tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82243635886146141632024-02-19T00:47:45.181-06:00Diving into the WreckThoughts on Writing and WanderlustLacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-55546383172237467772013-06-07T13:02:00.002-05:002013-06-08T09:51:45.798-05:00The Month of ArticlesHow is it June already?! And better yet, how is it June <i>7th </i>already? We're a week into June, and I still feel like it's early-mid May. In a little more than two weeks, T.J. and I will leave for our summer vacation, and when we return it will be July, so June already feels like it's slipping away all too rapidly. I've declared June the "Month of Articles" because I have three article projects that must be completed before month's end, which really means <i>I have two weeks to finish three articles</i>. Yikes.<br />
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Part of the reason for my absence on the blog as of late is due to said articles. I'm working on them full-time like it's my job, which it sort of is, only one where you don't get paid and and have little hope that all your hard work will amount to anything of substance, like a full-time teaching gig. Bummer. I'm enjoying the work I'm doing to a degree, but it also means the dissertation has been on the back-burner for quite a while, and I haven't worked on my fiction in so long I would cry if I allowed myself to think about it for more than a few seconds at a time. Some days (like today) I'm so itchy to get back to the novel that I find myself daydreaming scenes from it while I'm reading obscure eighteenth-century travel narratives. (The one I'm reading today, <i>The History of Autonous</i>, takes place on an island, so it isn't much of a stretch.) I guess that it's good that even my scholarly research feeds my creative work, even though it does make it a bit more frustrating that I can't allow myself to work on it right now. <br />
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In our "free" time, T.J. and I have been working on the house and taking advantage of the fact we now live in a place where there are things to do. Working hard and playing hard, in other words. As of this weekend, we will have been in the house for three months, and its been an endless parade of repairs, purchases, and upgrades since we moved in. We spent two full weekends in May painting the second guest bedroom, dining room, and half bath, and there is still so much painting to do. Up next will be the foyer and my study, but eventually we plan to repaint the whole house (which is a dull, flat tan), so I'm sure there will be many more weekends spent painting over the next few months. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A lot of our walls look like they were attacked by paintbrush-wielding two-year-olds, as we try to settle on a final color scheme for the house. These are the walls in my study and the foyer, respectively. Needless to say, we aren't having company over anytime soon.</td></tr>
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When we're not painting, trimming hedges (so. many. hedges.), mowing the lawn, installing a new water softener, picking out a new dishwasher, hanging pictures, organizing the garage, cleaning, and the hundred other things home ownership apparently requires, we've been going to festivals and farmer's markets, hiking in preparation for our trip out West, trying new restaurants, and seeing movies. When we first started looking at places to move after Pennsylvania, my only real condition was that we be within an easy drive of nice stadium-seating movie theaters. No joke, all of the movie theaters near us in PA (and they were still half an hour away) were those crappy old one-level theaters, with sticky floors, way too little elbow room, and usually an aisle right down the middle of the theater. We rarely went to the movies because it just wasn't worth the annoyances, and when we did go we usually drove all the way to Pittsburgh (two hours) to see them in a "real" theater. So we are pretty happy now that we have the Monaco and not only have stadium seating and spacious aisles but can also reserve our seats online ahead of time, so we never have to worry about getting there early on opening weekends. <br />
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We've also been enjoying all the festivals nearby, such as Alabama Jubilee, the hot air balloon festival in Decatur:<br />
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For the next couple of weeks, though, until we leave for Montana, it will be less festival-ing and more hiking. This weekend, weather permitting, we'll be headed up to Monte Sano to do several miles. And with any luck, there will be time for article writing (lots and lots of article writing) as well.Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-83709009837524857422013-05-14T16:03:00.003-05:002013-05-14T16:03:55.558-05:00A Way Too Long Post about Our Crazy-Busy Week. With Food Pictures. Of Course.It's been a crazy busy (but great) last week, which is why I've neglected the blog here a bit. I've been meaning to post some updates, to tell you all how we've been doing in the world after Whole30, but the world has just kept us going too much! Today is the first real day I've had at home to just sit at the computer and work, and I have two articles with swiftly approaching deadlines that have prevented me from doing much online.<br />
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Last Wednesday was our first day-after-Whole30, and we introduced dairy back into our diet (with the delicious strawberry yogurt posted in the previous entry, now a regular breakfast item). That evening I made a vegetable tian and chipotle sweet potato skins for dinner. They aren't dishes that I would normally pair, but I was trying to make almost-paleo foods that contained cheese and to make sure we had enough protein and veggies for dinner.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.recipesquickneasy.com/vegetable-tian/">Vegetable Tian</a>. I made it without the white potatoes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.halfbakedharvest.com/healthy-chipotle-chicken-sweet-potato-skins/">Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Skins</a>. Yummy, but I think they would be best as an appetizer. I really didn't want to eat more than one at a time, and in order for it to be an entree, you'd either need to eat two or eat a lot of veggies on the side.</td></tr>
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We didn't really have time to stop and savor our food, though, because we were going to a screening of the documentary <i><a href="http://deepsouthfilm.com/">deepsouth</a></i> hosted by AIDS Action Coalition. We were strong and avoided all the free booze and delicious-looking sweets and stuck to water while we made small talk and watched the film. I'm still not sure what I think of the documentary itself, but the Q&A afterward was enlightening. The film's director and two of it's "stars" were there for the discussion, and I definitely learned a lot. I have to confess that I was one of those people who sort of thought that AIDS wasn't really an issue anymore; I didn't realize how much poverty affects the disease, how there are more than a hundred people in my area alone who are on a waiting list just to get the medication they need, how the funds have dried up, how the South is hit harder by this disease than other places in the country. (Alabama has the 13th highest HIV infection rate in the nation and the 8th highest AIDS-related death rate.)<br />
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If you have time, money, or the inclination, check out the great work Mary Elizabeth Marr and the <a href="http://www.aidsactioncoalition.org/">AIDS Action Coalition</a> does and see if you can help. T.J. and I will both be getting involved in the near future. He actually worked a lot with the organization way back when he was in high school.<br />
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Thursday was another busy day and late night. It was "grains" day, so we had toast for breakfast.<br />
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I topped the organic toast with raw honey and strawberries. I thought it was delicious, but T.J. thought it tasted like cardboard and felt sick afterward.<br />
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After work, T.J. and I met up and went to the <a href="http://www.greenestreetmarket.com/">Greene Street Farmer's Market</a> to load up on organic local strawberries, sweet potatoes, green onions, and eggs. We had a nice time looking at all the booths, and the weather was gorgeous.<br />
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Afterward, we went out for our first dinner out in more than a month! I chose Outback because I thought it would be easier to make good choices there. I ordered a 6 oz. sirloin, sweet potato fries, and grilled asparagus. I thought this would be healthier than getting my usual salad (cheese, dressing, croutons) and baked sweet potato (brown sugar and honey butter), but the fries were coated in something sweet (honey maybe) and were...well fried. I've been eating baked sweet potatoes fries for so long now that I kind of forgot the point of fries was to fry them. lol I did splurge and get the horseradish crumb crust for my steak (I figured I deserved it after 32 days of healthy eating), but my stomach was NOT happy with me afterward, and neither was T.J.'s. I don't think we'll be going back there anytime soon.<br />
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After dinner we went to the gym for our first work-out in who knows how long! I'm really happy that we'll be adding fitness into our new healthy routines. While we were there, we set up appointments with the trainer for Saturday morning, which went really well.<br />
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Friday I was craving the sweet and spiciness of <a href="http://realfoodfreaks.com/2012/06/14/mo-rockin-or-moroccan-beef-skillet/">Moroccan Beef Skillet</a>, so I made that before we went to see <i>The Great Gatsby</i>. I enjoyed it but I'm reserving full judgement until after I reread the book. I read it in high school and then again my first year of graduate school (both times for fun, never as part of a class), so it's been six or seven years since I last read it. I'm going to reread it this week, though, to see if it now produces the same emotions it did when I watched the film. (I actually felt sorry for Daisy in the film, which I've never felt reading the book.) The movie is flashy and over-the-top and more than a little silly at times, but that's Luhrmann's style and what I was expecting to some degree. I am curious to see what affect (if any) his visuals have on my rereading. Might have to see the movie again after I finish the book! (And in 3D this time. This might be the only movie I've sat through in recent memory where I thought, "Wow. I bet that looks cool in 3D.")<br />
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Saturday morning was spent at the gym. It was rainy, so I was so thankful I could run on our gym's indoor track while T.J. met with the trainer. (I met with him first and ran/walked afterward.) Then once the rain subsided we worked in the front flower beds trimming hedges and pulling up the God-awful weedy ground cover before showering and heading to BrewFest to meet up with friends. <a href="http://www.rocketcitybrewfest.com/">BrewFest</a> is this really cool (albeit overpriced) event in downtown Huntsville that brings together live music, local food, and loads of craft beers from all over the South. Thankfully, for people like me, there are also plenty of ciders to try.<br />
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I was so sore and tired by the time we got to BrewFest, I was quite happy that the evening required nothing more than eating, drinking, and chatting. Here's where we really fell off the paleo wagon, though. I tried at least half a dozen cidars (Kopparberg Pear, Scrumpy's, and Wood Chuck Reserve Pink were my favorites), and T.J. exchanged $20 for what he thought was 20 food tokens. Turns out we got 25 tokens, so we ended up eating a bit more than planned. (As you do.) We split Moe's nachos (a Billy Barou basically) for seven tokens, then had so many left we had to each get a pretzel from Schnitzel Ranch and each get a double scoop of homemade ice cream. I know, I know. You wouldn't think beer and ice cream mix, but apparently people make beer floats? I just ate my scoops of strawberry and vanilla bean alone, and they were so uber-delicious. Pretty much the only craving I had during Whole30 was for a strawberry milkshake, so my little Crave Monster was sooooo happy with me that night. I never felt bad from consuming all that junk, but the scale sure hasn't been happy with me ever since. :-(<br />
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Sunday was spent painting the twin guest room. We finally found the perfect shade of gray (only took three tries!), and we needed to get the room painted before my family comes to visit next week. We spent most of the day painting and then had to quickly prepare veggies and dessert to take to T.J.'s mom's for dinner.<br />
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We made this amazing, gorgeous, delicious, decadent, sinfully good fruit pizza:<br />
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It has fruit and it's gluten-free (used coconut flour instead of wheat), but I wouldn't exactly call it healthy. <a href="http://www.tableformoreblog.com/2012/02/gluten-free-fruit-pizza.html">Here's the recipe</a> we followed exactly. We doubled everything to make it big enough for the whole family.<br />
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It might have been one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. (And I really want a piece right now looking at the pictures.) I was so stuffed afterward I felt miserable all night, but in this case it was worth it. I highly recommend the recipe if you're ever in the mood for something delicious and decadent to bring to a gathering or are planning a dessert night.<br />
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Sunday, Monday, and today I've had to eat lunch out (Subway Sunday, Zoe's yesterday, and Zaxby's today), and I've made good choices each time (6 in. chicken teriyaki on wheat without chips or drink, chicken salad and fresh fruit platter, and grilled chicken "Zalad" with lite vinaigrette), but nothing I've eaten is entirely paleo or Whole30 compliant and I'm kind of eager to eat "good food" again. Yesterday I finally had time to make our meal plan for the week and go grocery shopping, so I'm looking forward to eating at home and eating healthier options the rest of the week!Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-59577667327175466892013-05-08T10:05:00.001-05:002013-05-08T10:34:44.810-05:00The Top Five Reasons I Love Whole30--And Unexpected Consequences of the Journey<span style="font-family: inherit;">This morning, for the first time in 31 days, I had dairy for breakfast--plain Greek yogurt to be exact.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is our more healthful version of breakfast yogurt: plain 2% FAGE, fresh strawberries, slivered almonds, and light agave nectar for some sweetness. It was </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">really</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> good. (So good T.J. said he felt like he was "dancing with the devil." Haha!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Since I ate this less than half an hour ago, it remains to be seen how my stomach responds to dairy after avoiding it for a month (my stomach even turned a little when I first smelled the plain yogurt), but here's to hoping this can become a breakfast staple. There's tons of protein and calcium in the yogurt, and making this yogurt is so much easier than scrambling eggs every morning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But now for the real reason for this post--the Whole30 recap results! Or, the Top 5 Reasons I Love Whole30.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5) I lost weight.</span></b><br />
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On January 1, I, like millions of people around the world, stepped on the scales, and I weighed the most I've ever weighed: 140 pounds. I know 140 isn't that high, but it's almost thirty pounds heavier than I was in college, less than a decade ago. (Granted, at that time, I was desperate to <i>gain</i> weight.) I made a resolution that day that by the end of the year, I would be down to 125. But like so many people who make New Year's Resolutions, I did absolutely nothing to accomplish that goal: I didn't diet or exercise.<br />
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On April 8, the first day of Whole30, I weighed 138.2 pounds. Last night, at the end of Whole30, weighing in at the exact same time and wearing the same clothes, I weighed 129.8. In thirty days, I lost 8.4 pounds, or 6% of my total weight. Nothing changed in the past month other than my diet. (I still haven't gone to the gym, although I did join one.) And I didn't starve myself, drink my meals, or count calories. I ate real food. Good food.<br />
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T.J. did even better than I. He lost 19.4 pounds.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4) It improved my health.</span></b><br />
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"You are what you eat."<br />
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"If you eat crap, you'll feel like crap."<br />
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There are a million different ways to express this adage--possibly because it's true--but I don't know if I ever really believed it until now.<br />
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In the past year and a half, I have been to the doctor more often than in the previous twenty-eight years combined. I have struggled with fatigue, with blood sugar issues, with back pain/spasms, with digestive issues, with a B12 deficiency, with headaches, with acne. Whole30 didn't help with the back pain or acne (unfortunately--my acne is not food related; it just really hates Alabama), but it helped with all those other things.<br />
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While I lived in Pennsylvania, my B12 consistently stayed in the 100s, despite receiving injections and daily supplements for nearly a year. (Normal is somewhere between 200-900, although they prefer it be at least in the 400s.)<br />
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<i>According to my doctor, my B12 is now "perfect."</i><br />
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The reason I discovered the B12 deficiency in the first place was because I had such extreme fatigue, I was convinced that I had problems with my thyroid. After my doctor ran a bunch of tests, the only one that came back problematic was my B12. I started injections, and they would give me energy for about three hours afterward, but nothing sustainable. I suffered from terrible "brain fog," claimed to feel "brain dead" every afternoon, all afternoon, and got very little scholarly work accomplished unless I worked early in the morning.<br />
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<i>For the past month, I have had energy and mental focus like I haven't had in years, if I ever had them.</i><br />
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Last year my blood sugar was routinely too high and rarely fell below 100, even when fasting: pre-diabetic numbers. I spent months feeling weak and sick, charting my numbers. Since I'm not actually diabetic, all my doctor could recommend is that I get more exercise and change my diet. At the time, I did neither of those things.<br />
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<i>I have had no problems with my blood sugar for the past month.</i><br />
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I suffered from several digestive issues during the past year that I'd never really had before, and at one point or another I was convinced that I had one of any number of gastrointestinal diseases, including Celiac and Crohn's. (Seriously, people. WebMD is not your friend.) I even blamed a medication I was taking for the problems, and my doctor put it on my "allergy" list.<br />
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<i>I haven't had any digestive issues for the past month. My new doctor started me on the same medication about three weeks ago, and I've had no issues.</i><br />
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I used to have headaches fairly often, usually in the late afternoon. Sometimes I would have them for several days in a row, and no amount of Advil would get rid of them.<br />
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<i>In the past month, I've only had one headache. (It was three days ago. So close to a perfect record!)</i><br />
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I don't know if these results are typical. I don't know if they will continue even if we keep eating a Whole30 diet. But I've been so thankful to have four weeks of feeling great, it was worth whatever little food sacrifices I had to make.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3) It made my marriage stronger.</span></b><br />
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Before Whole30, T.J. and I never cooked together. To be honest, I felt so incompetent in the kitchen I hated anyone else in there with me. I could barely peel a potato or chop an onion, so I felt like I was being judged every time he suggested I hold the knife a certain way or use this peeler instead of that one. I know he was only trying to help (and trust me--I've reluctantly learned a lot from him), but I just had so little confidence in my cooking skills that I preferred to wing it on my own.<br />
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So we took turns cooking. We ate dinner together (in front of the television), but I was usually still in bed when he left for work in the morning, so dinner was our only meal together.<br />
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Now, we cook together almost every night. We share duties, although I will often start before he gets home from work, knowing that dinner will take awhile to make. We still eat dinner in front of the TV (it's usually after seven and our shows are on by the time we sit down to eat), but we have breakfast together every morning. I get up early and make breakfast while he's getting ready for work, and we eat breakfast at the breakfast table. Before Whole30, we had not eaten at the table in the whole 15+ months of our marriage.<br />
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Cooking together and eating together has definitely made our marriage stronger, I think. And now breakfast is one of my favorite times of day.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) It made me more aware of what I put in my body.</span></b><br />
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Before Whole30, I rarely read ingredients lists and only occasionally glanced at the number of calories in a dish. And I never investigated what went into the food I prepared at home, much less what I ate at restaurants. My favorite restaurant food? (And the only one I've craved in the past month?) The Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers at Chili's. (I know, I know; I have a five-year-old's taste in food.) Tomorrow night we are going out to eat for the first time in a month, and I was all ready to head to Chili's to indulge in that amazing, gooey honey-chipotle sauce. I decided I would try to make the meal <i>slightly</i> more healthful by changing out the fries and ear of corn for something greener, so I went on the Chili's website to look at their other sides. I wasn't intending to look at the "nutrition" facts for the Crispers themselves, but that's what I found. And I discovered that my beloved Crispers alone have <a href="http://www.chilis.com/EN/LocationSpecificPDF/MenuPDF/001.005.0000/Chilis%20Nutrition%20Menu%20Generic.pdf">1700 CALORIES</a>. And that's not including the corn (220 calories) and fries (410 calories)! No wonder I gained seven pounds last year! I must have eaten those Crispers two dozen times!<br />
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So needless to say, we are not going to Chili's for dinner tomorrow night. But this is just an example of how terrible my eating habits were before Whole30. I used to eat take-out pizza and Chinese honey chicken and fried rice more often than I cooked in my own kitchen. Eating my vegetables meant ordering sweet potato fries instead of regular ones at Burger King, and keeping the lettuce and onions on my burger, instead of picking them off like I used to. (And I still asked for it without tomatoes.) It meant ordering the Garden Fresh pizza at Papa John's instead of pepperoni. It meant heating up a prepackaged container of broccoli and cheese in the microwave to go with whatever steak-and-potato combination I made at home. It meant adding canned tomatoes to my homemade chili instead of just tomato sauce.<br />
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In just one month, I've gone from someone who would eat anything put in front of her as long as it required no effort and was relatively cheap, to someone who will pay top dollar for organic, grass-fed meats, who is willing to pay a little extra for organic fruits and veggies in the<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/22/dirty-dozen-foods-list-2013_n_3132788.html"> "Dirty Dozen,"</a> who reads every label carefully, who rejects anything that contains ingredients I can't pronounce or immediately identify, or that contains what I believe are unnecessary ingredients (such as sugar in lemon juice, chicken broth, and just about any other staple item you can think of). I'm also more aware of the human and environmental cost of my food choices. I'm more likely to buy local and to seek out items that are fair-trade.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) It taught me to cook and made my palate/diet more adventurous.</span></b><br />
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Ask anyone who knows me even slightly: prior to Whole30, my official stance on cooking was that <i>I hated it</i>. I was a lazy eater and an even lazier cook. I basically just ate because that's a requirement of being alive, and I wasn't very happy about it (eating, not the being alive apart--very happy about that), unless of course what I was eating was doughy or coated in sugar, preferably both. And as long as someone else made it. No matter how much I love sweet treats, I wasn't about to make them myself when Publix is just across the street from my subdivision.<br />
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I've since discovered that the main reasons I hated cooking were A) because I had no energy and resented time and energy spent in the kitchen, and B) because I had so little confidence in my cooking skills, and I hate doing things at which I feel incompetent. I never cooked with vegetables (unless they were canned) because I didn't know what to do with them. Cleaning and peeling and cutting them was so much work, and so time consuming! It still is, but now I enjoy the process. And I know what I'm doing, to some degree. I'm not ready for <i>Top Chef </i>yet, but I feel much more competent in the kitchen.<br />
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In the past 30 days, I cooked or prepared the following vegetables, most for the first time: zucchini, squash, regular carrots (not the baby kind I always used to use in dishes), whole head cauliflower and broccoli (used to only buy the pre-cut, bagged kind), celery, Roma tomatoes, sweet peppers, bell peppers, poblano peppers, eggplant, kale, spinach (used to only eat it raw in salads), green onions (used to claim I hated them), brussel sprouts (always claimed they were my least favorite thing in the world), shallots, garlic, fresh green beans (only used canned before), cucumber, yellow onions, sweet onions, red onions, and sweet potatoes (soooo many sweet potatoes, but they are my favorite).<br />
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Now I skin and chop onions and sweet potatoes almost daily (used to only microwave or bake them whole). I have grated ginger and chopped cilantro and parsley. I wash and slice mushrooms routinely. I eat black olives (used to hate them). I use so much spice that I've started running out of some that previously sat on the shelves for years untouched, and I've purchased several new ones, including arrowroot and chipotle pepper. I actually eat the fruit we buy (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, bananas, pears, fuji apples, honeycrisp apples, green apples, plums, mango, papaya, pineapple, grapes, melon, lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, and cherimoya, just in the last month), instead of letting it rot in the crisper, neglected. When I see something like this...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29lO0wdn6zD23RZkpCMx06dlzqgB-Q0cdqrUz9QtkoPNX9eZuaivf-9IKAEJBbQIoQr7hZokovytiRpsuMNCh8Eamn2azvzn6b94XRznDnorc8h42RZ35xRgMPicUvF-8L-GALwRHkkM/s1600/Whole30+cherimoya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29lO0wdn6zD23RZkpCMx06dlzqgB-Q0cdqrUz9QtkoPNX9eZuaivf-9IKAEJBbQIoQr7hZokovytiRpsuMNCh8Eamn2azvzn6b94XRznDnorc8h42RZ35xRgMPicUvF-8L-GALwRHkkM/s400/Whole30+cherimoya.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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...in the supermarket, I don't automatically turn away. Now I wonder, <i>what is it</i>, and <i>what can I do with it</i>?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdGTEMf2P6Gu9KWWpk7en0WBDFJER_sLxujGSExDAv5UJvgPRgKWN5giOKeUCqiAVbvye_ASerlbNvtRMDyg0R7AYFCs5OE43ZOqXKufWicitcBLHodtzOGAHyg2-SD_u71Fd5HX1YDE/s1600/Whole30+cherimoya+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdGTEMf2P6Gu9KWWpk7en0WBDFJER_sLxujGSExDAv5UJvgPRgKWN5giOKeUCqiAVbvye_ASerlbNvtRMDyg0R7AYFCs5OE43ZOqXKufWicitcBLHodtzOGAHyg2-SD_u71Fd5HX1YDE/s400/Whole30+cherimoya+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This. I can do this with it. Just thought I'd remind you all of how awesome the cherimoya is.</td></tr>
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Thanks to <i>It Starts with Food, </i>I know all the basic ways to cook vegetables, how long to roast them (my preferred style), basic ways to cook chicken and beef, including how to spice them, what kinds of oils to use, and how long to cook chicken on each side to ensure it's done but not overcooked, without slicing it open or using a meat thermometer. I know that a good spice rub on a roast, steak, or Boston butt can be every bit as tasty as a sugary marinade, and I know how different spices work together and can experiment with them to some degree. My cabinets are now stocked with things I'd never heard of or at least never considered using before, such as coconut oil, coconut butter, coconut aminos, coconut vinegar, ghee, tahini, and almond butter. I've made homemade mayonnaise, ranch dressing, strawberry vinaigrette, and barbecue sauce.<br />
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I used the broiler for the first time (no lie), and <i>I scrambled eggs dozens of times even though I'd never made them before</i>. I'm not kidding; before Whole30, I'd never even scrambled eggs before. (Remember? If it were up to me, breakfast would just be a NutriGrain bar or bowl of Special K Vanilla Almond cereal. Scrambled eggs were reserved for special occasions, like Sunday brunch at Cracker Barrel.)<br />
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<i><b>There were some unexpected consequences of Whole30, though. Whether these consequences are positive or negative is open to interpretation. (I lean toward positive.)</b></i><br />
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<b><i>Unexpected Consequence I: </i></b><b><i>Unnatural things affect you a lot more. </i></b><br />
I used to be able to pop a muscle relaxer for my neck or back and never get sleepy. Now I'm dead weight within an hour. Even Advil makes me sleepy. Everything just seems a lot more potent now than it used to (which means I can pop one pill and achieve roughly the same effect I used to receive with two). T.J. took Benadryl after he had an allergy test, and it knocked him out for almost twelve hours. He was still really groggy the next day.<br />
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<b><i>Unexpected Consequence II: My night owl tendencies are long gone.</i></b><br />
I've always been a night owl, wide awake at night and sleeping in whenever I get the chance. I loved sleep, I just didn't love it before midnight. Now, I'm on more of a "normal person" schedule. I'm ready to head up to bed at 10:00 (although it's usually closer to 11:00 before I finally go to bed), and I wake around 7:00. I also need more sleep and sleep deeper. My schedule is more regulated throughout the week, though; at the most I sleep until 8:00 on weekends.<br />
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<i><b>Unexpected Consequence III: We produce far less garbage.</b></i><br />
Okay, this is obviously a positive. Last week on garbage day T.J. noted that we only accumulated <i>one and a half bags</i> of trash in the past week. Obviously, it isn't that way every week, but it's amazing how much less you contribute to landfills when you aren't eating prepackaged food. Most of our garbage is kitchen scraps (sweet potato peels, apple cores, and the like), and when we start our garden next spring and start composting, we won't even have that to throw away!<br />
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So there you have it. I was skeptical at first, and I was resistant to the idea of giving up all the foods I thought I loved best when T.J. suggested this challenge to me, but I now sincerely believe it's one of the best things I've ever done.<br />
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I know I had it easier than most. I never had headaches from sugar or caffeine withdrawal, I never turned into a raging monster that first week like the book warned. I was fortunate to be sharing the experience with my partner, who is even more committed to this diet than I am, and I'm fortunate that I live in an area where I can find organic foods and meat pretty easily and that we can afford to pay for it. But I would recommend this diet to anyone concerned about their health, their weight, or just looking to be more conscious of what they are eating. It definitely changed our lives for the better, and we're never going back to the way it was before.<br />
<br />Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-60686933714869392362013-05-07T10:24:00.000-05:002013-05-07T10:24:20.840-05:00The (Whole30) End Is HereIt's day 30! That means T.J. and I have officially survived thirty days of clean eating: no grains, no dairy, no <i>sugar</i>, no legumes, no alcohol. And no corn, no canola oil, no vegetable oil, and minimal preservatives (no MSG, sulfites, or carrageenan). I'm actually kind of dreading tomorrow, when we add dairy back into our diets.<br />
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Coming off of Whole30, you're supposed to stagger your reintroduction of contraband food groups so you can see how they each affect you. We thought dairy would be the easiest to reintroduce alone, so tomorrow our breakfast and dinner will involve plain Greek yogurt and fresh parmesan cheese, respectively. Baby steps. You're supposed to reintroduce groups about three days apart, but because of our weekend plans (<a href="http://www.rocketcitybrewfest.com/">Brewfest</a>! Yay!), we will probably have to rush the timeline a bit: grains on Thursday, sugar Friday, alcohol Saturday. Basically, this is just a test so we can narrow down which foods make us feel the worst and cut those from our diet (as much as possible) from now on.<br />
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I feel a hundred times better than I did a month ago, but part of me wonders if my feeling better doesn't have more to do with the fact I eat three well-balanced meals a day (protein and veggies at every meal), instead of the diet of meat, carbs, dairy, beans, and sugar I used to subsist on. I guess we will find out in the coming days! We will still be eating three well-balanced meals a day, so we will really be able to tell the effects of these other food groups. I have a feeling we will learn he has issues with dairy and gluten, while my issue is with legumes and sugar. Especially sugar. :-( Surprisingly, as much as my mouth salivates every time I skirt past the bakery section of Publix, I haven't had any serious sugar withdrawals. But who would, when you are eating food like this:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLwzO4MZKfhg0IlZ_GYioXvK3sB7jxoAvU6KuZmTC46SKp3d2FvC7DSUcRfFUdMTp5o9xGLqx_c_JIq7qQ1L8yNe8RcVmldxoB-QLTiEnGl-eoVAZ8dRwLZiECUgEQGc1ZUHOenehayQw/s1600/Whole30+dijon+pork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLwzO4MZKfhg0IlZ_GYioXvK3sB7jxoAvU6KuZmTC46SKp3d2FvC7DSUcRfFUdMTp5o9xGLqx_c_JIq7qQ1L8yNe8RcVmldxoB-QLTiEnGl-eoVAZ8dRwLZiECUgEQGc1ZUHOenehayQw/s400/Whole30+dijon+pork.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner last Friday: Dijon Pork Tenderloin, mashed cauli, roasted broccoli</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0lzuP7p9eQdVLA3Km1qHVW1MyZx53msqPPj7WiQWfSCcRfm_6o_HVjDpqMfiJNRpRbz3t-jkOMEpjnlKfSUG02nAkBdvzdL9bf9AX2Ev4I9s_sfZzEU25Rm9TUX54lbp_YrY_KKOqtKg/s1600/Whole30+meatloaf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0lzuP7p9eQdVLA3Km1qHVW1MyZx53msqPPj7WiQWfSCcRfm_6o_HVjDpqMfiJNRpRbz3t-jkOMEpjnlKfSUG02nAkBdvzdL9bf9AX2Ev4I9s_sfZzEU25Rm9TUX54lbp_YrY_KKOqtKg/s400/Whole30+meatloaf.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner Saturday night (and Sunday night, and Monday for lunch) started with T.J.'s meatloaf. It doesn't look like much here, but <i>trust</i>. This is the greatest meatloaf I've ever put in my mouth. It is a wondrous thing. I will post the recipe when I can get it from him.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmzudqtEICnvkJHkVSUqWVXeyrCqhrnrWpIuklaYcg-FloP6DZpQY9dp6qggdBL60jgkThhc8UwOMer9gieSEZQJTMAg0lWSJ3vLFu2Pl_tFx_p65I-vEoa45KOWUssG6u_cghYplAxQ/s1600/Whole30+green+beans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmzudqtEICnvkJHkVSUqWVXeyrCqhrnrWpIuklaYcg-FloP6DZpQY9dp6qggdBL60jgkThhc8UwOMer9gieSEZQJTMAg0lWSJ3vLFu2Pl_tFx_p65I-vEoa45KOWUssG6u_cghYplAxQ/s400/Whole30+green+beans.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The meatloaf was paired with French-style green beans, cooked my favorite way: two cans of beans (try to find BPA-free cans), drained, and spread out in an 8x8 glass dish. Sprinkle the top with sea salt, pepper, and a generous amount of Italian seasoning. (Make sure your seasoning is<i> just</i> herbs and spices, and avoid the Good Seasons Italian Seasoning packs. They taste the best--and that's what I used to use--but they're mostly just preservatives and sugar. If you can't find a purely herbal Italian seasoning, <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/italian-seasoning-82770">make your own</a>.) Cover the seasoned beans with melted ghee (about two tbsp.), and put in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes. This will make about four servings. Easy and delicious!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6vRdp_J6Q7o8kuKQK7-hgKjnQcgCwhAUEPEb5tU1sXCvftwRRLzAKBKjkLiuHwLPqOk7LxSuSaR-IA9-yq0sQHRUHyQitR-9Dhf5wkpvjxNho9-0ol2Qm-RpM0WzoM2L7DZ0BPMKiaJs/s1600/Whole30+sweet+potato+casserole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6vRdp_J6Q7o8kuKQK7-hgKjnQcgCwhAUEPEb5tU1sXCvftwRRLzAKBKjkLiuHwLPqOk7LxSuSaR-IA9-yq0sQHRUHyQitR-9Dhf5wkpvjxNho9-0ol2Qm-RpM0WzoM2L7DZ0BPMKiaJs/s400/Whole30+sweet+potato+casserole.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And meatloaf wouldn't be meatloaf without potatoes, and since we'd already had enough mashed cauli for the week, this meal demanded sweet potato casserole! I <i>might </i>have been more excited about this dish than I've been about anything in a long, long time. I <i>might</i> have bounced around the kitchen singing about how ready I was to eat it. I'm still tweaking the recipe, so I'm not ready to publish it yet (it's coming; I promise!), but <i>you guys</i>. Those pecans are coated in <i>chocolate</i>. (Unsweetened cocoa powder is my new best friend.)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_u0wvM609UX_ZNdlvZPSQ6rIL_ZB2VkWnaWg-Y4kfRuO0_fSQy56P11hXoxfSTCukqZzjl2Z0Q7wMyLetIB-c0oiKnuafMgFscBBtpikzir8BpvwV98IVCIRAO_-xaC8_TBdveXy-6g/s1600/Whole30+chicken.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_u0wvM609UX_ZNdlvZPSQ6rIL_ZB2VkWnaWg-Y4kfRuO0_fSQy56P11hXoxfSTCukqZzjl2Z0Q7wMyLetIB-c0oiKnuafMgFscBBtpikzir8BpvwV98IVCIRAO_-xaC8_TBdveXy-6g/s400/Whole30+chicken.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner last night (Day 29!): <a href="http://dirtyfloordiaries.com/paleo-meal-planning-kiss/">Creamy Roasted Chicken Breast</a>, roasted broccoli, and sauteed cinnamon carrots. (Carrots were cooked on the stove top in melted ghee, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and they were delicious.) Simple and healthful.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">And for the grand finale last night:</span></div>
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CHERIMOYA!</div>
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I know, I know. It's crazy-looking, right? Like a dinosaur egg. It doesn't look like it could be one of the <i>greatest fruits you've ever put in your mouth</i>. But it is. It so is.</div>
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We saw these when we were produce shopping at Kroger on Sunday, and I'd never seen or heard of a cherimoya before, so I wasn't about to waste $7.99 a lb. on one. (And a single cherimoya was a little over a pound.) But I was intrigued, so I went home and Googled cherimoya on Monday and <a href="http://foodblogga.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-is-cherimoya-perhaps-greatest.html">read this blog post about them</a> and promptly called T.J. and asked him to stop by Kroger on his way home from work to pick one up for dessert last night. I checked at Publix yesterday, too, and they didn't have them, so I feel pretty fortunate that we were able to discover this rare, succulent little treat right at the end of their season.</div>
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We decided to follow the bloggers suggestion and just eat the cherimoya plain. I sliced it in half.</div>
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And then we spooned out the delicious, soft white flesh, spitting out the large seeds.</div>
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Yeah, we kind of liked it a lot.<br />
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The flavor is difficult to describe, only I would say it is tropical. I could taste hints of coconut, pineapple, and pear, and the texture was kind of like an apple/pear if it were soft, not crunchy. In some parts of the world, it's referred to as the custard apple, and I think that's a really appropriate description.<br />
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T.J. thought it tasted like the juice in fruit cocktail, but in a good way. I could definitely taste that too, after he said it.<br />
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If you ever see these in your local grocery, do yourself a favor and get one! You will not be disappointed. (Unless you don't like fruit, and in that case...I really don't have much to say to you.)<br />
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The sugar dragon has mostly left me alone the past thirty days, and I can only imagine it's because of delectable treats like this one. When there is so much natural sweetness in fruit, sweet potatoes, and the like, it makes you wonder why we ever thought we needed refined sugars? (Don't answer that.)<br />
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Tomorrow, our first day post-Whole30, I will post a wrap-up, including health (and weight!) results. We're excited to weigh in tonight. Until then, happy eating!<br />
<br />Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-64748280231849263122013-05-01T12:47:00.000-05:002013-05-01T12:47:00.835-05:00Whole 30: Six More DaysWe have less than a week left of Whole30, so you might imagine that I'm jumping up and down, so ready to dig into a Snickers bar or pile of cupcakes. I love sugar and pastries--that will never change--but I'm less ready for this challenge to be over than you might think. I love how my body feels right now, how much better my powers of concentration are when I'm eating good foods and keeping the junk out. I can now actually work/write/research/read all day without losing focus, and I used to be really unproductive in the afternoons and claim I felt "brain dead." Who knew Whole30 was nature's version of Adderall?! I now have energy and brain power to last all day, and I don't want that to change just because Whole30 ends. I will definitely continue eating this way as much as is possible and only treat myself to sweets when the negative side effects are absolutely worth it.<br />
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We tried a couple new recipes the last couple of days, and I continue to be impressed with the dishes paleo food bloggers come up with. Whether you are doing Whole30 or just want to start eating a little healthier, click on the links in any of my Whole30 blog posts and you'll be amazed at the variety of interesting recipes out there. No matter what kind of food is your favorite, I'm sure there is a paleo equivalent.<br />
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Here's how we've been dining:<br />
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<u>Monday, Day 22</u><br />
<i>Breakfast: </i>leftover Coconut Milk and Curry Frittata, baby carrots<br />
<i>Lunch:</i> leftover Smoky Pot Roast, carrots and onions, and roasted brussel sprouts (see previous post for pictures and links to this day's recipes)<br />
<i>Dinner:</i> <a href="http://realfoodfreaks.com/2012/06/14/mo-rockin-or-moroccan-beef-skillet/">Moroccan Beef Skillet</a> and a bowl of fresh pineapple for dessert<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Moroccan Beef was delicious but had a lot of spices, so if you aren't such a fan of heavily spiced dishes, you might want to cut the spice amount in half. Also, regardless of whether you like raisins or not, add them, and lots of them! I don't really like raisins, but I put two boxes of the golden ones in, and I wished I'd put double that! The sweet makes such a lovely contrast to the spice, and you won't notice the texture.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After nearly a month without sugar, my palate has really changed, and this fresh pineapple seemed like the sweetest, most delicious thing I'd ever tasted. I'm absolutely in love and will be adding this to our fruit rotation, although next time maybe we will split a bowl instead of each eating a whole one. (This was just a bit too much, and I felt overfull for the first time since we began Whole30.)</td></tr>
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<u>Tuesday, Day 23</u><br />
<i>Breakfast: </i>Banana and Cream "Oatmeal" (recipe and pic in last post--this is quickly becoming a breakfast favorite), scrambled eggs<br />
<i>Lunch: </i>leftover Moroccan Beef<br />
<i>Dinner: </i>strawberry spinach salad (spinach, grape tomatoes, slivered almonds, walnuts, chopped carrots, chopped cucumber, red onion, fresh strawberries, dried cranberries, grilled chicken, and homemade <a href="http://paleodietlifestyle.com/strawberry-balsamic-vinaigrette/">Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette</a>)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmdPZpTQdRYiPAW4AMuEJO2HdIwp9gk0G6AhHT4tHv4U3AE2u_X2mUNMjdUhEw8pgG_T_tDzHzF2OOOfXoqIZBaTDOjKiOq7kfuuSPFNrb_AQLKnqv8jIxaXwItBrBLwDbPqzgpGERk4/s1600/Whole30+strawberry+salad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmdPZpTQdRYiPAW4AMuEJO2HdIwp9gk0G6AhHT4tHv4U3AE2u_X2mUNMjdUhEw8pgG_T_tDzHzF2OOOfXoqIZBaTDOjKiOq7kfuuSPFNrb_AQLKnqv8jIxaXwItBrBLwDbPqzgpGERk4/s400/Whole30+strawberry+salad.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All of our salads this past month were a bit boring as we weren't fans of the homemade ranch and opted to use just oil and balsamic vinegar. I don't think I could have convinced T.J. to eat another salad if I hadn't made this strawberry vinaigrette to go with it. It was downright delightful, the perfect combination of sweet and tangy, and not hard to make. I'm glad we can finally eat salads again and not feel that we are sacrificing anything.</td></tr>
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<u>Wednesday, Day 24</u><br />
<i>Breakfast: </i>sweet potato hash and an organic honeycrisp apple (one of my favorite things on this earth)<br />
<i>Lunch: </i>leftover strawberry spinach salad<br />
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And tonight...grilled sirloin marinated in Dallas and Melissa's Mocha Steak Rub (so amazing--trust), baked sweet potato w/ ghee and cinnamon (why did I ever think I had to have brown sugar?), and roasted broccoli. A quick and easy dinner. We are getting better at this!Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-26258140287206865262013-04-29T13:16:00.001-05:002013-04-29T16:00:53.347-05:00Whole30: Three Weeks Down, One to GoIt's Day 22 of Whole30, which means we have finished three full weeks of clean eating! We are both feeling great and have vowed to continue this lifestyle as much as possible after the month is over, although we are going to switch to a less strict paleo diet. (Meaning we can have honey, pure maple syrup, and bacon, even though it's cured in sugar. And we can SWYPO all we want. Can't wait to start paleo baking!)<br />
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We're still varying our menu as much as possible, trying new dishes, and cooking with foods we never would have purchased in the past. I love that, with the exception of a few cans of coconut milk and tomato sauce/paste, we purchase all of our food from the outer edges of the grocery stores and never really venture into those inner aisles. Our refrigerator almost always looks like this:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDuUnUjN1VsDhWuodc95fAYM0GL30qCQz2TuTm5L0sAhQhnQQ10HnQ7VVuhUHaudw6WnEKMeQh8N7iFYNkjYch-_Q_Fq_QLB-QfZrgHQPmi6L_zlAwJN4b0DVQGTSQm3EQSb8sCZOGYYw/s1600/Whole30+fridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDuUnUjN1VsDhWuodc95fAYM0GL30qCQz2TuTm5L0sAhQhnQQ10HnQ7VVuhUHaudw6WnEKMeQh8N7iFYNkjYch-_Q_Fq_QLB-QfZrgHQPmi6L_zlAwJN4b0DVQGTSQm3EQSb8sCZOGYYw/s400/Whole30+fridge.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So much green! I'm just glad we have such a big fridge to hold it all. We go through almost everything you see in a single week. (With the exception of mayo on back shelf, which hasn't been touched since Whole30 began, and the Naked green machine juice, which was also purchased prior to Whole30.)</td></tr>
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Our freezer only contains meat (and a bag of frozen pineapple):<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ5m0IQVzn6ZulZVw7K8X5xV4t9xRbT5h4rSQ7nDfC4bnTWAtZI_37YCCFVqKRxQ0VGjORYJN6B0oYaiFLzWlt8ODDXZbG3HhEIaU6jQJJOWSfAH4n33pfMKeehH1nk09DDjwIxBsoN0c/s1600/Whole30+freezer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ5m0IQVzn6ZulZVw7K8X5xV4t9xRbT5h4rSQ7nDfC4bnTWAtZI_37YCCFVqKRxQ0VGjORYJN6B0oYaiFLzWlt8ODDXZbG3HhEIaU6jQJJOWSfAH4n33pfMKeehH1nk09DDjwIxBsoN0c/s400/Whole30+freezer.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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And, for whatever reason, grocery shopping is more of a pleasure than a chore. I used to hate and dread grocery shopping, and even though I still find it takes way more time than I'd like (especially now that shopping for the week involves going to at least three and sometimes five different places), I actually enjoy walking through the produce, getting my meat straight from the butcher's counter, and browsing in the health food stores, learning about all these natural products that I never knew existed but am now excited to try. I'm actually excited about food, which to be honest, had only ever happened in high-end restaurants or mom-and-pop places I discovered when traveling. I'm happy that now I can be excited about what I'm making in my own kitchen.<br />
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In the past few days, we've been trying out more paleo versions of favorite dishes, with mostly fantastic results.<br />
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<u><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday, Day 17</span></i></u><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breakfast: <a href="http://www.agirlworthsaving.net/2012/07/bananas-and-cream-paleo-oatmeal.html">Banana and Cream "Oatmeal"</a>, apple chicken sausage</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lunch: leftover steak, sweet potato, and broccoli</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dinner: "taco salad"</span></i><br />
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Wednesday was a day of definite highs and lows, food-wise. We tried <a href="http://www.agirlworthsaving.net/2012/07/bananas-and-cream-paleo-oatmeal.html">this banana and cream "oatmeal,"</a> which didn't taste much like oatmeal to me, but was really tasty and quick and easy to make. Plus it gave me a way to use the coconut butter that I picked up the week before. We will definitely keep this breakfast dish in the rotation even after Whole30 is over.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsybWqA6hTjPxduKLXcGrCoLbT8ZoQ1Eek4pVWas_0BTUv2PNMgUL319T5gkY03BZeZKep1ABc8VQnlo50UF6FNp3RvUA26PbA03TiXKBonBPhvpPAk7sHuxjDgc9NAwZ4kin5OYNwTG4/s1600/Whole30+b&c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsybWqA6hTjPxduKLXcGrCoLbT8ZoQ1Eek4pVWas_0BTUv2PNMgUL319T5gkY03BZeZKep1ABc8VQnlo50UF6FNp3RvUA26PbA03TiXKBonBPhvpPAk7sHuxjDgc9NAwZ4kin5OYNwTG4/s400/Whole30+b&c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The leftover steak was just as delicious for lunch as it was for dinner the night before, but by dinner Wednesday I was feeling burned out on cooking again and wanted something simple. We decided to make a version of taco salad since that is our go-to quick and easy meal. Before Whole30, we probably had our taco salad once a week or at least every other week. It consists of <a href="http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tostitos-Artisan-Recipes-Fire-Roasted-Chipotle-Tortilla-Chips-9.75-oz/17177067">Tostitos Fire-Roasted Chipotle</a> tortilla chips, ground beef w/ taco seasoning, corn, black beans, prepackaged cheese-Mexican blend, sour cream, and <a href="http://www.newmansown.com/products/newmans-own-pineapple-salsa/">Newman's Own Pineapple Salsa</a>. <i>It is delicious</i>. It takes fifteen minutes to make. But it is also completely contraband now. We figured we could make a paleo-friendly version of taco salad just as easily, but although it didn't take long to make, it wasn't nearly as edible.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDXzAY_cqmjEQKS47NCmRIbFJFviW8E6WzHFWjG2KGXyDq8A_YmDAxqCkCJ9xX_3KqOe6RqJEMtCAJrJjepft1vuY2Kh4wT-ARTQfJWWQl9bN9beNpHU3SvI0X8ZfIRdunoNNdcV0XE0/s1600/Whole30+taco+salad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDXzAY_cqmjEQKS47NCmRIbFJFviW8E6WzHFWjG2KGXyDq8A_YmDAxqCkCJ9xX_3KqOe6RqJEMtCAJrJjepft1vuY2Kh4wT-ARTQfJWWQl9bN9beNpHU3SvI0X8ZfIRdunoNNdcV0XE0/s400/Whole30+taco+salad.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It doesn't look bad in this picture, but I would consider this dish to be the only true fail of our Whole30 thus far. We made our own taco seasoning for the beef (the prepackaged stuff was off limits because food companies think there should be sugar and corn in everything), and we added in a can of fire-roasted tomatoes and some sauteed onions. Then we put our mixture on a bed of organic lettuce and topped it with store-bought salsa and guacamole (both all-natural, organic, and Whole30 compliant).<br />
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It was...boring. And the texture of the lettuce just did not work well with the beef mixture. We both ended up picking the lettuce out and we didn't use it with our leftovers the next day.<br />
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<u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Thursday, Day 18</i></span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Breakfast: Banana and Cream "Oatmeal", scrambled eggs</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Lunch: leftover "taco salad"</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Dinner: barbecue pork, Indian-spiced sweet potatoes, French-style green beans w/ roasted pecans, paleo coleslaw</i></span><br />
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Thursday was much better food-wise, but I spent most of the day in the kitchen and sliced my finger pretty deep when the knife slipped when I was cutting sweet potatoes. It still hurts and I have to keep it wrapped so I don't bump it into anything.<br />
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I suppose the meal that night was worth almost losing my fingertip, though. We had T.J.'s parents over for dinner, so it was our first time <strike>forcing our diet on others</strike> entertaining on Whole30. I figured we couldn't go wrong with barbecue pork, and that morning I prepared<a href="http://everydaypaleo.com/beyond-easy-pulled-pork/#more-3644"> Everyday Paleo's "Beyond Easy Pulled Pork</a>" in the crock pot. My first Whole30 crock pot meal! The pork was fantastic. It's so good it can be eaten with or without sauce, and it fed us for days. Also, we used the Kitchenaid mixer to shred the pork for the first time, and it was so simple I wondered why we hadn't been doing that every time we make barbecue!<br />
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I also made homemade barbecue sauce from the recipe in <i>It Starts with Food</i> (<i>really</i> good); coleslaw, which involved making homemade mayo again; the <a href="http://www.janssushibar.com/indian-spiced-sweet-potatoes/">Indian-spiced sweet potatoes</a> from a couple of weeks ago (which continue to be one of my favorite recipes ever); and T.J. made green beans with roasted pecans after he got home from work.<br />
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Basically, I spent the entire day in the kitchen.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG2FyP3ohyfxv7H10sJ_iyfte-MaiObHhyphenhyphennEXxAbZnybZ8Dg8QCSbLtibpZc1h5NurpUkWbGAJd8efoJM37ZM5-WZGld8C3IkkRIYDF7Mp1xlrXQzglE_Z8vvGlSUu0QrNkJG3wI5lWcQ/s1600/Whole30+BBQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG2FyP3ohyfxv7H10sJ_iyfte-MaiObHhyphenhyphennEXxAbZnybZ8Dg8QCSbLtibpZc1h5NurpUkWbGAJd8efoJM37ZM5-WZGld8C3IkkRIYDF7Mp1xlrXQzglE_Z8vvGlSUu0QrNkJG3wI5lWcQ/s400/Whole30+BBQ.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My pictures keep flipping, and I do not know why!!! This is a pic of the leftovers I had for lunch the next day because I forgot to take a picture the night before when the in-laws were over. I wish I were eating this right now!</td></tr>
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<u><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday, Day 19</span></i></u><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breakfast: scrambled eggs, carrots, fruit</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lunch: leftover barbecue pork, Indian-spiced sweet potatoes, green beans</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dinner: baba ganoush w/ cucumber slices, baby carrots, and black olives, raw almonds, leftover barbecue pork</span></i><br />
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Friday we decided to make breakfast simple and just scramble some eggs and eat whatever fresh fruit we had in the fridge (blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries, I think), lunch was delicious leftovers, and for dinner we had our first "to-go" dinner.<br />
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We finally found a dining room set on Craigslist after two months of searching, but we had to drive to Nashville to get it--a two-hour drive. We went after T.J. got off from work, and knowing we wouldn't get back until late and wouldn't be able to pick up dinner anywhere on the way, I made a "to-go" meal of <a href="http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2009/07/17/eat-your-vegetables-eggplant/">baba ganoush</a> and various dippers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD9zHo7B70N85BpUTPanf7UNqW6NXuGdxuc2waeIgeABS6BPiTWNH__x95iFb6ollZOrhnN2ihzSBvJctyuErrw1xTwzaDwYEr20yjF0uRVYtgG2KRjUfg4lFBNhBtNTsWzKJPwAYFx4Q/s1600/Whole30+baba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD9zHo7B70N85BpUTPanf7UNqW6NXuGdxuc2waeIgeABS6BPiTWNH__x95iFb6ollZOrhnN2ihzSBvJctyuErrw1xTwzaDwYEr20yjF0uRVYtgG2KRjUfg4lFBNhBtNTsWzKJPwAYFx4Q/s400/Whole30+baba.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The perfect road trip food.</td></tr>
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I've been craving hummus for a while now (I love how my cravings are so much healthier than they used to be), but since we can't have chickpeas on Whole30, baba ganoush was the perfect answer and definitely satisfied my craving. However, this was basically a veggie meal, so when we got home we had some leftover pulled pork too. Had to get that protein in!<br />
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<u><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday, Day 20</span></i></u><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breakfast: <a href="http://everydaypaleo.com/coconut-milk-and-curry-frittata/">Coconut Milk and Curry Frittata</a></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lunch: leftover barbecue pork, sweet potato fries</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dinner: hamburger pattie w/ sauteed onions, sweet potato chips, tomato slices with fresh garlic and olive oil, cucumber spears, pecan pie Larabar</span></i><br />
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Saturday started with a frittata that never got quite dry enough, even after doubling the time under the broiler. The flavor was good, but no matter how long it cooked, (or how much the top burned), the bottom stayed soupy.<br />
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For lunch we had leftover barbecue again and made some sweet potato fries to go with it.<br />
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It was T.J.'s three-year-old nephew's birthday, so we had dinner at the in-laws, and T.J.'s mom was so sweet to accommodate us. (And it was such a relief not to have to cook for the first time in THREE. WEEKS.) They were having hamburgers, so she made us plain hamburger patties and even got us organic beef! She made homemade chips and made us sweet potato ones, and she had fresh veggies on the side with only olive oil and garlic, which she knew we could eat. Of course, we couldn't eat any of the delicious-looking Mickey cake T.J.'s sister made (I kept staring at his chocolate ears), so in preparation we picked up a couple of Larabars to have for dessert while everyone else had cake. It actually wasn't too torturous.<br />
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I did make two mistakes at dinner, though! When we picked up the Larabars, we also bought a bag of pre-made Kale chips in case there weren't enough sides for us to eat at the house. (There were.) I thought I'd checked the ingredients list carefully, but after we'd each eaten a couple, I discovered that one of the ingredients was "organic chickpea miso"! We can't have chickpeas on Whole30, so we stopped eating them right away. Then at dinner, I was snacking from the chip bowl and didn't realize that the bowl of plain chips (made from white potatoes) was the one in front of me until after I'd already eaten three chips! So two small, accidental cheats marring my basically perfect record. I'm not going to beat myself up about it too much, though.<br />
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<u><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday, Day 21</span></i></u><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breakfast: leftover frittata, raw baby carrots</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lunch: leftover barbecue pork, sweet potato fries</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dinner: Smoky Pot Roast, crock pot carrots and onions, roasted brussel sprouts</span></i><br />
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Oh, my gosh, this blog is never-ending! Kudos if you're still reading. We've reached the final day, though, I promise. Breakfast leftovers, lunch leftovers, and then for our grand finale, a delicious pot roast!<br />
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Sunday morning I prepared the roast using Everyday Paleo's "<a href="http://everydaypaleo.com/smokey-roast/#more-2357">Smoky Pot Roast</a>" recipe, only I added carrots to the bottom of the crock pot. I just can't fathom roast without carrots! The roast cooked all day while we picked out paint colors, ran errands, and grocery shopped, and when we got home we made some <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-brussels-sprouts-recipe2/index.html">roasted brussel sprouts</a> to go with it.<br />
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Confession: Brussel sprouts are one of the two veggies I hate the most. (The other is cauliflower.) I have always found them repugnant. But these sprouts were delicious! I though they tasted a lot like broccoli. So now, thanks to Whole30, I enjoy the two veggies I used to loathe!<br />
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Speaking of which, it's lunch time, so I'm going to go heat up my leftover roast and sprouts.<br />
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Tonight: Moroccan beef! Stay tuned!Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-88004987891463677232013-04-23T21:02:00.001-05:002013-04-23T21:02:29.044-05:00Whole30 Day 16: Back on BoardLast night the nausea was gone and I was able to enjoy (and help make) some delicious lettuce wraps. Originally, we had intended to make chicken fajitas without the tortillas...which basically just leaves chicken, onions and bell peppers, and guacamole. Then T.J. said, "Why don't we wrap them in lettuce?" and I immediately started fantasizing about the lettuce wrap appetizer from Cheesecake Factory. So, after finding <a href="http://chefpablos.com/restaurant-recipes/the-cheesecake-factory-lettuce-wraps-recipe/">this list of recipes</a> and picking up some missing ingredients, we quickly shifted from making chicken fajitas to Cheesecake Factory-style lettuce wraps.<br />
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If you're unfamiliar with the Cheesecake Factory lettuce wraps, here's a picture of them I found online. I'll give you a moment just to take in all the yummy goodness.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMh9-D9NapqdbizZneBKGWG0puCkjp70EMyOYPT1lKU3ny-S5cgDkJpJyOFp9HMUeLI7I5ivfKRnnEV7UcObT354qYRZ1WGmqwU3Yz3NH4eCCWi4NcT2dOPYBmEg4VzlTtfICrdMNc2BY/s1600/Cheesecake+Factory+lettuce+wraps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMh9-D9NapqdbizZneBKGWG0puCkjp70EMyOYPT1lKU3ny-S5cgDkJpJyOFp9HMUeLI7I5ivfKRnnEV7UcObT354qYRZ1WGmqwU3Yz3NH4eCCWi4NcT2dOPYBmEg4VzlTtfICrdMNc2BY/s400/Cheesecake+Factory+lettuce+wraps.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture from biggestmenu.com.</td></tr>
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This lettuce platter includes Thai chicken satays, Thai bean sprouts, Thai coconut noodles, Thai marinated cucumbers, julienne carrots, lettuce (obviously), and three dipping sauces: tamarind cashew, peanut sauce, and sweet chili sauce. Obviously, we couldn't make the noodles, and there were so many contraband ingredients that we couldn't make all the dips, BUT we did make ONE dip, and we made everything else.<div>
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This meal was So. Good.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRigxzzmyghuOBtpFyhch839VVPF5oQS4QSpthAIr4dkMZEmdlyr90jVTdL2fVZ4PmpctUakPUH3mPPAwJo5RdtyOaR9qDqTGKtAlF4h4jVT7kFmQneIYnYsJ9A2emULtf5xwZC7Xc_g0/s1600/Whole30+wraps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRigxzzmyghuOBtpFyhch839VVPF5oQS4QSpthAIr4dkMZEmdlyr90jVTdL2fVZ4PmpctUakPUH3mPPAwJo5RdtyOaR9qDqTGKtAlF4h4jVT7kFmQneIYnYsJ9A2emULtf5xwZC7Xc_g0/s400/Whole30+wraps.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our delicious wrap ingredients. Not arranged as prettily as at Cheesecake Factory, but perhaps more practically.</td></tr>
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We broke out the mandolin slicer and grated some julienne carrots and washed some big, leafy organic lettuce for the wrap base. </div>
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For the chicken, we followed the recipe in the above link pretty faithfully, although we just grilled the chicken on the stove instead of on skewers, and we substituted coconut aminos for the soy sauce. </div>
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For the bean sprouts (which ARE allowed on Whole30; we checked), we followed the recipe but again traded the soy sauce for coconut aminos, and we didn't have sesame seeds, so we left those off. They were just as delicious without them. </div>
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For the Thai marinated cucumbers, I had to get a little more creative since the recipe calls for rice vinegar (not allowed) and sugar (<i>definitely</i> not allowed). I used white vinegar instead and a tiny bit of apple cider vinegar and sesame oil. I also added a dash of red pepper flakes. </div>
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Then the tough part came. What sauce to make? At first I was going to try to adapt the tamarind cashew sauce, but almost every ingredient had to be substituted. Instead, I decided to make the peanut sauce and substitute almond butter for peanut butter. I also substituted coconut aminos for soy sauce and sesame oil for chili oil. The sauce turned out a little more solid than saucy, but it was <i>so good </i>and and really complemented the rest of the ingredients. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXduMZvZJigEM1dILryTV2WsCv3lHyqu8Ra-VIP5aQeGYol5qs763Ks3X-Fh1PhQ5tVK2t4oOIBDo4bCoOWvBY5ZXvFKwPIZ2sR9cTmKOdNtLPJ8VDcgfHyAy3rhw925l-dorygPqKFQ/s1600/Whole30+wraps+close.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXduMZvZJigEM1dILryTV2WsCv3lHyqu8Ra-VIP5aQeGYol5qs763Ks3X-Fh1PhQ5tVK2t4oOIBDo4bCoOWvBY5ZXvFKwPIZ2sR9cTmKOdNtLPJ8VDcgfHyAy3rhw925l-dorygPqKFQ/s400/Whole30+wraps+close.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tada! Delicious final product.</td></tr>
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We also had some fresh mango for dessert.<div>
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Dinner was delicious, but after eating it last night and again for lunch today, I was starting to feel like I was subsisting on rabbit food. Probably because I didn't have much to eat yesterday, I've spent a lot of today hungry. Eventually I caved and ate half a lemon Larabar for a late afternoon snack. (T.J. ate the other half because he too was starving.) I also decided dinner needed to be a bit more substantial, so I went out and bought steaks!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn67SgHYjiXyRw5CQEhPaiIlui2hwUI2_q6TVF_KrHKCtPhY5kMfWcEalhS4qVP58USACMhcZdnfyWUEtzLaxufhD-kr62jA68q1JDKW6IPvx_ejXt0LmsAKllgwOqCl8llMlgWWYrPUI/s1600/Whole30+steak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn67SgHYjiXyRw5CQEhPaiIlui2hwUI2_q6TVF_KrHKCtPhY5kMfWcEalhS4qVP58USACMhcZdnfyWUEtzLaxufhD-kr62jA68q1JDKW6IPvx_ejXt0LmsAKllgwOqCl8llMlgWWYrPUI/s400/Whole30+steak.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Amazingly, it took until day 16 for us to make steaks. We <i>love </i>steaks, but we got rid of our grill when we moved south, and we've kind of been waiting until we got a new one before we made steaks, I think. We needed "real" food tonight, though, so decided to give stove-top grilling a shot. So glad we did! This was one of the quickest and easiest dinners we've made. We used the mocha steak rub recipe from <i>It Starts with Food</i>, and it was really amazing. Much better than we imagined. We were also amazed at how different these basic organic sirloins tasted from the regular ones we used to buy. Although we've been impressed by the quality of the organic, grass-fed meats we've been trying on Whole30, this was the first time we could taste a profound difference between the quality of organic meat and the regular supermarket variety we used to buy. </div>
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The steaks were big enough that we cut them in two so we will have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. We paired the steak with baked sweet potatoes and roasted broccoli, both easy fixes. So for once dinner was done a little after seven, the kitchen was clean almost immediately, and we can spend the night relaxing and watching TV! </div>
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Oh, wait. I can do that. T.J. had to go into work to help with the "Midnight Breakfast" they are hosting for students. (It's finals week.) Guess it's time for me to catch up on <i>Bates Motel</i>, then!</div>
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Until tomorrow...</div>
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Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-5909824234753222432013-04-22T16:55:00.004-05:002013-04-22T16:55:46.620-05:00The Last Few DaysIt's Day 15 of Whole30, which means I've made it to the half-way point, and also means that I haven't blogged in five days. Yikes! The last few days have been some of our hardest, which is probably why I haven't been running to share our experience with the outside world. The main issue, I think, is that I'm getting a little burned out on cooking (and cleaning) all the time. Sometimes you just want something quick, simple, and convenient, you know? And generally I spend between one and two <i>hours</i> on every Whole30 dinner I make. (Usually closer to two. Plus cleanup.) Breakfast usually takes another 15 minutes to an hour, depending on what we have, and thankfully lunch is just leftovers, so those just have to be rewarmed. But when you consider that prior to Whole30 I'd never cooked more than two or three times<i> in a week</i>, and that most of those meals required thirty minutes or less of prep time, you can see where preparing meals everyday for two weeks straight might get old after awhile. Especially when the first week I had T.J. there to cook with me, which made it a lot more fun, and last week he had four different night events at the university, so I ended up cooking and eating alone most of the week.<br />
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Then this weekend, we just had so many projects going on around the house, and once again we found ourselves not starting dinner (Sunday night) until nearly 8 p.m. It would have been a great night to grab a some take-out, but instead we had to start preparing a meal from scratch. We actually ended up having breakfast for dinner (scrambled eggs, turkey kielbasa w/ sauteed onions, banana "pancakes") just because it was the fastest thing we could whip up and we were starving and tired. Nothing we ate was made of non-compliant ingredients, but I know the Whole30 community takes strong issue with creating things like "pancakes," even if they aren't made from wheat flour. I understand the reasons for avoiding pancakes, even of the fake variety, but in this case I also didn't care because it meant one less meal I had to spend two hours making. And that I could then sit down and watch <i>Game of Thrones</i> at 8:45 instead of 10:00.<br />
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Today I woke up feeling ill, too, so I've actually not followed Whole30 at all today. I haven't eaten anything contraband, but I haven't been eating what I need to either. For breakfast I had a handful of carrots, and for lunch I had a pina colada smoothie (just frozen pineapple and unsweetened coconut milk). T.J. kept offering to make me something else or run out and get me something, but nothing he mentioned even sounded remotely appealing. As generally happens when I'm feeling nauseated, the only things I could even think of eating were raw, cold fruits and veggies, and unfortunately most of them don't even seem appealing today. T.J. is going to make lettuce wraps tonight, so I'm hoping I can eat those. I started two new medications yesterday, which I think is why I'm feeling poorly, so I just have to hope my body adjusts to them.<br />
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Despite our struggles the last couple of days, we definitely are going to see Whole30 through, and we are even going to try to eat this way during the week after our month is over. On the weekends, though, we are going to enjoy ourselves--in moderation. We love to eat out, to try different restaurants and kinds of foods, so I think that's part of what's taking it's toll on us. (Or at least on me.) After Whole30, we will be able to eat out on weekends, but we will make better choices and be more conscious of what we're putting in our bodies. But we'll also be able to enjoy having someone else do the cooking and cleaning AND we won't have to eat dinner after eight p.m. ever again! (Unless we're in Spain. Then maybe.)<br />
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So here's how we've been eating the last few days:<br />
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<u>Day 11, Thursday, 4/18</u><br />
Breakfast: leftover banana nut porridge, scrambled eggs, raw baby carrots<br />
Lunch: leftover shepherd's pie<br />
Dinner: apple mustard pork chops, roasted asparagus, half a baked sweet potato, and fruit (strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLZnJSxoXiWS3M5RbUJFG7HigB5JKj_3IV_1UgHVIRRTw-D6FPnWrY0Tpk0oEf_wAvSQrHEZ5680tIA88nw3knG_bsBa3ztGCcZ7OsTFGyQ3LsF-HxzY27BBdMWSGIqi_bw-VbW7nILFY/s1600/Whole30+pork+chop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLZnJSxoXiWS3M5RbUJFG7HigB5JKj_3IV_1UgHVIRRTw-D6FPnWrY0Tpk0oEf_wAvSQrHEZ5680tIA88nw3knG_bsBa3ztGCcZ7OsTFGyQ3LsF-HxzY27BBdMWSGIqi_bw-VbW7nILFY/s400/Whole30+pork+chop.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not posting a recipe for this one because it was my least favorite thing I've made these whole two weeks. I had to substitute several of the ingredients that were non-Whole30, which was probably part of the problem. Mostly I just found it to be a little bland and boring.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMnr_cLsbaetypVYIn5L3ndMx7_mXvotWLwR317zvJnRGUjLL6do4tUJocxeeE_SHgGEqlhVcSHw3lICC97qDZI6ZBK4nunccn60t-bQ0T4Yn3TvqcIEQzWcyQbynTCHKHWyIBfs3q-s0/s1600/Whole30+fruit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMnr_cLsbaetypVYIn5L3ndMx7_mXvotWLwR317zvJnRGUjLL6do4tUJocxeeE_SHgGEqlhVcSHw3lICC97qDZI6ZBK4nunccn60t-bQ0T4Yn3TvqcIEQzWcyQbynTCHKHWyIBfs3q-s0/s400/Whole30+fruit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<u>Day 12, Friday, 4/19</u><br />
Breakfast: pumpkin pudding, chicken sausage, carrots<br />
Lunch: leftovers from dinner night before<br />
Dinner: deconstructed burger w/ sauteed onions and mushrooms, sweet potato fries, kale chips<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdNXHNNiRcTgbgrC-wHQ0pPU8ykasTungXDPUz5fg-A1-bW9M3LRLv4tGGQDH9-BvayFtLKidfA2zSTgrVhyphenhyphennNemfRjHPLoUFEx26ugq3pi_bDWr24dzArKN8PG4iHbAESJeLlRG88KM/s1600/Whole30+pumpkin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdNXHNNiRcTgbgrC-wHQ0pPU8ykasTungXDPUz5fg-A1-bW9M3LRLv4tGGQDH9-BvayFtLKidfA2zSTgrVhyphenhyphennNemfRjHPLoUFEx26ugq3pi_bDWr24dzArKN8PG4iHbAESJeLlRG88KM/s400/Whole30+pumpkin.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is our version of a <a href="http://preppypaleo.blogspot.nl/2012/05/whole30-breakfast-recipes.html?m=1">pumpkin pudding recipe</a> T.J. found. We ended up adding a whole lot more cinnamon and nutmeg than called for because we didn't have any pumpkin pie spice. It was quite good, but I can't speak for how it's supposed to turn out, because the recipe said to wait until the top browned, and ours never did. </td></tr>
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<u>Day 13, Saturday, 4/20</u><br />
Breakfast: sweet potato egg cups<br />
Lunch: spinach salad w/ grilled chicken, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, red onion<br />
Dinner: mahi-mahi w/ gingered carrots, roasted broccoli<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbrXt1R2gDYN_dASJscNZG5-S62cFshIa8p0WaB1t562TcRqgzcU2F-fF8kXvGMgT4055Vl58SCGgyhcLq4OclJRx7I-zgcN1uySj8aJKGfL_iQS5Tqy62cgq9_C_MbC95HhD3R7AI8io/s1600/Whole30+egg+cups.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbrXt1R2gDYN_dASJscNZG5-S62cFshIa8p0WaB1t562TcRqgzcU2F-fF8kXvGMgT4055Vl58SCGgyhcLq4OclJRx7I-zgcN1uySj8aJKGfL_iQS5Tqy62cgq9_C_MbC95HhD3R7AI8io/s400/Whole30+egg+cups.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">T.J. adapted <a href="http://www.thefoodieandthefamily.com/2012/04/21/sweet-potato-egg-cups/">this recipe</a> to make these sweet potato egg cups. They were very yummy, especially the second day. If you look at the recipe, though, you'll see he made them quite differently, mainly because I only like scrambled eggs.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsZbFk8wy58mXTFpREgtsEbJ5InhloWt8O8eBlvAb6IzXzl1FB51rMA57z_IsR-xNQLMcy1BSHUUBArn6dBGVKopaMUXXdX8fBmZhqlE1kqIlNGTFxpyvPA4642agBzY9eK-DaLXrFP4/s1600/Whole30+mahi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsZbFk8wy58mXTFpREgtsEbJ5InhloWt8O8eBlvAb6IzXzl1FB51rMA57z_IsR-xNQLMcy1BSHUUBArn6dBGVKopaMUXXdX8fBmZhqlE1kqIlNGTFxpyvPA4642agBzY9eK-DaLXrFP4/s400/Whole30+mahi.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I've never been a fan of fish, but I figured we should at least make the attempt since we have to eat so much protein and it isn't healthy to eat red meat every meal. We found <a href="http://everydaypaleo.com/gingered-carrots-with-mahi-mahi/">this recipe</a> for the mahi-mahi and gingered carrots, and the carrots were delicious. The mahi-mahi was a little more flavorless, but that could be because a) we aren't fish fans, and b) we didn't have coconut aminos at the time so had to leave that out of our recipe (and substitute in a little balsamic vinegar). We finally found it yesterday at the Vitamin Shoppe, of all places.</td></tr>
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<u>Day 14, Sunday, 4/21</u><br />
Breakfast: leftover egg cupcakes and pumpkin soup<br />
Lunch: spinach salad w/ grilled chicken, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, red onion<br />
Dinner: scrambled eggs, turkey kielbasa w/ sauteed onions, banana "pancakes"<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhki2EClrjoUO1jwTDd6V1pPdXJn_W_FzrRtFzVNRAKC68D-HolbVB8lnacDCnnx1csAGvoavbRwg_6K9NufeILbsFsfNm__xrfhtPV2LplKBGPaaou7KrL6sOo_-eIO2hMIM-B5XIWQo/s1600/Whole30+breakfast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhki2EClrjoUO1jwTDd6V1pPdXJn_W_FzrRtFzVNRAKC68D-HolbVB8lnacDCnnx1csAGvoavbRwg_6K9NufeILbsFsfNm__xrfhtPV2LplKBGPaaou7KrL6sOo_-eIO2hMIM-B5XIWQo/s400/Whole30+breakfast.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids, unless you want to be ostrasized by the entire Whole30 community, don't try this at home! (Not during Whole30 at least.) Wish we had the time to prepare something else, but sometimes life gets in the way. </td></tr>
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<u>Day 15, Monday, 4/22</u><br />
Breakfast: sweet potato hash w/ ground turkey (T.J.), carrots (Lacy)<br />
Lunch: leftovers (T.J.), pina colada smoothie (Lacy)<br />
Dinner: lettuce wraps TBD<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDlPafh6ovLx-UgGRUTWdnSj474RmaEmrSIpKW2N2lhUwatGI7hQr8bWNXHPJYvVGmPnFlAObPovYs4n6awsnw0Jsg5JW7c34mXpL3rzigaiuPNNAp-Ke64Yw3v9xYQWV-tvyTFlbb7Rc/s1600/Whole30+smoothie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDlPafh6ovLx-UgGRUTWdnSj474RmaEmrSIpKW2N2lhUwatGI7hQr8bWNXHPJYvVGmPnFlAObPovYs4n6awsnw0Jsg5JW7c34mXpL3rzigaiuPNNAp-Ke64Yw3v9xYQWV-tvyTFlbb7Rc/s400/Whole30+smoothie.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delicious pineapple and coconut milk smoothie. About the only thing I could stomach earlier today.</td></tr>
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I'm feeling somewhat better now, so I'm looking forward to eating "real food" tonight. In the next blog, I'll let you all know how the lettuce wraps turn out. Until then, happy eating!Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-74042922505598354652013-04-17T21:25:00.003-05:002013-04-17T21:25:54.559-05:00Whole30 Day 10=Comfort FoodToday's Whole30 menu was all about the comfort food. As I've mentioned (often) before, breakfast has been my biggest challenge on Whole30, and I've been missing sweet foods in particular--pastries, muffins, even oatmeal. I found <a href="http://www.againstallgrain.com/2013/01/04/banana-nut-porridge/">this recipe for banana nut porridge</a> last weekend and was just waiting for the right day to try it, and today was that day! It requires a little advance planning, as you have to soak the nuts the night before, but it's easy to whip together when you're running low on time. And it was<i> so </i>yummy. Definitely satisfied any potential cravings I might have for banana nut muffins, banana bread, oatmeal, etc.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJYgqzpiP7Ve1B3XcYM6RJAMNk_-f4d-JHyuaWpB3wQ-UPhsA-L9fFmUjV07Zd6SRvFCDP-qB7E2XfGJ4DXiQA-6youc5Dyv5jearpX7cgpnR2HCgzlY3_rSKplsCL7L6Ki1CFG50-lE/s1600/Whole30+porridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJYgqzpiP7Ve1B3XcYM6RJAMNk_-f4d-JHyuaWpB3wQ-UPhsA-L9fFmUjV07Zd6SRvFCDP-qB7E2XfGJ4DXiQA-6youc5Dyv5jearpX7cgpnR2HCgzlY3_rSKplsCL7L6Ki1CFG50-lE/s400/Whole30+porridge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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As seen here, I paired the porridge with a side of scrambled eggs, but even so it was still sort of a fringe Whole30 meal. Technically, this is a bit more nuts (healthy fats) than I should have with any single meal (although not too much more--it's a cup and a half split into four servings), and it just tastes too good (and mimics oatmeal too well) not to be <a href="http://whole9life.com/2011/10/sex-with-your-pants-on/">SWYPO</a>. But I've been SO good these past ten days, I figured it wouldn't hurt to make something similar to something I might eat when I'm not dieting, yet still follows the rules and is made of all natural, paleo friendly ingredients. This is a dish that I would eat anytime, regardless of Whole30, so I don't regret trying it, SWYPO or not.<br />
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For lunch I had leftover curry chicken and spiced sweet potatoes (which I could eat like candy), plus I ate a handful of raw carrots, which are my go to veggie plate filler.<br />
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Dinner was a new adventure in comfort-food cooking. One of my favorite comfort foods (and my favorite pub food) is shepherd's pie. I've actually never attempted to make it before (because the old me rarely attempted anything more complicated than spaghetti), but I can't go out and get it, and I found myself with a craving for it last week, so I decided to investigate Whole30-friendly shepherd's pie recipes. I found <a href="http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-shepherds-pie/">this one</a>, and with a few small modifications, our pies turned out beautifully:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jXzWBw81GvhFXcoV1s9vpUwfZUBXijyrrqw27NWGctDpZ2txR2phH3ZjbPxt0pCYiPSvriiFfqRtgHqM0EIv3EIFOtX_tXHGx5g_E46V28ormoezl1cElEgh_hAD3JdGC-LbR3P49FE/s1600/Whole30+shep+pie+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jXzWBw81GvhFXcoV1s9vpUwfZUBXijyrrqw27NWGctDpZ2txR2phH3ZjbPxt0pCYiPSvriiFfqRtgHqM0EIv3EIFOtX_tXHGx5g_E46V28ormoezl1cElEgh_hAD3JdGC-LbR3P49FE/s400/Whole30+shep+pie+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The foundation for our four individual shepherd's pies.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWkuja-01FIGcK1hO4KVa-qa-1TQnsCD-3U8s8XOUkZNiWGcv3ptI-bRQRr53mY1wRuF2MBweHu_bcWVVYNc3Zd8TpbMhdsVDYmND1tZbKI8dSqsD531B8xyI8Ln1b_8G430MgZKhQ6I/s1600/Whole30+shep+pie+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWkuja-01FIGcK1hO4KVa-qa-1TQnsCD-3U8s8XOUkZNiWGcv3ptI-bRQRr53mY1wRuF2MBweHu_bcWVVYNc3Zd8TpbMhdsVDYmND1tZbKI8dSqsD531B8xyI8Ln1b_8G430MgZKhQ6I/s400/Whole30+shep+pie+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All done! With the mashed cauliflower topping.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30bUynC9OpmORjuzPJcp-OcWT7Utpt5gsvjGTTA1Ox65DCZE5_MFBH7PaOyQ487cByCKpHjoy4qbzvRCAxO1m7-T40J7fDNDUgVpKU9pIubfrYWSJLhsYGH9KaCKvALAY3G7BL3YVZJM/s1600/Whole30+shep+pie+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30bUynC9OpmORjuzPJcp-OcWT7Utpt5gsvjGTTA1Ox65DCZE5_MFBH7PaOyQ487cByCKpHjoy4qbzvRCAxO1m7-T40J7fDNDUgVpKU9pIubfrYWSJLhsYGH9KaCKvALAY3G7BL3YVZJM/s400/Whole30+shep+pie+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sooo yummy.</td></tr>
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This was our second attempt at mashed cauliflower, and this time the mash was much tastier. We steamed the cauliflower instead of roasting it, which I was skeptical of (I rarely like steamed veggies and love them roasted). We also blended it in the Kitchenaid Mixer instead of the food chopper, and it had a much better, potato-like consistency. With a little salt and pepper, some olive oil, and a pinch of nutmeg, the mashed cauliflower was just right. We will definitely make it this way again in the future. We also decided to make four individual "pies," more like what you'd get at a pub, which makes leftovers even easier.<br />
<br />
As far as the beef mix goes, we had to make a couple of small changes and substitutions. We haven't been able to find any bacon that is Whole30 compliant (it is always processed in some type of sugar), so we had to substitute in some chicken sausage. Not nearly the same thing, but we figured it would give the meat a little more flavor. I also added in a couple tablespoons of minced garlic (because I put garlic in <i>everything</i>) and some thyme. I'm glad I did because I think the recipe might have been a little bland without it, especially without the bacon there to give it that flavor. With the garlic and thyme, though, the shepherd's pie was flavorful and satisfying.<br />
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Of course I missed having a pint of Strongbow alongside this shepherd's pie, and obviously it's more fun to have this dish in a pub with friends than at home on the couch, but I was really proud of how this turned out, and at least I now know that anytime I want I can enjoy one of my favorite comfort foods from the comfort of my own home.Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-40408750366071944452013-04-16T19:49:00.003-05:002013-04-18T09:14:33.239-05:00Happy News, and a Whole30 Chicken Curry RecipeYesterday I received some of the best news I've received in a while. For weeks (months?) now I've been applying for jobs, and other than an interview last week for an online teaching gig, I haven't heard anything. YESTERDAY, though, I found out I won a summer fellowship from my university so that I can work guilt-free on my dissertation all summer. Essentially, I'm being paid to make dissertation writing my full-time job this summer, which frees me from having to continue the disastrous job search right away. I couldn't be happier.<br />
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The annual English Department award ceremony is on Friday, and they will be announcing the winners of the fellowship then and presenting them with...something (a certificate, I assume). At first I thought about driving down for the ceremony and staying the night with my friend Jamie, but then I started trying to figure out how I could pull off two days away and stay true to my Whole30 diet and decided it wasn't worth the stress. That's the biggest problem with this diet: you can't really go out to eat. I'm sure if I lived in L.A. or New York I could find plenty of restaurants that cater to the paleo lifestyle. For that matter, if I were in New York or D.C., I could just eat at <a href="http://choptsalad.com/">Chop't</a> every meal and be perfectly happy. But here, not so much. Even if I were to order a grilled chicken salad, I'd have to worry that they cooked the chicken in vegetable/canola/peanut oil. There probably aren't too many (or any) restaurants cooking strictly in coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil.<br />
<br />
I just wonder how people on a strict paleo diet travel. Since travel is such an important part of my life, I can't imagine giving it up for any diet, no matter how healthful. I've decided that I'm going to try to keep eating a <a href="http://www.paleoplan.com/resources/paleo-plan-food-guide/">paleo diet</a> at home after Whole30 is over, but I'm not going to restrict myself when I want to go out or when I travel. I definitely think this a healthier way of living, and I've really enjoyed the foods I've made these past nine days, but I'm not going to give up all the foods I love forever. I'm just going to eat them with far more moderation than ever before, seeing it as a <i>treat</i> to eat cheesecake/coffee cake/strawberry shortcake/etc. and not as a <i>right</i>.<br />
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Until May 8, when I can welcome those things back into my life, I'm going to be satisfied with meals like these:<br />
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<u>Tuesday, Day 9</u><br />
Breakfast: leftover Sweet 'n Savory Quiche and a side of raw baby carrots<br />
Lunch: leftover tarragon chicken and grilled onions, zucchini, and squash from last night's dinner, and a plum<br />
Dinner: smoky kale chips, chicken curry, and Indian-spiced sweet potatoes<br />
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This is the chicken curry I made tonight, from my own recipe! Really, it's a combination of several recipes I found as I tried to compensate for my lack of some fairly standard curry ingredients, such as garam masala, and to replace some ingredients that weren't Whole30 friendly, like sugar and yogurt. I also didn't bother to make rice to go with this curry because I just didn't have the stomach for cauliflower rice tonight.<br />
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Here's my recipe:<br />
<h3>
<i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whole30 Chicken Curry</span></i></h3>
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 lb. chicken breasts or tenderloins</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 a yellow onion, chopped</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2-3 tablespoons coconut oil</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 tablespoons minced garlic</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tablespoon lemon juice</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 can coconut milk</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp. curry</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp. cumin</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp. coriander</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp. salt (preferably kosher)</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp. pepper</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp. turmeric</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 tsp. cayenne</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 tsp. cardamom</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 tsp. cloves</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 tsp. nutmeg</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">additional salt and pepper to taste</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Cut chicken breasts in halves and trim them.</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. In a large skillet, heat coconut oil 2-3 minutes. While oil is heating, salt and pepper each side of the chicken to taste.</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. When oil is hot, reduce heat to medium-high and place chicken in the pan. Flip them after 2.5 minutes and cook the other side 2.5 minutes. Remove the chicken from the skillet and place on a clean plate.</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Add garlic, onions, and ginger to the skillet. Cook until onions are soft, nearly translucent. Reduce heat to medium.</span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Add coconut milk, spices, chopped cilantro, and lemon juice to the mixture. Allow to cook together for about a minute. </span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Add chicken back in, cover with the sauce, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Allow chicken to simmer 3-5 minutes, or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.</span><br />
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I paired the curry with these delicious <a href="http://www.janssushibar.com/indian-spiced-sweet-potatoes/">Indian-spiced sweet potatoes</a>:<br />
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Seriously. SO good.<br />
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We were supposed to have leftover grilled veggies as our second side, but due to an accident in which the leftover veggies were left out all night, I decided to whip up my first batch of kale chips instead:<br />
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Instead of making the regular kale chips with just sea salt and olive oil, I decided to make these <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/smoky-kale-chips-recipe/index.html">smoky kale chips</a> because I thought the smoked paprika would complement the Indian dishes. I ended up eating them almost as an appetizer instead because I had to prepare them first so I could roast the potatoes at a much higher temperature. I really can't wait until we get our double oven so I can say good-bye to that issue!<br />
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For my first time making kale chips, I was pleasantly surprised at how they turned out. They were just as good and just as addictive as people say, although after having the smoky variety, I'm not sure if I'll be able to switch to just salt.<br />
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Doing Whole30 right is time-consuming, expensive, and sometimes even a little stressful, but with meals like this one, it's so worth it.Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-85304456564645071192013-04-15T09:35:00.000-05:002013-04-15T09:50:25.619-05:00Resisting Temptation: A Whole30 WeekendT.J. and I have officially reached the quarter mark of the Whole30 challenge, and we are going strong! This weekend presented its biggest challenge because temptation was everywhere. Last week I mostly confined myself to home, so I was never tempted by the signs and smells of restaurants. Out of sight, out of mind. Most weeks I'd take at least a day or two and go work at Panera or a coffee shop, but since I can't have my usual chai latte (or anything else on the menu), I've had to work at home. I'd forgotten how the sight alone of certain restaurants can stir cravings, but when we were out this weekend, just seeing Chick-fil-A had me craving, of all things, a strawberry milkshake. (And I can't even remember the last time I had one.)<br />
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Saturday presented our biggest test yet when we attended the Battle of the Buffalo, the annual cancer foundation fundraiser hosted by one of the fraternities at T.J.'s university. It's a chicken wing festival/competition to see which of seventeen competing restaurants makes the best wing. That's right. Seventeen wing restaurants. Twenty-four<i> thousand</i> wings. And T.J. received free tickets to the event, so we could have eaten our fill of wings (and cotton candy and snow cones) <i>for free</i> if we hadn't been on Whole30. When T.J. told me about the event Friday night, I was already imagining myself caving as soon as I smelled that delicious barbecue. I was already rationalizing that I <i>deserved </i>a cheat day, that I could just add an extra day onto the end of the challenge, as if it works that way.<br />
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It was a beautiful day, and T.J. and I had a relaxing early morning breakfast and then drove over to the farmer's market. It was the first weekend it was open, and there were lots of plants for sale, but no fruits and veggies ready yet since we've had such a long winter. We also drove around to some yard sales since both our subdivision and the one across the road were having community-wide sales. We came up empty-handed there too, as we are looking for just a few specific furniture items, but we still really enjoyed just being outside on such a gorgeous day. That afternoon we headed to Big Spring Park, which is where BotB was held, and it was such a perfect day to be at the park--warm, sunny, but with a pleasant breeze. Too cool for bugs, but warm enough to be out in just a long-sleeved tee.<br />
<br />
Although entering the event meant walking past tables full of people chowing down on wings (and smelling them), once we were inside and had done a loop around the booths, we went down to the children's play area to find some of T.J.'s friends from work. Fortunately, this area was away from that amazing barbecue smell, so we were able to relax and chat and enjoy our evening without feeling constantly tempted to cash in our tickets for a pile of wings. We left the event that evening proud that we'd stayed wing free, and we agreed that if we could survive that temptation, we could survive anything during this challenge! (And T.J. is going to be challenged a lot in the coming weeks. He attended a banquet at work last night where he could only eat olives and salad without dressing, and he has two more this week.)<br />
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We spent the rest of the weekend shopping for groceries (five different stores: Sam's, Costco, Earth Fare, Publix, and Kroger), hanging pictures in the house, looking at paint samples for the downstairs, and picking out new comforter sets for the twin bed guest room. T.J. also got a new lawnmower, which he was super excited about.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7H3Vu9jQgOlu4K6M4p9TMLxeQCnpYAYJeVEI-Ft5kLc37rXU9TB3iHjAKto5qKPwdmqw02adCaqeHF8o0RLU8NQ7Bj-_TGra89CUlTO9wl6ZwLrJsr_l76s0by5zPfYJXwlhb0gGZSr8/s1600/IMG_0834%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7H3Vu9jQgOlu4K6M4p9TMLxeQCnpYAYJeVEI-Ft5kLc37rXU9TB3iHjAKto5qKPwdmqw02adCaqeHF8o0RLU8NQ7Bj-_TGra89CUlTO9wl6ZwLrJsr_l76s0by5zPfYJXwlhb0gGZSr8/s320/IMG_0834%5B1%5D.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiny old lawnmower, meet your new big brother.</td></tr>
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And while most people were eating out, chowing down on wings, or glutting themselves on sweets this weekend (which we would normally have done), here's how we were dining:<br />
<br />
<u>Day 5, Friday </u><br />
Dinner: <a href="http://www.thefreckledfoodie.com/italian-crock-pot-chili/">Italian Crock Pot Chili </a>w/ fresh avocado<br />
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<u>Day 6, Saturday</u><br />
Breakfast: leftover Sweet Potato Hash w/ a side of raw baby carrots<br />
Lunch: leftover chili w/ avocado<br />
Dinner: <a href="http://everydaypaleo.com/meatloaf-and-baked-brussel-sprouts/">Paleo Meatloaf</a>, mashed cauliflower, roasted asparagus<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnQKZFci2tcAbbHNZepPOk9x6fpTcm0Ot-4TCju0Ai85ZsJ2MHMJNqjU2_zkZMpLk9zXknot8HrDllVLr8RydTr5KxW0LhZd9ZxB26Kkc63JEN6OmFGJHbVyhcBQcN0ZwIn2R7AYcshw/s1600/IMG_0825%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnQKZFci2tcAbbHNZepPOk9x6fpTcm0Ot-4TCju0Ai85ZsJ2MHMJNqjU2_zkZMpLk9zXknot8HrDllVLr8RydTr5KxW0LhZd9ZxB26Kkc63JEN6OmFGJHbVyhcBQcN0ZwIn2R7AYcshw/s400/IMG_0825%5B1%5D.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">T.J. followed the directions for the meatloaf pretty precisely, but he added diced sweet peppers, and I really think they took the recipe up a notch. It might have been the best meatloaf I've ever had. The asparagus was also very good, but the mashed cauliflower...well, we're going to have to work on the recipe a bit. Ours was a little too garlicky (and that's saying something coming from me), and there was still a bit too much of the cauliflower taste in it that I hate. I'm making it again later this week, though, so hopefully we can learn from our mistakes.</td></tr>
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<u>Day 7, Sunday</u><br />
Breakfast: <a href="http://kateupdates.com/2012/09/20/5-quick-easy-whole30-breakfast-options/">Sweet 'n Savory Quiche</a> and raw baby carrots w/ almond butter<br />
Lunch: leftover meatloaf, mashed cauliflower, and asparagus<br />
Dinner: leftover meatloaf on a bed of steamed broccoli slaw w/ spaghetti sauce<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHum37Avc5kSMNCQc8w4rQR9hdVmGBOKYaxq4S8BcMAlNfnHI506z1ikTyJW8jZtqZTujcbmkLMT1g-a3TrnYtJd6LkumrpHjMhxXfucLSkMD7j21_is6rpUsCKJYgRdPlkG92VU9pLQ/s1600/IMG_0828%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHum37Avc5kSMNCQc8w4rQR9hdVmGBOKYaxq4S8BcMAlNfnHI506z1ikTyJW8jZtqZTujcbmkLMT1g-a3TrnYtJd6LkumrpHjMhxXfucLSkMD7j21_is6rpUsCKJYgRdPlkG92VU9pLQ/s400/IMG_0828%5B1%5D.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakfast quiche. It was better than expected (because up until yesterday I refused to eat cooked spinach--it's a texture thing) but a little dry and needed a little more flavor. Maybe add mushrooms and a few more eggs next time?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQIUHdbvu5ELiFWPpZL159gQ60jZWpPNBlBr5KO0LyCENhixCL_Gav1oySrgJ3NRbjdUpqZ_JKG96i_OUYbAo9fu4mbupE1vSqkMAhMrmPZ6RWuCxm8E0VAYTb4RhLyED5UN8A-ypHks/s1600/IMG_0835%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQIUHdbvu5ELiFWPpZL159gQ60jZWpPNBlBr5KO0LyCENhixCL_Gav1oySrgJ3NRbjdUpqZ_JKG96i_OUYbAo9fu4mbupE1vSqkMAhMrmPZ6RWuCxm8E0VAYTb4RhLyED5UN8A-ypHks/s320/IMG_0835%5B1%5D.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh, all natural almond butter from Earth Fare</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC2VSL_7Hz1N5RTsX1Fwpf7a5REyhxeyANQw6kKQ62BTz5VAnFu-BcsciPqvFzZlo2aPxxF7-yn9Byafohx3FTi2QXpBQNPy9XUxhMCNAKabhZP1VLYCSEO3YxC4wF9bDElnv26Owkte8/s1600/IMG_0839%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC2VSL_7Hz1N5RTsX1Fwpf7a5REyhxeyANQw6kKQ62BTz5VAnFu-BcsciPqvFzZlo2aPxxF7-yn9Byafohx3FTi2QXpBQNPy9XUxhMCNAKabhZP1VLYCSEO3YxC4wF9bDElnv26Owkte8/s400/IMG_0839%255B1%255D.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Originally, I was going to make zucchini noodles for my "spaghetti." I was also going to make my own meatballs. But T.J. was at his banquet and I wanted an easy dinner, so I used leftover meatloaf in place of meatballs and used broccoli slaw in place of zucchini, and the result was fabulous. (And made in under ten minutes.) (Idea and "recipe" for the broccoli slaw is from <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/107453141082018180/">Pinterest</a>.)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKmBKLeMriMafmMU0PyS2u_6_Gm10vx6tiSWkTmqP8tC1j8Q-KgTCRHxyBw-k8cYBKF66AB5FZqYnC3twp-o3OxACwItAhGBYVUut0Eo-DTgDTbnNB-2zj-MxdU_ft4_MhmiDibwG4zU/s1600/IMG_0840%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKmBKLeMriMafmMU0PyS2u_6_Gm10vx6tiSWkTmqP8tC1j8Q-KgTCRHxyBw-k8cYBKF66AB5FZqYnC3twp-o3OxACwItAhGBYVUut0Eo-DTgDTbnNB-2zj-MxdU_ft4_MhmiDibwG4zU/s400/IMG_0840%255B1%255D.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When we went to Kroger we looked high and low for a natural marinara sauce with no sugar, preservatives, etc., and we were so happy (and surprised) to find this one. DelGrosso is a company local to the area where we lived in PA (and I'd never heard of it before moving there). They own an amusement park about an hour from our old house, too, and we went to their Italian Food Festival last year. We'd never seen their sauces in the South before, and it was one of those things T.J. lamented that we wouldn't be able to find when we moved back to Alabama, but here it is!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ-uKVhCAK7Ub8cIflDOmCgm_FFspLq-oL9_G3Dg60xOoJK3l_ZNwttd9CTIe0VSqjADNHxGn0uNHOELsrQ3iiorbp5VZPM9LgqLF5TB5toO8Z9hd3iGlKmyAwQrF7EcctOEzIJLksmKo/s1600/IMG_0841%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ-uKVhCAK7Ub8cIflDOmCgm_FFspLq-oL9_G3Dg60xOoJK3l_ZNwttd9CTIe0VSqjADNHxGn0uNHOELsrQ3iiorbp5VZPM9LgqLF5TB5toO8Z9hd3iGlKmyAwQrF7EcctOEzIJLksmKo/s400/IMG_0841%255B1%255D.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delicious final product! At first I just put the sauce on that way to take this photo, thinking I would add more afterward, but that ended up being the perfect amount. The sauce, meatloaf, and slaw went together so beautifully I felt like I was really eating spaghetti and didn't miss noodles at all.</td></tr>
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Today's menu is the same breakfast as yesterday, same lunch as dinner last night, and a favorite from last week (tarragon chicken, grilled veggies, and fruit) for dinner. I have an exciting menu of new, different foods planned for the rest of week, though, so Week 2 should be interesting.Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-59803986438375455222013-04-12T14:02:00.000-05:002013-04-12T14:11:54.028-05:00(Happily) Surviving Whole30It's Day 5 of my and T.J.'s month-long commitment to clean eating, and so far the Whole30 challenge...hasn't been much of a challenge. I know I might regret that statement in a week or two, but the first 4.5 days have gone better than I ever imagined possible. So far, this is how we're feeling:<br />
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Me: no headaches, no blood sugar problems, no digestive issues, no acid reflux (other than a little at breakfast this morning after accidentally eating apple slices that had some preservatives in them), and sleeping all night every night for the first time in recent memory.<br />
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T.J.: no digestive issues, no acid reflux, only one nighttime headache (probably from dehydration as he'd just spent the past hour push mowing our lawn in the Alabama heat), but sleeping has gotten worse instead of better. :( (He's always been a terrible sleeper, but he's sleeping so poorly this week that he wakes up exhausted, comes home exhausted, and falls asleep on the couch by 8:00 p.m. I really hope his sleep improves in week 2.<br />
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I'm really surprised that we haven't had bad headaches this week, especially from sugar withdrawal, but it probably helps that neither of us have a caffeine addiction to combat. I used to drink hot tea occasionally and a glass or two of iced sweet tea every day, but neither of us are coffee drinkers and we rarely drink soda, so my body hasn't missed caffeine so far.<br />
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I'm even <i>more</i> surprised at how well I've survived without sugar, though. My sugar addiction is well-chronicled (just check out my "Recipes" board on Pinterest, which is 95% sugary desserts), but so far the only time I've really craved sugar is at breakfast, which is still a bit of a struggle for me. I'm trying to adopt the Whole30 mindset that breakfast is just "Meal 1," no different from the other two, and I know that the whole idea of having separate "breakfast" foods is a Western concept and that in most areas of the world it's perfectly normal to eat the same thing for breakfast as for dinner...but it's still hard for me to stomach veggies for breakfast every day. And twice this week I had to eat omelets, which, you aren't going to believe, but <i>I had never tried before</i>, and now I know why. Because I'm not a fan of veggies with my eggs. Or anything with eggs really. Except bacon. (Which, alas, I am not allowed on Whole30.)<br />
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Today was my most successful breakfast, though, so maybe I'm on to something. Last night I made sweet potato hash for us to eat today and tomorrow for breakfast, and it was by FAR the best breakfast food I've eaten this week:<br />
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It was really simple to make, as well, thanks to a little prep work earlier. I had half a chopped onion left over from dinner the night before, and T.J. cubed two large sweet potatoes for me on Tuesday night when we were making sweet potato fries. To make the hash (which I adapted from the recipe in <i>It Starts with Food</i>), I put a pound of ground beef in one skillet and put the cubed sweet potatoes in another with a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil (a.k.a. My New Best Friend). I seasoned the beef with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. When the sweet potatoes started to soften, I added the chopped onion and cooked until the onions were translucent and the potatoes were completely soft. I seasoned them with about 1/4 teaspoons of cinnamon and paprika, added a dash of nutmeg, then added in the drained meat. I mixed all the ingredients together and then let them simmer for a few minutes, then let it cool a bit before separating into four containers. Voila! Easy breakfast for the next two days. </div>
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It was actually really good too, much better than the "Breakfast Mix" (apple, ground turkey) I made earlier in the week. We had a couple of those pre-cut apple/caramel combos in the refrigerator (because I'm six and so lazy I usually don't even cut my own apples), so instead of just eating straight from the Tupperware this morning, I decided to plate my hash and add the apples on the side, lest I be tempted by the caramel. It might just be because I've been sugar deprived this week, but I would swear those green apple slices were the sweetest things I've ever eaten. However, not five minutes after finishing them, I started coughing, which usually means I have acid reflux, which I'd sort of forgotten existed since I've been free of it for five days. I dug the apple package out of the trash, and lo, there were three ingredients added to the apples. <i>Preservatives,</i> I'm sure of it. So there's your proof, kids. <i>Preservatives hate your body</i>. Or vice versa. Whatever. AVOID them when possible, in other words.</div>
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Other than breakfast struggles, though, the rest of our meals this week have been some of the best I've ever prepared at home--super tasty and flavorful and filling. Next week I'm going to be more ambitious, which means a higher risk of failure, but for now let's enjoy a few pics of the meals we've tried this week, all of them delicious and nutritious and definitely on my "to cook again" list:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2bLDPBdmwjAIJ1-H8q9h8JW756r2h2QgE6dIjs1luOnUXj6NDLSV5dqJIf3Uedvs7AAhZehjnR5liPM0_djmo6Z0SU5mYJdl9eM1l8R5X7y2NfF7X1YK4d9ect9xfJeljUIpD0sqAe0/s1600/Whole30Day2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2bLDPBdmwjAIJ1-H8q9h8JW756r2h2QgE6dIjs1luOnUXj6NDLSV5dqJIf3Uedvs7AAhZehjnR5liPM0_djmo6Z0SU5mYJdl9eM1l8R5X7y2NfF7X1YK4d9ect9xfJeljUIpD0sqAe0/s400/Whole30Day2.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner Day 2 (and Lunch Day 3): deconstructed hamburger with caramelized onions, roasted broccoli w/ garlic, and baked sweet potato fries with smoked paprika and cinnamon. The ones that were a little burned were the best, and they actually reheated well in the microwave.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvGLy7Ao8jqyt7XVekxtkbw-u6if0DLrEuzMeS2kKJGAPB8dcMll06q2mG9-exdZCNaEGaTIuj-Ah-b_r_eaO7UuyUmFuh8rDWZa69N2oUYbY5CXjSRkHToufjL9ZRdCzp9PJpT6F0CE8/s1600/Whole30Day3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvGLy7Ao8jqyt7XVekxtkbw-u6if0DLrEuzMeS2kKJGAPB8dcMll06q2mG9-exdZCNaEGaTIuj-Ah-b_r_eaO7UuyUmFuh8rDWZa69N2oUYbY5CXjSRkHToufjL9ZRdCzp9PJpT6F0CE8/s400/Whole30Day3.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Day 3 Dinner (and Day 4 Lunch): Moroccan chicken, microwaved sweet potato w/ ghee and cinnamon, and roasted cauliflower and broccoli w/ garlic. I've never liked cauliflower, but I LOVED them roasted.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiReEnCOsCnEfKtR-nYl5kWWNqCuP0VxNpMg89XSyx0j_aUMZ9IJC-jK8rxrRQUnctXXXQ9aPYGrL0DplYXMqhyk79M00sy-aay3hhnnAnjH3tqlmdVBWuECTZ88OTIt_iNnEIZQMc-Vg/s1600/Whole30Day4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiReEnCOsCnEfKtR-nYl5kWWNqCuP0VxNpMg89XSyx0j_aUMZ9IJC-jK8rxrRQUnctXXXQ9aPYGrL0DplYXMqhyk79M00sy-aay3hhnnAnjH3tqlmdVBWuECTZ88OTIt_iNnEIZQMc-Vg/s400/Whole30Day4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Day 4 Dinner (Day 5 Lunch): Spinach salad w/ Cajun-seasoned chicken, cucumber, red onions, grated carrot, and grape tomatoes. T.J. also added black olives to his. Dressing is just EVOO and balsamic vinegar (so glad I got used to using oil and vinegar for dressing when in London). By Thursday night I was ready to make something simple (and that didn't leave a pile of dirty pots and pans), and this salad nailed it. It was a bit difficult to find a blackening seasoning that would be Whole30 approved (it's amazing how many things have artificial ingredients and/or SUGAR--even our chicken broth had sugar!), but T.J. found one and it was really yummy. And SPICY. I don't usually eat creamy salad dressings, but I was kind of missing ranch with this one. There are paleo ranch recipes out there (and T.J. even made one on Monday), but they generally require a raw egg...and the thought sort of turned our stomachs. Making ranch is time-consuming, anyway, so oil and vinegar FTW! (Bonus: helps meet healthy fats quota)</td></tr>
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It doesn't look like these meals would be time-consuming, but for someone who used to only make veggies from a bag, and who tried to avoid chicken altogether to keep her hands from getting slimy, prep time has taken quite a bit of time as I wash and cut all of the veggies and trim and cut the chicken. Hopefully that time will be reduced in the coming weeks as I become more adept at peeling, skinning, chopping, etc.</div>
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Up tonight: meatloaf with mashed roasted cauliflower and green beans. I can't wait!</div>
Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-35797359027540763512013-04-10T08:55:00.001-05:002013-04-10T08:55:19.084-05:00Whole Body, Whole Mind, Whole30It's no secret that T.J. and I have had a lot of health problems over the last year or so, many of which our (multiple) doctors have been unable to help. We both have digestive issues--his worse than mine--and I have problems with elevated blood sugar but am not diabetic. I have suffered from fatigue for a while now, but all of my tests have been negative (except I do have a severe B12 deficiency for which I receive shots). We also both have gained a bit of weight in the past year, despite no real changes to our diet. For a (very) brief time, we tried the gluten-free thing, but after T.J. had an endoscopy that ruled he was not allergic to gluten, we saw no reason to deprive ourselves of bread, pastries, and the millions of other things in which gluten is used as a preservative (such as salad dressing, salsa, beer, and even some cheeses). It's reached the point, though, where we can't keep living the way we have and we know that no matter what the tests say, something has to be wrong with us if things are getting worse instead of better.<br />
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In an effort to change the way we eat and hopefully the way we feel, on Monday we started the <a href="http://whole9life.com/category/whole-30/">Whole30 challenge</a>. Normally I avoid fad diets, and I've read enough about the paleo trend to know that there are a lot of skeptics and people who think the idea that we should eat as cave people did is ridiculous (and when put that way, I would have to agree). But I'm willing to give this program a try simply because it allows us to rid our diet of most everything that <i>could</i> be causing us problems and to gradually add those things back in in order to understand which foods our bodies can't tolerate.<br />
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For those of you who are unfamiliar with Whole30, it's a relatively simple food program that asks you to cut dairy, grains, sugar, legumes, and alcohol from your diet for thirty days, and instead eat "Good Food" three meals a day, with no snacking in between (unless you are working out). Basically, each of the three meals should consist of a palm-sized piece of protein (organic, grass-fed meat, seafood, or eggs), a plate full of vegetables, and some healthy fats, such as a closed handful of certain nuts or seeds, a heaping handful of olives, or a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, coconut oil, coconut butter, almond butter, ghee, etc. You can also have 1-2 servings of fruit each day. This sounds pretty simple, but I spent most of Sunday just reading the second half of the Whole30 book, <i>It Starts with Food </i>(T.J. read the first half, which is the science behind the program), and planning our menu for the week. For someone who considers making jar spaghetti "cooking," it was a little intimidating at first planning enough different kinds of meats and vegetables for twenty-one meals, especially knowing that everything would be made from scratch. It was also difficult to plan meals without <i>any</i> sugar, dairy, grains, or legumes. Those things made up probably 60-70% of my diet before.<br />
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For example, on a typical weekday, I generally have a Nutri-Grain bar and a glass of milk or orange juice for breakfast, a sandwich or Nathan's hot dog for lunch with chips or potato salad, and maybe steak tips (marinated in brown sugar and Dale's sauce), broccoli with cheese, and a baked sweet potato (loaded with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon) for dinner. Guess what? I can't eat any of those meals on Whole30, although I could have a steak without sugar-based marinades and a sweet potato without butter and brown sugar. So you can see why a food program like this one is challenging for someone like me, for whom the only cravings I ever get are for sugar and occasionally dairy. And I'm used to <i>indulging</i> those cravings, not silencing them with glasses of ice water. (As I have to do now.)<br />
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So Whole30 is going to be a real challenge for me. And it's expensive. Eating three balanced meals a day instead of one really strains the budget. And eating whole, fresh foods is far more expensive than eating processed ones. We spent $212 at Earth Fare and Kroger buying all of our food for the week with <i>nothing</i> extra. We had an entire cart full of vegetables and organic meats and never even went near the middle of the store other than to look for ghee (clarified butter) and a couple of other small items I'd never even heard of before Sunday.<br />
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On Sunday night, after putting away all of our groceries and throwing away anything that might tempt us to cheat, we began prepping for the week ahead. I made a "breakfast mix" (ground turkey, apple, cinnamon and nutmeg) for breakfast the next morning, and T.J. boiled eggs so we could have fresh spinach salads for lunch. Monday night we made dinner together: tarragon chicken with mushrooms and green onions in a coconut milk sauce; grilled zucchini, yellow squash, and onions cooked in a ghee, salt, pepper, and garlic marinade; and fresh strawberries and blackberries. On Tuesday T.J. made us breakfast before work (omelets with mushrooms, yellow and red sweet peppers, and onions), we had leftover chicken and veggies for lunch (with a banana and handful of cashews on the side), and for dinner we made deconstructed hamburgers with caramelized onions, <a href="http://nomnompaleo.com/post/6172268400/oven-baked-sweet-potato-fries">baked sweet potato fries</a>, and roasted broccoli.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7OKuC1NN1Lt6lXjCULNPCQnNtlvdCyi5BaQOcAsM29kmmB3id2bdOlZMWCf1MayIBdjhIfqcUEMBtvrMe1wjOZHcAZEy-hdHrG1hx52NHIQSUN8UKbG4tgXXthkmjzQmQPaPKj3XOvhk/s1600/IMG_0818%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7OKuC1NN1Lt6lXjCULNPCQnNtlvdCyi5BaQOcAsM29kmmB3id2bdOlZMWCf1MayIBdjhIfqcUEMBtvrMe1wjOZHcAZEy-hdHrG1hx52NHIQSUN8UKbG4tgXXthkmjzQmQPaPKj3XOvhk/s320/IMG_0818%5B1%5D.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My new best friend</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tarragon chicken yumminess.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEDSIQkSkGoil71EIF_7zDZUvSlQ0e_whEaoAoocdEVAoENOPzKuo4Q5LYqK7-o-eW7m9g59SGSBDD_UsJ-AE4J7-TtxYDNl_3p7ruhIYBGga2_LafF1onBWkev35Xww4lVmSF6DQl1k/s1600/IMG_0816%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEDSIQkSkGoil71EIF_7zDZUvSlQ0e_whEaoAoocdEVAoENOPzKuo4Q5LYqK7-o-eW7m9g59SGSBDD_UsJ-AE4J7-TtxYDNl_3p7ruhIYBGga2_LafF1onBWkev35Xww4lVmSF6DQl1k/s400/IMG_0816%5B1%5D.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forgive this terrible iPhone photo. The grilled veggies were my favorite part, though, (and were even better the next day), so I had to share.</td></tr>
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Although learning to eat "real" food for breakfast is a huge challenge for me, so far Whole30 hasn't been too hard. About ten times a day I have to remind myself that <i>no</i>, I cannot have that box of Nerds I tucked away in my office drawer, and yesterday I noticed my hair conditioner looked and smelled a little <i>too</i> much like whipped cream, but I'm learning to ignore my cravings and avoid reminders of what I'm missing. I'm focusing on the things that after two days I already love cooking with, especially ghee and coconut oil, and the fact that I get to use fresh garlic (which I love) in almost every meal. I'm playing with spices and <i>really cooking</i> for the first time...maybe ever. So even if I don't feel better after finishing Whole30, even if I go right back to eating tons of sugar, grains, and dairy, <i>maybe</i> I will at least have learned to be a better, braver cook and will see cooking as more of a pleasure than a chore.Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-58037582618409110552013-04-09T10:40:00.000-05:002013-04-09T15:42:06.682-05:00Of Two MindsIt's been a busy few weeks around here--and a busy few months before that--so I'm finally getting the chance to sit down and focus on my dissertation for the first time in months. First there was my 30th birthday weekend, when my husband had all sorts of lovely surprises planned, the best of which was a surprise visit from my best friend from grad school, Miranda, and her husband and son. T.J. had wanted to have lunch at Newk's, and when we got there Miranda and Co. were waiting for us. I was super surprised (so surprised that my first reaction was "What are you guys doing here???") because they live four hours away (and of course lived much further away when we lived in PA), and we don't get to see them very often. We had a nice weekend with them, and I'm so happy they were our first house guests!<br />
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Then the next week I drove down to my parents' for a couple days. I hadn't seen them since December and my brother was visiting from Orlando, so I squeezed the visit into my schedule because he doesn't make it home often. It was good to see all of my family (parents, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, siblings), and to get to spend a little time with my cousins, even if it was just hanging out around the house and driving down to Destin for dinner.<br />
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Then this past week I attended the national American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) conference in Cleveland, where I had a great time rooming with my friend Cassie and meeting lots of people in the field. Cassie and I went to the member reception on Thursday, which was held in the beautiful glass atrium of the Cleveland Museum of Art, had breakfast with a prospective AU PhD student Friday morning, and then Friday night went out for dinner and drinks at an Irish pub with a big group of grad students (and I got to have my first draft Strongbow since London!). In between glasses of wine, mugs of chai latte, and pints of Strongbow, we managed to make it to a few panels, mostly on travel or pedagogy, and Cassie presented on performances of drunkenness on the eighteenth-century stage and I presented on teaching women's writing about India in a poster session. I'd never done a poster session before, but I worked hard on the poster and it was really well-received, with lots of people taking pictures of it and some emailing me afterward for copies of it. It was a great opportunity to network and to strengthen previous connections I'd made with other eighteenth-century scholars who work with India (we're a small bunch).<br />
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I have to admit that the conference didn't leave me feeling as inspired as some others (mainly creative writing ones) do, though. In the <i>Chronicle</i>, in our departments, and now even at conferences, we are constantly being reminded that academia is in crisis, that there are fewer and fewer tenure-track lines available and more and more adjuncts filling those roles, most making less than $20,000 a year. I went to pedagogy panels where well-known scholars who've been in the field dozens of years talked about the burdens of teaching additional course loads, of teaching mostly composition and core literature courses, as departments shrink and even tenure-track or tenured faculty must bear the load of increased University enrollments.<br />
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Part of the problem, I think, is that the role of the university has changed in our culture, and humanities departments have not adapted to the new consumerist mindset. Students are worried about the future the way that we all are, and they are going to be less inclined to go into majors where the job path is less defined. Civil engineering majors know exactly what kind of jobs they can apply for after earning their degrees, as do management majors, marketing majors, accounting majors, etc. English and history majors...it's a bit more vague. I don't think it's necessarily that people don't enroll in these disciplines because they will make less money than their business and engineering counterparts; I think they are worried whether or not they will be able to make <i>any</i> money at all, or at least a livable wage. And most departments just expect people to enroll in English, history, etc. for the love of the discipline. They aren't actively recruiting high school students the way that engineering and science programs often do, and they aren't selling and supporting the professional aspects of their discipline the way these other disciplines are. Where are the required internships, the job talks (other than about grad school and academia), the networking outside one's own discipline? Why not create more hybrid majors that unite the critical thinking skills and empathy developed in an English major with a more "practical" discipline--English/business, English/political science, English/health sciences, etc.? I know most departments have never had to think about these things and many over-burdened (and especially tenured) professors don't want to go up that road, but it might be the only path to survival. I honestly don't believe that the reason our departments are shrinking is because fewer people want to read books and talk about them; it's because more people are saying, <i>I can do that on my own or with friends or as a minor. But how am I going to make </i>money<i>?</i> And until we can answer that question for them, English will always be in crisis.<br />
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I've been thinking about all of this a lot more lately as I've been searching for a job here in Huntsville/Madison and wondering more and more often if I made the right decision to go so far down this rabbit hole. A part of me will always wonder if I should have just pursued writing instead, gotten my MFA and then gotten a job in the private sector doing something boring and mindless but that would support my writing and give me plenty of brain space leftover at the end of the day to create. It was telling when after the first panel I attended at ASECS, my most useful note was about something I could use in my <i>novel</i>, not in teaching or scholarship. Although later panels reminded me of why I love research and my field, that reminder was always tempered by the knowledge that it's nearly impossible to get a job <i>just</i> researching and teaching my areas of speciality, and that even if I did, I would be expected to focus solely on my field and not deviate into creative writing.<br />
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The dissertation has to be my priority now. I <i>have</i> to finish and earn my PhD. No question about that. But what comes after that is more obscure to me than ever.Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-61118725101132966182013-03-25T10:12:00.000-05:002013-03-25T13:25:20.302-05:00Southern Ghostbusters, Izzy Brannick-Style: A Review of Rachel Hawkins' School Spirits<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #222222;">This past Friday I received the best birthday gift from NetGalley possible: a copy of Rachel Hawkins' SCHOOL SPIRITS, a book I pre-ordered on Amazon months ago. Usually the books available from NetGalley are from debut authors or writers who aren't well-known yet, so I was surprised (and delighted) to find a highly anticipated book from a NYT-bestselling author like Hawkins there. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #222222;">SCHOOL SPIRITS is a fast, fun spin-off for any fans of the HEX HALL series or Rachel Hawkins herself. The story follows Izzy Brannick, the younger cousin of Sophie Mercer, the protagonist of Hawkins' HEX HALL series. Sophie doesn't make an appearance, but Izzy and the other new characters we meet are compelling enough that I wasn't longing to be back at Hex Hall with Sophie, Archer, and Jenna. </span><br />
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Without giving too much away, the basic plot of the novel is that Izzy is forced to attend a regular high school in Mississippi after a ghost attacks one of the teachers. Izzy is one of the last of the Brannicks, a family of female warriors who hunt Prodigium (supernatural creatures), and she is charged with going undercover at the school, playing the role of a regular high school sophomore, in order to find the ghost and eliminate it. Izzy has never spent much time around regular human teenagers, so of course her interactions with them as she learns how to navigate the delicate social sphere of an American high school are entertaining and often hilarious. Mary Evans High is not a school out of MEAN GIRLS, CLUELESS, or GLEE, though. The characters are more than just cliquish stereotypes pulled from Hollywood's idea of high school. MEHS seemed much more authentic (at least to the American South), and even though I've been out of high school for...a few years now, as a former high school teacher and Southern student, I could identify with the small town world Hawkins builds and her characterization of high school life. At the same time, people from OUTSIDE the South shouldn't read that description and think this is a book full of y'alls, cowboy boots, shotguns, pick-up trucks, and other Southern stereotypes. The South has those things, obviously, but most books and movies set in the South show a version of it I don't even recognize. Hawkins' South is much closer to the real thing, I think.</div>
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The best part of the book is Izzy herself, though. Her voice is witty and endearing. She's immensely likable and very funny, like Sophie, but has a personality and voice all her own. Although I loved the characters Dex and Romy, too, my favorite secondary character was probably Torin, who really comes alive here. In SPELL BOUND, Torin had a minor role but seemed more of a decorative piece, whereas here his personality is really well-developed and Hawkins uses him well to propel the story forward.<br />
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My only real issue with the novel is that it appears to be a stand-alone, yet some of the problems are unresolved or open-ended in a way that left it open to sequels. I'd love to read more of Izzy's story, so I hope Hawkins considers writing at least one sequel, if not giving Izzy a trilogy of her own.</div>
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Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-38115949182631415392013-03-05T12:07:00.000-06:002013-03-05T12:07:14.589-06:00The Commitmentphobe Buys a HouseAt first, T.J. didn't appreciate it too much when I told him buying a house was the biggest commitment I'd ever made. Sure, marriage is a big commitment, but a marriage doesn't necessarily tie you physically and financially to one spot on the planet. Some marriages might, if you marry someone averse to travel or being away from his family or who is tied to a career in a specific location, but thankfully my husband isn't like that. (And, honestly, I wouldn't have married anyone who was.)<br />
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It isn't that I never thought we'd buy a house. Owning a home is part of the American dream. But when our realtor Lisa called to say our offer on our near-dream home was accepted, I suddenly realized what a BFD home-buying is, and I turned a little green. </div>
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After T.J. moved from Tennessee to Pennsylvania, his house sat on the market for nearly<i> three years</i> before finally selling at a loss. That's 36 months of mortgage payments, utility bills, hired lawn care, all gone. So what that experience taught me, perhaps erroneously, is that buying a house means you are stuck in a place or, if you try to leave when the market is unfavorable, you're going to be financially drained by it. My wanderlust kicked into overdrive at the very thought of homeownership. </div>
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Still, the rental market in the Huntsville area was pathetic, so we didn't have many options. We'd outgrown apartment living and could find no reasonably priced houses or duplexes for rent in decent condition. Buying looked like the only good option. </div>
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On our very first full day back in Alabama (February 1), we spent the day with realtor Lisa, a friend of T.J.'s family, touring 10+ houses in southeast Huntsville. I'd combed Trulia, Zillow, and Realtor.com, looked through hundreds of listings and countless pictures, to narrow our list down to houses of a certain size, in a certain area, in a certain price range. We saw some contenders, but nothing we were in love with, nothing that said <i>this is our home</i>. I grew up in the country and didn't realize how much that had affected me until I started looking at houses with tiny backyards, or with five sets of neighbors staring into the backyard. We quickly learned how much superficial things like chain-link fences and above-ground utilities bothered us. And although we wanted a house in a more established neighborhood (with trees!), we wanted one that didn't require a ton of updating and remodeling. But the only two houses with private backyards (backing a green belt) needed at least $50,000-$100,000 worth of work just to be livable. We toured only one house we could honestly see ourselves in (and even it had a tiny backyard surrounded by neighbors), and when we decided to drive by it the very next day, found a "SOLD ANOTHER ONE" sign in the front yard! We couldn't believe our (rotten) luck. Just the previous weekend, we'd found a house that we thought was <i>the one</i> (with a lovely backyard of willow trees, a stone's throw from T.J.'s parents), and it sold before we could tour it--after sitting on the market for 6+ months.</div>
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While Lisa worked with some visiting out-of-town clients that weekend, we drove neighborhoods looking for "for sale" signs. We drove all over the northeast side of town, over the mountain in Hampton Cove, in Owens Cross Roads. We looked at older, established areas on the south side of town and brand-new developments of cookie-cutter houses, like something out of the <i>Truman Show</i> (so said T.J.). We were feeling more and more down about the loss of the other two houses that had sold just after we discovered them. We drove past the rest of the houses on the list we'd given to Lisa and ruled them out because of the neighborhoods, the neighbors, the steepness of the driveways, the school districts. After three days of full-time house searching, we were tired and dejected. We decided to take the night off to go to a movie, but we ended up house searching on our computers anyway.</div>
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Finally, we decided to look at houses in Madison, the neighboring city to Huntsville. T.J.'s commute would be about the same either way and some of the school districts were just as good as those in SE Huntsville, so we decided to give it a shot. We narrowed our list down to five or six houses and went out around dusk just to drive by them. One in particular we loved practically on first sight. We loved the neighborhood. We loved the curb appeal. We loved that the house had a huge backyard and backed up to a relatively quiet road, so the yard felt private. </div>
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We sent our list of Madison contenders to Lisa, and the next day we drove out to see them. We ruled out several almost immediately. And then we toured the house we'd loved on sight. And we loved the inside even more. It just <i>felt</i> like home. So sunny, warm, with a good flow and lots of functional space. It had almost everything on our wishlist: four bedrooms, a study for me, a playroom for future kids, 2.5 baths, plenty of garage/storage space. We took T.J.'s parents and sister back the next day to see it, and that night we wrote up our offer. Less than 24 hours later, the homeowners had countered and we had accepted. We were going to be homeowners.</div>
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We are going to be homeowners. At 4:00 today, we will sign the papers that will officially make this house ours:</div>
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I'm excited. I'm nervous. I'm more than a little overwhelmed and intimidated. But I'm so ready to call this house our home. </div>
Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-20493176553491043392013-03-04T12:03:00.000-06:002013-03-05T12:15:31.100-06:00Moving to MadisonBy now this post is less an announcement than an acknowledgement that T.J. and I have moved back to Alabama. If you'd told me six months ago (or even two months ago) we'd be back here, I wouldn't have believed you. But fate has a funny way of backing you into the least expected (yet somehow inevitable) corners.<br />
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You might have noticed that the blog went silent during the last third of 2012, in part because right after I said on Aug. 27 that we were hoping to make a permanent move soon, we decided to throw caution to the wind and he turned in his sixty-day notice to the university. In some fields, sixty days is probably plenty of time to find a new job and relocate, but the world of higher education moves much more slowly, so although he spent the next two months applying to more than forty jobs all around the country, we heard very little during that time. Even though we knew we couldn't move until after the semester ended and I was finished teaching, it started looking less and less like he would have a new position by the start of the spring semester. Then, right before Thanksgiving, he started getting daily calls for phone interviews. In a two-week span, he did around 15+ phone interviews with schools from around the country, from private colleges in Boston to prestigious public universities in California. Then, right before Christmas break, the calls for on-campus interviews started coming in. I have no idea why hiring committees wait until the end of the semester--by all accounts one of the most stress times of the academic year--to start moving on these searches and interviewing and bringing candidates on campus, but we were just thankful that there was finally some movement, some hope, that he would have a job soon.<br />
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He did three on-campus interviews in the two weeks immediately before Christmas, and he received his first offer when we were in New York for our anniversary. It was a tempting offer in a fantastic metropolitan area, a place where the cost of living wasn't outrageous and we'd have access to museums, live music, parks and festivals, organic grocery stores, international cuisine. But the job wasn't a good fit for him and we worried that taking it would mean another move in a couple of years. We'd agreed that this next move should be good for both of us, should be an opportunity to settle down for at least five years or so while we started our family and he got his doctorate. It was a tough decision, but he turned the job down, trusting that something else would come through.<br />
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In January, we returned to Pennsylvania after a couple of weeks in Alabama visiting friends and family, and the position we were in suddenly got very scary. We had to be out of our house by the end of January, and we still had no idea where we were moving. We knew he had two more on-campus interviews in the coming weeks but had no idea if he would receive an offer from either place.<br />
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Thankfully, both interviews went extremely well, and when he was at the second interview he actually got an offer from the first place. Because of the nature of these searches, the second place still had another week of interviews before they would be able to make a decision, so even though he was told he was in the top two candidates for that position, he had to accept the first position before hearing the results of the second. Which is how we came to be back in Alabama.<br />
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If we'd had another week to give an answer, who knows, we might be living in Washington State right now.<br />
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When we started the job search, he applied to jobs around the country, but we specifically targeted the West Coast and Boston area. In the South, we targeted Florida. I believe he applied to around seven schools in Florida. None even called for a phone interview. He applied to two in Alabama and got on-campus interviews at both. How bizarre is that?<br />
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So that's how after a nationwide search we came to find ourselves back in our home state, and not even just our home state, but T.J.'s <i>hometown</i>. A part of me will always wonder, what if? What if we'd moved to the West Coast, to Washington, to that beautiful little city on the Puget Sound, just minutes from the Canadian border? It's about as far from Alabama (physically and philosophically) as you can get and still be in the continental U.S. And I know I would have been happy there, would have felt like I belonged in a way that I've never felt in Alabama.<br />
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But another part of me is just happy to be back in civilization, minutes from shopping, dining, stadium-seating movie theaters (surprisingly difficult to find in central PA). And the OCD over-planner in me is just happy that at least some uncertainties are coming to an end. After all these months, it feels good that T.J. is now back at work, that I'm working on my dissertation again, that some normalcy is returning to our lives.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYv8gVKBObtySTNl7EHL6e-OJSMJhfIZFpuk1eDzudUlTThOsAqySWpYALrDHtUAXntzeqOQ691YIKPGsCZmTzfsP26aDfCCvAQD1Th67TBXLbTAq1xf9OwyjlMzYvl1pJ55miG2XhqIo/s1600/photo+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYv8gVKBObtySTNl7EHL6e-OJSMJhfIZFpuk1eDzudUlTThOsAqySWpYALrDHtUAXntzeqOQ691YIKPGsCZmTzfsP26aDfCCvAQD1Th67TBXLbTAq1xf9OwyjlMzYvl1pJ55miG2XhqIo/s400/photo+(1).JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No kidding, we got this fortune two days after moving back to Alabama! </td></tr>
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<br />Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-70481589154493737092013-01-23T11:40:00.004-06:002013-01-23T11:41:19.248-06:00Deconstructing Death: Victoria Schwab's The ArchivedDue to, perhaps, snow and icy roads and other nonsense things with which I'm currently living, UPS didn't deliver my pre-ordered copy of Victoria Schwab's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Archived-Victoria-Schwab/dp/1423157311/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1358962081&sr=8-6&keywords=the+archived">The Archived</a></i> until late yesterday, but it was certainly worth the wait! This has been a great month for new releases (<i>Shades of Earth, Through the Ever Night, The Madman's Daughter</i>, etc.), but so far Victoria's is my favorite. Here's the GoodReads description for those of you unfamiliar with the plot:<br />
<br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Being a Keeper isn't just dangerous-it's a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da's death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.</span></i><br />
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***A digression: Normally I refer to authors by their last names in reviews, but I had the privilege of meeting Victoria a couple of years ago at the Auburn Writers Conference, where I enrolled in two of her workshops--the two best workshops I've ever attended at a conference, BTW. Victoria is just such a lovely person--kind, generous, professional, <i>prepared </i>(it's amazing how often that doesn't seem to be the case in writing workshops), and hard-working. The kind of person you want to cheer for and who you hope receives every accolade she deserves. So that's why she's <i>Victoria</i> here, and not "Schwab." End digression.***<br />
<br />
<i>The Archived</i> is Victoria's second novel, and I'm not going to lie--I enjoyed her first, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Near-Witch-Victoria-Schwab/dp/142314242X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358962135&sr=1-1&keywords=the+near+witch">The Near Witch</a></i>, but I didn't love it. Still, I could see her potential to become not just a good writer, but a <i>great</i> one. If I'm remembering correctly, in one of her workshops Victoria mentioned that she originally wanted to be a poet, and you could see that in <i>The Near Witch</i>, in her elegant prose and precise word choice. But in <i>The Archived</i>, Victoria elevates her poetic language to another level. I'm not exaggerating when I say it is one of the most beautifully <i>written</i> YA books I've read in quite some time. Every sentence is carefully crafted. Her verbs sings. Her metaphors are original and interesting. (At one point she describes a storm dragging "its stomach over the city," and I thought Y<i>es. Wow</i>. And, of course, <i>Why didn't I think of that?</i>) It's always delightful to find an author who values language as much as plot, dialogue, and character, but the good news is, Victoria also values all of those things!<br />
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Although it takes a little while for the plot to really get moving (Victoria has a lot of world-building to do first, since her settings and concept are so original), once it does, the mystery and danger of the Narrows is thrilling. Many of the images conjured are haunting (but not too frightening), and the world she has built lingers long after the book is over. (Although I just finished the entire book, I read the first hundred pages on NetGalley back in the fall, and I was surprised that I still remembered so many of her descriptions months and dozens of books later.) Some of the revelations along the way seem a little obvious, but most are surprising, which is difficult to accomplish these days, when astute readers have learned to expect the unexpected.<br />
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Victoria's characters are also well-constructed. MC Mackenzie and her family have recently suffered the loss of her little brother, Ben, and their grief and denial is handled with such empathy, compassion, and clarity. I'm not much of a crier when it comes to books (something to do with the fact that Florence + the Machine doesn't accompany them), but I teared up twice when reading <i>The Archived</i>. Here's the first one, when Mac is thinking back to the morning Ben died:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I walked with him, all the way to the corner of Lincoln and Smith like always, and he drew a stick-figure Ben on my hand like always and I drew a stick-figure Mac on his like always and he told me it didn't even look like a human being and I told him it wasn't and he told me I was weird and I told him he was late for school.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I can see the black scribble on the back of his hand through the white sheet.</blockquote>
<i>Seriously? </i>Oh my God. The tears. Ben isn't even alive when the book begins, yet he lives on every page. He is one of the most fully realized characters in the book. I can see him even more clearly than Mackenzie, perhaps because children just tend to be easier to see and understand than adults and teenagers, and also because Mackenzie is still a little bit of a mystery to me, despite spending 300+ pages in her head. I think that's intentional, though. Mackenzie is a bit more difficult to see clearly because I think she has a hard time seeing herself. (Deep, I know.) Sometimes she does things that seem strange or that are frustrating, but I think they are only strange and frustrating to us because Mac doesn't acknowledge why she does these things. (Although we can figure it out based on how other characters respond.) She doesn't think as much about reasons and consequences as we might because it's hard enough for her to keep her entire world from crumbling (sometimes literally) without adding in guilt and repercussions. Oh, and there's also a boy, Wesley Ayers, who reminds me of a nicer, goth version of <i>Mara Dyer</i>'s Noah, so that always complicates things (in the best way possible).<br />
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In the end, <i>The Archived</i> is a paranormal thriller, it's a fantasy, it's a mystery. But more importantly, it's a beautifully written story about how people, young and old, deal with death and loss, and how those we lose never really leave us. I'll be waiting (impatiently) for the sequel.<br />
<br />Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-59885311611916634252013-01-03T14:00:00.000-06:002013-01-13T10:47:17.051-06:00Reading Challenge 2013One of my New Year's Resolutions (of which I have many) is to complete the GoodReads Reading Challenge this year, which I failed last year. The failure was no one's fault but my own because, well, I set the reading goal myself. Last year my goal was 52 fun books, or one per week, which should have been pretty manageable. But each time I got deep into a dissertation chapter I pretty much gave up fun reading altogether, which meant that after each chapter I was left with a stack like this one...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFqToH9Z9Q2TmolYlVIkJY89MjiDbZEBVqq5MgBmErCQoJLBbowiYorUDbwlv113zrIn2GPb7j9KPDQZtcHBK8sAKpvswE-OtuqxoKKvu061WCptBf4SgajzdD8qt8kafguyL3hvF_z4/s1600/iphone+136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFqToH9Z9Q2TmolYlVIkJY89MjiDbZEBVqq5MgBmErCQoJLBbowiYorUDbwlv113zrIn2GPb7j9KPDQZtcHBK8sAKpvswE-OtuqxoKKvu061WCptBf4SgajzdD8qt8kafguyL3hvF_z4/s400/iphone+136.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stack of mostly new releases waiting for me when I finished writing Chapter 2. I only made it through four of these by year's end.</td></tr>
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...and only about a week of free reading time before I had to begin the next dissertation chapter. Towards the end of the year, I found myself mid-way through three or four different books, none of which were finished before January 1, which means that none of them counted toward the 2012 Reading Challenge, but together they set me up well for 2013. I already finished one of them this morning, so I have high hopes that I WILL complete the Challenge this year.<br />
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In all, I finished 44 books for fun last year. My list was YA heavy, and some of the titles aren't really books (more like singles or companion pieces), and a few of the books were more for teaching purposes than for entertainment. The list also feels incomplete because there were <i>so many </i>books for which I downloaded the samples onto my Kindle but never read the whole books or that I started and didn't finished or that I bought and didn't find time to read. So my reading and writing life was informed by so many other titles, many of which I hope to complete in the future, but for now, here are the books that I<i> finished</i> in 2012:<br />
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Achebe,
Chinua. Things Fall Apart (fourth time)</div>
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Atwood,
Margaret. I’m Starved for You</div>
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Atwood,
Margaret. In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination</div>
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Baggott,
Julianna. Pure (Pure #1)</div>
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Bergman,
Megan Mayhew. Birds of a Lesser Paradise</div>
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Clare,
Cassandra. City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1)</div>
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Clare,
Cassandra. City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments #2)</div>
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Clare,
Cassandra. City of Glass (Mortal Instruments #3)</div>
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Clare,
Cassandra. City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments #4)</div>
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Clare,
Cassandra. City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments #5)</div>
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Clare,
Cassandra. Clockwork Angel (Infernal Devices #1)</div>
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Clare,
Cassandra. Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices #2)</div>
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Condie,
Ally. Reached</div>
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Dermont,
Amber. The Starboard Sea</div>
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Eugenides,
Jeffrey. The Virgin Suicides</div>
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Fuller,
Alexandra. Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood</div>
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Green, John.
The Fault in Our Stars</div>
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Harris,
Charlaine. Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse #11)</div>
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Hawkins,
Rachel. Spell Bound (Hex Hall #3)</div>
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Hodkin,
Michelle. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1)</div>
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Hodkin,
Michelle. The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2)</div>
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Hubbard,
Kirsten. Wanderlove</div>
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Ilibagiza,
Immaculee. Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust</div>
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Keire,
Vicki. Worlds Burn Through (The Chronicles of Nowhere #1)</div>
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Kirby,
Jessi. In Honor</div>
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Meyer,
Marissa. Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)</div>
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Morton,
Kate. The Secret Keeper</div>
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Munro,
Alice. Too Much Happiness</div>
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Oliver,
Lauren. Hana (Delirium #1.5)</div>
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Oliver,
Lauren. Pandemonium (Delirium #2)</div>
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Revis, Beth.
A Million Suns</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Reger, Rob.
Piece of Mind (Emily the Strange, #4)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Riggs,
Ransom. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine #1)</div>
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Roth,
Veronica. Divergent (Divergent #1)</div>
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Roth,
Veronica. Free Four: Tobias Tells the Story (Divergent #1.5)</div>
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Roth,
Veronica. Insurgent (Divergent #2)</div>
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Rowling,
J.K. The Casual Vacancy</div>
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Russell,
Karen. Swamplandia!</div>
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Schwab,
Victoria. The Ash-born Boy (The Near Witch #0)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Spillman,
Rob, ed. Gods and Soldiers: The Penguin Anthology of Contemporary African
Writing</div>
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Taylor,
Laini. Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1)</div>
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Taylor,
Laini. Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Taylor,
Laini. Lips Touch: Three Times</div>
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Walker,
Karen Thompson. The Age of Miracles</div>
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<o:p>There are lots of series on this list (because I like to live in the same worlds and with the same characters as long as possible) and lots of books by the same authors (because once you hook me, I'm yours), but I was reading many of these authors for the first time. </o:p></div>
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<o:p>I will always remember 2012 as the year in which I read Laini Taylor's gorgeous prose for the first time and became a forever fan. </o:p><o:p>Her </o:p><i>Daughter of Smoke and Bone</i> goes down as my <b><u>Favorite YA Fantasy of the Year </u></b>(even though it was published in 2011).</div>
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In a year in which my reading list was dominated by dystopian titles (as it often is), Julianna Baggott's <i>Pure </i>wins for <b><u>Best World Building</u></b>, Veronica Roth's <i>Divergent </i>books win for <b><u>Most Addicting Dystopian Series</u></b>, and Beth Revis's <i>A Million Suns</i> wins <b><u>Best Dystopian Sequel</u></b>. </div>
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I'd give the award for <u><b>Best Contemporary YA</b></u> to Kirsten Hubbard's <i>Wanderlove</i> (although it just barely nudged out Jessi Kirby's <i>In Honor</i>). </div>
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Because I devoured SEVEN Cassandra Clare books, I had to create a special category just for her, so the <b><u>Cassandra Clare Award for Best Cassandra Clare Book</u></b> goes to <i>Clockwork Prince, </i>which was by far the most heart-wrenching of her works.</div>
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2012 will also be remembered as the year in which Kate Morton reminded me of why I'm so in love with her prose, her structure, and her storytelling. <i>The Secret Keeper</i> was absolutely one of my favorite reads of the year, and it wins for <b><u>Best Literary Fiction</u></b> and <b><u>Best Historical Novel</u></b> (even though I didn't read a lot of historical fiction).</div>
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2012 is also the year in which I was first introduced to Karen Thompson Walker, whose <i>The Age of Miracles </i>gets my award for <b><u>Best Debut of the Year</u></b> (and also <b><u>Best Coming-of-Age</u></b>, <b><u>Best Literary Sci-Fi</u></b>, and <b><u>Least Bleak Semi-Apocalyptic Book of the Year</u></b>).</div>
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The coming year promises to be just as exciting, as many of my favorite series are wrapping up, a few by favorite authors are just beginning, and I'm sure there were will be plenty of surprises and discoveries along the way. </div>
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If you have any 2013 releases you are really looking forward to (or a book of your own to promote), please leave the titles in the comments and I'll try to add them to my TBR pile!</div>
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Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-20074414350303260882013-01-02T14:07:00.001-06:002013-01-02T14:09:14.560-06:00Saying Good-Bye/Good Riddance to 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Happy New Year! It's 2013, which means the 21st century is officially a teenager! Hard to believe, isn't it? Most days, I feel like the 90s just happened, and here we are well into the second decade after them. Thinking about it that way makes me feel really old, so let's move on, shall we?<br />
<br />
2013! Can you tell I'm excited about the New Year? I'm always excited when a New Year is approaching because a New Year means a new beginning, and a new beginning means a clean slate, endless opportunities, a chance to put the problems of the past year behind me and start anew. But I'm particularly excited about this New Year because, well, 2012 sort of sucked and I'm really glad it's behind me. That's not to say some really wonderful things didn't happen in 2012, because they did, but it was also a year of uncertainty and heartache and illness and uncertainty and isolation and more uncertainty, uncertainty that will unfortunately continue into 2013. But because I cannot control any of the uncertainties in my life, I'm not going to let them consume me the way they have the past several months. I'm going to spend these next few weeks focusing on the things I CAN control, at least somewhat--my work, my eating habits, how I spend my time. And, as is the tradition, I'm going to start the year by saying good-bye to the last one by recalling all my favorite memories, so here they are:<br />
<ol>
<li>Honeymooning in Hawai'i with my wonderful husband, including</li>
<ul>
<li>Taking a helicopter tour of the Na Pali Coast of Kauai</li>
<li>Roadtripping all over the major islands, including south, east, and north Oahu; the northern coast of Maui; Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island; and all over Kauai</li>
<li>Seeing the sunrise at Haleakala and biking 26 miles down the volcano afterward</li>
<li>Sampling local cookies, chocolates, macadamia nuts, shaved ice, and ice cream on the different islands</li>
<li>Watching the sunset on Ke'e Beach on the North Shore of Kauai</li>
<li>Enjoying a Dole Whip at the Dole Plantation on Oahu </li>
</ul>
<li>Taking an epic two-week vacation last summer to Disney World and LA/Disneyland, including</li>
<ul>
<li>Visiting the National Portrait Gallery in DC on our first day and discovering a painting that became the subject for a story cycle I'm planning</li>
<li>Spending an afternoon just sitting in the sand at Huntington Beach</li>
<li>Exploring the rock formations at El Matador Beach in Malibu</li>
<li>Learning about the concept of <i>gesamtkunstwerk</i> (the total work of art) at the "Gustav Klimt: Magic of Line" exhibit at the Getty, one of the most inspiring exhibits I've been to in recent memory</li>
<li>Appreciating the beauty of the "work-vacation," writing, reading, and editing in the California sunshine on the lanai of our hotel room</li>
<li>Returning to Narcoossee's and the Grand Floridian a little more than six months after getting married there</li>
<li>Watching the 4th of July fireworks at the Magic Kingdom, which were spectacular and moving even after an hour rain delay</li>
<li>Hanging out with my little brother and enjoying all the treats he left in our room at Animal Kingdom Lodge almost every night</li>
<li>Going on a "snack tour" of the different parks, trying to get the most out of dining plan snack credits (highlights included the carrot cake cookie at the Writer's Stop and 4th of July cupcake at Pizza Planet in Hollywood Studios, cream-cheese pretzel and of course Dole Whip in Magic Kingdom, and white chocolate elephant cupcake in Animal Kingdom)</li>
<li>Riding Toy Story Mania over and over again with my husband, at both Hollywood Studios and California Adventure. I lost all but one time, but I still had fun because he's the one person I can stand losing to.</li>
<li>Partying at the delightfully whimsical, surreal Mad T Party in DCA</li>
<li>Exploring the new Cars Land (even though Radiator Springs Racers was broken when we were there) and seeing it all lit up in neon lights at night, riding Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, shopping for <i>Cars</i>-themed gifts for the nephews, and eating at Flo's V8 Cafe</li>
<li>Sketching Piglet at Hollywood Studios and the Cheshire Cat at DCA after discovering the animation classes, which might be one of my favorite things to do at Disney </li>
<li>And ending my visit standing in the mists of World of Color, one of my favorite moments of the year</li>
</ul>
<li>Spending my first anniversary in New York with my husband</li>
<ul>
<li>Visiting the Guggenheim for the first time for the incredibly inspiring "Picasso: Black and White" exhibit</li>
<li>Exploring in a more relaxed way, stopping to eat, linger in restaurants, and window-shop along the way</li>
<li>Taking in all the holiday display windows on Fifth Avenue, Madison, and at Macy's</li>
<li>Seeing Rockefeller Center all lit up at night and watching the ice skaters there and at Bryant Park</li>
<li>Celebrating our "paper" anniversary with a <i>Newsies</i> matinee and dinner at the Algonquin Round Table, where Dorothy Parker and other legendary writers and critics used to gather</li>
<li>Reading adaptations of <i>1001 Nights</i>, African folk tales, and Hindu myths in the storybook section of FAO Schwartz</li>
<li>Collecting postcards in the "Charles Dickens: Key to Character" and "Lunch Hour NYC" exhibits at the New York Public Library</li>
<li>Discovering 92Y and their amazing literary programs, including attending a reading by Junot Diaz and Julie Otsuka, and getting to meet Julie Otsuka and have her sign her book afterward</li>
<li>Remembering why I love the city so much and always have</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<div>
Of course, there were many other great memories made in 2012 and great achievements as well (such as finishing the introduction and first two chapters of my dissertation), but these moments were the ones that will stay with me longest, the ones I will try hardest to hold on to. These are the ones I will wrap around me as I move into 2013, that will continue to inspire me and remind me of how grateful I should be for the opportunities I've had, and for all that are to come. </div>
<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisXo2fdAFY2yZiaWsNdcMPMMRTQ-uNT-phq9_kSkZ24aep_-w6DOsOK7mRJvIrlQvJLhfqDo3x04fdVUSGbUyfASnfeiIY-u-Y0CT7GYKmsypJLl7T3kJjKmU3iJ47uEE_1iQhC6mJZuM/s1600/IMG_3127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisXo2fdAFY2yZiaWsNdcMPMMRTQ-uNT-phq9_kSkZ24aep_-w6DOsOK7mRJvIrlQvJLhfqDo3x04fdVUSGbUyfASnfeiIY-u-Y0CT7GYKmsypJLl7T3kJjKmU3iJ47uEE_1iQhC6mJZuM/s400/IMG_3127.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Relaxing in the peaceful central courtyard of the National Portrait Gallery.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJD5iX0NfnmS3OhoFmUrhJRN73iIryWcZYclgvQwbF0hHGtd89eKW47z_IMovgsZaHiN7IYWYeAHbuz-FBuG5Qd80zk5WVn1vzSxNkuxLMbYKr7jMueVngNsUrDlZZBuTKJl9dVqcJmI/s1600/IMG_3243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJD5iX0NfnmS3OhoFmUrhJRN73iIryWcZYclgvQwbF0hHGtd89eKW47z_IMovgsZaHiN7IYWYeAHbuz-FBuG5Qd80zk5WVn1vzSxNkuxLMbYKr7jMueVngNsUrDlZZBuTKJl9dVqcJmI/s400/IMG_3243.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">T.J. recreating some of the bridal portraits Jason Angelini shot of me in the Grand Floridian's Basin White shop.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_I4fSQdVgGjqNOxFE6cA8ejnFoYPYprviVlnIMXFnhk6MJ7aZaqhXBEuzlinzFnNOm2dzhts2rDdehXq8b2epKdY9jeEFH4tMc4WjQeKuutPyS3v9ieuf_hBJYsbd6PtL1W65JjgkIFk/s1600/IMG_3345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_I4fSQdVgGjqNOxFE6cA8ejnFoYPYprviVlnIMXFnhk6MJ7aZaqhXBEuzlinzFnNOm2dzhts2rDdehXq8b2epKdY9jeEFH4tMc4WjQeKuutPyS3v9ieuf_hBJYsbd6PtL1W65JjgkIFk/s400/IMG_3345.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sharing a milkshake at 50s Prime Time Cafe at Hollywood Studios.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5P7uAsGSWZ-8cWKZSKLWhTX38bm6Q-5OL1L6S0UJQLNPRxWeSaEvGy_3urIKt2aOyOqq4OlcPrrBsMxqkCCl3OxD6p6W56mtuY4NutTEjMJvHMpLSKPsX1gG4sCDquXT75hlaK6aRijI/s1600/IMG_3665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5P7uAsGSWZ-8cWKZSKLWhTX38bm6Q-5OL1L6S0UJQLNPRxWeSaEvGy_3urIKt2aOyOqq4OlcPrrBsMxqkCCl3OxD6p6W56mtuY4NutTEjMJvHMpLSKPsX1gG4sCDquXT75hlaK6aRijI/s400/IMG_3665.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the many giraffes that decided to get up-close-and-personal with us during the best Kilamanjaro Safari I've ever been on at Animal Kingdom.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KhDWxyqkbCPCx-ioUwwLUfGS0J7nTixfg2Y3zsTlmipm7iGANfPlTdrj2l96D8wokh0UAIgkovic6TZNlluHUgwpI29cRVUVShBpvy7PvGiFwGqH3CGG42kytjIDS6ArvQJzAmZK1JM/s1600/IMG_3976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KhDWxyqkbCPCx-ioUwwLUfGS0J7nTixfg2Y3zsTlmipm7iGANfPlTdrj2l96D8wokh0UAIgkovic6TZNlluHUgwpI29cRVUVShBpvy7PvGiFwGqH3CGG42kytjIDS6ArvQJzAmZK1JM/s400/IMG_3976.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanging out with Tigger at the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, where we also met Pooh, Mary Poppins, Alice, and the Mad Hatter.<br />
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Making friends with the birds at El Matador Beach, Malibu.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Exploring the sunken gardens at the Getty.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Standing on the steps of the Dolby Theater (formerly Kodak Theater), where the Oscars are held.</td></tr>
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As close to Radiator Springs Racers as we got that day.</div>
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My Cheshire Cat from the "Animation Academy" at DCA.</div>
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Step into the Mad T Party.</div>
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Alice is "Just a Girl" after all.</div>
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Dee and Dum, the coolest/scariest bouncers ever.</div>
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An entire arcade of Alice-themed games? Yes, please.</div>
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Rocking out with the White Rabbit DJ.</div>
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Neon lights of Radiator Springs, Cars Land, DCA.</div>
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Bellagio fountains on crack=World of Color</div>
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Good-bye, California!</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And good-bye, 2012!</span></div>
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Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-89696262895239288632012-08-27T19:22:00.000-05:002012-08-27T19:22:55.586-05:00Highs and LowsI love that feeling I get when I send a finished piece of writing off into the ether, those few moments when I am officially, finally done and have a second to breathe before diving into the next project. Today I submitted my revised dissertation Introduction and Chapter 1 to my committee. Although my dissertation director has already read and provided feedback on both, this will be the first time my committee members are seeing anything, so I'm a little nervous. For now, though, I know I can relax, because I'm sure it will take them a little while to get through the 81 pages I sent them today. Tonight I can read guilt-free, and tomorrow I will be focusing on class prep and my first day of teaching African Literature and Culture. Wednesday I will be back to work on Chapter 2.<br />
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This past Saturday I taught my first four-hour comp class, and it went surprisingly well. I have a small class of adult students, which I love. I didn't even mind the early wake-up (too much) and 1.25 hour drive each way. The class is in State College, which is a lovely town that reminds me of Auburn. When T.J. and I went last weekend and were driving around, I kept saying, "Atherton reminds me of College Street," and "Valley Vista Drive is just like that stretch of University between Winn Dixies." These descriptions won't make any sense unless you've been to Auburn or State College, but if you have been to one of them, I bet you have a pretty clear idea of what the other one looks like now! It's the only town in PA where I've truly felt comfortable, and it's eerie how easily I can find my way around just based on how similar it is to Auburn. Basically, the campus, downtown strip, Wal-Mart, certain fast food restaurants--they are all in pretty much the same places. The drive to State College is along a beautiful stretch of interstate that runs through the mountains and above valleys, so I don't think I'm going to mind these State College Saturdays too much.<br />
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Although things are going fairly well with me right now, my poor husband has been having a really tough time at work the last nine days, which has been rough on both of us. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say this has probably been the worst week of his life, work wise and health wise, and it just seems like everything is hitting all at once. So although things are okay with me, I am extremely worried about him and really wishing we could just get away from this place soon (permanently, not on one of our trips). It looks like the house in Tennessee might have sold (only been on the market 2.5 years!), so that would be a step in the right direction. Fingers crossed for us, please!Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-47797156275464740542012-08-23T14:54:00.001-05:002012-08-23T14:54:09.597-05:00The End Is the Beginning Is the End<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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That title sounds an awful lot like my last one (which also references a song), but today's title comes from a Smashing Pumpkins song I've been listening to on repeat the last few days. </div>
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It's a song I loved in high school and then somehow forgot about until it started playing on the Nine Inch Nails station on Pandora. Normally Pandora is locked on something pleasantly indie like Arcade Fire or Laura Veirs, so the fact that I've been listening to the NIN station all week (which plays mostly NIN, Marilyn Manson, Rage Against the Machine, Korn, and Tool) is a screaming indicator that I'm stressed and more than a little angsty. In moments of crisis, I regress to my fifteen-year-old self.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The music of my youth. How bizarre is it that Paul Ryan claims Rage as his favorite band? </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whenever Marilyn comes on Pandora, I imagine myself in some sort of CSI lab montage, solving crimes and kicking ass nerd-style. I'm not sure why this is, but whenever it happens, I Get Sh*@ Done. </td></tr>
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That "crisis," of course, is the end of summer. Where did the month <i>go</i>?! It feels like we just got back from vacation, the second half of summer stretching ahead, and now I'm two days away from starting fall semester. That's right. I start teaching in two days. <i>On a Saturday</i>. This semester I'm only teaching two classes, African Literature and Culture here at SFU (traditional TR class) and English Comp at a satellite campus in State College. The comp class is for adult students in an accelerated business program, and it meets for seven weeks, Saturday mornings from 8-12. While I'm not excited about getting up at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday to drive over an hour to State College (especially during football season--State College is the home of Penn State), I am excited that the class will be over by mid-October.<br />
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I've spent my last week of summer listening to loud, angry rock music (the benefit of working from home) and planning for my two courses: writing syllabi, assignment sheets, grading rubrics; setting up my Blackboard sites; selecting and scanning readings; and previewing short films for my lit class. Essentially, I had to build two courses from scratch, and I underestimated how much time it would take. My African lit class is going to be a lot of fun, I think, and everyday will be jam-packed with interesting essays, short stories or novel excerpts, short films, and presentations by students, but it's going to be a lot of work, for the students and me both. I'm ready for the challenge, though, and I hope they will be as well. The comp class should have been a bit easier to plan because I've taught comp many times before (though not in recent years), but teaching in such a strange, abbreviated format forced me to rethink the entire structure of the composition class and how to teach writing. I just finished my syllabus and assignments about an hour ago, and I'm satisfied with them at the moment, but I can see myself changing up the syllabus in the coming weeks as I learn more about what it means to teach once a week for <i>four straight hours</i>.<br />
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Needless to say, I've failed at every one of my goals for August. I haven't even completed revisions on Chapter 1 for my committee (due next Monday) because I spent this whole week prepping for the semester and the two weeks before that binge reading. I hadn't finished a book in two months before that because I was so focused on my dissertation, plus I just couldn't get motivated to finish <i>A Game of Thrones</i> and I hate starting new books before I finish the one I'm reading. I know it's like sacrilege or something to say that about George R.R. Martin's series, but while I love the show, I just <i>Can. Not. Finish</i> the first book. Finally, a couple of weeks ago I said screw it, picked another book off my growing TBR pile, and didn't stop reading until eight books later. My husband can attest to this. All too often during those two weeks he would go to sleep, leave for work in the morning, and come home in the evening, and I would be in the exact same spot, happily immersed in another world. I read the entire Mortal Instruments series (five books), Immaculee Ilibagiza's <i>Left to Tell</i> (for work), Karen Thompson Walker's <i>The Age of Miracles</i> (loved!), and Karen Russell's <i>Swamplandia! </i>All that fiction was exactly what I needed to deprogram my analytical, dissertation-writing brain and allow me to start thinking creatively again. I didn't get as much writing done on the novel as I would have liked, but I got a lot of plotting done and thought through some serious road blocks in the narrative. The story and characters are much stronger now. The only problem is that September is just a week away, and then I will have to put away my fiction to work on my dissertation.<br />
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At times like this I have to remind myself,<i> just one more year</i>. One more year, Novel, and this whole dissertation thing will be behind us, and we can finally, truly be together.<br />
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Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-61565836553006619642012-08-06T12:08:00.000-05:002012-08-06T12:25:31.662-05:00Every new beginning is some other beginning's endIt's that time again! You know, the time when I crawl out of the hole where I've been hiding these past couple of months and overwhelm you with information and pictures in an attempt to catch you up to speed. So let's begin, shall we?<br />
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It's been a BIG couple of months here. On June 29th, my full-time job at SFU ended and I officially joined the ranks of the unemployed. Well, at least until the new semester begins on August 25th and then I will be teaching a couple of classes. But still, full-time administrative work ended, and full-time dissertation writing began! (Or it did after a lovely two-week vacation.) Other than the whole no-paycheck thing, I vastly prefer my new situation. My husband comes home and gives me these sad, worried looks because he thinks I'm probably getting bored or depressed or lonely, shut up in the house all day by myself, so I have to keep reminding him, dude, <i>I am living the dream</i>. I think it's hard for non-writers to understand (and even some writers, who prefer to work in coffee shops), but I was <i>built</i> for this.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A friend posted this on Pinterest, and I thought, <i>yup, I may not be the biggest Franzen groupie, but he gets it</i>.</td></tr>
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If I had my druthers, I would never work outside my house again. Sometimes I go days without even leaving the house (which sounds rather pathetic, I admit), but I honestly don't even notice. I'm sure I'd get out a bit more if I lived...well, anywhere else, but since I live in a tiny mountain top "town" (calling it a town is an insult to towns everywhere, but I don't have another word), and about the only excursions within a ten minute distance are to the post office or the university where I worked this past year, I'm pretty content just staying home, working in my kickass office. (One day, when it's clean, I'll post pictures.)<br />
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So that's where I've been the last three weeks, working in my office at home. The day after my job ended, T.J. and I headed to D.C. to begin our sixteen-day vacation, which included a day in D.C., nearly a week at Walt Disney World, and eight days in California. We had an <i>amazing</i> time, and after this blog my next few posts will be a series on our trip. (I promise they won't be as long as my Hawai'i posts, though.) When we got back, I began life as a full-time writer, and in 2.5 weeks I wrote forty-five pages on my dissertation. Forty-five pages! For those of you keeping track (i.e. no one), that's more than I wrote the entire previous year combined. So, yeah, the Single System that I've been preaching? WORKS. My critique partner Jamie and I text each other every morning to set an agenda (what we hope to accomplish that day), and then the next day we check in to see how we did and set a new agenda. Every couple of weeks, we exchange our writing and give feedback. On August 1, I had a sixty-page chapter to submit to my director, right on schedule, and we spent Friday emailing back and forth as she was reading it. I have some small revisions to make and some research she wants me to add, but nothing major. I can probably knock everything out in less than two days, and then I get to forward it on to my other committee members at the end of the month! So yeah, <i>progress</i>. The light is now clearly at the end of the tunnel, whereas before I was afraid I was going to be lost in the dark forever.<br />
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My next chapter isn't due until Nov. 1, so the pressure is off for a little while. Even though I'm still going to be researching and reading this next month (and revising Chapter 1), I'm not going to start writing Chapter 2 until September because I'm participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this month. For those of you who don't know, the folks behind NaNoWriMo run two similar programs in the summer months, during the months of June and August. As I've mentioned before, I usually attempt NaNoWriMo only to give up after a week or two. November is a hellish month for teachers, AND it only has thirty days (and a major holiday), so it just never works out for me. But the stars aligned this August and I said, if I'm ever going to finish a NaNoWriMo, now is the time! I've got 31 days to work with this time around (1613 words a day instead of 1667--trust me, it makes a difference), school doesn't start until the 25th, and we don't have any trips planned. I'm starting a bit behind because T.J.'s parents were here visiting since Thursday and we went away for the weekend, but I'm confident I can make up that time in the next few weeks.<br />
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Because no post of mine would be complete without a ton of travel pics, I'm going to conclude my post today with a few from this weekend, when we hit up the Harrisburg/Hershey/Lancaster area:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had lunch at Hershey Pantry Saturday, which was <i>muy delicioso</i>. Everything we tried was nom-worthy. (I had the turkey and cranberry sandwich with Swiss on <i>cinnamon bread. </i>Seriously, every sandwich I eat from now on must be on cinnamon bread.) The main decorations in the little cafe are ceramic coffee tumblers, which you can purchase. This one grabbed my attention because, even though it's about breast cancer, the message resonated all the more in light of recent chicken-related events. (And that's all I'm going to say on that topic.)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After lunch we had a surprise for T.J.'s dad--a visit to the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum, one of the biggest and best collections of antique cars in the country. I'm not a car person, by any means, and even I enjoyed the museum thoroughly. Very cool cars throughout, and I was snapping away at some I thought I might use in historical stories. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the first Corvettes, parked at the drive-in, natch. I can just see James Dean in it now.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvAbnqWX-SQhsPu_FZP6J6qfKok3k6gH5966rH_byjo1IbzhedyFKSnOTz1f6vAy57v8D5Q-B88xgmdyGRbKf9f3xDFDZhu2017d-44pFQAzJ79IigsBvjUUVXc5tNeibSYRrRZks7h4/s1600/iPhone+pics+288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvAbnqWX-SQhsPu_FZP6J6qfKok3k6gH5966rH_byjo1IbzhedyFKSnOTz1f6vAy57v8D5Q-B88xgmdyGRbKf9f3xDFDZhu2017d-44pFQAzJ79IigsBvjUUVXc5tNeibSYRrRZks7h4/s400/iPhone+pics+288.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'75 Chevy Caprice, which had a starring role in one of my short stories from my undergrad thesis.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqWvs0hzm1grrykLF-d-IV8Ychw-MWlQY9beCDhKNaTOAlvumb2Xxmud7IuKhneH_dYP2dpYzOiC1ASvNcChE4QlKMYwqgw66QKzQ-FqdIuPr-NMvgO7Iex0QJUd9LhhrWgb3_8Pvd5Y/s1600/iPhone+pics+296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqWvs0hzm1grrykLF-d-IV8Ychw-MWlQY9beCDhKNaTOAlvumb2Xxmud7IuKhneH_dYP2dpYzOiC1ASvNcChE4QlKMYwqgw66QKzQ-FqdIuPr-NMvgO7Iex0QJUd9LhhrWgb3_8Pvd5Y/s320/iPhone+pics+296.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our next stop was Hershey's Chocolate World, where sadly I took few pictures. It was a nasty, rainy day, so Chocolate World was super crowded with people taking refuge. That may have been partially why we were disappointed in the place; there were just too many people and it was a bit disorganized. We did the "factory" ride, the tasting class (basically just the pre-wrapped Hershey's chocolates anyone can buy at the store), and the make-your-own candy bar station. Here is my white chocolate base being filled with yummy inclusions.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-bFXUwg5t2djy_zfNSFxAu7NhE4dG0LLgxmrELTF1YJLxacd3jCcNbfd7xCavBk9CgKa_68PjO9XT2JFmU3H2zsajQG5YudKuK44GnG9PRokhBhQdJk-mb9pULs4xfE6XdWV45xb9h5M/s1600/iPhone+pics+297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-bFXUwg5t2djy_zfNSFxAu7NhE4dG0LLgxmrELTF1YJLxacd3jCcNbfd7xCavBk9CgKa_68PjO9XT2JFmU3H2zsajQG5YudKuK44GnG9PRokhBhQdJk-mb9pULs4xfE6XdWV45xb9h5M/s320/iPhone+pics+297.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And now proceeding to the chocolate coating station.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sP9lqroUF_YKYLvTfCMWQtIVo5CygZes6UXG4Edipag3Ecg6sZWl8Fx0GNro8L7xRiok4_lnGepWg1AWfAjFarYCZAQ6_aveWJoP0iHHJD888qVBxYT8-xSS17Nf_hYkECbAprohDS0/s1600/iPhone+pics+299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sP9lqroUF_YKYLvTfCMWQtIVo5CygZes6UXG4Edipag3Ecg6sZWl8Fx0GNro8L7xRiok4_lnGepWg1AWfAjFarYCZAQ6_aveWJoP0iHHJD888qVBxYT8-xSS17Nf_hYkECbAprohDS0/s320/iPhone+pics+299.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Done!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisaIGfDV2mC5XZjDNmAmnT3a7J4mVFSB6zR_sD660Evtsg22eKHo0GM2nrrh9DvyWsAjHpqt_kWcHGo_hakFUSC7Fm5Mp8KIS0J3nyNwhgDk-IYeopca6C0BLTAR3pcLSoL_jCeYUi00M/s1600/iPhone+pics+300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisaIGfDV2mC5XZjDNmAmnT3a7J4mVFSB6zR_sD660Evtsg22eKHo0GM2nrrh9DvyWsAjHpqt_kWcHGo_hakFUSC7Fm5Mp8KIS0J3nyNwhgDk-IYeopca6C0BLTAR3pcLSoL_jCeYUi00M/s320/iPhone+pics+300.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now on to the giant cooler.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIcDzyj-77czLTqHUx3-ZH-da7cFyN6FS1I0RAaHCiyJtGiCacSK7jFbVN9nKJpiB0BJvFHPNiT9hV5UuffsJXhUJWL2vHQJJSyJS9pP2tvTQFj0o4DhZ2KJ67-dnSiaDAmgR-eDWMryg/s1600/iPhone+pics+303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIcDzyj-77czLTqHUx3-ZH-da7cFyN6FS1I0RAaHCiyJtGiCacSK7jFbVN9nKJpiB0BJvFHPNiT9hV5UuffsJXhUJWL2vHQJJSyJS9pP2tvTQFj0o4DhZ2KJ67-dnSiaDAmgR-eDWMryg/s320/iPhone+pics+303.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the end, you get to design your own label and the bars are nicely packaged. I was pretty proud of mine, and the bar inside was surprisingly yummy! I included butterscotch and butter toffee in mine, so I was a bit worried how it would turn out, but I needn't have worried.</td></tr>
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Chocolate World and the Make-Your-Own Candy Station weren't quite what we were expecting (everything was assembled on a factory line and behind glass, even though we had to wear hairnets, aprons, and gloves), but I still had fun. Once the rains cleared, we headed to our hotel in downtown Harrisburg for the night and ate at a wonderful little Irish pub, <a href="http://www.mcgrathspub.net/">McGrath's</a>, a couple of blocks away. If you're ever in the area, check out the Shepherd's Pie. Definitely the best I've ever eaten!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5aWeJwrsnEAiSD0krNiNDwmnkBiXFCX-OQZ0-56iuqlejTICHlFBpqHxVba8s8XcoWNUqTpvOfbXuP05I20cglrfPVWcy-aZg6m_qTg2egrkR370MlHUc1OmoxNGyjswh_8BULaDXo64/s1600/iPhone+pics+305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5aWeJwrsnEAiSD0krNiNDwmnkBiXFCX-OQZ0-56iuqlejTICHlFBpqHxVba8s8XcoWNUqTpvOfbXuP05I20cglrfPVWcy-aZg6m_qTg2egrkR370MlHUc1OmoxNGyjswh_8BULaDXo64/s320/iPhone+pics+305.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Obviously not a picture of Shepherd's Pie, but the trees outside our hotel which were FULL of black birds. They were screeching so loudly I was sure I was in a scene from <i>The Birds </i>and was about to be Tippi Hedroned.</td></tr>
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The next day, it was back to Hershey to tour Hershey Gardens...<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Gjgzd-HHIQkyYblXGQ_2vu4L1Ff-mYJMdV8UTKJraXggBK_KOIO1QGKvJFhIcGrrXFAcqeCzar2L-jvOa62C8AAKEbsSDE3zuj-U6dJFlO5dH3Ci_OAIAqhBb2vMgcv3P4BjWe6GBzM/s1600/iPhone+pics+308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Gjgzd-HHIQkyYblXGQ_2vu4L1Ff-mYJMdV8UTKJraXggBK_KOIO1QGKvJFhIcGrrXFAcqeCzar2L-jvOa62C8AAKEbsSDE3zuj-U6dJFlO5dH3Ci_OAIAqhBb2vMgcv3P4BjWe6GBzM/s400/iPhone+pics+308.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the butterfly house.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RKY9Y5Bg_d3TuxfcG5zyC37lI_-uHSO9qyPD-R3sqzONoJ619PK8dRrReVyEXAMO7cNUSXbb9WQLJ3vhOjULsnZqheJfHcS4IVhixArmeixLVi7M7eg-634H7NFxRVcLy_AJpPktfFI/s1600/iPhone+pics+310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RKY9Y5Bg_d3TuxfcG5zyC37lI_-uHSO9qyPD-R3sqzONoJ619PK8dRrReVyEXAMO7cNUSXbb9WQLJ3vhOjULsnZqheJfHcS4IVhixArmeixLVi7M7eg-634H7NFxRVcLy_AJpPktfFI/s400/iPhone+pics+310.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The butterfly house wasn't the best I've visited, but it had lots of unusual butterflies I hadn't seen before (like the zebra swallowtail), and the coolest thing was this case of cocoons, where you could actually see butterflies being "born" (breaking out of their cocoons). These are two new butterflies.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9V2_u1iTw2WIrnhUzpIiYaUxsw8C0i5J4bfQfl2rHs6rvBeBWaIxKuAfRNEihpXwbDaB7Da-dlyklgZEtLTiSZhOGZQahWNHWuDEr6nrDG5QX2pYnCOfmr6Jjsopt8EnsB6_yxkhpIQ/s1600/iPhone+pics+323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9V2_u1iTw2WIrnhUzpIiYaUxsw8C0i5J4bfQfl2rHs6rvBeBWaIxKuAfRNEihpXwbDaB7Da-dlyklgZEtLTiSZhOGZQahWNHWuDEr6nrDG5QX2pYnCOfmr6Jjsopt8EnsB6_yxkhpIQ/s640/iPhone+pics+323.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7b89NaZq4Y1VmO8hfnwBMW4iFaYKMt9H-9wAYSkMU9xZOwADHFOvdxLBMNJoc9rZx0cEpf67CwJa2_BvG9iX03BjN0hqefu_ZxlX8u6wyJ_uF6XHXgAiMio-QOVfS_s8ZQl8oo7-2to/s1600/iPhone+pics+324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7b89NaZq4Y1VmO8hfnwBMW4iFaYKMt9H-9wAYSkMU9xZOwADHFOvdxLBMNJoc9rZx0cEpf67CwJa2_BvG9iX03BjN0hqefu_ZxlX8u6wyJ_uF6XHXgAiMio-QOVfS_s8ZQl8oo7-2to/s400/iPhone+pics+324.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Then we drove over to Lancaster to tour the Amish House and Farm and take the bus tour around the Amish countryside...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2COjQ7FQwb6901Bie5iWzawyAU7kzycTMbKwObvLmLCq8oF_7rA1FvyQyYoVcjnMVBetvopLlsS9YouwAjhCL_10jTT01qNgxoZicQzGMQ9JJRiMidVEXqfaC2sxeSZmYE8tBLzBeFM/s1600/iPhone+pics+328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2COjQ7FQwb6901Bie5iWzawyAU7kzycTMbKwObvLmLCq8oF_7rA1FvyQyYoVcjnMVBetvopLlsS9YouwAjhCL_10jTT01qNgxoZicQzGMQ9JJRiMidVEXqfaC2sxeSZmYE8tBLzBeFM/s400/iPhone+pics+328.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back of Amish House, built in the early nineteenth-century (1805, I think)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsRGDcP1u_nFrjPzsjZxyMUxa2iZx7rdsVFVXYtYKLmzLX0mAJ0DWMOcHVvANzyzcH0R9sM6EV1WKY1tijMSAq3vXF_kOW4FOXO7E9Ue79VaD2E_GYgzz022RnZ0mSkoavKo2jnnD4wY/s1600/iPhone+pics+330.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsRGDcP1u_nFrjPzsjZxyMUxa2iZx7rdsVFVXYtYKLmzLX0mAJ0DWMOcHVvANzyzcH0R9sM6EV1WKY1tijMSAq3vXF_kOW4FOXO7E9Ue79VaD2E_GYgzz022RnZ0mSkoavKo2jnnD4wY/s400/iPhone+pics+330.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amish schoolhouse</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-TRdpQIe4Lr9bMJWbpsD7Ax4jVSKnvjzvBFPYsG-T5YkZV1lXJQ8GBjuRbYORbic3j2RvUnvwJGSs9VLBxNZQH6URZ-V-RGpWMRNnvFQ2FD4NEk7NTPhLMRZgGTEhSy4qmfnPJnBt1c/s1600/iPhone+pics+327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-TRdpQIe4Lr9bMJWbpsD7Ax4jVSKnvjzvBFPYsG-T5YkZV1lXJQ8GBjuRbYORbic3j2RvUnvwJGSs9VLBxNZQH6URZ-V-RGpWMRNnvFQ2FD4NEk7NTPhLMRZgGTEhSy4qmfnPJnBt1c/s400/iPhone+pics+327.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the many covered bridges in the area. We saw this one on our bus tour, which we all agreed was the highlight of the weekend. We learned so much about the Amish community and culture, and since it was a Sunday, we saw dozens of young Amish couples out in their "courting" buggies, kids on their scooters, Amish teens playing volleyball, and families out visiting. No pictures of any of that though, of course, out of respect for their beliefs.</td></tr>
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All in all, it was a great weekend! But it's good to be back and working again today. I'm excited about the progress I've made and about all the projects I have left to complete, so it's a good life right now. :-)<br />
<br />
<br />Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-5236777646575419822012-06-15T12:38:00.000-05:002012-06-15T12:48:04.613-05:00The Single System: Part 2Dissertation writing has been a struggle this week. Nothing has come easily, not even reading and note-taking, and most days I end up feeling like I've made little progress. My Accountability Chart has helped me from becoming too negative, though, because even when I feel like I haven't made much progress, I can look at my chart and see all the little tasks I've completed that are moving me forward, as well as how much time I've actually been devoting to my work. And I have been putting in the hours, even if I have less to show for it (and very little writing).<br />
<br />
Like most writing coaches, Single argues that establishing a set writing routine is one of the most important components of becoming a fluent writer and finishing the dissertation on time. I firmly believe this because when I'm writing every day the writing comes much more easily than when I take a few days off. Besides the fact that I'm sleep deprived and have a hard time writing when I'm tired, the reason I've been struggling this week is because I'm trying to get back into a routine after 2.5 weeks off. Before Tuesday, the last time I'd written was May 23rd, when I submitted my introduction to my director. All that time off may have been good for my relationships and for my tan, but it was horrible for my scholarship. I'm paying the price now.<br />
<br />
That's why I'm recommitting to the Single System and my writing routine. It's going to be tough because we are going on vacation the first two weeks of July, and I know better than to believe that I can work on my dissertation at Disney World that first week, but I'm hoping while we are in L.A. the following week (and T.J. is at a conference most days), I can at least put in a couple of hours of writing each morning. I've never been good at keeping up my writing routine while on vacation, but I'm realizing more and more that I'm going to have to learn to do it if I want to stay on track.<br />
<br />
Because I'm such a visual person, today I made a calendar for the next year, with all my new dissertation deadlines filled in. I like to see things spatially, to see how one month relates to the next and the next, and my daily planner and monthly wall calendar just weren't cutting it anymore. Thank goodness we had a giant whiteboard just sitting in the basement, begging to be put to good use.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJvxiLe-0wJa2kf9LAmXELAEi_BQcMyY_BufFTVTuW0maUvZvhAqyd5ZrnXaEjCfl3IBvrQkbOvi03XOzEKpqU91p7LPMj4xLi3x-0pc4jhFhVdkk4NFAsbaE3jB8xQWQ077mFhCyhKU/s1600/calendar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJvxiLe-0wJa2kf9LAmXELAEi_BQcMyY_BufFTVTuW0maUvZvhAqyd5ZrnXaEjCfl3IBvrQkbOvi03XOzEKpqU91p7LPMj4xLi3x-0pc4jhFhVdkk4NFAsbaE3jB8xQWQ077mFhCyhKU/s640/calendar.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The green highlights are my newly established chapter due dates.</td></tr>
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Now thanks to this new calendar, I can see exactly what it will take to be finished with the diss. by next summer so I can graduate in August. And if I need to push graduation back for job-search purposes, I can graduate in Fall 2013. But either way, if I can keep to this schedule I will be DONE in 2013, right on schedule.<br />
<br />
The calendar was my idea, not Single's, but as promised I thought I'd share a few more techniques from her book that are working for me.<br />
<br />
1) <b>Establishing a Writing Routine.</b> I've just mentioned this one, but Single has some very specific advice about establishing a routine that has been helpful to me. Most of her ideas I've heard before, but I didn't put them into practice until I read her book. As I mentioned in my last post, I used to plan my writing days based on word count or page count. Even though I would typically set the bar low, like "write one page " or "write 500 words" each day, each time I missed my goal I would feel discouraged, and I began falling further and further behind. With Single's help, though, I started planning my writing days based on length of time instead. I'd say, "I'm going to write from 9-11 today." And no matter how poorly the writing was going, I had to stay in that chair and work the whole two hours. Eventually, once my mind finally realized that I wasn't going to surrender and let it watch syndicated sitcoms or play on Pinterest, it would finally give in and words would come. They might trickle in at first, but the more often I adhered to my routine, the more easily they'd come.<br />
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What's most important about establishing a writing routine is consistency, something that's difficult for most grad students or people who are working full-time, as I am. It's been easier since the semester ended, and I'm really looking forward to July when (after vacation) I will be a full-time dissertation writer. But even then I know I will have to be vigilant in keeping up my routine, something that's difficult to do on your own. That's why Single recommends finding a writing partner and talking with that person <i>everyday </i>when you are supposed to be writing. She recommends finding someone whose writing issues are different from your own and establishing a similar writing routine, so that you can call each other (or text, email, IM, etc.) everyday at a pre-set time to discuss what you plan on doing that day/what you did do/what your concerns are/where you want to go next. Most of us could use the extra accountability, as well as the chance to just talk about our work, to bounce our ideas off another writer. Thinking aloud can be one of the most important parts of the prewriting process, and I know that I need to get better at working with others through this whole dissertation thing and not always try to go it alone. It's tough now that I'm a thousand miles away from my friends and cohort at Auburn, but Single's method could work anywhere, as long as you have someone with whom to connect.<br />
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Other techniques she suggests that are important to a writing routine are 1) writing only during your prescribed time--don't try writing beyond, even if the writing is going really well, because that's a recipe for causing writer's block later on. If you say you're stopping at 11:00, stop at 11:00.; 2) having a designated writing space and keeping it clean--take time after every writing period to clean up the space around you, so that it will be more inviting the next day when you sit down; and 3) begin everyday by re-saving your current project with the day's date--such as Chapter 1_120615. Always put the year first in the date (since most dissertations and books take multiple years to write), so that your files will be in chronological order. This way you will always have all of your old versions in case the file you are currently working on becomes corrupted or in case you accidentally delete something you want back. Single also suggests starting a Deletes folder (Chapter 1_Deletes) that you keep open, and as you delete something from your main document, you move it to your deletes document, just in case you decide later you want something back or in case your committee asks for something you had previously included but then decided you didn't need anymore.<br />
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2) <b>Overcoming Writer's Block</b>. According to Bob Boice, there are seven reasons why writer's block develops; Single concentrates on four of them: perfectionism, procrastination, impatience, and depression/dysphoria. As luck(?) would have it, the first three love to take turns interfering with my writing process, and I have an especially complex relationship with the first two.<br />
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Perfectionists (like me) like to edit as we write. We get hung up on having a perfect opening paragraph to the point where we can't move beyond that until it's in place. We get stuck when we can't find the exact word we want or the perfect quote, so we may spend half our writing time trying to find one word instead of continuing to write. This is something I've struggled with for years in my writing, and although Single hasn't cured me, she has at least given me the tools to begin. She says you should never write your introductory paragraph first (something I'm still trying to overcome). When you come to a place where you don't have the right quote, word, etc., put <b><i>blank</i></b> and keep going. Sometimes I do this, but I used to put a physical blank (_______________). By writing the word blank, later I can do a search for the word and replace it with the appropriate word or phrase. Doing a search ensures that I won't miss any when I'm revising. Single also suggests sharing non-perfect drafts with your writing partner or writing group. Perfectionists need to get used to others seeing our work when it <i>isn't</i> the best that we can make it. We need to get over that fear. We need to get used to having "shitty first drafts," which I've never allowed myself to have. I'm working on that. I will probably always be working on that.<br />
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Procrastinators (again, me) suffer from writer's block because we have developed bad habits (among other reasons). Mine began my first year of college, and ever since then I have written every paper the day or night before (some the day of). In grad school, when I usually had two or three 20-25 page seminar papers each semester, I could easily churn out 10-15 pages of decent prose the day of or day before a paper was due. I might have been researching the topic and thinking about it for weeks before, but I never did any writing until just a few days before the deadline. As you can imagine, this method does not work <i>at all </i>when writing a dissertation, which is why a writing routine is so important. The problem for procrastinators is that even when we have a writing routine, it's difficult to get words on the page because we don't feel the <i>urgency</i> that we feel the night before something is due. Our bodies have become used to writing with that adrenaline rush, to the point where we have convinced ourselves that we can write no other way. And that just isn't a sustainable process when writing a dissertation. So one of the methods Single suggests for procrastinators is to journal before starting each writing session. You can journal on the screen or on paper, but just take ten or fifteen minutes (or however much you need) at the beginning of every writing session to start jotting down ideas, questions, or concerns. Write in your own voice, just as if you were talking to someone about your project, and hopefully that will jump start you into the writing process. Journaling directly into your outline can also help.<br />
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At the end of every writing session, take a few minutes to type up a few notes about where you want to go from there tomorrow. If the ideas are really flowing, you don't want to lose those ideas, but you also don't want to write beyond your allotted time and risk burnout from overwriting. When you start back up the next day, skip directly to the bottom of the document and only read the last couple of paragraphs and your notes. Don't read more than that or you (especially if you are a perfectionist) will get bogged down in revision before you even have a draft. (I know. That's exactly what I used to do.)<br />
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3) <b>Revising</b>. Revision is one of the hardest parts of the writing process for procrastinators because we tend to revise throughout, and it's also difficult for procrastinators because we wait until the last minute and then don't have enough time for true revision. By following a strict writing routine, the goal is to get down a rough draft, no matter how terrible, and then have adequate time for all stages of revising. Single discusses two types of revising: organizational and content.<br />
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Organizational revising asks you to examine your outline (more on that in a minute) and look for more logical methods of organizational. First, you make the corrections on the outline itself, moving the parts to where you think they better fit, then, once your outline is the way you want it, you go into the actual document and move your sections to match the new outline. Getting feedback from writing partners on your outline can also be helpful, because they might see a more logical organization from a reader's perspective.<br />
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At the content level, revision should be done section by section. Single suggests using sections no larger than five pages and printing them in two-page view, so you can see more of the section all at once. (This really works for visual people like me.) Then work through the section paragraph by paragraph. Make sure the first paragraph of the section previews the rest of the section. Then make sure each paragraph only has one main idea (topic sentence) and supporting ideas. Smooth transitions and make sure you have an adequate review paragraph or review sentences that allow you to switch between ideas or present complex, intertwined ideas. Next, work on revising your own writing idiosyncrasies. If you know there are certain words or phrases you often repeat, do a search for them and try to find new words to replace them. Search your document for any other over-used words or phrases that you might not know about. And don't forget to look for all your <i>blanks</i>. Finally, proofread carefully, making sure that your document is free of typographical errors. When you're finished, reading the entire thing from beginning to end. Turn off your inner critic (so easy to do, haha) and try to read as a reader does, just enjoying the work, not constantly looking for errors.<br />
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4) <b>Outlining--short to long</b>. I know I should have put outlining before the other points I listed today, but to me outlining was the most important thing I learned from Single, so I saved the best for last. Honestly, outlines have never worked for me. It's weird, because normally I like lists and organization, but for some reason my right brain has always resisted the kind of regimentation outlines seem to require. I've especially always resisted outlining in my fiction writing (which is going to be the subject for my next blog post), but Single taught me an entirely new way to look at outlining, and now I honestly don't believe that I could finish my dissertation without one.<br />
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The first version of the outline, the "one-page outline," begins with your working title and your focus statement, a few sentences describing your dissertation. I've also heard this described as your "elevator pitch"--basically what you'd tell someone who asked what your dissertation is about in the thirty-seconds-or-less it takes to ride a few floors in the elevator. (Longer if you are in a packed car riding from the first to ninth floor of Haley.) After the focus statement, you list your chapters, and under them, a bulleted list of what will be discussed in the individual chapters. Sounds obvious, right? This is your first draft of the outline, and it's a starting place for you and dissertation director to begin talking about the big picture of your dissertation. (Single also suggests including a copy of your outline on top of each chapter you turn into your director. That way your director can easily see how that chapter fits into the plan for the dissertation, without having to ask or referring back to previous chapters.) After you've met with your director, you can begin turning your one-page outline into a long outline.<br />
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First, you estimate how many pages each chapter will be and write that out on your outline. Then, you give each chapter its own focus statement and organize the bulleted lists into the order in which the sections should be. Guess what comes next? Focus statements for each section. Under those focus statements, you begin listing all those citeable notes (remember those?) you created when you were researching. You also start adding additional subheadings, and Single suggests writing out your subheadings and topics as sentences instead of phrases. That way you are practicing writing prose and developing your academic voice.<br />
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As you develop your chapter sections and subsections, you can also estimate how many pages each one of them will be. Make sure that all your chapters add up to enough to satisfy the minimum requirement of your department. Once you have all of your citeable notes placed (and you might also keep a "miscellaneous" section for notes you think you'll use but you aren't sure where yet), look to see where you have a profession of notes and where you might need to do more research. More than likely, you will have done more research than you needed to. Start organizing the notes into the order you believe you will use them within the subsections, and also add placeholders where you know certain kinds of information is needed.<br />
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When you're done, you will have a solid skeleton of your entire dissertation, beginning to end, a map for you to follow when the writing gets hard or you feel blocked. It's a good idea to keep a copy of the outline with you at all times, and when you have some downtime, scan over the outline to refresh your memory and keep the wheels turning. That way, the next time you sit down to write, you won't have to do as much to remind yourself of where you are and where you are going. Of course, outlines will change, and you should never feel too tied to one. Outlines will (and should) evolve. But when I finished mine, for the first time writing a dissertation felt <i>doable</i>. I could see the dissertation as a series of five and ten page chunks of information, and I could also see how all those chunks worked together to make a whole.<br />
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Writing a dissertation is still hard. Some days are easier than others, but each one presents its own challenges, and I'm constantly having to adapt to the new obstacles that are presented. But thanks to Single's book, I now have the determination to push through those rough patches and come out better on the other side. I focus on all I've learned and accomplished, not on how much further I have to go. Now I better understand my own self-sabotaging tendencies and understand that I'm not alone in them, that thousands of other people have had the same struggles and overcome them, and so can I.Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8224363588614614163.post-40413044512118942402012-06-11T15:07:00.000-05:002012-06-11T15:49:15.418-05:00The Single System: Part IThis weekend T.J. and I flew to Alabama for my good friend Carrie's wedding, and we just got back at 1:30 this morning. We had a fun but full four days in the South, including spending Thursday with his family in Huntsville, Sunday with his family in Birmingham, and Friday and Saturday in Demopolis/Linden, attending to various bridesmaid duties (luncheon, errands, rehearsal/dinner, hours and hours at the salon, pictures pre- and post-ceremony, ceremony and reception). In all, we spent close to 20 hours in the car and 4 hours in flight over the past four days, twelve-ish hours playing with the four 5-and-under nephews, and approximately sixteen hours in social situations, so needless to say, this introvert is <i>exhausted.</i><br />
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And for once I am very happy to be home in Pennsylvania, with no traveling on the agenda for another three weeks. Instead, I will be working hard on my first dissertation chapter, as well as several other writing projects in the works, including a narrative article, a short story, and some detailed novel outlining. As much as I love to travel, I'm looking forward to getting back to a regular writing routine.<br />
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A routine that will begin tomorrow. After my batteries have recharged.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What I wish I were doing today...</td></tr>
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Instead of actually <i>working</i> on my dissertation, today I'm reviewing the first chapters of <i>Demystifying Dissertation Writing</i>, the book I mentioned in my last post that completely revolutionizing my dissertation research and writing process. As promised, I thought I would share some of the tips and strategies I've learned from the book for all those out there who might find themselves in a situation similar to the one I'm in.<br />
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Here's the thing: no one really tells you how hard writing a dissertation can be. Okay, <i>one</i> person told me, but she was a fellow grad student, a couple of years ahead of me, and when she told me that writing a dissertation was the hardest thing she'd ever done, I didn't believe her. I was about to begin comps preparation at the time, and I was pretty sure <i>that</i> would be the hardest part of my PhD program. After all, during comps you are at the mercy of your committee, and you spend months reading 100+ texts and then over a period of three days take two three-hour exams and one four-hour exam, each with three or four questions, and are expected to write roughly fifteen pages of reasonably coherent prose expounding on a carefully selected handful of the 100+ texts you spent months reading. (Or at least that's how my program does it.) Then, once you've received word that you've passed all three written exams, you must face your committee for a two-hour oral exam, where they can drill you on any questions they felt you didn't answer completely, any texts they didn't chose to question you about on the written exam, or basically anything else they can think of. Now, my comps experience ended up being tolerable, but I was <i>dreading</i> them, especially the oral portion, in a way I've never dreaded anything in my life. So of course I didn't think dissertation writing would be worse than that.<br />
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But it is.<br />
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First, I told myself that writing a 200+-page dissertation wasn't really any different from writing eight or nine seminar papers, and since I'd written two or three of those every semester of coursework, and usually in a 2-3 week period at the end of the semester, that didn't sound so bad.<br />
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When I realized writing a dissertation is<i> nothing like writing a seminar paper</i>, I convinced myself that if I just wrote a page a day, every day, I would be done in two-thirds of a year or less. Piece of cake. But then a year came and went, and I had <i>nothing </i>written to show for it. I had scraps of paragraphs and chapters written here and there, but nothing concrete, nothing substantial.<br />
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My dissertation director encouraged me to write my second chapter first, before I'd even written my introduction, because I'd done the most research on it and had whittled down all the necessary research into an intense 27-page, single-spaced document. I wrote the first ten pages and quit because I was so frustrated by trying to write the <i>middle</i> of the dissertation before I wrote the beginning. That method works for some people, but it didn't work for me. I'm a very linear writer, and I need a beginning before I feel comfortable writing beyond that.<br />
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Above all, I struggled to hold myself accountable. During coursework, there had been deadlines, weekly reminders or discussions of seminar paper topics. The professors had often required us to submit annotated bibliographies, topic statements, and even conference-length drafts well in advance of the final due date. They had discussed length, organization, incorporation of theory, and style. But when it came time to write the dissertation, all of that vanished. There was no professor standing over me prompting me along. I'm sure my dissertation director could have given me all of those things, including deadlines, but I didn't think to ask. It seemed expected that at this point I should be able to handle all of those things on my own.<br />
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But I couldn't, so I stopped working. Or I would start, grow frustrated, and quit again for weeks or even months at a time. It didn't help that in August I moved to Pennsylvania, a thousand miles from my director and cohort, and have no real academic support system here. My brief, once-a-semester visits rejuvenated me, but only temporarily. I needed a way to hold myself accountable, but that's something I've always struggled with.<br />
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Then in April I read on a higher ed blog about this book, <i>Demystifying Dissertation Writing</i>, and it sounded like everything I needed in my life: accountability, structure, and clarity on the dissertation writing process. I ordered the book from Amazon, and two days later when it came in the mail I devoured the first half of it. The book isn't meant to be processed in that way, but once I started reading about the Single System (author Peg Boyle Single's name for the process she devised), I wanted to understand it and start using it immediately. And I did.<br />
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The book is organized like the dissertation writing courses Single used to teach at the University of Vermont. This sort of course, IMO, should be <i>required </i>of all doctoral students. It would best be taken at the very end of coursework, perhaps in the semester one takes one's comps. If I'd taken a course like Single's then, I have no doubt I'd be almost <i>finished</i> with my dissertation, not barely starting it. So it's for that reason that I suggest doctoral students get Single's book <i>before </i>comps, if their university doesn't offer a similar course. The first couple of chapters go over basics like how to choose an advisor (director) and topic (and she offers excellent advice), so that's why I suggest getting the book as early as possible in your graduate career. I'm going to skip those parts since I was already well beyond the point-of-no-return when I got Single's book, and instead I'm going to focus on just a handful of points that completely changed my dissertation writing process.<br />
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1) <b>Accountability</b>. I've already mentioned that I struggled here. I'm a terrible procrastinator, which is really just another way of saying I'm terrible at holding myself accountable. In meetings with my director, she was nothing but positive about what little progress I'd made, so that didn't help. What I really needed was for her to hit me up side the head and demand to know what I was waiting around for, or to put the fear of God into me like I know she's perfectly capable of doing. But she didn't, so I grew even more lax. I set deadlines for myself (small ones, like write one page a day or write 500 words a day), and never met them. I mean <i>never</i> met them. Deadlines sort of start losing any meaning when you miss them everyday without consequence. But then I started using an Accountability Chart similar to the one Single uses on page 48 of her book. I'm not sure if that's what she calls it, but that's what I've labeled it as on my computer. Here's one of my early charts:<br />
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You can adapt your Accountability Chart to meet your own needs or goals, but what I'd realized was that if I based my goals on pages written or word count, I wrote nothing. But when I based my chart on time spent working, I felt accomplished and pushed myself to do more. And time spent working can be anything that furthers your project, whether it be research, conversations with your director or another mentor, or anything else that keeps you engaged and focused on your dissertation. The goal is to try to work everyday, even if it's just for twenty minutes, doing something that keeps the dissertation forefront in your mind. That makes it that much easier to dive back in the next time. You'll notice that most days this week I was able to give a fairly substantial portion of time to the dissertation, but most of that time came in half-hour to hour-long chunks, not whole mornings or afternoons free. One day I was only able to squeeze in twenty minutes, and two days (the weekend) I was out of town and did nothing, but even those days I've kept track of what I did do that day so I know why I couldn't put in the time I put in the rest of the week. That's where the accountability comes in: By keeping careful track of what I did each day, I can see exactly where all my time is going. So on Day 5, I only worked twenty minutes on my diss, but I gave a final and graded finals and papers that day, so I don't get too bent out of shape about how little I did on the diss that day.<br />
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By the way, this is the chart from<i> the very first week after I started using the book</i>. If I could retroactively draw charts of the weeks and months leading up to this one, they would all be blank, but in the first week of using this book, I put in about 20 hours of serious research time. Just think of what I could have accomplished if I'd been doing that all year!<br />
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2) <b>Use a Bibliographic Program</b>. Single recommends EndNote, which apparently a number of universities give their students for free, but since my university is NOT one of those (and the program costs at least $100), I opted to download a free versions. There are many out there (and Wikipedia has an extensive list with pros and cons of each), and I'm using Zotero.<br />
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I'll be honest: I didn't know much about bibliographic programs before Single talked up EndNote. I'd had only <i>one</i> professor in four years of graduate coursework even mention EndNote (a recent grad, I might add), and from his description I thought it was just a program from which to create a bibliography. Honestly, I didn't see much point in that. But Zotero (and I assume EndNote and every other bib program) is <i>so</i> much more than that.<br />
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Zotero is now the place where I store all of my notes. I'm working with roughly fifty main primary texts, and countless secondary sources, so you can imagine I was constantly wondering where I'd read something and sometimes spending hours hunting down a single quote. In Zotero, I create files for the different women I'm working with, as well as different topics and chapters, and in those collections I keep files of sources, complete with my accompanying notes, important quotes, PDF copies of sources (if I have them), and bibliographic information. You can tag any notes and sources so that they are easily found, and you can run searches. So say I want to find everything I've read on the practice of <i>sati</i> in eighteenth-century India, all I do is search those terms and <i>voila</i>! Zotero pulls of every note and source I've entered that has those terms. I never spend more than five minutes looking for a quote or source anymore. And Zotero is accessible from any computer, so my library travels wherever I do. No more worrying about finding something in my four-drawer lateral filing cabinet--everything is online and in one easily searchable place.<br />
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Here's a screenshot of what my Zotero library currently looks like:<br />
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You can also open your notes (right sidebar) in a separate, smaller window, and sometimes I will have as many as six of them open side by side so I can see how they all work together. It truly is a great resource and has saved me countless hours. There's lots more you can do with it, too, but I've stuck to the basics so far.<br />
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3) <b>Create citeable notes</b>. Single spends a lot of time discussing how to be an interactive reader and note-taker to get the most out of your research time, but I don't want to give everything in her book away, so I'm going to focus on the most useful thing I learned from her: citeable notes.<br />
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After I've taken notes on a book or article, I go back and make at least one citeable note for it. This note summarizes the most important detail I want to recall later when I actually use that source, and each work may warrant multiple notes. For example, here are the citeable notes I made for Nandini Bhattacharya's <i>Reading the Splendid Body: Gender and Consumerism in Eighteenth-Century British Writing on India</i>:<br />
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<span _mce_style="background-color: #ccffcc;" style="background-color: #ccffcc;">Bhattacharya (1998): An examination of how subaltern women’s sexuality is represented in colonial texts</span><br />
<span _mce_style="background-color: #ccffcc;" style="background-color: #ccffcc;">Bhattacharya (1998): Reasons why British interest in India waned in late eighteenth century and beyond</span><br />
<span _mce_style="background-color: #ccffcc;" style="background-color: #ccffcc;">Bhattacharya (1998): Reasons why British women distanced themselves from Indian women instead of seeing them as kindred</span><br />
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Do any of these notes include the thesis or main idea of the entire work? Probably not. That's not what's most important. What's important is knowing how I might use this text in my dissertation. So I've included the author and publication date (just in case I have multiple texts from the same author), and a brief description of an aspect of the text I think might be useful to me later on.<br />
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I keep my citeable notes in Zotero, too, so as soon as I finish typing up my regular notes, I write my citeable ones in that file. When I know in which chapter a note is going, I move that note to the appropriate section on my long outline (more on that in "The Single System: Part II") and highlight it so I know it's accounted for. In this way, I might cite the same text in every chapter, but each time I'm referring to a different note and therefore a different part of the text or point the author made. For example, my second Bhattacharya note refers me to information useful to my first chapter, an historical overview of reception of Anglo-Indian writing in Britain, whereas the first and third notes would fit in different sections of my fifth chapter, which examines common themes in women's travel writing on India.<br />
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These are just a few of the helpful tips and strategies I've learned from this book that I highly recommend. Within a month after I started reading it, I had a solid eighteen-page introduction already approved by my director, no revisions necessary. Buying that book was probably the best $13 I've ever spent, and I think any dissertation writer could find some value in it. I know some of my friends and readers are writing creative rather than academic dissertations, but I think even they could find use for the Accountability Chart and Zotero. When I gave a talk for the Ligonier Valley Writers last month, I pushed both of these ideas for <i>creative </i>writers, because I think creative writers could find a lot of use for the notes and files in Zotero. It stores screenshots and weblinks, too, so it's a great place to keep all that novel research and have it always accessible. I'm considering downloading Scrivener, so I might do a post in the near future comparing it to Zotero as a place for creative writers to store research and writing. I could even envision using Zotero as a place for brainstorming and writing rough drafts because it frees me from the desire to perfect things that I feel when I'm writing in Word. So look for those posts later this month! Until then, happy writing!Lacy Marschalkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251709429317690886noreply@blogger.com5