Michael & Liz are Bloggable

The month of April was pretty dull but the months to follow will be anything but dull. This coming weekend I'm standing in Matt and Meg's Wedding in Baltimore and at the end of the month, my sister Annie and future brother-in-law Jacob are getting married in Arkansas and I'm standing in that one as well. If that's not awesome enough, June 17th is when our girl Yelizaveta comes to visit for 6 weeks.

This post isn't about the awesomeness to come in May, but about the lameness that just followed in April.

During the month of April, I did 3 things I haven't done in a long long time:

• I haven't run or worked out in 3 weeks. I think the last time I went 3 weeks without working out, was probably 2004. I went from the first week in April to today without running just once. I have missed it and based on my run today, so has my body. I ran for 30 minutes and I wasn't tired when I finished but I could tell that my body was like "ah crap, not this again". I registered today for the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. It isn't until October 26th, but still, I don't want the summer to roll around without at least getting into decent running shape. Hopefully I can keep the running up.
  
• I didn't gain weight without dieting or exercising. At the beginning of the month I weighed 183.6 and I have held steady for the last 3 weeks without exercising or dieting in any way outside of my previous post. If I don't workout or try really hard not to splurge on food, I consistently gain weight, no question about it. I still haven't been drinking soda or bad meat or bad vegetables, but I also haven't skimped on having a couple beers at nights or over stuffing myself for lunch and dinner. And even with that I have held steady at the same weight. It feels fantastic to say that. Hopefully with running starting back up, I can start to move myself toward my goal marathon weight of 165.
• I lied to Liz. I can almost hear the collective blog reader gasp! You lied to your wife? Let me first say that I have NEVER lied to Liz before, no question about it. Yes, for the first time, I told a small lie, but I'm glad I did and I'll explain why. Here was the conversation:
  
  Liz: Hey, what did you eat for lunch today?
  Michael: Matt and I went to Rudinos for the pizza buffet, it was delicious.
  Liz: Oh yeah? that does sound good, what kind of pizza did you have?
  Michael: You know, the normal, cheese, and a couple slices with veggies.
  Liz: (sensing the lie) really? no meat or anything?
  Michael: no, just cheese and veggies, why?
  Liz: oh nothing, just curious
  .... 5 seconds passes by ...
  Michael: ALRIGHT! I HAD PEPPERONI AND SAUSAGE ON TWO SLICES! It's terrible I know, I'm sorry I lied but I have been feeling guilty about it all day and I couldn't take more guilt.
  Liz: Haha! I knew you were lying!!
  Michael: I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, but it was small pieces sitting there and they looked so good. I bet the pig didn't even notice they were missing.
  
  For everyone who read my last post, eating meat without knowing anything about it, is a no-no in our household from now on. So that's where the guilt comes from. But after talking about it, I think Liz took some satisfaction in knowing that I am about as transparent as glass when it comes to lying or being deceitful. It makes her life so much easier and comfortable. So I'm not happy that when pressed on a lie, I actually held up and continued, but I'm glad I did because it shows that our relationship is based on truth and nothing else. So that's the first, and hopefully the last time I ever say that I actually lied to Liz (keeping a secret like proposing is different).
  

Kinda glad April is over and May has just begun.

Look for a lot of pictures from all the weddings and then a massive number of pictures from our fun with Yelizaveta. Sorry this post has no pictures, we haven't been taking any...

I will start off this post with a story from senior year in High School. Back then I was on the varsity basketball team and anytime we had a home game, a few of my friends and I would go out to dinner beforehand and then meet up with the rest of the team at 6:15 to watch the JV game before the Varsity game just after that. The important part of that sentence is that we went out to eat beforehand. We didn't care what we got. No food, or any amount of food at that, could affect how we played. And boy was that the truth. For one of the home games I convinced my friends to go to McDonalds, my palace of worship at the time, to take advantage of one of the most glorious deals ever constructed, 2 Quarter Pounders for $2. That day I had 4 Quarter Pounders before the basketball game. I distinctly remember another day in which I had 2 of the 2 fried chicken sandwiches for $2(that would be 4 sandwiches for $4). 4 sandwiches before a basketball game and I never knew a difference in the game. Played as well as I would have, had I gotten a salad or pasta. To the person I was in high school, that was an amazing meal. To the person I am now, that is just flat out disgusting.

Having just finished both of Michael Pollan's books (The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food) it can't help but make you think about food and how it affects you. For anyone who isn't aware of the books, it's hard to give an overall summary, but the books basically document food and how it arrives on your plate from every direction. They also give advice on how to get back to the basics of eating and getting away from the "Western Diet" and processed foods. I have tried to convey to friends why we have changed our eating habits and why we aren't "hanging out anymore". It's not that we don't want to hang out, it's that if we did, it's painful to have to choose what to eat when you go to someplace called "Wild Wing Cafe"... hmm... what shall I have?.... It has been difficult but I think Liz and I have finally gotten into a routine, a routine that I think we can continue.

I am not one to sit down, write, and finish a post thinking I have nailed every nook and cranny of thought I had in the back of my mind as to what I wanted to say. In fact often times, I'll edit my post and make changes hours after putting it out there. So the only way in which I can logically construct this post is through bullet points, hoping I hit as much as I can as far as how we feel about food. I think the three biggest points I want to make is "Why we have changed our eating habits", "What we are doing now to improve our eating habits", and "Our plans for the future as far as eating goes". I think those are things that anyone reading this would care most about, or at least find most interesting. I am not saying who is right and who is wrong in the way they eat, but there is no doubt in my mind that the change in our eating habits has been a vast improvement, regardless of who disagrees with my comments or these books.

Why we have changed our eating habits:

• "You are what what you eat eats too". I'm sure that'll take a couple reads. Everyone has heard the mantra, "you are what you eat". Well why has it been so overlooked by pretty much everyone that the meat you are eating is only as healthy as the animal it came from? I don't know if this is a metaphor I came up with or read somewhere, but If a doctor said to a lung transplant recipient, "this lung comes from a chronic life-long smoker, it's still good though" I'm pretty sure you would have second thoughts about it. What if every McDonalds labeled their meat with the truth of where it came from: "This beef comes from a CAFO in Kansas where the cow was barely able to stand-up from the corn-fed diet and antibiotics shot in them." It's not that the sandwich is not delicious, or even today that I wouldn't still think it was delicious, it's just the knowledge that there is more than meats the eye with every piece of meat(misspelling intended =P).
  
• Pages 268-269 of The Omnivore's Dilemma. Why are all these diseases like cancer and heart disease more prevalent now than they were several decades ago? The nutritional value in the differences of corn-fed beef vs. grass-fed beef is immense, and feeding cows corn is only a practice that started 30 years ago. These two pages argue that the reason why fish is so healthy is because of the 1 to 1 ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids, 6 being an unhealthy acid that blocks your arteries, 3 being a healthy acid that clears them. The ratio of corn-fed beef is 10 to 1. The ratio when you feed a cow grass, which is what it is meant to eat, instead of corn, the ratio is back to 1 to 1. It also discusses the nutritional value that a 1 to 1 ratio adds to your body, and when that ratio is out of whack, so is your body and it's health.
  
• I come from a family that reveres health and good practices. When the doctor told my Dad that he needed more avocados in his diet, he ate one every morning. When the doctor told him eating almonds was healthy, we had a bowl on the coffee table filled to the brim. When my Dad found out the health benefits of a glass of red wine, he had one every night. It's something I grew up with and something I take seriously. When I found out in 2004 that I weighed 199 pounds and started to develop health issues, I trained and ran a half marathon bringing my weight back to 170. It was just a natural reaction to change my ways. The 4 quarter pounder meal was my naivety, I'm glad I've grown up. My Dad is incredibly healthy and I'm so unbelievably thankful for that, so if those are the things I have to do to follow in his footsteps, then so be it.
  
• If eating healthy food isn't good for me, then at least it's good for the animals and environment. We are now shopping at whole foods, even if the spinach we are buying isn't any healthier than regular supermarket, grown with pesticides and fertilizers, spinach, then at least it was grown in a way that doesn't throw chemicals into the ground. If eating grass-fed beef isn't healthier than corn-fed beef, then at least I'm supporting the proper treatment of animals.
• I think there are many more reasons, and I will probably think of them later, but I think I've hit the main reasons.
  

What we are doing now to improve our eating habits

• Meat always comes from a farm we know of or Whole Foods or Earth Fare where they actually sell grass-fed steaks and grass-fed ground beef.
  
• We found a farm called Mae Farms where we buy all of our pork. They sell at the local farmers market. If we are in a rush and need last minute sausage like we did yesterday, we'll get it at Whole Foods or Earth Fare as good as it can come.
• We haven't found any good places to buy chicken, but we are looking hard. So for now we don't eat chicken.
  
• Any fruits and vegetables have been organic but we are wanting to go to the farmers market more for that stuff but it's tough because they go bad so quickly.
  
• We no longer buy anything with high fructose corn syrup or anything overly processed. On a side note, we have kept our New Years Resolution to not drinking any soda of any kind, I think we will definitely be going the whole year no problem. The sad part is, when 2009 comes around, I don't think we'll be able to bring ourselves to drink soft drinks again.
  
• Since cheese-its and goldfish have been pushed out the door, we are eating more snacks like carrots and a slice of toast with real peanut butter on it. And by real peanut butter I am talkin' peanuts ground up at Whole Foods. Ugh, it's amazing. I could eat a tub a day.
  
• Any deli sandwiches are organic meat without antibiotics.
  
• Just like "In Defense of Food" says, we are doing our best to eat real food our great grandmothers would recognize.
  

Our plans for the future as far as eating goes:

• Obviously continue what we've been doing.
  
• When our little girl comes this summer, we are going to do our best to eat together every night and not have people eating at different times.
  
• We are going to be buying beef straight from the farm. We found a local farm in Durham and are very excited about it. Haven't gotten a chance to go see it yet.
  
• One month this year, I am not quite sure on which one, we are going to go vegetarian, just to see how it feels. This will not include fish, which might seem like a cop-out, but if for the whole month we find ourselves eating a lot more fish and not as many vegetables, then I'd see that as a success because it only happens once every two weeks right now.
  

Like I said before, just because we read two books and have changed what we are eating doesn't make us experts on food, we just feel like this is the healthiest possible way to eat. Since early March, I'd like to say I've been trying to lose weight, but honestly, I haven't been trying at all. My running has fallen off to about once or twice a week and the most exercise I've been doing beyond that is walking Daisy around the block. But according to the scale I haven't gained any weight so something might be going right.

I'm sure our vegetarian month will yield many blog postings, but until then, this is probably the only food post I'll make.

So this past weekend was Alumni Banquet and it was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed seeing everyone we hadn't seen in far too long and it's sad that we only had such a small amount of time to talk. We also found out that a lot more people pay attention to our blog than we thought. We got a lot of questions about Daisy and what she looked like when we first got here... Well here is a video of our first visit with her.

Here are some current pictures. This is one of her in front of the beloved Burruss Hall:

Today I was really sick and couldn't go to work. Lots of congestion and a heachache... well, while lying on the couch resting, I observed Daisy taking a seat in her new favorite spot in the family room. In case it isn't clear, she now sits on the top cushion of our couch in order to look out the window. We took a couple pictures of her tonight.

I'm sorry peeps, I'm not in a wordy mood tonight. Gonna go back to lying down.

Today was dentist day. Liz didn't have a big gap between the last time she went to the dentist but mine is a little larger than it should have been. Well regardless of the gaps in time, we both got rave reviews on our teeth. No cavities or issues to speak of at all... well except one, and that is why I'm blogging...

The funny thing was that we had dentist chairs in a shared room with just a small wall between us so we could hear everything the opposing dental hygienist was saying. They knew we were married so they started intentionally praising us for our teeth in a kind of mini-marital competition:

"Wow Liz, you must floss regularly because it really shows."

"Michael, I barely had to scrap any enamel off your teeth, they look great."

"Yeah well, Liz, your teeth are so straight."

and so on... it really got us laughing hard.

A small footnote to mention here, my history of dental work is not very long. I haven't had a cavity, no wisdom teeth to be taken out, no real issues outside of normal braces ever came up when I was little. And to add to that, my family is similar as well, no one has any wisdom teeth or any big dental issues. I always just had regular cleanings and that was it.

Well just to update my records, they ran an X-ray and I went back and sat in the dentist chair. The woman comes back with the results and says:

"ok, so you have one wisdom tooth and everything else is looking pretty good."

"umm... what? That's wrong. I don't have any wisdom teeth."

"Well it looks like you have one, in the upper right. See?"

I was actually somewhat mad at this point.

"That can't be right! I've always been told I have no wisdom teeth! No one in my family has wisdom teeth! Why would I have any when I have never had any?!? I don't have any, I don't feel any!"

"I don't know why you haven't heard this before, but it's right there."

That line of questioning went on for a while. My hygienist was also a big fan of the mother-child name calling like "honey", "sweetie", "dear", so that really didn't help my panicked state. Well no amount of pleading or any line of questioning could mask the truth, I have one wisdom tooth. She even printed out the x-ray for me to take home and keep, which thanks to my lovely wife is now posted on the refrigerator.

The good news is it isn't moving (the tooth, not the picture). They said since it doesn't appear to be moving, they won't have to touch it or remove it. They will continue to take x-rays of it, just to monitor it and make sure it stays in place. Liz asked me if it made me mad and I am not quite sure how to respond. Is it really that big of a deal? It's just a dumb ole tooth. But isn't that something the dentist I grew up with should have seen and been like "yo, you have a wisdom tooth, it's no biggy, don't worry about it" and I would have said "sweet". But that's not what happened. I told my Mom and she refused to believe me if I hadn't insisted so much because of April Fools Day.

After a few minutes of calming down, I had a little fun with it. I said to the hygienist:

"I always thought I was a little lopsided."

and...

"Oh so that's why I lean!"

Who knows, maybe I'm growing wisdom teeth. I'll let you know if another one pops up.

I had something else I wanted to blog about today but this blog has been long enough that I will stop here. Also, I really enjoy blogging so I will save it for an uneventful day.

I think the first year of our marriage has been a very fun one with lots of changes. We bought a house, we moved in together(I don't consider the two months before the wedding, living in different rooms, to be the same as "moving in together"), we got Daisy in September, and we have gone on a lot of trips from Hilton Head to Colorado. Well this summer is going to be another HUGE change for us. I am not going to be able to fool anyone by saying that Liz and I are going to have a child this summer, especially when you look at the title of this blog entry. But what we are doing is participating in a program called Children of Chernobyl. I'll start from the beginning.

I think it is very easy in church to approach activities and events with a mediocre attitude of "oh that's interesting, but no thank you". Lately I have been trying very hard to pinpoint things that Liz and I can participate in because I don't think we feel ready to jump all the way into something in depth like small groups. We aren't as open about discussing religion as I think people who attend church usually are. We both know how we feel and don't feel comfortable sharing just yet. Maybe someday we'll take the plunge, but it's also not too terribly encouraging when inviting us they say (and this is not a joke) "You should come out because there are a lot of people you're same age... like 40's..." Last time we checked, that wasn't quite "our age". Not that there is anything wrong with being 40!! :)

Well back to the story... we have been looking for ways to participate. So about two months ago we were sitting in church and someone gets up to speak about their experience with the program called Children of Chernobyl. They hosted an 8 year old boy from Belarus who had been living in the Chernobyl area. He came over for 6 weeks during the summer and stayed with them while he received treatment for the medical issues he had because of where he grew up. The treatment included dental care, general physician care, and anything else that he needed taken care of, it was all done for free. Of course while he was here he was also having fun participating in summer camps, going to the beach and pool, and enjoying the awesomeness that is Raleigh/Durham. Due to the vast difference between our environment of living and theirs, just coming here for 6 weeks of fun is medical care in itself. The food they are allowed to eat is minimal due to the contamination. They aren't allowed eating any form of dairy in Chernobyl not to mention a bunch of other foods. They have to be explicitly told to eat when they come here because they aren't sure if any food is safe. Life is much more difficult for them so to come here for 6 weeks is a dream come true. Well after participating now for a few summers, they are once again waiting for their boy to come back to the U.S for another 6 week stint and couldn't be more excited about it.

After hearing her story and her statements, I think what struck me the most was the notion that I felt the exact same way she did when hearing about the program. That is, starting to list ways in which it wasn't for us. They don't speak english, we can't take care of them because of work, we don't have children so they'd be bored. All of our reasons why I wouldn't want to do it were the same. Why not though? What the heck? The worst that could happen is that the child has a miserable time, is not interested in getting to know us, and we have 6 weeks of uncomfortable silence followed by a remorseless goodbye. Even in the worst situation, we just helped a child become healthier and slightly happier. We just learned a little more about patience and little more about each other. Even the worst case scenario falls just short of the best case scenario. We're hoping to have a lot of fun with our child, and to enjoy their surprise at all the American life has to offer. We want to make them laugh and smile during a 6 week, once in a lifetime, opportunity. And maybe next summer like all the families who participate in the program, we can also bring our child back for consecutive summers and continue this for a few years to come.

So after thinking about it throughout that service and realizing that it does sound like an awesome thing to be a part of, I looked at Liz and said "How cool would that be?" and Liz responded "Are you serious? I mean I agree, but I didn't imagine that you'd want to do it."

We then did a lot discussing amongst ourselves after that service and decided to pursue it and were eventually accepted as a host family. So after talking it over with the program coordinator, we have decided to host an 8 year old girl. We don't know any other information other than that but we will find out more around May. They will be arriving late June and leaving early August. One thing that will be exciting between now and then, is we get to send pictures and a letter to our child to tell them how excited we are for them to visit, and also to put their mind at ease about where they are going. I can't imagine an 8 year old getting up and going to the other side of the world without a little fear. Not to mention, how their parents are going to feel about the whole experience. But we have no doubt that we'll give this girl the best summer of her life and do everything we can to help her out.

So look for lots of pictures and information as the summer approaches on what our experience is like with our child. We already have a beach weekend planned for July 4th with Jon, Julie, and Dewey so that should be a blast because I am sure our child has never seen a beach before.

It will be nice when May comes around and we will know her name, rather than calling her "our child".

If anyone wants to check out more information about the program, here is the link and then click on "summer respite":
http://www.cofcnc.org

I'm sure everyone has their idea of what a perfect Saturday is. Well today, in my opinion, I had the perfect Saturday. I am going to outline exactly what I did. It had everything. Also, you should know that the temperature today was a perfect 72 degrees and we had the windows open all day and Daisy has barely moved from the deck where she loves to lay in the sun. Here is what I did:

• Woke up at 8AM not feeling tired. Put on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt and came downstairs and fed Daisy.
• I sat down and checked some work stuff that didn't turn out to be a problem and watched a little news and sportscenter
• Opened up my book called "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and read 20 pages.
  
• Liz went to the farmers market, so I finished the last hour of the James Bond movie "Thunderball" I had been watching the night before.
  
• Then watched the entire James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice".
• Went outside and mowed the lawn, raked the leaves in the backyard, and did some random clean up around the yard.
  
• Liz and I went to Target just to return some things and browse.
  
• Duke lost to Bob Huggins' West Virginia squad. Hopefully Xavier wins so Huggins can beat them too.
  
• Took a shower
  
• Moved the grill down to the patio where it will stay and started the grill with coals and lighter fluid.
  
• We then grilled our very first "grass-fed beef" london broil on the grill that we bought at Whole Foods along with a 1/2 lb. of shrimp and we also had corn with dinner.
  
• It was slightly over cooked at medium well but it was still very delicious and good to know that it was good for us and the right thing to do.
  
• I had a beer with dinner and now another one while watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with all the windows open, a perfect breeze floating through the room, with the sun going down in the distance.
  
• To end the perfect Saturday, I think I will do some more reading, watch some nick at nite (hopefully Home Improvement), and go to bed without any agenda tomorrow except for an Easter Sunday Asbury UMC service and lots of fun with Jon, Julie, and Dewey.
  

I can't think of a better Saturday than that... well... I might have to match it up with skiing at Copper Mountain, Colorado, but that won't happen but once a year.

Is this not the dumbest poll you have ever seen?


Noooooo.... what it means is that three-quarters of Americans believe news coverage to be true. It also means one-quarter of Americans don't watch or don't believe news coverage to be the truth. I'm sure they asked only the most qualified economic experts in this poll.

100% of polls are dumb.