Adventures in Wine Land

Welcome to Adventures in Wine Land! David and I were lucky enough to both have today off, so we took a little trip.... They were doing a Grillin' with Iowa Wines weekend. We got lots of food and gifts along the way, and had a blast! We made it to all 7 wineries and bought several bottles of wine.

If you are a "local" reading my blog - you HAVE to check out these wineries. They are awesome! All of the people are so friendly and love to talk. And in Iowa, the tastings are free! :-)

Sugar Clay
They served a blackberry cobbler and ice cream with their Blackberry Mead. Yummy! We sampled their III Vines and brought a bottle of that home.

King's Crossing
We have been to King's Crossing before and loved it. They were serving a BBQ chicken leg, paired with their new Edelweiss. They also served a brownie with fresh strawberries, paired with their White St. Croix. We didn't get a bottle of wine because we go see them fairly often. :-)

Prairie Crossing
We have had several of their wines, but never been to the winery. Their facilities are really nice and the people are great! They served a BBQ beef sandwich with the Frontenac. They also had sharp cheddar cheese, served with Windswept White. We also tasted the Wagon Trail Red (a little dry for me, but good), Kit Cat (have a bottle but haven't tried it yet - yum!), and Cardinal Red (YUM!). We took a bottle of the Cardinal Red home.

Whispering Hills
The people at Whispering Hills were AWESOME! It almost felt like "home" when we walked in. They had smoked turkey and glazed corn on the cob with their brand new Skinny Dippin'. #1 - LOVE the name of the wine! #2 - the corn was marinated in honey and a little hot sauce. We are doing this the next time we get corn! They also made an apple crumble with pomegranate glaze that they served with their Edelweiss - and we got the recipe for this! We tried their Concord, Catawba, Traminette, Moondance (which we've had before), and Serendipity. They also made a Sangria with the Concord, lemon, lime, orange, and Sierra Mist. Yummy! We took home a bottle of Catawba.

Side note: if you are counting, that's 3 bottles of wine so far. David said "maybe we'll get 1 from somewhere." Hee hee hee :-)

Back to the regularly scheduled program....

Breezy Hills
We were served stuffed pork and a chocolate chip cookie. They served it with St. Croix. We also tried the LaCrosse, Tres Hermanas, Misbehavin', Vignoles, and Edelweiss. We took home a bottle of Misbehavin' and something fun for me:


Yep! David got me this super cool shirt! I mentioned when I came in that it was very "me." When he got the bottle of Misbehavin', he got me my shirt also! Love it!

Danish Countryside
This was the farthest out winery... It took us about 30 minutes to get there, but it was very worth it! They served BBQ Beef and let us choose which red we paired it with. I tried the Sweet Caroline and David had the Countryside Red. I loved, loved, loved the Sweet Caroline! David liked it okay, but he liked the Countryside Red (I didn't like it as much). They also made pineapple upside down cake and served it with Twilight White, which was good. We tried several of their wines also. The Maid of the Harbor was similar to a riesling, and good. David and I both really liked the Classy Lady and their fruit wine, Pretty Belle Peach. Those BOTH got to come home with us. Current bottle count: 6!


Loess Hills
This was the last stop on our tour.. I had been here a few years ago, but David had never been. We went in and tried a few wines first, and then had the food. We tried the Rivers Mist (dryer), Sunset Blush, Blonzy Bell Blush, Edelweiss, September Sweet, and Vignoles. Their Vignoles was AWESOME, so we got a bottle of that.

They served pulled pork and italian sausage with SBR (Sneaky Bastard Red). A little dry, but paired VERY well with the pork. They also had really AWESOME watermelon with their Loess Hills Blanc.

We had a BLAST today! We ended up with 7 - yes 7 - bottles of wine! We came home, made Buffalo Chicken Pasta (recipe to come), peach cobbler, and opened the bottle of the Pretty Belle Peach from Danish Countryside!

Now we're relaxing, watching Mall Cop. Hillarious movie! Anyways... That recipe will be on here tomorrow. Tonight, I'm relaxing with the hubby. I'm also trying to get my MP3 player charged so I can go for a run in the morning.

Challenge Update

2 days into the challenge... How are YOU doing?

David and I have been inspired to totally revamp our veggies and fruits. Instead of always having a banana, apple, or carrots, we are expanding! Honey dew, blueberries, blackberries, zucchini (common, but not a staple), corn on the cob (another common, but not staple), and brussel sprouts....

So, here's what I've done so far:
Thursday:
Yellow: Banana
Green: Honey Dew
Orange: Carrots
Variety: tons of veggies from Noodles and Company (mushrooms, red pepper, red onion, tomato, sprouts....)

Friday:
Brown: Mushrooms
Green: Honey Dew
Purple: Blackberries
For dinner, I'm making Tortilla Pizza because it's easy and quick.

So... how are YOU doing???

A Weight Watcher Challenge!

That's right: another challenge. A couple months ago, it was the Momentum Walk It Challenge, which David and I signed up for. Now, a different kind of challenge - one that NOBODY can avoid, and one that NOBODY can fail.

What did the lettuce say to the celery? Quit stalking me!


Can you guess what the challenge is? Fruits and vegetables!!! This week is the kick off week to their Fruits and Vegetables challenge! Over the next 4 weeks, we will add color, quantity, and variety to our daily 5 servings. Of course, we can always do more than 5, but they are encouraging us to increase to at least 5!

A faucet, lettuce, and tomato were in a race. What do you think happened? Well, the faucet kept running, the lettuce tried to get ahead, and the tomato had to catch up!

I sometimes struggle with fruits and veggies... Yeah, I get something in for breakfast and usually for dinner. But the rest of the day really depends on my mood. So I'm taking this challenge to heart. I know that I can easily get the servings in - it's just a matter of planning and trying new things! What keeps me full the longest? What do I like the best? I know that I can't have an apple for a snack because I will be hungry 20 minutes later. Lettuce is boring, so my salads are always FULL of veggies, but always the same ones...

The challenge for the first week:
Add color! Include 3 different colors of fruits or veggies into the daily plan.

My challenge to YOU - "all" of my "loyal" readers - do the challenge with me! Everday, write down 3 different colors of fruits or veggies that you ate. Together, we can get our 5 servings a day!

What are your favorite colors/fruits? Do you rely on the basics like bananas, carrots, and lettuce? Or do you venture out and have strawberries, peppers, and jicama? Tell me your favorite fruit/vegetable and the color! Help me get inspired for the week's challenge!

As for weigh in tonight... It didn't go so hot. I'm up 1.2, putting me at 187.2. I don't know if my body is trying to maintain 186-190, or if something is going on... I have a dr's appt Friday to see if there is a cause between my lack of energy. I'm taking my points down a little more - still 1 above where I was when I was in "losing mode." I'd really like to get down to my personal goal of 180. If my body can't handle it, that's fine. But, I want to give it my best shot!

Oh, and the jokes were compliments of my leader. She was really on a roll tonight!

Weekend Recap and Randomness

4th of July Weekend! Can you believe we're already into July?? I report back to work on August 11 - EEK!!

Anyways... The weekend recap...

Friday - I worked at the flower shop. We thought we'd get out early, but Pam had a late bridal appointment. She let the 2 designer's go home and had me stay. We were going to leave at 4:00, after the appointment. All of a sudden we got BUSY! WTF?? So, we were there until 5:00.

I babysat for one of our "old" designer's - she just recently "retired" so that she can have days with her boyfriend and his daughter. Sharon is such a sweet girl. David's parents wanted to take us to dinner, so she got to go with us. It was amazing to watch David with her. He is such a natural - encouraged her to eat, stay in her chair, etc.. She's pretty shy, and by the end of the night she was talking to him and laughing with him.

Saturday, we went down to my mom's. She belongs to a LARGE church. I've been here before, but I seriously feel like I'm in a high school gymnasium or college lecture hall - not a church. The band is really loud, and for a while, I felt like I was at a freaking concert! It didn't feel like a church to me. But, whatever...

Mom took us to Mexican afterwards. I was a little upset about this because David's stomach is still iffy - some things bother him, and others don't. We tried to look at the menu before leaving for church and she got upset. "We need to go! What are you doing? I told you there are healthy options here." Okay, but I want to see them. I want to know what I'm going to have. I want to prepare - one of the big Weight Watcher principles!

I think I did pretty well. We did get cheese dip, but I didn't eat too many. I had 2 shrimp tacos, about 1/2 the black beans that was served, and maybe 1/4 of the rice. I was full! When we got back, David and I decided we wanted to go for a walk. Mom has a nature trail that runs behind her house. Again, she got annoyed because we wanted to go run - she wanted to go for a nice, leisurely walk. It was my day to run anyways, so we just told her we're going.

I took David's pace because I was in unfamiliar territory and we had an awesome time! I am so proud of him - he is working so hard to make up for lost time from his surgery. He's still planning on doing the 5K in August, and is working so hard for it! We watched fireworks for a little bit and then headed to bed.

Sunday, we had to go to a family reunion. I wasn't too excited about the reunion, but Mom really wanted us to come down and David thought it would be fun to meet family. Well, there were 5 younger mom's there. It was really tough. Then, mom started ooh-ing and ahh-ing over my cousin who had the first biological grandchild 7 months ago. She talked more about the California relatives than she did my sister or I. I don't think I heard her say my niece, Emma's, name once. She talked about David and I like we weren't in the room, and when people tried to talk to us, she jumped in and interrupted.

David has a new mission: to get me knocked up! He's taking tons of vitamins to try to bring all the numbers up. He's having some blood work done as a baseline... He needs to talk to the urologist to see if he can take Clomid with the vitamins he's taking. We're hoping to do an IUI in October. I'm also going to see my OB next week for my yearly (whoopee!) and discuss a few things. I'm wondering if my progesterone levels are low, so I'm going to see about getting that tested.

I'm setting up a new workout plan to make sure I meet my goals this month. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are my running day. I'll either go on the trail, the track, or the gym depending on how hot it is (and what time of day I'm going). Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday I'm going to do toning or strength training. I'll be doing videos at home or going the gym for circuit/ab work... Saturdays are my day off because I'm always exhausted after the shop!

If you've read through this, kudos to you! I know it's probably long, but you know me and my rambling! I hope you all have a wonderful week! I'm working at the shop a few days and still working on deep cleaning the house!

Changing of the Goals

Have you ever been to Washington DC and watched the changing of the guards by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier? It is seriously one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It's completely silent, just an occasional click from a camera - and you aren't allowed to use your flash. It takes 10-15 minutes for the whole thing to go down!

Anyways... It is now time for the Changing of the Goals! That's right, June goals are no more! It's time for July!
But first.. a recap of June:
Weight Loss: My goal was to lose 4 lbs. I met this goal on June 17th. So, then, I had to keep it off. Well, last week, I had a big gain (thanks in part to emotional eating). Yesterday, I lost the exact same, so I'm back to 186. David said even though it is *technically* the 1st of July, he'll give it to me because "Well, if you had weighed in yesterday, it would have been the same!" Works for me. My Reward.... Movie Night!
Exercise: I had 2 parts to this goal. Training for my 5K, I wanted to get it done in under 45 minutes. I also wanted to tone 2 times a week. I didn't do so hot with this goal... I did get under 45 minutes on my 5K. In fact, I got 42 minutes on June 21! But I didn't do so good with the toning... So, no reward for exercising.

So, July.... What are my plans?
Weight Loss: I want to lose another 3 lbs, putting me at 183. Remember, my ultimate personal goal is 180. I'm expecting, but not hoping for, a plateau at some point. I mean, really... it's the last 6 lbs! How often do you see someone blow through that? Not very! I'm not sure yet what my reward will be. I'll keep you posted on that!
Exercise: I want to be able to run 2 miles without stopping. It doesn't have to be fast, I just want to do it! And I want to tone 2 times a week. This is a MUST! I am SO sick of my bat-wings and my flabby abs... Not sure on this goal either, but it will be something DAMN good to keep me motivated!

I can't believe it is already July! Really? It feels like yesterday I was saying goodbye to my students for the summer, and now I report back in 6 weeks! EEK! July is going to be full of lifestyle challenges:
* 4th of July/Family Reunion - BUT supposedly several family members are diabetic, so there will be some slightly healthier options.
* July 12th - a Wine tasting weekend on the Western Iowa Wine Trail. I've been planning this for a month!
* July 18th - a coworker is getting married. I love wedding cake!
* July 22nd - my mom's birthday. I love birthday cake almost as much as I love wedding cake!

No news on the Foster Care front. We are still waiting to hear back about our background checks. Obviously we know they will come back clean, but we still have to wait... Waiting, waiting, waiting...

I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, exciting 4th of July! "See" you next week!

Famous quotes that have touched my life this week

A picture is worth a thousand words.

And for once, I believe "they" are right:




This skirt is obviously too big for me, right? Well, guess what - I used to WEAR this skirt on a regular basis. In fact, I wore it on my first date with David, and when we had pictures taken on our first anniversary. It was a size 22W. David argued with me about whether or not I had ever been that big. I said, "David, I have proof!" And I grabbed one of our anniversary pictures. He still can't believe it!

We are doing a garage sale in a few weeks, so my closet has been cleaned out. I went from a very full closet to 3 pairs of slacks (1 is too big, but not *super* big), and a handful of tops (again, some are a little big, but not tent-like). So, this garage sale is now being called Rebuild Amanda's Closet Sale! We're putting other stuff in, also, but David and I are both needing new clothes. I especially need them for work in the fall.

This is the outfit, including jean skirt, that I was able to wear Friday night:

This was a Size 12 jean skirt from Penny's that is dressy enough I can wear it at work if I want, or I can dress it down for date night. The top was a Calvin Klein medium from Burlington Coat Factory!

2 plus 2 doesn't always equal 4
The other morning, I started wondering if I should REALLY be teaching America's future leaders! I was on my morning run, and had decided to do things a little differently. Usually I would run 4 minutes, walk 1 1/2 minutes, and repeat the entire time. Well, by the end I'm dying! Praying that the stopwatch would just say the next number, right?

Well, Sunday morning, I decided to do intervals of running 3, 5, or 8 minutes and walking 2. I was able to complete 2 "circults" of this before getting home. As I'm doing my second 8 minutes - having a really tough time because it's starting to warm up and I've been out for 45 minutes at this point.... When I started running, I glanced at the stopwatch and it was at 41:00. So, I know I have to go until 49:00. 48:00 and I stop running. I started walking, recovering, and literally said to myself "Wait a minute. 41+8=49, not 48. DUH!" And picked it back up for the last minute. Oops! But, regardless, I had a great run! I'm going to the gym in the morning unless it's considerably cooler when I wake up. I'm hoping to run a straight mile, and then do intervals for the rest!

Are you eating because you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired?

This is a quote that I hear relatively often with Weight Watchers. And yet, after 17 months and 66 lbs gone, I still have trouble with this. Last week, I gained 3.4 lbs. I'm still under goal, but it was really an eye opener. I guess I had hit a point where I didn't think that I ate for stress anymore. I knew I ate for boredom, but veggies could usually satisfy me. But with all the added stress from the last few weeks, I've realized that I am STILL an emotional eater. And I probably always will be. I need to work through this. I need to get up and exercise, walk the dogs, get online, drink some water, take a nap, do something in the garden... SOMETHING, ANYTHING, besides EATING!

I'm also re-identifying my trigger foods. My mother-in-law tries really hard to understand what Weight Watchers is about. But, now, she has taken it too far. Instead of saying "Well, that's not on your diet," it's "well you said you can eat anything you want!" Okay, you're right. But in moderation. And I don't eat trigger foods - chips and dip - because it leads to major binging! But, she doesn't get that, and then makes me feel guilty for not eating any. Then, my anxiety gets going because she's upset with me, and I'm dealing with all the family drama and other stuff, and....... I pop to jar of dip and the bag of chips and dig in. Now, I wasn't the only one to eat, but the jar was empty within 45 minutes. Oops!

It will happen when it happens
Seriously. If one more flipping person tells me that we will get pregnant "in God's time," I am going to SCREAM. And I'm going to rip them a new one. Then, they say "Well, you can't POSSIBLY want a pregnancy right now with everything that is going on????" Um, well, yeah, actually. I do. Thanks for being so thoughtful.

David's mom's neighbor is pregnant again. She has a 6 month old and lives off of disability and medicaid. Her husband works, but doesn't make much. They get so much aide it makes me sick. Why can SHE get pregnant, but David and I can't?

What upsets me is that people who know me well are "scared" to talk to me about fertility. They don't want to upset me. But, then, I found out in a difficult situation - they say "Did you hear I'm pregnant?" OH GREAT! (insert fake smile and walk away from situation) Now, don't get me wrong - babies are a blessing. And if you are in a stable relationship, making decent money, and able to raise your child on your own, I'm happy for you. Yeah, it makes me a little sad that it's not me. But, congratulations! Now, don't make me listen to every single little detail about it, please.

Well, I think that's it for the quotes... Hope you enjoyed the different style! There were just so many things that I wanted to talk about, so I thought this was the best way to do it!

On the baby front...

In response to someone's post, I wanted to touch base on the baby making front. I haven't posted much about it lately because, honestly, there hasn't been much to post.

It kills me to say this, but we are still where we were 2 years ago. Not pregnant. David saw a new urologist last week and we are sending him all of David's results from everything over the last 2 years. He said that he will prescribe Clomid as soon as he gets the results. We are still hoping for an October IUI.

On my front... I need to call the insurance company. Because I hit my out of pocket max with my surgery in February, I want to see if a few tests would be covered. I ovulate late and have a short luteal phase - the time between ovulation and when my period starts. It should be 12-14 days, but mine is 8 days; 10 if I'm lucky. Dr. K says that when we do an IUI that I'll be on Clomid, and then my LP will probably "extend" itself. But, it could be a progesterone problem. And, that would be bad! I had blood work done last year and everything is good on that front - no clotting factors or anything else that could impact me getting pregnant.

But, while we're waiting..... David and I have made a big decision. We are starting the process to become foster parents. We've both had experiences with the system in the past - his nephew; one of my tutoring cases... We have a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house and there is absolutely no reason we can't share it with kids who need a home. We know that most cases will only be temporary. Iowa "prides" itself in reuniting families. Sometimes this is good; sometimes this is bad. But that's a whole other post for another day....... But, we have filled out all the paperwork. We are going to get fingerprinted tomorrow, and then we have an "informational orientation" tomorrow evening. The paperwork says that it can take 6-8 weeks to get everything back, but it can sometimes be quicker. If we are approved, then we will go through a 10-week training, and then we will be licensed foster care parents!

Yes, we are still going to keep trying to get pregnant. We have always talked about helping kids - fostering, adopting, anything we can do. It's just who we are - someday, we want to buy a huge acreage and have room for tons and tons of kids - biological and adopted! We are keeping an eye out on Craigs list and garage sales for furniture. We have a twin bed but we need a dresser. We'd like to find another twin bed so that if my mom comes to town, she has a place to sleep also!

Sometimes, I think that I'm giving up hope that we will ever have our own children. It's so hard for me to work in the area of town that I work in - these "parents" (and I use the term loosely) can look at a man and get pregnant. They don't even raise the children they have - they don't make the decisions that are best for their child. They bring them to school drunk or high, live off of the system, don't work, don't set rules for their children... and then they get pregnant again, and the cycle continues.....

I believe in God. I do. I believe that He knows what's best for us. And I know that we will have a baby when it is our time. It seems like everytime I turn around, somebody else is announcing their pregnancy. Babies are a blessing, but damn it, I want MY blessing. And then I feel guilty because I know I should blame God, or be mad at Him, for us not being pregnant. He knows the big picture - not me. And supposedly, He won't hand me more than I can handle. But, I've handled alot. And I'm ready to "handle" a baby. I'm ready to grow our family -- I would love for David's mom to meet our son or daughter. Not her first grand child, but her first by David. But I know that we need to get pregnant sooner than later for that to happen. And that pressure scares me. I may not always get along with the woman, but she loves us, and she will spoil our baby rotten!!!!

Anyways... enogh of the emotional shit. David is recovering nicely from surgery. On Thursday night, though, he started having problems breathing. We went to the ER on Friday evening, and they admitted him for a possible blood clot. Turns out, it wasn't a blood clot! He has Pluracy, which can lead to Pneumonia. The lower lobes in both of his lungs are kind of collapsing on themselves, making it difficult and painful to breath. He has an inhaler and is using something called an incentive spirometer - it makes him take really really deep breaths. He's also on stronger pain meds and is feeling better. His follow up appointment showed improvement, and his doctor thinks he should be okay to return to work after his surgeon appointment on the 30th.

My dad had a colonoscopy today. It's routine for him - in fact, I had one last year - our family history is so high that we have them regularly. Dr. S cleared Dad for 5 years!!! I was SO excited! It's usually 2-3 years; for a while it was every 6 months. So, here is me on my soap box: if you are older, or have a family history of colon cancer, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get routine colonoscopies! The prep sucks, but the procedure is super easy - in and out in 30 minutes. Colonoscopies save lives. My grandparents and my uncle all passed away from colon cancer. My uncle could have been treated if they had caught it soon enough. I think about him everyday, and wish he could have been at my wedding in person rather than in spirit.

I think that's it for ramblings. If you are the praying type - please say a prayer for us for the foster care "thing." We are very excited and hoping that we will be approved and can provide a loving home to many, many children. A pregnancy would be nice too - how about we take both! :-)