Goodbyes (or my avoidance of them)

As much as I am trying to avoid thinking about moving at the end of the year, things are happening that make it pretty hard to stay in my "everything is fine and normal" bubble (a very nice place to stay I might add). Kameron is flying out to Spokane, WA pretty soon to do a few job interviews and as much as I would like to pretend that he is just going on yet another scout camp-out, I know that this trip is a little more significant than that. Kameron is very stressed out about these interviews and, I have to admit, I can't wait to have my fun, easy-going husband back. If this wasn't enough to burst my "nothing is changing" bubble, there is more:

At church today, Kameron was released from his calling as Young Men's president and he spent a lot of time today training the new one. Friends have been asking us over for "farewell' dinners. I am not being assigned any new clients at work. We are not renewing out apartment lease. I am not requesting for any time off of work for Christmas. And then, there are all the inevitable well-meaning people who are constantly asking us where and when we are moving (we still don't know).

I think the real reason I am avoiding thinking about moving is because I hate goodbyes. I like to pretend that they don't exist. Maybe I had some kind of childhood trauma that I never dealt with because I just can't handle them. For example, my best buddy at work left her position last week. Although this was quite a devastating event for me, I couldn't bring myself around to admitting that she was really leaving. Instead, I just worked really hard helping her clean out her cubicle (cleaning is my stress reliever). I also had to explain to her that I do not do goodbyes very well so she could probably expect me to tell her "see you later" at the end of the day. Which I did. (And I did see her later but that is beside the point).

Living in St. Louis has been a really great experience for us. And although I am excited to be done with school, to move back out west, and to be closer to family and to the mountains, I'm not really anxious to leave just yet. Maybe it's because I know that I probably will never make it back to St. Louis. I'm pretty sure as we drive away I'll just say "see you later." So, if you are one of my St. Louis friends and one day you find that I'm gone and I never said goodbye--don't worry, it just means that you meant a lot to me and it was too hard for me to admit that our association was ending. Maybe I'd better work on that.

Confessions of a Vegetarian

After debating about it for about a year, I finally took the plunge into vegetarianism a little over a month ago. It's going fabulously so far--although it has been more of an adjustment than I had planned. I hadn't been eating much meat for a while and had a reservoir of tried and true vegetarian recipes. My hesitation lay with my pesky perfectionism. If you know me very well, you'll know that I don't like to do anything unless I can do it perfectly. I didn't want to call myself a vegetarian until I was totally committed. I started reading more about it, decided to make the commitment, and then--Voila! A vegetarian is born.

I had only been a vegetarian for about a week before I went home to Utah for vacation--what a way to start out! It was easy to find vegetarian dishes when we went out to eat, but eating over at other people's houses was when I got a little stressed out. Most of the anxiety stemmed from the two things I hate the most: attention and inconveniencing people. I didn't want anyone to think they had to make vegetarian food when I was over; I didn't want anyone to make a big deal out of me not eating something; and I especially did not want to give off a self-righteous "I don't eat that" vibe at the dinner table. It all went surprisingly well, however. I didn't make a big deal out of it and neither did anyone else. My family was already aware of my vegetarianism from my Vegetarian Recipe of the Month portion of my blog (which you should really check out) so I didn't have to do much explaining. When it was all over, I figured that if I could make it through a family vacation still vegetarian--I could make it through anything, right?

One of the most interesting facets of being a vegetarian happens in the eating area of my office. I have fabulous co-workers who I love to eat lunch with. In an effort to be more healthy and to save money, I bring my own lunch to work which usually consists of leftovers from the night before's dinner. Inevitably, people are always asking me about what I'm eating. And, depending on who I'm eating with, I get varied reactions. Some people I eat with don't pay much attention to what I'm eating. They know I'm vegetarian but have known lots of other vegetarians--no big deal. The second reaction I get is fascination. Wow--what are you eating? It looks so healthy! Is it good? Can I get the recipe? Another popular reaction is that people think I am completely off my rocker: What is that? Do you actually like how that tastes or do you just eat it because it's healthy? (ouch!) It smells good, but I could never eat that. Does your husband like what you cook? I don't really mind being different or that other people think my food is wierd--I just mostly hate the attention (as mentioned before).

So, if you're curious as to how Kam handles all this meatlessness, know that he is a vegetarian's dream spouse. Kam is always willing to try new things and usually likes what I make. He'll eat a meat dish when he gets the chance--but he always eats what I cook and doesn't complain about the lack of meat around the house (usually).

So after a month of feeling comfortable enough to label myself a vegetarian--I am feeling great! I feel like I am doing something good for myself and for the environment (yes, I'm a little bit of a tree hugger too). I love the challenge of eating out of the mainstream and trying new things. If you're curious about vegetarianism, here is a great link to a webpage that explains all the virtues of a vegetarian diet: Why Go Veg?

The Search is On

Good news! Kameron had his first job phone interview this week! He applied for three jobs last Saturday and one of the hospitals contacted him first thing Monday. He had a phone interview on Thursday and they would like to meet him in person. The job is in Spokane, WA (pictured above) and Kam would be working in pediatrics, like he wants. Hopefully this momentum will keep going. Our goal is to have Kam apply for three jobs a week. We want to schedule a few interviews on the same day or two so it will be worth the money to fly Kameron out. It looks like Spokane may be the place for us. We were really interested in Denver but the competition for OT jobs is so high! Colorado is the only state that does not require a seperate state occupational therapy license so it is a magnet for traveling OTs--making it difficult for a new graduate to get a regular full time job. It is so crazy that we are at the point of seriously looking for jobs--it seems like Kam just started grad school. I wonder what life will be like when school is no longer a part of our life (if you don't count all the student loans we will have as a reminder)...

General Conference and the Must Have Kitchen Gadget (the two are not related)

Kam and I have just finished watching the last of the eight hours (ten hours for Kam) of this weekend's General Conference. We were huddled on our couch watching it on a tiny little box on our computer (if we tried to watch it full screen the connection was bad). I love General Conference. After my initial listening, these are the talks I liked best: Elder Bednar's talk on prayer, Elder Perry's talk on simplifying life, and President Uchtdorf's talk about hope. I loved being able to spend the day at home and to be able to eat while being spiritually fed. I made some salsa and Kameron and I were able to chow down during the morning session. We went for a walk in between sessions in the absolutely gorgeous Fall weather we are having. It was such a relaxing and inspirational day. I usually buy the General Conference CDs so I can listen to the talks while I drive. This is a good thing because no matter how hard I try, I fall asleep during parts of the afternoon sessions of General Conference every year. This year was no exception. Did I just admit that?

About the must-have kitchen gadget. If you are a lover of natural peanut butter, like I am, you will know how annoying it is to stir the peanut butter and oil together. This will happen no longer, my friends. I have purchased a Witmer Company Peanut Butter Mixer. It is an amazing way to stir peanut butter with no hassle. Why didn't I buy one years ago? I even think the peanut butter tastes better mixed this way. (You're welcome for the free advertising Witmer Company).



Here is a delicous breakfast recipe I made this morning with my natural peanut butter. It comes from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld. You should give it a try (as well as my vegetarian recipe of the month--I promise, they're good recipes):

1 cup nonfat milk (I use soy milk)
1/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or pumkin pie spice
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 teaspoons natural peanut butter

Optional toppings:
milk
dried fruit and nuts (I put walnuts on mine this morning)
maple syrup

In a small saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla, and spice. Bring to a gentle boil and stir in the oatmeal. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, until the oatmeal is soft and creamy. Stir in the peanut butter.

Spoon the oatmeal into bowls and spinkle with desired toppings.

This recipe serves two and takes about 15 minutes to make.