our room doing this low bark. It's the bark he does when we pretend to be dogs and he runs from room to room trying to find the other dogs. I like to think of it as his alerting bark. It's not an aggressive bark, it's a 'something isn't right' bark. He was running from the window in our bedroom to the window in the 'spare bedroom' doing the bark. Both windows face the same intersection. At first Ryan and I were alarmed, I thought someone was in the apartment or there was something climbing the outside of the building superman style. But we checked and everything was fine in the apartment. We looked out the window and there was a cab (we think it was a cab) stopped in the street. There were 3 guys that we're apparently in the cab out in the street kind of racing around frantically. And a couple of minutes later an ambulance pulled up. The paramedic got a guy out from the back seat of the cab on a stretcher. Put him in the ambulance and, what we can only imagine, worked on him in the ambulance. All the while, the friends, or at least we think they were his friends?!, pacing around in the street.
At one point the lights went on in another apartment with a crazy black lab and they (owner and dog) came out onto their terrace to check everything out. I can only assume that their dog had woken everyone up as well.
About an hour went by (at least that's what it felt like) and finally the ambulance was gone, the cab had left and everything was back to normal. Chuki stayed on alert the whole time. At one point a guard from one of the buildings nearby came out to look at what was going on and Chuki did the same low bark thing.
It is just really crazy to me that even before the ambulance was there Chuki was up and alerting us. How do they know that? And what did he know? Did he just think why is this car stopped in the middle of the street and why are these people walking around it? Had another dog barked in the same way and he heard it? Or could he sense their fear from all the way up here? Who knows! All that I do know is that he was very concerned. Hopefully because he was up for a good 2 hours during the middle of the night, he'll sleep extra long this morning!
I've heard of women's intuition, but dog's intuition? So crazy!!
At one point the lights went on in another apartment with a crazy black lab and they (owner and dog) came out onto their terrace to check everything out. I can only assume that their dog had woken everyone up as well.
About an hour went by (at least that's what it felt like) and finally the ambulance was gone, the cab had left and everything was back to normal. Chuki stayed on alert the whole time. At one point a guard from one of the buildings nearby came out to look at what was going on and Chuki did the same low bark thing.
It is just really crazy to me that even before the ambulance was there Chuki was up and alerting us. How do they know that? And what did he know? Did he just think why is this car stopped in the middle of the street and why are these people walking around it? Had another dog barked in the same way and he heard it? Or could he sense their fear from all the way up here? Who knows! All that I do know is that he was very concerned. Hopefully because he was up for a good 2 hours during the middle of the night, he'll sleep extra long this morning!
I've heard of women's intuition, but dog's intuition? So crazy!!
Project Number 2 - Day 23 (Thursday)
Today there was a late breakfast but I had my trusty standby, yogurt, granola and 1/2 a banana. Plus coffee. I'm trying to cut back to 1-1.5 cups in the morning to see if that helps my head. We'll see. I think Ryan is right, I think a lot of my headaches have to do with the mattress we've been sleeping on for a year and the pillows we've been using. I can't wait to get home to my BeautyRest mattress and my memory foam pillow! Seriously, I can't wait!
I had a weird schedule today which caused me to race home after class and go for a run with Ryan and then race back for another class. Which left little time for lunch. I actually wasn't very hungry. I know some people never like to eat after they run. For me it depends. I can never predict whether I'll be super hungry or not hungry at all. I think because of the late breakfast, I just wasn't that hungry. I grabbed a teeny tiny sandwich while I waited for the bus, plus a carbonated water. I also ate 1/2 a bag of papas. Which was able to hold me over until dinner.
We had a party to go to on Thursday night, a chocolate party. And so in preparation for the chocolate party, I made cookies. They were to die for. Seriously, so good that I'm including a link to the recipe. I only made one change because we didn't have 3 cups of oatmeal. I used 1.5 cups of oatmeal and 2.5 cups of flour. The only things I would recommend are: use fresh coconut shavings it you can, use a good chocolate, and don't over bake! MMMMM. These were dinner, with a glass of milk.
When we got to the chocolate party, there wasn't any chocolate left! I guess that's what happens when you're almost 2 hours late! Oh well! I had a beer and a pina colada. Then we came home and hit the hay!
I had a weird schedule today which caused me to race home after class and go for a run with Ryan and then race back for another class. Which left little time for lunch. I actually wasn't very hungry. I know some people never like to eat after they run. For me it depends. I can never predict whether I'll be super hungry or not hungry at all. I think because of the late breakfast, I just wasn't that hungry. I grabbed a teeny tiny sandwich while I waited for the bus, plus a carbonated water. I also ate 1/2 a bag of papas. Which was able to hold me over until dinner.
We had a party to go to on Thursday night, a chocolate party. And so in preparation for the chocolate party, I made cookies. They were to die for. Seriously, so good that I'm including a link to the recipe. I only made one change because we didn't have 3 cups of oatmeal. I used 1.5 cups of oatmeal and 2.5 cups of flour. The only things I would recommend are: use fresh coconut shavings it you can, use a good chocolate, and don't over bake! MMMMM. These were dinner, with a glass of milk.
When we got to the chocolate party, there wasn't any chocolate left! I guess that's what happens when you're almost 2 hours late! Oh well! I had a beer and a pina colada. Then we came home and hit the hay!
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