Bean Propaganda

I've been trying to be a "good wife" (whatever the heck that means) by cooking from time to time. I'm sure I've said it on here before but I dislike cooking. I can follow a recipe just fine (never mind that I have to call my mom or refer to the great wedding gift, The Joy of Cooking, from time to time) but I'd much rather have someone else cook for me. Luckily The Pilot doesn't mind cooking but the poor guy works for days on end and then has to come home and feed me? Not cool. So I try to pay it forward and cook for him.

A while back I actually thought ahead (!) and prepped a recipe the night before and in the morning, I threw it in the crock pot. The Pilot came home from a trip before I got home from work and texted this to me:

:)

The house was starting to smell yummy when he got home! And because I hardly ever cook, I made sure to tell him to keep out of the kitchen. I didn't want him to jump in and help (because I hardly ever do when he's cooking...I suck.).

I got the recipe from another blogger, 100 Days of Real Food. When the word easy is in a recipe, I'm all over it! Any recipe that require latex gloves, even better. Say what?? More on that later. So here's the recipe:

Easy Slow Cooker Refried Beans

Ingredients
1 onion, peeled and halved
2 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
1/2 fresh jalapeno or hot pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
One pinch cumin
6 cups water

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.
2. Cook on high for 8 hours or overnight.
3. Remove the bigger onion chuncks and drain excess liquid.
4. Mash remaining beans with a potato masher.

So I mentioned that I can follow a recipe. I CAN but that doesn't mean I can do it easily. Here's what went down:

1 onion? What kind of onion? The recipe didn't specify. I need directions that are VERY specific! I went with a white onion. I will add that I think I have an abnormal response to onions. I don't just tear up like some people do. As soon as I start peeling the damn things I can barely keep my eyes open it burns so bad! But, I soldiered on because I love my man and I was determined to cook a meal for him!

2 cups of dry pinto beans? I have never in my life purchased beans. Where do you find those in the grocery store? After wandering around looking for an employee to ask, I came across the rice and the beans were next to that. Dumb luck.

1/2 fresh jalapeno? I have never in my life purchased a jalapeno. I don't usually like spicy food so I steer clear of such things but I sucked it up and bought one. This is where the latex glove come into play. I've heard horror stories about people getting pepper juice in their eyes and they temporarily go blind. Ok, so maybe I've just read one random thing about that but still, you can never be too cautious so when I picked up the pepper in the store, I used the plastic bag to pick it up. And when I got home, I put on latex gloves from the first aid kit while I handled the pepper. I am awesome.

2 cloves garlic. Easy peasy, right? I had checked to make sure we had garlic. We had chopped garlic, which I figured was just fine. When I started the prep work though, I realized that there wasn't a conversion on the side of the jar like there normally is (darn The Pilot and his fancy organic garlic!). How much minced garlic is 2 cloves....or should it be how much chopped garlic is 2 cloves? After a brief detour online to look it up (and check FB), I found what I needed....and now I have no idea what the answer was but oh well, it worked at the time. I came back to the kitchen with the conversion in my head....only to discover that I couldn't get the damn jar open. It was new. I got our the grippy jar opener thing and gave it all I had. Nothing. I hit the jar on the side of the counter, prayed the jar wouldn't break and tried again. Nothing. Son of a! This is one of the many reasons I got married, where's a strong man when you need him? Oh yeah, he was probably sleeping in some shady hotel next to an airport at the time. I stepped away from the jar of garlic but gave it the evil eye while I turned the TV off. I needed to concentrate. I came back to that thing and once again gave it all I had and POP! It finally opened. I swear it was at least 30 minutes after I first started and I was only on the 3rd ingredient. Come on!!

1/2 teaspoon black pepper? I just mentioned that I don't like spicy things....that's because I think black pepper is spicy. And because of that, I don't buy black pepper. If a recipe calls for it, I skip it. Now, we might have some black pepper but all of our spices are in the cabinet above the microwave. Unless it is on the very edge of the shelf, I cannot reach it. I was too lazy to get a stool so I just skipped the black pepper. I doubt The Pilot noticed.

Pinch of cumin? Are you kidding me? How much is a pinch?? I rolled with it but still, I much prefer exact measurements and instructions.

Moving on.....I put the slow cooker on low because by the time I leave for work and get home, it's at least 10 hours so sometime even the slow cooker recipes pose a challenge for me. When I got home, it was time to drain the liquid and mash the beans. I did recruit the Pilot for just this one part. I couldn't pick up the crock pot because it was hot and heavy (TWSS) to tip it to drain without losing my beans. What? I picked up the pot while The Pilot used a spoon to make sure my beans didn't fall out. Why does is this sound all wrong??

Once the liquid was drained though, I needed to mash the beans. The recipe says to use a potato masher. Well, even though we are newly married and registered for all kinds of random gifts, a potato masher was not one of them. I don't think I've ever even eaten real mashed potatoes (I grew up in an instant mashed potato kind of household) so why on earth would I have a potato masher? I honestly considered running to the store on the way home to buy a potato masher. The girls at work came to my rescue though when I told them about my plans earlier that day. Being more domestic than I, they suggested I used a fork or even the back of a spoon. Genius. I tried the fork first but the beans weren't quite tender enough. I switched to a big wooden spoon (an eco-friendly, bamboo wedding gift thank you very much!) and while it took a little while, it did the job.

I know it kind of looks like dog food in this picture but I swear it didn't taste like dog food!

I heated some whole wheat tortillas and melted cheese on the tortillas before stuffing full of beans. More cheese melted on top of the homemade burritos and spoonfuls of sour cream and guacamole made it a pretty decent meal!

The Pilot enjoyed it...and we both lived to tell about it so that is a success in my book. I think the best part of this recipe though was that it made a lot of beans (plenty for a hungry family of 4 I would say) but we were able to have lots of left overs over the following days. Once we had reached our bean limit, if you know what I'm saying, I put the rest in the freezer. It gets a little crumbly when you reheat it and we probably could have added a little water but once you melt the cheese on it, you don't really notice too much. Something else that is great about this recipe is that it's veggiesauraus friendly and is still a good source of protein. And when I say a good source of protein, I mean it has plenty of protein for one meal but it's a great protein because it has buckets of fiber and water (all great things). It isn't full of empty calories that leave you wanting more to eat an hour later. Yeay for beans! Here's some bean propaganda for you if you aren't convinced that beans are great!

The Wedding Video

Our amazing wedding videographer, Dan Hoffman, dropped of this wonderful package not too long ago...

He dropped it off on a Saturday morning while The Pilot was away at his annual simulator training. The Pilot wasn't scheduled to come home until Sunday but at my begging request, he was going to try to jump seat home as soon as he was done with training. Luckily he was able to make a Saturday flight so I wouldn't have to sit and stare at the box of goodies while I waited for him to come home.

The box that Dan dropped off had several DVD copies of the wedding video plus an external hard drive with all of the raw footage that he shot throughout the wedding day. And because our videographer is extra awesome, he added some popcorn and chocolate! :)

The Pilot was exhausted when he got home shortly after 2:00 pm. He reported to the simulator at 3:30 am that morning. I tried not to make him sit down to watch it the second he walked in the door but because he's wonderful and loves me to the moon and back, we sat down and watched the video. I'm sure he would have preferred to take a nap in that exact moment but he humored me.

For 5 minutes, I was completely taken back to that amazing day. I forgot about all of the stress over the last few weeks and enjoyed every minute of sitting there, holding The Pilot's hand as we got to re-live our wedding day. I cried. I was grinning like an idiot. We may or may not have watched the video multiple times in a row....

Why it Works

I'm often asked what it's like being hitched to a pilot: What is his schedule like? (It's completely random most months. I could write multiple blog posts just about crew scheduling.) Do I always know where he is? (Rarely. I can easily find out but I don't usually keep track.) Do I worry about him? (Only when he's in a hotel vans to/from the airport.) Do I miss him when he's gone? (Always.) How do we make it work?

I could certainly write multiple blog posts about that, especially as our relationship evolves but for today, I'll share just a couple reasons why this crazy lifestyle seems to work for us right now:

The Pilot's alarm went off at 0'dark hundred. He usually doesn't even tell me what time he gets up because it is obscene. I do know that a 6:15 am report time means he's out of the house by 5:30 am. I rarely hear his alarm (I have a hell of a time hearing my own alarms-yes, that is plural.). I guess on this particular day, he had an epic breakfast fail. I haven't actually spoken with him but I guess he somehow knocked a bowl of uncooked oatmeal off the counter and it looked like an oatmeal bomb went off in the kitchen. Being the great man that he is, he didn't leave the mess for me. The mess was so massive that it required the vacuum...at o'dark hundred.

The reason that "this" works for us....I didn't hear a darn thing. The crazy early alarm, the spilled breakfast and the vacuum did not wake me up. It's a good thing because I'm NOT a morning person and all that noise that early in the morning may have caused me to get violent.

When The Pilot leaves on a trip early in the morning, he always comes in to say goodbye. Sometimes I respond and say goodbye. Sometimes I mumble and he can't understand a thing I'm trying to say. We always kiss and attempt a hug (hard when I'm still asleep and laying down and he's standing at the edge of the bed). He has only skipped this ritual once and I felt out of sorts for an entire 4-day trip so he never skips that anymore! So another reason that "this" works for us...I rarely remember this goodbye exchange and rarely have any trouble falling back to sleep.

And yet another reason that "this" works for us...I don't usually mind "catching up" and getting information via email. He shared all of this information about his breakfast fail in an email with a time stamp of 4:38 am. As a pilot wife, I get a lot of details via e-mail, text, Skype, Google talk, etc. Unconventional and not always ideal, but it keeps us in touch.

Our Wedding Day: The Ceremony

The church has a beautiful, old pipe organ and the organist at the church is also my godfather and there was never a question that he would be paying the music for the ceremony. He started to play Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring as my girls headed down the aisle. It was strange because I was getting pretty anxious as I waited with my dad but part of me wanted to be in the sanctuary so I could see my girls come down the aisle! They all looked so beautiful.

Waiting with The Dad.

As my matron of honor turned around the corner to walk into the sanctuary, she turned back and reminded my niece and nephew to not follow her. My dad stepped forward to make sure they didn’t take off. It was pretty cute. My nephew looked at me because he knew Aunt Amber and Uncle Pilot were in charge! When it was time, my dad told them to go. Again, I wished that I could have seen them! I heard the congregation laugh and I had no idea what was going on! My sister-in-law was one of my bridesmaids and was going to go fetch them if one of the kids froze but I guess they made it all the way down the aisle just fine. I think what got people laughing was that my nephew realized everyone was looking at them and so he looked at my niece and they giggled at each other. My sister-in-law’s parents were waiting in the front row to usher the kids to sit down. I knew having them to stand through the whole ceremony was too much to ask of wiggly little kids.

It was time! Once the kids made it down the aisle, it was my turn! My godfather started to play Pachelbel’s Canon in D and my dad and I walked into the sanctuary. The walk down the aisle was a little bit of a blur. I remember seeing my friend Monica right when I entered the room and then when I made the turn to walk down the aisle, the only person I could see was The Pilot. Just like with our first look, I was tempted to walk faster just to get to him but I ended up needing to slow my dad down! I pulled back on his arm partly because I wanted to enjoy the moment but also because my shoes were a little loose and I didn’t want to lose a shoe on the way down the aisle! I don’t remember seeing anyone else in the congregation until we were almost to the altar. It wasn’t until then that I remember seeing my uncle Kent, my dear friend Lauren who was doing a reading during the ceremony and then my mom. As my dad and I approached the end of the aisle, my mom stepped out into the aisle so both of my parents could “give me away.”
When The Pilot and I were alone and had the chance to reflect on the day, we both agreed that the ceremony was our favorite part of the day. That surprised me. So much planning goes into a wedding but much of the work is focused on the reception-the music, food, cake, decorations- but the ceremony sort of takes care of itself once you have met with the pastor and selected the readings and scriptures. My sister-in-law shared will us that when she married my brother (in the same church), she honestly forgot that everyone else was there. She felt like it was just her, my brother and the pastor. That was reassuring for me and The Pilot because we were both a little nervous to stand up there in front of all those people.

I do remember that at one point right at the beginning of the ceremony, I thought I was going to drop my bouquet. When the pastor said the first prayer, I still had a lot of nerves and I was holding The Pilot’s arm tightly with my right hand and holding my bouquet in my left hand. For some reason that bouquet started to feel like it weighed 50 pounds! At one point I thought I was going to have to hand it to my MOH before we even got to the vows! This is when I reminded myself to not lock my knees. I also had a strong urge to lean over to The Pilot and remind him to not lock his knees either! I refrained and when the pastor asked us to step up onto the altar for our vows, I instantly calmed down and stopped worrying about the bouquet and our knees.

We only met with the pastor twice before the ceremony but in that time, I think he got to know The Pilot and I well. He personalized the ceremony so well that I don’t think I could have written it better myself. I think he knew that The Pilot and I are somewhat casual and we didn’t want anything too stuffy but I think he knew that we take marriage seriously. We did talk about it previously but he customized the entire ceremony, including the vows. We didn’t have any desire to write our own vows but wanted to personalize them a little. So I vowed to be patient during airport delays and The Pilot vowed to wait patiently for me during my marathons. As we said our vows, just like my sister-in-law shared, I completely forgot about everyone else and it really felt like I was exchanging those vows with just The Pilot in the room. It was perfect.

There was also something unexpected during the vows. Tears. For the second time that day, I cried. After the first word came out of my mouth during the vows, I got really choked up. My voice wavered and my eyes filled up with tears. The words just meant so much and I couldn’t help it! I didn’t want to ruin my makeup or cry so much that our guests couldn’t hear me so I took a deep breath and somehow, by the end of the vows, I had recovered. It also helped that The Pilot was squeezing my hands and looking right at me, calming me down.
During the ceremony, one of my oldest friends (5th grade!) did a reading for us. I did a reading at her wedding 5 years ago and I couldn’t imagine her not being involved in my wedding also. I knew we didn’t want a religious reading so after some searching on the internet, I came across the perfect reading. It was all about how marriage is like riding tandem bike. It was perfect not just because we are cyclists but because we already had some cycling touches in the wedding (more on that later).

A Marriage Build for Two
A successful marriage can learn a lot from bicycle riding.
You should promise each other that you will not be fair weather riders, but venture out together in the wind and the rain. Only by braving the storms as a team will you reap the rewards when the sunshine arrives.
Look after each other. A well oiled bike will run smoothly and change gears easily.
Marriage is like a tandem…keep pedaling or the one at the front shouts at you!
You should promise each other to not only enjoy new adventures and explorations, but appreciate the same old routes you know and love.
Marriage is a promise to each other to endure the climbs so that you may chase the swoops and swerves of a perfect singletrack.
The journey may be long and may have hills ahead, but if you climb together with love and passion, you will be able to achieve everything you both desire!
Wishing you all the best from the start line of the greatest endurance event of your lives.

At the end of the ceremony, we turned to the congregation and the pastor introduced us as Mr. and Mrs. for the first time. We did it! My godfather started to play Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, the congregation stood and applauded. The Pilot and I gave each other a high five and came up the aisle as husband and wife!
My MOH and sister-in-law met us so we could bustle my dress for our exit. I also gave up on the heels. I slipped into my running shoes. Hey, marriage is an endurance event; you might as well gear up and get comfortable! The rest of the bridal party handed out hot pink kazoos as our guests exited the church and waited for us to make our “grand exit.”

To be continued...

Smashed

I realize this is old news but I'm a little behind in my bloggy action. Patrick Makau of Kenya smashed the marathon world record last week at the Berlin Marathon. 2:03:38. I can't even image racing a HALF MARATHON that fast. This dude averaged a 4:43 per mile pace for 26.2 MILES. I cannot seem to wrap my head around that....even during speed work my pace never sees a 4:43 pace...not even for 100 meters.

Sometimes people wonder why you would enter a race if you know there is no way you are going to win. Obviously if I can't run a 1/2 marathon in the time this dude ran a full, I'm never going to win a race. But I'm not out to win. I'm out there to have fun, push myself to MY limits and to make sure my a$$ doesn't get any larger.

Hug a Vegetarian Day

So apparently today is Hug a Vegetarian Day. It's a good thing The Pilot comes home tonight so I can make it happen.

Our Wedding Day: The First Look

The Pilot and I felt strongly about spending as much time as possible with our friends and family, some of whom traveled from out of state. We also know from experience there can be a lot of downtime for guests in between the ceremony and the reception while the bride and groom are taking pictures. The only way to avoid that was to see each other before the ceremony. I wasn’t dead set on The Pilot not seeing me before the ceremony but I still wanted the moment we first saw each other to be special. We spoke about it and after hearing from another bride who did a “first look” with her husband, we decided this was the best for us.

We talked it over with the photographers and videographer and agreed that they would be the only people in the room other than The Pilot and me. We had everyone hide out in the bridal room or in the sanctuary. The photographer had me walk to the opposite end of the hall that runs along the sanctuary. Once I reached the end of the hall, I stopped and waited, facing the wall. I stood and waited. It felt like an eternity! I won’t lie, I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. I don’t think I have ever been more excited and anxious in my entire life!

Finally, she told me to turn around. I saw The Pilot at the opposite end of the hall with his back to me. I walked slowly towards him even though all I wanted to do was sprint down that hall and jump in his arms. When I finally reached him, I gently placed my hands on his hips and he turned around. The next few minutes were kind of a blur. I know that we kissed. I know that I cried, which was completely unexpected. I had been so calm and collected all day. Also, I’ve never really been one to cry at weddings. I’ve been a bridesmaid four times and didn’t cry at any of those weddings and those we some of my closest friends! I was completely overwhelmed but got it together pretty quickly. I do know that I didn’t want the moment to end. I don’t even remember the photographers or videographer circling around us, capturing the moment...but I'm so glad they were there because I absolutely love the pictures!


After awhile, we decided we should probably let everyone else join us and it was time to get started on the group photos. It’s not often everyone is in the same place at the same time and it’s very rare for everyone to be dressed up so we took advantage and took family pictures with each of our families and also some shots with the bridal party. Even though the ceremony wasn’t until 5 pm, we wanted to be out of the sanctuary by 4 pm to make sure our guests didn’t see us before the ceremony started. We headed back to the bridal room to hang out. It felt a little strange to be sitting next to my future husband before the ceremony but it was also nice because once again, I felt completely calm.

My 7-year-old niece and 3-year-old nephew were in the wedding and so there was some chaos in the room. Chaos seems to follow little ones but they really were very well behaved. My brother had told them during the rehearsal that Aunt Amber and Uncle Pilot (ha!) were in charge and if we weren’t around, all of the other grownups were in charge. It was cute because my nephew got a little rambunctious at one point and my brother told him to ask me if I thought he should calm down. He came over and asked and even though I told him it was time to settle down and that it was almost time to walk down the aisle, he gave me a high five…and then may or may not have wiped graham cracker crumbs on the back of my dress. Even during that exchange, I was calm. I think we may have all gasped when he touched my dress but all was well!

My niece spent all morning with the big girls.
She was so patient and even got her hair done at the salon!

My nephew is such a charmer and it was a challenge to get him dressed and then keep him dressed and clean before the ceremony started!

Before we knew it, the pastor came and told us it was time! Two of The Pilot’s groomsmen had been handing out the programs and headed to a room just behind the altar. The Pilot’s “matron of awesome" headed back with the other groomsmen while The Pilot and my brother remained at the back of the church to walk the moms down the aisle.

To be continued...