Bailee the Gymnast

With my god-daughter Bailee half-way through her freshman year at the University of Arkansas, I wasn't sure when I would get to see her next. Lucky for me, she had a gymnastics meet at UIC and I was able to see her perform.
She was fantastic on the floor - earning high marks from the judges and a bunch of screaming fans!
The Zumwalde family made the trek to Chicago, so I had a chance to catch up with them too!

Go Gymbacks!!

Book Review: December 2010 - January 2011

A little late posting, but I did get through a few books over the past 2 months:

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese is a book that my college girlfriends brought to me last September. It's a fascinating story, and while some parts of the novel are a little slow, I would recommend this book. It follows the life of Marion and Shiva Stone, twins born of a secret union between an Indian nun and a British surgeon. When their mother dies in childbirth and their father abandons them, the family of doctors and nurses accept the children as their own and raise them at the hospital in Ethiopia. Intrigued? You should be!

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown is exactly what I expected it to be. A fast paced story full of codes and secrets that can leave your palms sweating. I enjoyed that this novel was set in Washington DC and liked this quick read.

Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene is a classic novel that I had been wanting to check out. I had to put myself in the mindset of the 1950s, and that made the novel make more sense. I did enjoy the dry humor that came through, but I also think I would have enjoyed this novel more if I had a book club to discuss it.

Finally, I read I know this much is true by Wally Lamb. I had been wanting to read one of Lamb's novels, and this was quite an amazing story. It centers around Thomas and Dominick and their relationship as twins (I swear I'm not on a twin kick), and as brothers, evolves throughout their life and Thomas' descent into schizophrenia. Many other characters are weaved into this novel - parents, grandparents, cousins, loves, children - and it is quite complex, but still a haunting story. I would recommend this book.

Happy reading!

Recipe: things around the house

Last week I threw together a few meals based on what I had in the fridge and pantry. They were so pleasantly delicious, that I need to share.

The first dish was tilapia filets that I seasoned with salt and pepper and then pan seared. I also cut up some yukon gold potatoes and onions and sauteed those in some olive oil. My new favorite cooking ingredient is crushed red pepper, and I added some to the potatoes to give them a kick. I finished off the meal with a small yellow squash and zuchini sliced and sauteed in olive oil and house seasoning. Yum!

The second dish was iron packed! I peeled brussel sprout leaves to make a salad. In the salad, I added some cut up almonds, a little lemon juice and topped it off with some grated parmesan cheese. Then I pan seared a skirt steak and cut a few slices to put on top of the salad. This was so delicious, that I made the same meal a couple of days later.

Happy cooking!

Valentine's Day?

It what weird world are we in where no one in my immediate family is with their sweetie on Valentine's Day?

Dad - Great Falls
Mom - Long Prairie
me - Chicago
AJ - Indianapolis
Shaun - Florida (on assignment)
Annie - Missoula
Christopher - on the ms Ryndam
Dustin - Long Beach

Not that I'm a big fan of this holiday, but really?
To all of my readers - love ya and miss ya!