Trader Joe's Favorites

Nathan and I took a trip to Chico on Sunday. We just needed a day out of Redding. We went to Toys R Us to get Ruby's birthday present and show her the insane Elmo aisle (she loves Elmo!) and we did a little clearance shopping at the mall. I remember back in the day when we had to go to Chico to go to the "cool" mall. Now Redding's mall is pretty much just as good except Chico's has Gap and Hollister.

When we were trying to decide where to go on our day trip my one criteria was to go somewhere with a Trader Joe's. So of course our last stop in Chico was TJ's. I have a few things I get there everytime I go but often I'm just stunned by how good everything looks and left wondering what I'm missing out on. So, I thought I'd enlist your guy's help. What are your Trader Joe's must haves? When our store opens up in Redding, what should I go get?

Some of my favorites are the Curry Simmer Sauce, Soy Sauce Multi Seed Rice Crackers and the many flavors of hummus. I also just tried a lemon artichoke pesto and it was awesome!

So help me out guys - what are your TJ favorites?

The Chase is On

I don't have any cute photos to show but I wanted to share about the Read family favorite pasttime. Ruby has discovered the fun of chasing after us, but more than that, us chasing after her. She shrieks with delight when we hide from her and then pop out on our hands and knees and chase after her. She ends up laughing so hard that she just stops and lets us catch her. It's adorable, it's precious, it's wonderful memories that I hope I never forget.

Saying Goodbye... Finding Margin

Tomorrow is my last board meeting for Girls Incorporated of the Northern Sacramento Valley and it definitely will be a bitter sweet day. I have been involved with Girls Inc. for four years now, first on the steering committee and then on the Board. At times it has been a second job for me(all volunteer of course) between board work, committee work, conferences, presentations and the like. For all of you out there who have been involved with creating an organization from the ground up, you know how much work it can be. But I love the organization and the mission so the hours spent were definitely worth it.

The past year on the board has been interesting for me. It started with a four month leave of absence after I had Ruby and then the past eight months of getting back into the swing of things and really trying to figure out how much I can honestly handle with being the wife, mother, employee and friend that I want to be. Somewhere in the last part of those eight months I started to realize that I am definitely not SuperWoman (you know, able to be and do all things) nor do I want to be. I am in a phase and stage in life when things must give and unfortunately the bulk of my community service is that thing for me. But it is with a heavy heart.
A great consolation to me was that overwhelming response of warmth and understanding I received when I made this announcement to the GI Board. I received comments of "I'm so glad you figured this out at your age", "family comes first", and "between husband, career, and kids you can choose two things and do them well - you're making the right decision." What a relief to have a Board of friends who back me up and support my choice.
So tomorrow night I'll probably share a tear or two and yet I know that I will always be supportive of the organization and in fact, I'm staying on the Fund Development Committee through May to see us through an event. But I am also grateful for the margin that I am gaining in my life - we'll see what God does with it.

Oh, and if any of this has perked your interest in Girls Inc., we are always looking for committed volunteers for the Board, committees and our programs. Visit the website for more info: http://www.girlsincnsv.org/.

Ruby and I at a Girls Inc. Event in November

Oh Ruby...

At home Ruby's best friend is Zori, our little white kitty. She follows her everywhere around the house. It's really cute except when I leave her alone for a minute and turn around to find this-

Zori always plays in the basil pot (hence no leaves on the basil plant) so Ruby followed suit. She never puts things in her mouth so I was shocked to find that she had chowed down on some dirt. She went right into the bath which probably feels like a reward to her because she loves the bath. So I shouldn't have been surprised to find the same exact situation the following day. Lets just say our poor little basil plant has been banished from the house for now.

Remembering MLK

This is for all you Liberty Alums out there.
I drove by Liberty (my old high school) today and saw a full parking lot. I recalled how we never got Martin Luther King Jr. day off and how we always speculated the reason why. Of course there were accusations of prejudice but I'm sure we all knew that it was really so that we could get out of school the last week in May instead of the first week in June like everyone else. Back then I felt it was a shame not to recognize Dr. MLK for his accomplishments - so what if we had to stay in school one more day. And nine years later I still feel that way. No, I didn't do anything grand to recognize MLK today - but I did remember him and I did tell Ruby about him, and I will continue to. It is important to have days to honor those who have gone before us and sacrificed so much. And yet I know how tempting it is to have a day off and just vege - not thinking about the reason why you get to chill an extra day. But I hope you took a moment to remember, and if you didn't, do it now; it's not too late.

The Award Season is Upon Us

I love awards shows! I know some people can't stand these type of shows but they just energize me. I've already watched the People's Choice Awards, the Critics Choice Awards and as I write this I am watching the Golden Globes (my fav of all!). I'm not sure what it is about these shows but I think it has something to do with the fact that I live in Redding and therefore have not heard of half of the movies that are up for awards. They don't come to our little Cinemark theaters and this plight has only recently gotten a little better since Prime Eleven shows atypical movies once in a while. Although now that we have Ruby I probably wouldn't get to see these movies even if they came to our theaters. Anyway, when I watch the award shows I start making a mental list of all the movies I must now see. This year some of those movies are Slumdog Millionaire, The John Adams miniseries, Doubt, Rachel Getting Married and maybe the Reader.

I love the acceptance speeches. The tears, the nerves, the rambling, the bold political statements - it's all great! My favorite so far was Anne Hathaway's at the Critic Choice Awards - she tied with Meryl Streep for best Actress. She was adorable, stunned and totally gracious - exactly the type of person who should win that award. And my second favorite (maybe because he's giving it right now) is Tracy Morgan's for 30 Rock on the Globes- hilarious!

Anyway, if you're not a fan of the award shows - don't knock um - at least not to my face. I need to go now so I can enjoy the rest of the Globes in peace.

Settlers

Settlers of Catan is a great game. Nine years ago when Nathan's family was introduced to the game no one else had heard of it. We've done our fair share of introducing people to the game but now we are coming across people who have actually played it before. This is great because it takes a long time to explain how to play. I know there are people out there who aren't big fans of the game (Billy) but I'm sure there are people out there who'd like to play. So, if you are one of those people, let me know because I want to set up a Settlers game night (just for you Heather!).

Here's a recent game night with Matt and Tricia and James and Christie - I didn't win :(

Here's Matt messing around with his settlement pieces, he still won the game despite all his shenanigans.

How does she sleep like that?

Its hard to see in this picture but Ruby is not sleeping on her side here. A second before I took this picture she had both of her legs straight out in front of her and her upper body was flopped over her legs - and she was sleeping. She shifted slightly when I took this picture but her left leg is still directly under her - her foot is touching her hand. She sleeps like this all the time. She is so much like her Uncle Alex it is crazy - but I bet you don't sleep like this anymore do you Alex?

My 2009 Goals

I've been thinking about my goals for the 2009 year. I've never been big on resolutions but for some reason this year they are piling up in my head. Here's what I have so far:

-to spend at least one night away from my little Ruby. Heaven knows I love her and I love to wake up to her cute little voice but I'd also love to just wake up and cuddle with my husband in bed like I used to.

-to be a little more mindful of my health and wellness. I've noticed that I tend to get consumed in taking care of my baby and my husband and I forget to do a few key things for myself. I'm hopping back on the vitamins, eating well and back on the exercise train - I want my dancers tummy back!

-to be debt free by the end of 2009 - there is strong possibility that we can do it. We just have the school loans and the truck to pay off - we can do it!

- to be a little more green. We do what we can but I know we can do more. My first course of action is to get the reusable grocery bags. This has repercussions in our house because we use the paper bags for a recyclables container and we use the plastic bags for lunch bags. This means that we also need to get a reusable recycling container and lunch bags - so its a little bit of an investment. All that to say - we're becoming more green one step at a time.

That's it for now - check in with me and see how I'm doing. I know the accountability will help.

Clean Teeth

That's what I got for Christmas. Well, sort of. Nathan got me a Soniccare Toothbrush. I love it. We normally make lists to help each other out but this wasn't on my list. It was a total surprise and what was even better is that I've remarked a number of times how I wanted one of these. So it means he listened - amazing :) My teeth feel so clean and my dentist will be very happy. Now maybe my teeth won't fall out (one of my reoccurring nightmares) - hooray!

On top of that Christmas was wonderful! Here's a few pics to show you how great Christmas was :)

She really wanted her presents!


I got a bread maker for Christmas too! This was our yummy breakfast of fresh baked bread with Georgia Peach Preserves! Delicious!


Ruby was tired but we had a great Christmas eve at Nathan's family's house.


Opening presents Christmas morning.


On Christmas morning we watched me on the news at my mom's house (it was from the 23rd but I hadn't seen it yet). Ruby was confused why mommy was on tv and sitting on the couch behind her.