Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

1 year

A year ago today my father in law passed away. He fought a very long, very hard battle with cancer. He was first diagnosed before our wedding. Years later, one of his doctors mentioned how it was a big deal the he made it to our wedding. He eventually went into remission for about a year before the cancer came back in his lungs and brain.

Our last Christmas together, he wasn't doing very well. He lost the ability to do a lot of the things we take for granted- feed ourselves. Walk. Get in and out of bed. I remember one morning, one of his nurses came over to help out. He was in rough shape and when the nurse asked how he was doing he just smiled and said he was doing great. He truly had a fighter's spirit.

Boyd used to always give me a hard time about being a CU fan. And he used to ALWAYS ask when Ben and I were going to have kids. He was passionate about his family, his husker football, his church, and writing. After he passed away, we published all of his articles into a book. It was one his dreams.
It has been an interesting year without him. Parts of it have been really tough. I honestly don't know how people get through a loss like this without faith. Even in the pain and chaos, there has always been a sense of peace and hope.

I am very thankful for the son that he raised and the role model he was for Ben. I am thankful for the memories we have, and I'm thankful that we will see him again one day.

Poached Eggs

I really enjoy a good eggs benedict for breakfast. One of the keys is a poached eggs. I had never made poached eggs before but really wanted to give it a go. A few weeks ago, I had the day off and thought that would be a nice way to start my morning. Boy, was I wrong!!!  One of the eggs slid through the slots in my slotted spoon and I ended up with runny egg all over my floor. So then I tried it with a non-slotted spoon. Big mistake!! I had water all over my English muffin and prosciutto. I ended up just making some scrambled eggs instead and called it a day. 

Well, I don't want to be defeated by a little egg! Today was the day for me to conquer those little boogers. And, I did it!!!! Only 2 out of the 4 came out great, but, I'll take it!! 

I give you hollandaise-less eggs benny

 

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Things I Love Lately

~The map my run app. I can pick my playlist and have a voiceover that will tell me distance, time, pace, split. It's pretty awesome!

~My new glasses. I haven't had new glasses in probably 4 years! 

~Our church. It.is.awesome.

~Getting a good report from the dermatologist! I had to do 6 weeks of chemo cream and it was awful. Even my dr said I looked "barberic". My chest lit up like a Christmas tree! I was itchy, I was grumpy, and I didn't get a lot of sleep. 

~The spring weather. 

~Vests. I love them right now. 

~Tim McGraw's new album. With the exception of one song. 

~Weekend naps.
~Finding new recipes that are delicious and easy.
~March Madness!  It's just beginning, but I love the craziness and hype.
 

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Chattanooga!

We headed down south for a long weekend to visit the Hungenbergs. Ben and Eric had signed up to do the inaugural Chattanooga marathon as part of a research project. They did great! You can read more about the research project here if you'd like. Erin, Tate, and I drove around and cheered them on at 3 different spots. I'm so proud of them!

The next day we rented bikes and went on a ride along the riverwalk down to the Chattanooga dam. It was a lot of fun and the weather was gorgeous! 

Our last day was so much fun! Our morning started out with a hike at rainbow falls. It was really pretty! 

 

 

These bridges were crazy!! They would shake and rock so bad.

That afternoon Ben, Eric, and I headed over to the Tennessee Stillhouse downtown. It was the first distillery after prohibition. It was really cool! It's a neat brick building and they use whiskey barrels for a lot of their decor.

We went on a tour and learned all about the making process and how aging changes the color and taste.

Their barrel room was underground so they made us wear these sweet hardhats!

After the tour we headed over to their tasting room and got to sample their whiskey.

Chattanooga has some weird laws. You can't just order a drink from this place. You have to have an educational piece before they can serve you. And they are limited to serving you 3 oz. 

After our tour we met up with Erin and Tate and did some shopping before going to dinner. 

It was a really fun trip! 

Date night

I used to love Denver's Restaurant Week. I would get so excited about looking through the menus and figuring out which new place we should go check out. This year was ridiculous! All of the good downtown restaurants booked up so fast! Like within the first 2 days. Unless you wanted a 9 or 9:30 reservation. I was so bummed!!!  

So, we create our own version of restaurant week! Lucky for me, my boss got me a giftcard to a new restaurant for Christmas. The restaurant is called Beast and Bottle. It's a cute, small little place. 

I didn't take this photo- but thought you should see how cute it is! And their kitchen is surrounded by glass windows, so people on the street can see in. 

Paul and Lesley met us there and we had a fun double date! We all did the tasting menu- 4 courses. I had the octopus crostini, crab pasta, pork 4 ways, and a chocolate peanut butter deliciousness. It was seriously so good!!

This is Ben's selection...although I don't really remember what all he ordered!