tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045259289532456882024-03-13T17:10:46.379-06:00The Adventures of ErinTravel, Running, Hiking, Yoga, Gardening, Cooking, and other ways of bringing adventure and balance to life's journeysErin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-82602607975365772722023-04-25T09:21:00.003-06:002023-04-25T09:21:58.435-06:00<div class="blog-item-top-wrapper" style="background-color: white; display: flex; flex-direction: column; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 75px;"><div class="blog-item-title" style="order: 2;"><h1 class="entry-title entry-title--large p-name" data-content-field="title" itemprop="headline" style="color: var(--tweak-blog-item-title-color); font-family: acumin-pro; font-size: calc(3.6vw + 1rem); font-weight: 500; letter-spacing: 0em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px;">The Trail - or Poetry in Motion</h1></div><div class="blog-item-meta-wrapper" style="margin-bottom: 2rem; order: 1;"><div class="blog-item-author-date-wrapper" data-animation-role="date" style="display: flex;"><div class="blog-meta-item blog-meta-item--author p-author author" data-content-field="author" style="color: var(--tweak-blog-item-meta-color); font-size: calc(0vw + 1rem); letter-spacing: 0.01em; line-height: 1em;"><br /></div></div></div></div><div class="blog-item-content-wrapper" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1682435907629_407" style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 16px;"><div class="blog-item-content e-content" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1682435907629_406" style="margin: 0px 0px 3vw;"><div class="sqs-layout sqs-grid-12 columns-12" data-layout-label="Post Body" data-type="item" id="item-6424967b76a7722cd085070a"><div class="row sqs-row" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1682435907629_405" style="margin-left: -17px; margin-right: -17px; position: relative; width: auto !important;"><div class="col sqs-col-12 span-12" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1682435907629_404" style="float: left; padding-right: 0px; width: 653.078px;"><div class="sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html" data-block-type="2" id="block-57a79f55ffc690462def" style="clear: none; height: auto; outline: none; padding: 0px 17px; position: relative;"><div class="sqs-block-content" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1682435907629_417" style="outline: none;"><p class="" style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was out on a trail this morning and I thought to myself I really wanted to write a poem about running, to try and capture all the ups and downs, literally and emotionally, of a good trail run. </p><p class="" style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.16px; white-space: normal;">Written By</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.16px; white-space: normal;"> </span><a class="blog-author-name" href="https://olive-marlin-8gha.squarespace.com/blog?author=61fe9e31a2efca217f08d766" style="background: 0px 0px; cursor: pointer; font-size: calc(0vw + 1rem); letter-spacing: 0.01em; line-height: 1em; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: normal;">Erin Lucero</a></p><p class="" style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3sWRx0fBmLbl6pEwj_v7q6U2fAsXDsBXaIJLWL9HI56qoNsWG_NKgXjXOUvNqja6IXfgEBXJ28VA2eD2iPDO9cL4nhfg08axr9gqQ7DoRDOfYe_IoT9G2ona6plEweYtACKtl_9dhE0HjiZm9dtrYu4pz6hioA6_HkzgP8W32PODLOPNk65FtKeiZIw/s864/20230228_062754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="864" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3sWRx0fBmLbl6pEwj_v7q6U2fAsXDsBXaIJLWL9HI56qoNsWG_NKgXjXOUvNqja6IXfgEBXJ28VA2eD2iPDO9cL4nhfg08axr9gqQ7DoRDOfYe_IoT9G2ona6plEweYtACKtl_9dhE0HjiZm9dtrYu4pz6hioA6_HkzgP8W32PODLOPNk65FtKeiZIw/s320/20230228_062754.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></p><p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, there’s the warmup.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Greeting my cold legs, still heavy from sleep.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Waking up my ankles and feet.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moving over the easy gravel, knowing there’s more to come</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I Find today’s rhythm, always unique.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></p><p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here comes the hill.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now it’s really time to play.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Winding up the switchbacks,</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">The heart kicks into double time.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pumping blood, pumping life,</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pumping movement.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deep breaths of cold thin air,</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">The lungs and thighs burn in synchronicity.</p><p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dance of oxygen and blood as lifeforce flows</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">To my calves, my toes, my heart, my mind.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scanning the horizon but watching the rocks ahead,</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Feeling the burn, feeling the strength.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pain and pleasure twist together in the most ancient of cycles,</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the trail gets steeper.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></p><p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Climbing, Step after step, Breath after breath.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Asking for just a little more, Digging just a little deeper.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then my dear friend Doubt comes for her visit.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Are we there yet?” She asks. “Maybe we should take a break?</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why not take the easy road?</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why do you keep pushing yourself?”</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">The cold air chaps my skin as sweat stings my eyes.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Taking a sip of water, Imposter syndrome makes its routine appearance</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">The inevitable faster runner comes to pass me by, bounding along in endless grace.</p><p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">But Doubt, we are old friends now.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">The friend you’ve known forever and have learned to ignore.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I keep going. Trusting my legs, trusting my heart.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">And as it always is, just when we’re about ready to give up, the hill lessens.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instantly my body responds.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">A rush of oxygen, my legs feel lighter.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">My heart stabilizes, the world feels good again.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Endorphins flooding the system.</p><p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sun that was blazing hot a moment ago is now a friendly warmth.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deep breath, and then Wow look at that view.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqCqxKst15mD8Pyx475LConam4pFaL97BmztvIWHqk_CKmgqUv3j-QdL7NyHrNDd4m82gbHrXfhv8JhSptWN38aDGR7brEuFJUreNfZEG7pqpO9CU66vqF_kjzukfskmuY6AQCozLwq46KFWLxizQxjpFh5rdsQjmadOtc19M0qmD-sSZP7tuKmkfLSQ/s2016/IMG_0318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqCqxKst15mD8Pyx475LConam4pFaL97BmztvIWHqk_CKmgqUv3j-QdL7NyHrNDd4m82gbHrXfhv8JhSptWN38aDGR7brEuFJUreNfZEG7pqpO9CU66vqF_kjzukfskmuY6AQCozLwq46KFWLxizQxjpFh5rdsQjmadOtc19M0qmD-sSZP7tuKmkfLSQ/s320/IMG_0318.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the trail crests to the summit, the world opens up.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blue sky folding into layers of mountain peaks.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow still whispering in the crooks of the boulders,</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">The birds are calling to each other from the sagebrush.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then the wind starts blowing, waking me up from my reverie.</p><p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">And now I find a new cadence, as the dance changes.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">My feet find a new turning, as they fall into the rhythm of the rocks,</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of the sand and the mud, of the boulders and the pebbles.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">My feet move across the earth, as my toes reach out and grasp the stone through my shoes.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Connecting in the most intimate way.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kissing the earth, Breathing in the sky, drawing life from the Sun.</p><p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the trail begins to turn downhill, my body comes alive.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Feet moving faster than the mind can think.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Until it finally stops trying.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">With each revolution, with each step, coming closer and closer</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">To the Flow.</p><p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then the trail opens up, smooth as silk.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I find the Flow.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Dance, The Dream.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Poetry of Motion.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Are my feet still touching the ground? Or am I the ground?</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">One with the movement, everything works together in perfect harmony.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Flying, Free, This is the magic. This is the reason I know not to listen to Doubt. This is it!</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is…..</p><p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">And suddenly a rock shifts under my foot</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">And oh crap, I AM flying!</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">But my body still knows better than my mind does.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">And it puts me back on my path.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">My ankles are stronger than I give them credit for as they set me back on my feet.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I continue on, a little shaken, but still strong.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Running a little slower, but still running.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still moving. Still dancing.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dance is ever-changing.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">It has its ups and downs, its ebbs and flows.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just as the world turns, we turn, step by step, mile by mile.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">We find the flow, we lose it again.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">We find our strength, and doubt comes along to try and snatch it away.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">We falter, but then our body brings us back home, back to the trail.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">For if we keep moving, if we keep dancing,</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">We will always find the poetry of motion.</p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju8BupoFNHjFc8mxDDf1kn7V1w2U57nW1qq6joOqyHPgxcBj5tvfwDCJ0UPVnnRbDfBJlqluMIiI7b52H39haZMuTiP1rNBf4cBi5mXPyfkU2qSVD5jRHmRNw5M2B8nUAKKeoe39QnlG3fjosMmIaiGN_M3vQSC1W_fCoRakDq6-kv6WEKOw3QweRp3A/s2873/IMG_1969%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2052" data-original-width="2873" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju8BupoFNHjFc8mxDDf1kn7V1w2U57nW1qq6joOqyHPgxcBj5tvfwDCJ0UPVnnRbDfBJlqluMIiI7b52H39haZMuTiP1rNBf4cBi5mXPyfkU2qSVD5jRHmRNw5M2B8nUAKKeoe39QnlG3fjosMmIaiGN_M3vQSC1W_fCoRakDq6-kv6WEKOw3QweRp3A/s320/IMG_1969%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p class="" style="margin: 1rem 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-40976170605103465232021-08-29T16:42:00.001-06:002021-08-29T16:43:17.883-06:00Tackling a MarathonI wrote this post a year and a half ago, but never posted it... because it didn't seem right at the time to post about the world pre-covid.... But now I just want to post it, for posterity, and for all the things that marathon taught me to help get me through the year ahead. And now, looking back, to see how it changed the course of my life..... <div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394;"><i>So a month ago I ran a marathon. And today I'm in self-quarantine with a pandemic on our hands. My how things can change in a month..... 26.2 miles, all in one go. It seems like a lot, until then you start training for it, and then it seems like A LOT.<br />
I've been trying to think about what to say about this that people might find interesting, or maybe find something that they could relate to in their own lives. And so what I settled on is Strength.<br />
Strength in myself, and what I learned about myself during my training, and then on Race Day.<br />
<br />
Training:<br />
So my training plan (The Hanson Plan) was pretty serious. 6 days a week. working up to 50 - 60 mile weeks. And that takes a lot of commitment. It also takes a lot of support, from my husband, who I was constantly abandoning to go on runs.<br />
But here's what I learned. If you really want something you will find a way. I changed my work schedule so I could get in runs before dark. I learned to run on the Dreadmill at work. I ran in the dark. I ran in the rain. I ran slow when my training plan told me to, and ran fast when it told me to. I got bored of running, I got bored of the whole process, but that was about halfway through so it was too late to back out. I learned to do something even when I didn't want to. And that was Strength Lesson#1<br />
I also finally developed a truly healthy relationship with food. Yes 40 years on in life, I saw food for the fuel it was. And I saw my body as the beautiful strong machine that it was. And I wanted to take care of it. Some days I was a bottomless pit of hunger; some days I was craving mineral water. My body told me what it wanted, and I listened and honored it and tried to give it the best nourishment I could. I very specifically told myself and everyone else I was trying to maintain, not lose, weight during my training. I ended up losing a little bit at the end, and that's okay too, but the intent was to love and honor my body and to take care of it the best I could</i><br />
<br /><i>
The Run:<br />
For me, the marathon was the shortest moment in the huge run up of training and then pre-race anxiety. 18 weeks of training. 1 week of nerves. 4 hours of butterflies in the stomach, and then the starting line whistle blows and it's just me and my feet.<br />
My race was in Pueblo, Colorado and it ran along a bike path from the Pueblo Reservoir into town, then an up and back in the not-so nice part of town and finally finishing at the Historic River Walk. There were only 77 marathoners, and I'm a back of the pack runner to start with so for most of the race, it was pretty quiet.<br />
Each mile was its own journey. Some miles were just smooth, feeling pretty good miles.<br />
Some miles were super exciting when my amazing cheer squad was at the sidelines (thank you Ed, Brit, Lauren, Jesse, Kelly, David and Amber for being there for me)<br />
Some miles I questioned myself, my choice of clothing, if my pace was sustainable, or if I was drinking enough, but strangely I never questioned why I was doing this in the first place.<br />
Then I got to the out and back part. It was a not-so nice neighborhood, and miles 14-20 were a gradual uphill going into 20 mph winds. My cheer squad couldn't get to this area, and they had a bathroom issue on the race, with no bathrooms available from miles 14-26. This was my dark time. This was the time I started walking, and started feeling tired, and a little hopeless. Just before the turn around I went through this super creepy tunnel that was dark and sketchy and I was like what the heck am I even doing here!?!?!<br />
But I reached that turn around, gave myself a pity party, and then pulled myself back together and remembered all the people that were out there supporting me. All my friends who had told me they'd be thinking of me. My husband who was tracking my iphone and kept sending me encouraging messages, and I was like girl you got this! You may be tired and may have slowed down, but you WILL FINISH. And so I started running again. And knocked out one mile after another. Passed each aid station on the way back and thought, one mile closer to done. And then I got to the last aid station, with one mile left to go, and a guy who I'd just come up on said to me, well at this point we have to finish. And so we did.... So. we. did....</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394;"><i>I cried as I hugged my friends who were waiting for me, had been waiting for me for hours. Who handed me oreos and chips and water and congratulated me. I had run a marathon, and I would never be quite the same person again. Not for that day alone, but for the entire journey that led me there.</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div>And now......posting this 1 year and 6 months later......</div><div>with more than 600,000 dead from Covid in the US and so so many more world wide, </div><div>with my mother gone from cancer,</div><div>with the world in the grips of climate change, </div><div>we have gone through those dark times and we have hit the wall, but we have kept going.</div><div>Colorado's Governor said last April that Covid was going to be a marathon, and not a sprint.</div><div>Maybe now we are at mile 24, when we say to ourselves.....well at this point we have to finish. </div><div>And I am now starting to learn about the new person that I am becoming, and how my priorities are going to be forever changed.... and that is OK.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you all for coming on this journey with me, and I can't wait until we can share Oreos at the finish line. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbVJjW0WDTWdAYMAEpf70iRaXS3VQL-YiyKcRg80SrJ-9shFjPS5JjKzCdE6ayCpcm6RygXa-4CT6_54LRcRxUKPQb4oiPJI9U22fdYWUYPBDrpcH14MQLBarz8e2yxLRnV0kPhkH3Hji/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="378" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbVJjW0WDTWdAYMAEpf70iRaXS3VQL-YiyKcRg80SrJ-9shFjPS5JjKzCdE6ayCpcm6RygXa-4CT6_54LRcRxUKPQb4oiPJI9U22fdYWUYPBDrpcH14MQLBarz8e2yxLRnV0kPhkH3Hji/" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>https://www.madmooseevents.com/pueblo-marathon</div><div><br /></div>Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-69911894084199551662020-01-01T16:38:00.004-07:002020-01-01T16:38:48.947-07:00Madagascar! It's been two months since coming back from Madagascar, and I've been contemplating how to put a trip like that into a bite sized blog post that wasn't just filled with a list of animals we saw or a rambling essay on how different a 3rd world country is from America. <br />
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Traveling opens my eyes to so much more than just the tourist attractions, it's the people, the culture, the different kinds of plants, there's just so much... I'll try and highlight a few moments, that maybe can begin to paint even the palest picture of that incredible country.<br />
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<b>The People</b><br />
I've observed in my travels that people are the same the world over. Our cultural differences separate us sometimes, and we often have different beliefs or norms, but we are all still part of the Tribe Human. Madagascar is a beautiful blend of a 18 different tribes, with some very different lifestyles and practices (from annual exhumations at the family tomb to a completely nomadic lifestyle with no family homes or passing of generational wealth). Across the country the tribes also look quite different, as African, Asian and European peoples have all settled there over thousands of years. <br />
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As we drove from the capital of Antanarivo to the rain forests in the north, and then to the highlands to the south and finally to the spiny forest and deserts in the west, we saw a sampling of some of the different tribes, from small wood houses to 3-story brick homes built by hand from local materials, to zebu grazing areas lined with fences made of cactus. <br />
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And everywhere we went, whenever we saw young women or little girls they always waved and would smile back at me when I smiled at them. And it was a real smile. A real connection of woman to woman, and incredibly powerful. Have you ever looked out a window and sometimes caught the eye of the person in the car next to you and you feel like you just invaded on their private lives? But then sometimes you look at them and they look back and and there's a brief connection that's made? Like for a moment you just connected, and thought, yes that's a person too, with a story and a family and life all their own. It was like that. And it happened everywhere we went. <br />
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It also broke my heart too see these beautiful and proud people where survival was a struggle. As we drove along the roads we saw piles of rock with a half dozen people sitting by the road with small pick axes breaking down the rock into gravel. We saw young kids, 7 years old, filling the pot holes with a homemade shovel asking the truck drivers for some payment for their work. We saw that the people who lived in the areas that got a lot of rain were well fed, and the people in the south where they didn't have as much were struggling to scrape out an existence. The people had what they grew, or made with the resources around them. Subsistence living finally took on a real definition for me. It made me realize just how much we take our transportation infrastructure for granted, both in terms of utilities and the movement of goods and commodities.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rice fields in the Highlands</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The handmade brick homes</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A local market, with clothing, goods and livestock. The villagers would walk many miles each week for Market Day</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cactus fence!</td></tr>
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<b>The Animals and The Parks</b><br />
I wish I could say that Madagascar is full of rain forests and lemurs are jumping from every tree, but alas that is not the case. The main staple of the Malagasy diet is rice, and their rice growing practices are all manual labor and not efficient, so much of the country has been cleared for rice patties. Almost all of the lemurs are endangered and their habitat is largely restricted to protected National Parks or private reserves. More than 80% of the forests are gone, but we heard that there is a movement to plant more forests and to set aside more land. But as we even know in the US, if you have the needs of people up against the needs of the wild, only a government who wants to care about both can help solve both......<br />
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But the lemurs and the chameleons were just so amazing. We had the best moments, standing in the forest, usually on a really steep hill trying not to fall down in between a slippery mud bit or a branch poking at your back, just watching lemurs do their thing. We saw chamelons sleeping on a leaf at night, and the largest lemur, the indri, calling their haunting call; we watched a baby lemur bouncing around non-stop on his patient parents, and lemurs coming down to the ground for their daily mineral supplements from the iron rich soils. All just doing their thing and not particularly caring about us tourists one way or another. One of the best moments was when our small group of 4 plus a guide were in one of the less popular national parks, and an entire troupe of Verraux's Sifaka was just hanging out right above us. A mom and baby, jumped around just feet from us. It was just us, in the forest, with a half dozen lemurs, dancing from tree to tree.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ring Tailed, or as we called them King Julien lemurs coming down to the river for a drink while we ate lunch</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Verraux Sifaka or the Dancing Lemur</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parson's Chameleon, sleeping on a branch at night.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favorite, the adorable Bamboo Lemur. They were just so darn cute! and sadly don't survive in captivity, so habitat protection is especially important for them.</td></tr>
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<b>The Company</b><br />
I went on this trip with my Mom. And we had some trepidation going in to the trip, could we get along for 2 whole weeks at such close quarters? We might have had a couple mom/daughter moments, but looking back I can't be happier that we made this decision to take this trip together. My mom turned 70 this year, and there were some hikes that were very strenuous for her, but together we made it through, even when we had to take her load off and carry her pack for a bit. She has traveled all over the world, and some of it has been pretty rugged. Having her there to talk and process through what we saw and experienced was so valuable for me. And having such a seasoned traveler to commiserate with when things got uncomfortable, like when there was no hot water, or we had to sleep with the door wide open to get a breeze or a mosquito was buzzing around your head all night, Someone who understood and who could help keep you going and still find the joy in it all. <br />
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So this just scratched the surface of this incredible 2 week journey, but thank you for reading, and I hope it gave a small glimpse of this unique country. <br />
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If anyone is really interested in visiting Madagascar, I would highly recommend Pioneer Expeditions as a tour company, and Hari as a tour guide. We saw many groups in our travels and were so pleased with our choice.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom, Hari and me at Ranomafana National Park</td></tr>
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Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-53422510365613769742019-07-28T18:06:00.002-06:002019-07-28T18:45:42.044-06:00Adventures in BordeauxWhen we were planning a trip to France this spring, we decided we needed to spend a few days in Bordeaux. We've always loved Bordeaux wine, but really we knew next to nothing about the Region, the city, or the history...and we had such a magical time here that I knew I had to capture it in my blog... Being that it's July now, the memories are starting to fade, so I had to get this written now, or never..... <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In one of the wine cellars at a Chateau in St. Emilion Region</td></tr>
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We spent three days in the Bordeaux region, one in the city of Bordeaux, one on a wine tour on the East bank in the Saint Emilion region and another day on a wine tour on the West bank in the Medoc Region. Two days of wine tours, I know I know..... but these really weren't JUST about drinking the wine.... We were immersed in the magic of the chateaus, the history of the regions, the incredible complicated rules of French wine making, and the terroir (the earth) and all that makes the wine what it is.... so when we drank that wine it took on a whole other dimension.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One Winery we visited still gets the second press of their grapes by hand</td></tr>
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I could probably spend the next 3 pages of this blog talking about all that we learned on the wine tours. I REALLY geeked out over this french wine stuff, the geography, the traditions and the rules; and it helped that we absolutely loved our tour guide Julie.... but I don't want to bore the heck out of everyone so I'll just say GO TO BORDEAUX!<br />
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And if you do, Ophorus Tours does an amazing tour. <a href="https://ophorus.com/bordeaux-wine-tours/">https://ophorus.com/bordeaux-wine-tours/</a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chateau Hortin Ducasse</td></tr>
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Now if you don't have the luxury of two days of wine touring, I'll say that the St. Emilion Region grows more Pinot Noir and Merlot, and the Medoc grows more Cabernet Sauvignon, so if you have a preference of one or the other you could pick that way. But really if you can.... do both....<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Streets of St. Emilion</td></tr>
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St. Emilion is a Unesco World Heritage Site, an ancient monastery dating to the 2nd Century, and the wines we had there were quite possibly the most amazing liquid we have ever tasted, so maybe I will say St. Emilion was my favorite..... but then our absolute favorite winery was in Medoc, Chateau Hortin Ducasse. We loved them so much that we checked a box with 8 of their bottles, and missed our flight home to Denver so we could get that wine home safe and sound. And the chateaus in Medoc were like fairy tale princess castles, which were a sight unto themselves.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Chateau in the Medoc Region</td></tr>
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But back to Bordeaux, the city itself. Not so long ago, it was a gritty shipping town, and from what I've heard not much of a tourist destination, but they have cleaned it up, literally. The mayor several years ago required EVERYONE to clean their limestone walls and the transformation was incredible. It is a completely charming little town, with a whole downtown area that is cobble stones and no cars, fantastic restaurants, and of course amazing wine!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the gates into the City</td></tr>
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I went for a run there in the early dawn one morning and it was euphoric to run down the cobble streets and along the river long before the shops were even open for the day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The City square at Dawn</td></tr>
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Lodging<br />
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So we stayed at this very trendy somewhat unusual hotel called Mama Shelter. I think we are showing our age because the amount of social media available in the room itself was a little unnerving (a wifi camera in the room???) but a great centrally located option if you are up for something different.</div>
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Eating</div>
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The food here was fantastic.... absolutely fantastic..... you will need to get a reservation for dinner, because most of the restaurants are quite small and really only do reservations. We found making a reservation on thefork.com was incredibly easy, once we made one just 30 minutes before dinner.</div>
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At the recommendation of the hotel, we ate at Bistro Reno, which was a fantastic dinner. In a lot of places in France they only serve what's on their chalkboard special that night, so they just bring over their board for you to look at while you decide. Google translate and some discussions, and voila you have an incredible dinner with a fantastic bottle of Bordeaux from the Graves Region.</div>
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At the recommendation of our tour guide, the last night we ate at the Bistro Gloutton, which was beyond fantastic, it was sublime! I remember my white asparagus with hollandaise sauce, and just thinking how can something so simple be so incredible?</div>
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We also found a great bread shop there for breakfast, Le Boulanger de 'Hotel de Ville, where we got croissants and an incredible praline sweet bread. Our tour guide told us it's the best boulangerie in town, so there you have it... you must stop by if you are ever there. And while I'm talking about sweets, the special dessert in Bordeaux is the canele, which is a sweet cake made with egg yolks. In Bordeaux they use egg whites to separate the sediment from the wine, and so with so many egg yolks left over this became something of a hallmark dessert for the region. You will find a ton of shops selling caneles, pralines and beautiful chocolate, all things that go great with wine.</div>
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And if you still haven't had enough of wine yet, then you can go to Cite du Vin, the WINE MUSEUM. Yes, of course, Bordeaux has a fantastic wine museum that talks about wine making all over the world, and finishes up with a wine tasting on their top floor overlooking the beautiful countryside. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeU-yHx3_U24Zzn6bAe_rAkm3jw5ySzOD5b9dwbsaw7eHB7Y90HohEh1vkeLzctQQFUDj8bQijzK8x68rttdTidTTLZZHAYNkNl-rMZHSN8M4bOibOtbS-ooPJehR5Kr1631xH6C97f7s3/s1600/IMG_6160.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeU-yHx3_U24Zzn6bAe_rAkm3jw5ySzOD5b9dwbsaw7eHB7Y90HohEh1vkeLzctQQFUDj8bQijzK8x68rttdTidTTLZZHAYNkNl-rMZHSN8M4bOibOtbS-ooPJehR5Kr1631xH6C97f7s3/s320/IMG_6160.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The highlight of our travels so far this year; Bordeaux, France. </div>
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Happy Travels!</div>
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Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-35197561513697564702019-05-05T14:03:00.001-06:002019-05-05T14:12:15.896-06:00Process vs. Results - 25K ReflectionsSo I've been thinking about running a lot recently, which tends to happen to runners. And yes, I call myself a runner now. I've always heard people say a really long run is a metaphor for life; it has its highs and lows and the run is a journey through all these moments until you get to the finish line. And this is what I've been thinking a lot about, the finish line. Was it a good finish, a bad finish? Did I achieve my goals or fall short? Am I "happy" with my "results"? And the more I think about this the more I realize that this attitude is sort of a black hole of self judgement. Am I a fast runner, am I a slow runner? Am I good at running or bad at running? Am I good at math or bad at math? Am I good at spelling or bad at spelling? Am I a good driver or a bad driver (okay maybe this one is sort of important)<br />
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Putting adjectives onto myself is so easy to do, and yet goes completely against any desire for self-acceptance and self-love. How can I love myself if I'm constantly asking myself if I'm good enough. We have enough of other people judging our looks, actions and fashion choices; why do we need to pile it on ourselves?<br />
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So to the topic of this blog, process vs results.... I just finished reading a book called "The Happy Runner" which talks a lot about this... and the first thing it reminds you of is that at the end of it all, we will all be dead....and really isn't that the final finish line? The book goes on to say if there's one thing you can guarantee in running is that for a period of time you will get faster, and then reach your peak, and then you will get slower, if injuries don't sideline you completely for a bit, and so if you judge your worth only on results then aren't you just setting up for disappointment?<br />
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To go deeper, if my biggest goal in life is to run an 8 min / mile, or to get a promotion to Director of Awesome Company, or to finally purchase that Aston Martin sports car, what happens when I get there? Am I happy forever? What happens if I don't get there? Am I devastated with life?<br />
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And this is why I love this idea of process over results. If life is a journey, then the goals and achievements on that journey are great moments in the timeline but they are not the only thing that define us. The journey will have good and bad, and we should try to give equal weight to each, because they are just moments along the long run of life.<br />
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I made a goal in January to run a 25K trail race, and yesterday I completed that goal. And as I trained for this race, I worked on getting longer runs in during the week and building my mileage up. I did some speed runs and started running trails with hills. I got out of my comfort zone and started running with groups, many of whom were much quicker than me or could power hike up a hill like nobody's business, but they pushed me and gave me confidence. I also got sidelined with bronchitis, went on a vacation that threw my training plan for a loop, had charlie horse cramps for 2 weeks and slept like crap the week before the race. So come race day, the results of my race were nowhere where I wanted them to be in my mind. And this had me down for a day... until I remembered process vs. results. Here I was judging myself, good vs bad, fast vs. slow, and in an instant I had forgotten everything about the journey. And that journey is where all the juice is, where all the stories live, and truly where you find all the happy tears of self love.<br />
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So whether my results were a personal record or I crawled across the finish line, at the end it doesn't matter. What matters is the journey; accepting that the world is going just they way it is at that moment, and we don't always have control over the outcomes, but we do have control over our attitudes to those outcomes. I am choosing to embrace the journey.<br />
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If you are interested in reading more about the Happy Runner, check out this excerpt</div>
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<a href="https://trailrunnermag.com/training/the-happy-runner-an-excerpt-from-david-and-megan-roches-new-book.html">https://trailrunnermag.com/training/the-happy-runner-an-excerpt-from-david-and-megan-roches-new-book.html</a></div>
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If you are interested in reading more about this idea of self acceptance without judgement, or if you are maybe 'not your average runner' check out Jill Angie. I could write a whole other blog on my reflections on a talk she did a couple months ago.<br />
<a href="https://notyouraveragerunner.com/">https://notyouraveragerunner.com/</a><br />
<br />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-51383679881688805402017-12-31T14:36:00.002-07:002017-12-31T14:39:00.483-07:00The Couch to 5K TransformationI've never considered myself athletic, in fact I think book worm would have been a good name for me as a kid. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy soccer or playing outside, I just never excelled at it and so in the fierce life of competitive childhood you were either good at something or were bad at something, and at some point society basically told you, don't try, you're bad at it, go work on the things you're good at.....<br />
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Well 38 years of doing the academic things I was good at and telling myself I wasn't athletic, that I can't run, that walking's great but I will never be able to jog more than the mile they made me do in high school.....I think finally a small part of me told me that was just Bullsh@t. Maybe it was the yoga I've been doing for 10 years, teaching me to be balanced in both mind body and spirit, I can't say for sure, but something led me to ask myself why did I accept this definition of myself? Why can't I change this preconceived notion of who I am? Use my strength and determination to remake the vision of who I am, not at what others see me but how I see myself.<br />
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And that something took root, and it grew until it became a GOAL. like a Capital G goal, not one of those New Year's resolution's that last a week. And that Goal was to actually run a 5K.<br />
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And then because fate always helps you out when you need it the most, Amazon sent me a link to a book... And that book was "A Beautiful Work in Progress" by Mirna Valerio. And that book and the Couch 2 5K Training App by Zen Labs helped me fundamentally change my self-image.<br />
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So I downloaded the 8 week C25K training plan and I signed up for a race that was 10 weeks out, because I knew I needed a deadline.... and I started.<br />
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So here's my journey in recap and all the conversations I had with myself during my 3x a week runs.<br />
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Week 1: Holy Crap I'm out of shape! How could jogging for one minute be so hard!?!?! I'm never going to get through this, what was I thinking?? And then... you got this Erin. You are strong. You are brave! Tell those muscles they can do it. And they did.<br />
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Week 2: Wow my knees really hurt...Ed (my husband) how am I going to do this? Am I going to break? to which he said a little pain is okay, it just happens and it will get better, you just have to be strong...<br />
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Week 3: I'm hot, sweaty and wondering how can I be sweating like this when it's below freezing outside? My knees ache and I finally realize that it's because my hip flexors are tight, and so I start religiously doing a bunch of yoga moves to open them up. Every day, doing stretches, doing ice packs, taking Aleve, and thinking to myself, you can't give up now.... make this pain count for something. Also I'm reading Mirna's book and she's telling me the same thing... don't let anyone tell you that you don't have a 'runner's body' or that overweight people should lose weight first, etc etc.... so I keep going...<br />
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Week 4 and 5: These were hard weeks. Just when I started getting my thigh muscles, knees, hips and core working together, the training program takes it up to longer intervals, and man my cardio just sucked!! Then one afternoon I was plodding along, slowly dying inside, and a woman who was sitting in her car with her kids waiting for someone, smiles at me and puts her thumb up and says sincerely "Hey, Nice Work" Will she ever know how much that voice of confidence meant to me??<br />
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So I keep going...... I find new problems to deal with; how do I run at night? How do I set a route when I don't know how long I'm going? I'm fortunate I have friends and family that helped me overcome each obstacle that I put in my own way.<br />
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Week 6: Mirna has a great quote in her book.... "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience which you look fear in the face" <br />
At this point in the training plan it has you running "1 mile or 10 minutes" Well I could now jog for 10 minutes without stopping but it sure as heck wasn't a mile. I knew as a beginner runner you should only worry about time or distance, not both, but I kept asking myself how am I going to get ready for a 5k if my training plan thinks I'm running a 10 minute mile when my mile is more like 13 minutes. I have to run longer then my app has planned for me. Another obstacle, but I'd overcome so many already.... so I started to create my own running plan for those last few weeks.. I got a timer app and set up my own intervals.<br />
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Week 7. The week I ran 2 miles without stopping.... for the first time ever...in my life... I still start to tear up thinking about it. <br />
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Week 8. The week I put Live Like Legends by Ruelle on my running play list and believed it....<br />
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Week 9. It was Thanksgiving week, and I was at the end of my training plan but still hadn't gotten to 3 miles, so that Wednesday I went out there, on the fabulous Clear Creek Trail where it's uphill on the way out and downhill all the way home, and when my timer app told me to turn around I went just a little further, and turned around at 1.5 miles instead of 1.3 and kept going and then I did it.. 3 Miles!!!!<br />
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Day of the Race....<br />
So 5K day is here. The weather is unseasonably warm, I didn't sleep well, I'm out of sorts, nervous, start the run too fast, and start to really exhaust myself.... I don't know how I'm going to finish...I'm overheated, I'm sloppy, I'm distracting myself by all these people around me, so many doubts running in my head, but then I get to that 3 mile mark, and there's only .1 to go.... and I keep going.... My husband and my good friend Joanne are waiting there for me, full of love and support and they make me brave. and I keep going... all the way. And I tell myself I am brave, I am strong and I can be whoever I choose to be.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5qN59RpBGpkAUAy3vRXBEvrxMAKqS9He7ZR6W3oJWP6MkgYKCqPaFNAU5L7Zk8vS6YkqhgE99j1kvkiNzD1cTcW8ugAXK9rzGWzYSepTCBGHPwPCTIfuh0fnPxD9C-K5gWDbZ12VT0CD/s1600/IMG_3210.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5qN59RpBGpkAUAy3vRXBEvrxMAKqS9He7ZR6W3oJWP6MkgYKCqPaFNAU5L7Zk8vS6YkqhgE99j1kvkiNzD1cTcW8ugAXK9rzGWzYSepTCBGHPwPCTIfuh0fnPxD9C-K5gWDbZ12VT0CD/s320/IMG_3210.jpg" width="171" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1862Av26VYBTXm7-mXgNQoB176UofLksEpKMBPKbIKV8dgAuFh8QnnaDHQRKgO9_pOfVX2XC-urdQ8kcxstWY5AgKVJOawzWXtZzfkmghmJzhIuVqY08eDWEdY51Cbd7k_rIT1Xji32k/s1600/IMG_3243.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1862Av26VYBTXm7-mXgNQoB176UofLksEpKMBPKbIKV8dgAuFh8QnnaDHQRKgO9_pOfVX2XC-urdQ8kcxstWY5AgKVJOawzWXtZzfkmghmJzhIuVqY08eDWEdY51Cbd7k_rIT1Xji32k/s400/IMG_3243.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Sending Love and Light to anyone who journeys to create their own vision of themselves, and works to create a balanced mind, body and spirit through courage and through self-love.<br />
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Here's a link to Mirna's book if you'd like to read it too...<br />
https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Work-Progress-Mirna-Valerio-ebook/dp/B01N21CG4I<br />
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and the app I used for my C25K<br />
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/c25k-5k-trainer/id485971733?mt=8<br />
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<br />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-83984866160481273162016-08-30T18:59:00.000-06:002016-08-30T18:59:04.447-06:00Adventures in Italy - Rick Steves StyleSo this spring (yes I know it's almost fall), my husband and I went to Italy for the best of culture, art, and architecture in Italy; Rome, Florence and Venice. And so of course being a faithful PBS viewer I had to take my Rick Steve's Italy book along. Instead of blogging about our entire trip, I wanted to highlight all of the BEST (in our opinion) aspects of touring with 'Rick'. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd0LM_nlb_ZptbyE7VHwJQZfSX-wJgyBjp2Jgq2Z4a3MGB2Ioj0ibFDl2Ua0sRaV3GDtSJ6QPJmkXs-ex0IJ3nBnFZDtcKcMCd6l_q5AO2ovDCoZJ0AeUK8YHb2hR2XdqbxdlLmb_1KC7n/s1600/IMG_2810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd0LM_nlb_ZptbyE7VHwJQZfSX-wJgyBjp2Jgq2Z4a3MGB2Ioj0ibFDl2Ua0sRaV3GDtSJ6QPJmkXs-ex0IJ3nBnFZDtcKcMCd6l_q5AO2ovDCoZJ0AeUK8YHb2hR2XdqbxdlLmb_1KC7n/s320/IMG_2810.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our book, de-binded and ready for travel</td></tr>
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So the crazy thing about the Rick Steve's book, is he literally tells you to take it apart. We sliced the binding up right before we left and made compact purse sized travel guides for each city. Crazy and genius! There is nothing more 'touristy' than walking around with a giant book, but when I had little bite size booklets I could discreetly figure out where we are going, what we should be eating, and of course where could we find the best gelato.<br />
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The other amazing tip we picked up on was that Rick Steve's has free audio guides. Download the app and you will get detailed histories, including maps of all the best sites in Rome, Florence and Venice. As we walked through the Uffizi Gallery in Florence or the Colosseum in Rome we had Rick's cheery voice in our earbuds guiding us through the best of the best.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Audio Europe" src="https://d3dqioy2sca31t.cloudfront.net/Projects/cms/production/000/019/977/original/60631dc3b4f82c91bda4a297b60d46a3/AudioEurope-125px.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-europe</span></td></tr>
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And the last crazy great travel tip we got from Rick Steve's book was to download maps to our phone. With maps on our phone we could be total insiders as we wandered around lost in Venice, AND these maps download for offline mode, which is essential for us Americans traveling in Europe with limited data.<br />
The one we used was City Maps 2 Go by Ulmon http://www.ulmon.com/#get-the-app<br />
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So those are my three amazing tips from Rick Steve, but the actual information in his book is pretty awesome too. We joked that the only times we had a bad meal in Italy was when we didn't consult his dining guide before we picked a restaurant :) And since why does anyone go to Italy but to eat (oh and see amazing architecture and art) good dining recommendations are pretty important. So here were some of our all time favorites out of the Rick Steve's book.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifgML8MePUoldn_VOz0Guiy-F3LpzxkVPn5h2Q5VAdDmk-JZga-VJC9yPe9XLBuD_bd9ykbY5YwQeKaeJvxCyLljAcagFBSr2xe4eGjHjdSK1oqyERNlgWGOw_Nlx4TXjOJ28XU3kwpnhP/s1600/IMG_2026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifgML8MePUoldn_VOz0Guiy-F3LpzxkVPn5h2Q5VAdDmk-JZga-VJC9yPe9XLBuD_bd9ykbY5YwQeKaeJvxCyLljAcagFBSr2xe4eGjHjdSK1oqyERNlgWGOw_Nlx4TXjOJ28XU3kwpnhP/s320/IMG_2026.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Collosseum</td></tr>
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So when in Rome, eat as the Romans, and that means do NOT eat by the Colosseum! Yeah, if you are starving, you may cave and get an overpriced pizza but the best places to eat are a short walk away in the Monti neighborhood. We followed Rick's recommendations to Taverna Romana and had an incredible homemade fettucine with boar and the most delicious ricotta cake I ever put in my mouth. https://www.yelp.com/biz/taverna-romana-roma-4<br />
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Another touristy area is Piazza Navona, and yeah we definitely had a spritz and watched people wandering through, but when dinner time came, we went just a little south to 'Cul de Sac'. There we enjoyed duck ravioli and tagliatelle with hare ragout with a lovely abruzzi vino. <br />
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So with such dining success we headed north to Florence to sample some of that incredible Tuscan food, oh yeah and see pretty much every piece of Renaiisance art we learned about in Art History Class.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvNjCo7vfr7VFeuWjZ__JWrKgKqp7wCqNtuEcjNxApeW9vnfZbZ3_9KsUC_D1QAUropH36gv9IJgDGXYirga6MqzqTDy4wRpPnXsL_xYzXeo0brWmSyvqbsnqjwsBda5PfDRu8dmpjxXQf/s320/IMG_2086.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do I even need to label this one??</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-U55pytZNV17ajCHwZa9CiPhcjb9MaHbKNzxYI5c6G8LfTkH9HYU5Jvrd0gG9DfdHC_yDPGApqJo8S5eKSJyH94yB5PdY04MLnogLMGRQhk3QQxnMBv0EUWM1Thdm5I9DSj5InvsO1hQg/s1600/IMG_2080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-U55pytZNV17ajCHwZa9CiPhcjb9MaHbKNzxYI5c6G8LfTkH9HYU5Jvrd0gG9DfdHC_yDPGApqJo8S5eKSJyH94yB5PdY04MLnogLMGRQhk3QQxnMBv0EUWM1Thdm5I9DSj5InvsO1hQg/s320/IMG_2080.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hauntingly beautiful Mary Magdalene by Donatello</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvNjCo7vfr7VFeuWjZ__JWrKgKqp7wCqNtuEcjNxApeW9vnfZbZ3_9KsUC_D1QAUropH36gv9IJgDGXYirga6MqzqTDy4wRpPnXsL_xYzXeo0brWmSyvqbsnqjwsBda5PfDRu8dmpjxXQf/s1600/IMG_2086.JPG" imageanchor="1"></a>Again Rick Steves did not steer us wrong. I think the most amazing meals we had in Italy were in Florence. One of his suggestions was freely admitted to 'look' like a tourist trap, but it was actually incredibly good food and a really fun atmosphere. Trattoria Za Za on Piazza del Mercato Centrale served us up some seafood pasta and the most delicious beef loin with cream and green peppercorn sauce. And if you are a true carnivore be sure to try the bistec alla florentine while you are there.<br />
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We stayed a little north of downtown so we ended up at this incredible family run restaurant near the Academia called Ristorante Cafiggi. I loved this place because it had three generations of family working there, and it was obvious they put a lot of love into their meals. The charmingly grumpy matriarch taught me how to properly order house wine in Italian and helped me with all my pronunciations. We had a beautiful ravioli with walnut cream sauce, cooked to perfection lamb chops, and peas. Oh the peas in Italy were like no other pea I have ever tasted. I think I fell in love....<br />
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Lastly we went to Venice. What to say about Venetian food... very expensive, and many mediocre places and I think Rick Steve's is honest about that as well. We found a few great meals there; an incredible mushroom risotto, great pizza and some very interesting squid ink fettucines and razor clams, but the tip I will give to you about Venice restaurants is if there is a picture map of their menu outside the establishment, just keep walking. And in Venice it is fun to keep walking... there are so many great places to get lost in that city. But really, if you are in Venice, go ahead and splurge on a coffee at the Caffe Florian in Piazza San Marco and listen to the orchestra. It is just an experience that must be had. and don't rush.... Italy is not for rushing....<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV9a4f2ZWrpZ3RUfywn63NcE1o29WQ_DWTWo5KKbhUWxQrURh65XVPc-3vzFeenbO5FjfGBT9O4kb14G8P2MGKGpEaQwGdL1U4v8QbfTON3S0a-JE7y2vvnh32F7xwMasxIAHAQaF6YCny/s1600/IMG_2149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV9a4f2ZWrpZ3RUfywn63NcE1o29WQ_DWTWo5KKbhUWxQrURh65XVPc-3vzFeenbO5FjfGBT9O4kb14G8P2MGKGpEaQwGdL1U4v8QbfTON3S0a-JE7y2vvnh32F7xwMasxIAHAQaF6YCny/s320/IMG_2149.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">San Marco, St Marks Cathedral</td></tr>
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Happy Travels!!<br />
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<br />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-21107671984285401622015-12-08T11:47:00.004-07:002015-12-08T11:47:54.519-07:00Northern Lights in Iceland - All the Details<br />
It seems this is the year to go to Iceland for the Northern Lights... IcelandAir has been putting out some great deals, the dollar is strong against the Icelandic Kroner, and the northern lights are in an active cycle. We jumped on the bandwagon and went this November, and since a few other people I know are planning the same I thought I'd share my trip to help others plan and make the best of their stay on this beautiful island.<br />
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One of the biggest questions I had was what to pack.... I'm from Colorado so I am used to some cold winter temps but NOT used to the bone chilling humidity and wind that comes from such a wet island. The kind that freezes through your jeans and makes your toes and fingers go numb. So packing list item #1 is Thermals. Item #2 is a good pair of hiking boots. The key is getting something that is waterproof and has good tread. There is a lot of ice and wet and so those fuzzy fashion Ugg boots will just not work well. <br />
Item #3 is a waterproof/windproof jacket and Item #4 is a good pair of gloves and hat. Of course if you forget the hat and gloves you can pick up a lovely hand knit icelandic wool set from just about every single store in Reykjavik..... Oh and last but not least, pack your sunglasses. It's not always sunny there but the sun is low in the winter so when it is sunny, it is right smack in your eyes.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My dress code for November in Iceland</td></tr>
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So now you've packed your bag, what to do when you get there?<br />
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We were there for only four days but we still packed a lot into the trip. <br />
First off, I'd recommend you have a ride to your hotel from the Keflavik airport booked before you arrive. <br />
I booked our transfer on FlyBus+ and paid the extra little cost to go right to our hotel. Well worth it! <a href="https://www.re.is/flybus">Flybus - Reykjavik Excursions</a><br />
Grayline is another bus transfer provider that seemed to be a good option and had shorter lines.<br />
Here's my little tip though... know the name of your hotel and know how to pronounce it properly. Iceland is full of very organized people and their transportation system is fantastic but not if you don't know your own hotel (yes I sadly saw some Americans who couldn't communicate this simple piece of information to their bus drivers)<br />
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When we arrived at our hotel (<a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g189970-d2238352-Reviews-Hotel_Klettur-Reykjavik_Capital_Region.html">Hotel Klettur </a>which I would highly recommend as a good budget friendly hotel) it was only 8 am so we couldn't check in... Not to worry they had a room to store our bags and off we went to explore the town. My very few thoughts on <b>Reykjavik</b><br />
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1. There are two main shopping streets, Laugavegur which runs sort of east/west, and Skolavordustigur, which runs from the Hallgrimskrkja (the really big church) and intersects Laugavegur. Everything you ever wanted to buy from Iceland are on these streets.<br />
2. Old Reykjavik, the Old Harbour and the Tjornin Lake are also a must visit; especially watching the swans in the Tjornin, or if it is frozen over there is ice skating.<br />
3. We got the city card which if you like to visit museums I would recommend as almost all the museums are free with the card, plus free bus transportation. Our favorite museum was the National Museum, but also make sure to stop and visit Hallgrimka and Harpa concert hall if you are into architecture.<br />
4. The Icelandic language is pretty hard to pronounce, and everyone speaks english but try and learn at least how to say good morning - <span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.2px;">Góðan daginn. (</span><wbr style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 18.2px;"></wbr><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.2px;">Goh-than da-yin.) </span>and Thank you - <span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 19.2px;">Takk. (</span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 19.2px;">Tahk. or Tahk Fyrir)</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laugavegur at night, or should I say at 4 pm</td></tr>
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<b>Dining</b><br />
The one interesting thing to note about Icelandic dining is that you don't request the check at restaurants. When you are done eating you just go up to the register and pay. I think it is a security thing and it makes A LOT of sense. This was the case even at nice restaurants. And there's no tipping or tax added on to cost in the menu, it is all inclusive. And definitely bring your chip card, as that is the only way to pay there.<br />
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Our Favorite dining spots were<br />
1. Breakfast: Grai Kotturinn (I think it is the Grey Cat in english) A really good place to get a proper eggs, bacon potato breakfast. It's on Hverfisgata St and takes a little finding but is worth it after a long overnight flight<br />
2. Lunch: Honestly we didn't have many great lunches in Reykjavik. All the sandwiches were too mayonaisse-y for our tastes. Our favorite lunch was a nice meat soup and some fresh bread we had during the golden circle tour so I would recommend meat soup if you can find it<br />
3. Dinner: Our favorite dinner hands down was Hofnin Restaurant at the Old Harbour. Very reasonable for excellent seafood. If you can get online and make a reservation they will seat you at the table by the window which was quite lovely.<br />
The lamb, the seafood and the beer are the real treats in Iceland. All are excellent! They are also very proud of their skyr (yogurt)<br />
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<b>Excursions</b><br />
Last but not least, our excursions. <br />
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Most of them were pre-booked with our IcelandAir trip and they were all very enjoyable.<br />
1. Northern Lights boat trip by Special Tours - They have very warm suits to put on and they boat you out past the city lights where you can watch the northern lights, provided it is a clear night. If you want to get a photo of the lights, be sure to bring the right kind of camera... we did not have one so had to rely on the photos that the tour group put up on Facebook<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo from Special Tours Northern Lights trip<br /></td></tr>
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2. Blue Lagoon - We went on this as part of a package deal from Reykjavik excursion. The Lagoon is almost an hour drive from Reykjavik but was really well worth it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKK-K4Vb0WppLmf5NQ62z9VErENOhdSS7_tJJIv9OLuAoXhKpdIVWsZPf7WnYwijHTm0oJlB-XXD-ABmam8SYe_Ck-n93A1Ez5FsHPr4gPLXJFlxwCe-OJkEwS09ccZVc4a3TmApqmKcN/s1600/imgres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKK-K4Vb0WppLmf5NQ62z9VErENOhdSS7_tJJIv9OLuAoXhKpdIVWsZPf7WnYwijHTm0oJlB-XXD-ABmam8SYe_Ck-n93A1Ez5FsHPr4gPLXJFlxwCe-OJkEwS09ccZVc4a3TmApqmKcN/s400/imgres.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Blue Lagoon</td></tr>
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3. The Golden Circle Tour - I arranged this separately from our IcelandAir package and it was probably the highlight of the trip. We took our trip through <a href="http://www.icelandhorizon.is/Excursions.aspx?id=GoldenCircle">Iceland Horizons</a> because they have smaller busses and we had a great guide. It takes you to Thingvellir National Park (where two continental plates meet), the Gulfoss Waterfall, and Geyser (where there are of course lots of geysers)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_scWwiD8O4fEQEAzkCcGmgfQpbM3tn7Gh06mRomYHqlRoDRu8hQcErc5NAWcmtiT0P-QDtoLCY2nLFjgxEZVLELrmHNpGhURbvcLkGyCN7pWh74EZQkArsTiVHYkV9oTXmuWRZm_vcSt/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_scWwiD8O4fEQEAzkCcGmgfQpbM3tn7Gh06mRomYHqlRoDRu8hQcErc5NAWcmtiT0P-QDtoLCY2nLFjgxEZVLELrmHNpGhURbvcLkGyCN7pWh74EZQkArsTiVHYkV9oTXmuWRZm_vcSt/s400/download.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gulfoss Waterfall </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7hDUrYVQ7eUZbDC0l1xyv9GWJIPEKfVudDXWCCkopqEJWb5-f6kalhVkDc6dCpLwep309x9p8TOEIhZwiBY82HA7Qf0gpiHJ2DvNGgwXVh6tkURqyQw-rFNgwtHGyxeCPVUsj5WgZsTD8/s1600/IMG_1647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7hDUrYVQ7eUZbDC0l1xyv9GWJIPEKfVudDXWCCkopqEJWb5-f6kalhVkDc6dCpLwep309x9p8TOEIhZwiBY82HA7Qf0gpiHJ2DvNGgwXVh6tkURqyQw-rFNgwtHGyxeCPVUsj5WgZsTD8/s400/IMG_1647.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geyser</td></tr>
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And well I guess that's about all you can fit in a long weekend. We really enjoyed the people and the beauty of Iceland and hope to get back there soon for a nice summer adventure.<br />
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Happy Travels!Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-61026916705477174692014-03-02T10:57:00.000-07:002014-03-02T10:57:50.347-07:00Making Homespun Yarn for knitting - A beginner's adventureOne of my great personal accomplishments of the year was something that people have been doing for thousands of years, making homespun yarn.<br />
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If you have read any of my posts, I wrote last summer on how I processed the wool, cleaning it, sorting it, pulling it, dying it and finally carding it into fluffy batts ready for spinning.<br />
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The final step, which took much longer than it should have, was spinning the batts into yarn. <br />
I had a friend who taught me the ropes of hand spinning, even gave me a hand spindle, but she also gave me a great book which was an invaluable tool for reference when she wasn't around. <br />
It is called "Spin Dye Stitch - How to create and use your own yarn" by Jennifer Claydon and I would highly recommend it if you want to start your own adventure of making yarn. Here is a link to it on Amazon.<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Spin-Dye-Stitch-Create-Yarns/dp/1600611559">http://www.amazon.com/Spin-Dye-Stitch-Create-Yarns/dp/1600611559</a><br />
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So I am one of those people who just dive in and try something out, trying to learn it myself. I am sure there are also great classes out there at your local knitting store, but I really think we shouldn't be afraid to try something on our own. I mean maybe you make a huge mess, who cares? that is half the fun! And we learn so much more by our failures then when we get something on the first try.<br />
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The book I recommended starts off with instructions on how to spin with a drop spindle or a wheel. I used a drop spindle. You have to start with carded or combed fiber; I was lucky enough to have wool from my sister's sheep that I had processed and carded, but you could easily pick up some fun fiber at your local yarn shop. <br />
I learned to spin using the park and draft technique. Spinning has two parts, the twist and the pull. <br />
The pull or draft is what makes your yarn thin, the twist is what keeps the fibers together. The park and draft helps separate the two processes and I found was really great for a beginner. Basically, you put lots of twist in a short piece of yarn, and then release that twist as you pull your fiber. I am sure I am doing a terrible job explaining it, but I bet there's at least two dozen youtube videos about it.<br />
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Once you spin some yarn, you have to take it off your spindle, to spin MORE yarn. My friend gave me the great idea of buying those little plastic practice golf balls with the holes in them. You slip the end of your spun yarn into the hole and then unroll your yarn onto the ball. And then spin out more fiber.<br />
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Now that you have all these golf balls of yarn, you will have to ply your yarn. I guess you don't have to make two ply yarn, but I think it makes for a better and more stable yarn for knitting<br />
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The book I recommended gives great instructions on plying the yarn. I thought the most useful tip was to use coffee mugs to hold your balls in. Trust me, if you don't keep your yarn balls contained, things can get tangled up pretty quickly! And make sure you have time when you sit down and do this. It is not something that you can put down and come back to later. And remember, whichever direction you spun your yarn, you have to go the opposite direction to ply. If you spun clockwise, ply counterclockwise.<br />
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After you have plied your yarn, it has to get put onto a niddy noddy to make a skein. What a cool name for such a strange thing! I have heard they are expensive, but you can easily make one yourself for a few dollars getting pvc from the hardware store. The book explains how to use one, but I confess I always get mixed up and have to look it up online too. Here's a good site I found that explains how to make and use a niddy noddy <br />
<a href="http://astheyarnturns.wordpress.com/constructing-a-pvc-niddy-noddy/">http://astheyarnturns.wordpress.com/constructing-a-pvc-niddy-noddy/</a><br />
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Here is my yarn all wound out onto the niddy noddy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpegqNBuaB8ImivD8qWQfkiHnYgHG14A9wZo1GKurxCqok4hyphenhyphenev4cXCVxa55WwDZSMn6WRD5WuJXP1z8XGGrshqtSUH2133szw0rzLmL_sZFQv9ZR7huu9Rof9NhaXAxwbw_zY6Sm0o88l/s1600/niddynoddy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpegqNBuaB8ImivD8qWQfkiHnYgHG14A9wZo1GKurxCqok4hyphenhyphenev4cXCVxa55WwDZSMn6WRD5WuJXP1z8XGGrshqtSUH2133szw0rzLmL_sZFQv9ZR7huu9Rof9NhaXAxwbw_zY6Sm0o88l/s1600/niddynoddy.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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Once you have made your skein, you have to wash it in warm water and then let it dry so that it will 'stabilize' Be careful when washing it, you don't want to agitate it or it will felt. What I did was use a Tupperware with a small amount of soap meant for wool washing. Shampoo works pretty well too. After the water has been filled, put your skein in. Make sure you have tied 4 bits of string around your skein to keep it from tangling up. Let it soak for ten minutes, then pull it out. Fill the Tupperware with warm water; let it rinse, then dry it by rolling it carefully into a towel. I then hang mine over a plastic hanger, and weight it with 3 plastic hangers (the weight is very important) and let it dry for a day.<br />
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And you have a skein of yarn. The last step, is to put your skein into a ball. If you have ever bought a skein of yarn at the store, you know how important this step is. If you try to knit from a skein you will soon have a tangled mess.<br />
I used a yarn ball winder from Knit Picks and my husband who had the great joy of holding my yarn.<br />
They are a great resource for all things knitting <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/">http://www.knitpicks.com/</a> <br />
Here is the winder and my finished yarn. <br />
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Now the fun part comes, knitting a sweater for my niece from home spun yarn that came from her family's sheep. What a great feeling and a great connection to our roots.<br />
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Happy Knitting!<br />
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Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-84363405546001765062013-12-29T13:54:00.001-07:002013-12-29T13:54:37.884-07:00Scrap Yarn Knitting - Newborn Baby HatNew born hats are a fun and useful gift to make for a new baby. They are easy, quick, and can be made with any worsted weight scrap yarn you have on hand because they really don't take much yarn. I personally think knit hats are great for babies because they are a more stretchy than those cotton hats they sell in the store. Just make sure whatever yarn you use is soft and washable.<br />
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Here's the pattern I use for making this newborn hat<br />
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Things you'll need:<br />
Size 5 Needles<br />
Worsted Weight Acrylic or washable wool. I usually use Lion's brand baby's first yarn because it is very soft and comes in cute colors, though this hat was a soft washable wool I had in my scrap bin<br />
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Pattern: <br />
Cast on 54 stitches<br />
Knit 1, Purl 1 across the first row, ending on a purl<br />
Knit 1, Purl 1 across the second row, ending on a purl<br />
Continue the k1 p1 ribbing pattern until your work is 1" (about 6 rows)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig1JqMZ5xRxQ2YjKssdfF4WV749jnPf7Kd26xpEXhzZvOERB3u_97yLagfIXA1hIkXuGflsPJcMAi2mwOXIupXInU5o16sGnhAUp6WXUSwa1oiktqTZg0ZdqPKV-lCHqYEe56UUDzN4Ix-/s1600/WIN_20131228_160352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig1JqMZ5xRxQ2YjKssdfF4WV749jnPf7Kd26xpEXhzZvOERB3u_97yLagfIXA1hIkXuGflsPJcMAi2mwOXIupXInU5o16sGnhAUp6WXUSwa1oiktqTZg0ZdqPKV-lCHqYEe56UUDzN4Ix-/s320/WIN_20131228_160352.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Now switch to stockinette stitch. Knit 1 row, purl 1 row for 3". End with a purl row. Your work will now be 4" long<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkT8uf_imlGRzc9GDtk9LwKAkqW36TRka2M6kuwfozyiPeaKagCeDNrC4_xfmPpAwgixvdSMpIZ8AuC7GeKHHcPyCkq9NWAp_T7YbEhMPG-9-hmKklDM6tNVYV0Ny3wcDTApVVATzgZAX9/s1600/WIN_20131229_125637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkT8uf_imlGRzc9GDtk9LwKAkqW36TRka2M6kuwfozyiPeaKagCeDNrC4_xfmPpAwgixvdSMpIZ8AuC7GeKHHcPyCkq9NWAp_T7YbEhMPG-9-hmKklDM6tNVYV0Ny3wcDTApVVATzgZAX9/s320/WIN_20131229_125637.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Now you begin decreasing.<br />
Knit 2 together across the row, (27 stitches)<br />
Purl Across<br />
Knit 2 together across the row, ending with k1 (14) stitches<br />
Purl Across<br />
Knit 2 together across the row (7 stitches)<br />
Purl Across<br />
Knit 2 together across the row (4 stitches)<br />
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Cut the yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing the seam. Thread the yarn with a large needle. Pull the needle through the remaining stitches and then remove them from the knitting needle. Pull the stitches tight. Sew the seam down one side of the hat and then work your ends in at the bottom rim of the hat. <br />
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Happy knitting!<br />
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Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-35219538153111246202013-04-04T21:44:00.001-06:002013-04-04T21:44:07.673-06:00Suburban ChickensThis spring we decided to get chickens! <br />
We live in the middle of a higher density suburban neighborhood so chickens may seem like a crazy idea, but with a good chicken house and run I am feeling very positive about the whole adventure.<br />
Now I could probably go on for at least three pages trying to explain why it is becoming important to me to eat food that A. I know where it's coming from B. I know that it hasn't been genetically tampered with and C. has some level of humane treatment for the animals, but I'll just say that it is and so I thought in my one small step towards that we would get chickens, feed them organic GMO free food and then at least one of our protein sources I can feel really good about. And the chickens are so much fun to watch!!<br />
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So anyways, I set out on my chicken research, consulted my wise sister who has her hobby farm, went to www.backyardchickens.com which has a vast store of knowledge all things chicken, went to a Chicken 101 class at Murdoch's the local feed store, and finally on March 4 we got chickens!!<br />
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We planned to get four of them because we really have a small back yard, but somehow came home with five. If you've ever seen a chick in your life I am sure you can imagine how easy it is to get a few extras. They are seriously the cutest things. Here's the first week they were home<br />
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We got an Aracuana (they lay turquoise colored eggs and have very interesting facial feathers) , a Buff Orpington (she is the buff colored one of the bunch and is probably going to be the biggest in our flock), a Barred Rock (she is our high flier who loves to climb up and sit on your shoulder), and two Partridge Rocks. My verdict is still out on the partridge rocks. One is really sweet and is my favorite of the whole flock and the other goes crazy if you try to hold her. They are smaller and slower to develop then the rest so I don't know how they will end up.<br />
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They lived in a rubbermaid for a couple weeks until they outgrew that and now they live in a dog crate with the sides enclosed to help with drafts. They eat chick feed almost exclusively though I've started giving them chick grit and half a hard boiled egg every day. I've tried to give them little bits of lettuce and strawberry tops and they just aren't interested in them yet but they LOVE eggs. It seemed wierd to me to feed a chick an eg but I have read and heard that its been done for ages and the extra protein is great for them as they grow their feathers. So they are growing and squawking and pooping and pecking and foraging and in general are just cute and fun creatures. Soon we will put them in their newly built chicken coop, but I will save the coop adventure for another post. In the meantime I will leave you with my four week old, somewhat silly looking, chicks roosting for the night. <br />
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<br />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-55598847875419382732012-09-30T13:33:00.000-06:002012-09-30T13:33:01.119-06:00Making homemade lotion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I haven't gotten to write to my blog almost all summer but now that it is getting colder and our skin is starting to dry out, I wanted to share how I make my homemade lotion.<div>
If you haven't discovered the amazing difference between store bought lotions and lotion made with all pure moisturizing ingredients, I'd encourage you to give it a try.</div>
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I get most of my raw materials online because I also sell this lotion on etsy so I am making more than just for our family, but you should be able to find the ingredients at your local health food store. I have seen them at Vitamin Cottage here in Colorado.</div>
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Today I made a whipped shea coconut butter with a mandarin flavored essential oil. This recipe will make approximately 6- 4oz tubs of a whipped lotion</div>
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What you need:</div>
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8 oz by weight of shea butter</div>
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1/2 cup by volume coconut oil</div>
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3/8 cup carrier oil; you can select grape seed oil, jojoba oil, almond oil, etc. I prefer to use almond oil</div>
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Essential oil (scent) of your choice</div>
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A double boiler set up (I use a glass bowl sitting on a pot of water)</div>
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A stand mixer with the whipping attachment</div>
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First:</div>
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Measure out your shea butter by weight. I would recommend when buying shea butter, get 'unrefined' shea butter. It is more yellow in appearance but retains all the good vitamins that are lost during the refinement process. Once you have measured it out, put the shea butter into your double boiler.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIR1ZFlG8VQJyCKroFRjLO02TmMClBH0kivLczt5f-71M7_3X7qeLEiSHK-AgHPCWJspUavmuukK7UHWGh6FGzRmpRuBl_zPK7H7obQxs9G93B871iCY67KMOz7ZHKLCkHydyDXnWVCKE/s1600/2012-09-30+11.02.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIR1ZFlG8VQJyCKroFRjLO02TmMClBH0kivLczt5f-71M7_3X7qeLEiSHK-AgHPCWJspUavmuukK7UHWGh6FGzRmpRuBl_zPK7H7obQxs9G93B871iCY67KMOz7ZHKLCkHydyDXnWVCKE/s320/2012-09-30+11.02.04.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Second: </div>
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Measure out your 1/2 cup of coconut oil and your 3/8 cup of almond oil. The coconut oil is usually solid at room temperature so you may have to microwave it for 20 seconds to get it to melt enough to measure it</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggDJ9a7z-3v0FbnkT_N4uGUTs42PapnMDC9ZXMi1tFj87K-TLpWS-nZKXcyGPj81cpPlkpjJbl3jmSutHO_Ce07vcjGj2rjKfgppSV-_qcvNIKuK9LruBypzx8HDzTzT48vB0PZU1zwnH5/s1600/2012-09-30+11.07.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggDJ9a7z-3v0FbnkT_N4uGUTs42PapnMDC9ZXMi1tFj87K-TLpWS-nZKXcyGPj81cpPlkpjJbl3jmSutHO_Ce07vcjGj2rjKfgppSV-_qcvNIKuK9LruBypzx8HDzTzT48vB0PZU1zwnH5/s320/2012-09-30+11.07.25.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Measuring the coconut oil and the almond oil. The total amount is 7/8 cup </td></tr>
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Put the coconut oil and shea butter into your double boiler. Now let everything melt, stirring </div>
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often.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9rAE9bzwo7mYaXQV-0lbfSyRMGOelHxDfAotXUR1D6mWuQ7QVfIBp4rYH0GV27jR4LxLbdEuuLwBAAD0Rhn_gxqa36DlRdJ5Kdd9uCINpKOHVfhTr90156utyaFmDRgKSx5SNMRilrGPy/s1600/2012-09-30+11.07.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9rAE9bzwo7mYaXQV-0lbfSyRMGOelHxDfAotXUR1D6mWuQ7QVfIBp4rYH0GV27jR4LxLbdEuuLwBAAD0Rhn_gxqa36DlRdJ5Kdd9uCINpKOHVfhTr90156utyaFmDRgKSx5SNMRilrGPy/s320/2012-09-30+11.07.55.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My double boiler set up, with all the ingredients melting</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj863MtJlYjBwZZE5rOHkAnIFeKDYr6bYpmHtuDP7yG6_YiEkB-EWbTo7rp8AnhjaVVW2hwcyd4yLQbK5JhXw5xjbeV4hYG1LdOScIiFVBsRHy9DchIoLF4fhV4jgSTqzi0RhaO2ox122F0/s1600/2012-09-30+11.14.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj863MtJlYjBwZZE5rOHkAnIFeKDYr6bYpmHtuDP7yG6_YiEkB-EWbTo7rp8AnhjaVVW2hwcyd4yLQbK5JhXw5xjbeV4hYG1LdOScIiFVBsRHy9DchIoLF4fhV4jgSTqzi0RhaO2ox122F0/s320/2012-09-30+11.14.31.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Shea will take longest to melt</td></tr>
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When everything is completely melted, transfer to your stand mixer to whip.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWT5nGenuuoMJdMKAHXuJbeVf7SxIWfHMQDHccxTWo3y-_ekfFXybHrKnoEjlEi2HalJQ1QxYC9huaPmWZGULva_Qph1SZe1sMgASGcQ4sVmOGxWoiLFKn5zx9oSbwggDc2w2BM2M0C344/s1600/2012-09-30+11.20.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWT5nGenuuoMJdMKAHXuJbeVf7SxIWfHMQDHccxTWo3y-_ekfFXybHrKnoEjlEi2HalJQ1QxYC9huaPmWZGULva_Qph1SZe1sMgASGcQ4sVmOGxWoiLFKn5zx9oSbwggDc2w2BM2M0C344/s320/2012-09-30+11.20.58.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The process of whipping introduces air into the lotion while it cools. Since there is no water added, if you don't whip then you will end up with a solid body butter. There's nothing wrong with this of course, and you can just stop right here, add your essential oil, put it in a tub and you will have great lotion, but I have found most people prefer the whipped kind.</div>
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So to whip your lotion....</div>
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You should whip on almost high speed with the whisk attachment. speed 8 on my kitchenaid.</div>
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Whip for 10 minutes. </div>
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Add your scent. if it is essential oil, I'd recommend at least 30 drops. if it is an artificial 'scent' oil you will need a lot less.</div>
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Whip for another 10 minutes.</div>
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Then put your lotion in the fridge for 3 minutes, </div>
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then whip for 15, </div>
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then fridge for 5 minutes, </div>
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whip for 15... </div>
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then fridge for 5, and repeat the 15 min 5 min process until the lotion has cooled and starts to whip up like a meringue.</div>
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I can't tell you exactly how long this takes because for me it depends on the day and how hot my house is but I would say roughly an hour of whipping.</div>
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This is what it will look like when it is done</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-YoYOBMoJDaT39R0ElSTZYPSJ_RDtgFkpf_RzhOI5TSDOv6SOJ1G1rBm_47AhZqbi4R5QDSLJEM55W6-DY3wHVgyJcXUQPTqwO6R9m6VdxJUy58rJPfUSC4Wfp8eR355sh62OUryOwIMG/s1600/2012-09-30+12.40.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-YoYOBMoJDaT39R0ElSTZYPSJ_RDtgFkpf_RzhOI5TSDOv6SOJ1G1rBm_47AhZqbi4R5QDSLJEM55W6-DY3wHVgyJcXUQPTqwO6R9m6VdxJUy58rJPfUSC4Wfp8eR355sh62OUryOwIMG/s320/2012-09-30+12.40.11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Package it up and you will have an amazing moisturizing lotion to use all winter long. </div>
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Hope you enjoy!!! </div>
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And if you read this and say 'oh wow this looks like too much work' check out my etsy page Bright Star Botanicals :)</div>
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Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-40506382239167822752012-06-30T12:46:00.003-06:002012-06-30T12:46:48.963-06:00Scrap Yarn Knitting - Baby BlanketI've been so busy this summer I haven't blogged in awhile, but I wanted to share a fun and easy knitting creation I made from scrap yarn. <br />
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Someone gave me a bunch of different colors of a shimmery pastel acrylic yarn, that just said to me 'turn me into a baby blanket'. How fortunate my sister is having a baby!<br />
Now there were several colors but not enough of any one of them that I could use a real pattern so I decided to make one up. I knew I wanted the blanket to be about 24"x36" and figured I had enough yarn to get there (I think I had a total of 3 balls) but I didn't know how to make it all work together.<br />
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Here's the finished product and then I will explain the details of how I made it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_N9lXITeQhlU9-J_rovKLFOm9suVrpYE07fwYbRKtw5YaVUDWcX3fYgoNM6BWktuo5Nk3TQE9ymeSsuH99ZNbSoMDFnS-lYZwDLnqR2OF_uCOVATEKskl74dIRyJwxpzUGaBuQwE5jEKd/s1600/2012-06-30+12.07.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_N9lXITeQhlU9-J_rovKLFOm9suVrpYE07fwYbRKtw5YaVUDWcX3fYgoNM6BWktuo5Nk3TQE9ymeSsuH99ZNbSoMDFnS-lYZwDLnqR2OF_uCOVATEKskl74dIRyJwxpzUGaBuQwE5jEKd/s400/2012-06-30+12.07.07.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I had a LOT of white yarn, but not a lot of any of the other colors, so it made sense to do a striped blanket where white was the main color. I had a lot of blue as well, but only a little bit of pink, purple, and multicolor. I decided to put blue on both ends, and then pink, purple and multicolor in the middle. I also thought it would look good to have an equal amount of white to color as I striped, and the stripe size would be determined by how much of whichever color I had. For example, if I had 2 1/2" of pink then I would make a 2 1/2" white strip, then if I had 3" of purple I would make a 3" white stripe. <br />
The reason I am explaining all this is I know whoever may read this will have different amounts of scrap yarns than what I had, but this pattern should work for anyone if you just keep with the logic of it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQKYC4K9NuBhlc1Vgs2GcltYeaC0vRIKIcsBw5W2j-Z2Vjzf1er5id2WR0p_fQNcepYcUYhzsYkyd6AmYQhoBdEtC18dVb5AoFxevo1qUUXKwzmxszyxlkmLfvGWhgn8YT7K_US-Ub8w0n/s1600/2012-06-30+12.08.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQKYC4K9NuBhlc1Vgs2GcltYeaC0vRIKIcsBw5W2j-Z2Vjzf1er5id2WR0p_fQNcepYcUYhzsYkyd6AmYQhoBdEtC18dVb5AoFxevo1qUUXKwzmxszyxlkmLfvGWhgn8YT7K_US-Ub8w0n/s320/2012-06-30+12.08.05.jpg" width="192" /></a></div>
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I wanted to use Size 10 needles, and the yarn was worsted weight but I didn't know what the gauge was because I didn't have the label. <br />
So to determine the gauge I did a swatch of 20 stitches in garter stitch for 5 rows. This measured just under 5" for me. I knew I wanted my blanket to be 24" wide so 24/5 = about 5 so I cast on 100 stitches onto my #10 needles. It's reversed from the way the way the yarn labels usually explain gauge but it works just as well.<br />
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This blanket is done entirely in garter stitch (knit every row) so it is super easy.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Here are the instructions:</span><br />
1. Cast on 100 stitches of your main color. (or as many as your gauge determined for the blanket to measure 24" wide)<br />
2. Knit every row until piece measures 2".<br />
3. Switch to a 2nd color, whichever you have the least of, leaving approximately 6" tails of both the old and new color when you switch for weaving in later.<br />
4. Knit until this color runs out (making sure you don't run out in the middle of a row!)<br />
5. Switch back to your main color, and measure how long your 2nd color was, and match that same number of rows.<br />
6. Switch to a 3rd color whichever you have the next least of, and knit until this runs out<br />
7. Switch back to your main color and knit the same number of rows as your 3rd color.<br />
8. Repeat until your piece measures about 34" or when you've run out of colors.<br />
9. Switching back to main color and finish up the last 2" in the main color.<br />
10. Bind off.<br />
11. Weave in all your ends.<br />
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And that's it! you will have a striped baby blanket! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlD4ZEvSwF5KkM4Op87kaSIxLdTFvoaUMELoAzShVv_sGl35w7JXhbunUxuCnMTKdJKKc_l8hKoH4ys51ma_WpqchvuWcPTTehMIyeaU0z8tTPqqwUOVJtoeXDKWQdjM3UfOu2npsDttYj/s1600/2012-06-30+12.07.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlD4ZEvSwF5KkM4Op87kaSIxLdTFvoaUMELoAzShVv_sGl35w7JXhbunUxuCnMTKdJKKc_l8hKoH4ys51ma_WpqchvuWcPTTehMIyeaU0z8tTPqqwUOVJtoeXDKWQdjM3UfOu2npsDttYj/s400/2012-06-30+12.07.47.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Happy knitting!!</div>
<br />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-90393690682826162582012-06-06T13:54:00.000-06:002012-06-06T13:54:19.064-06:00Walking in Colorado : Bear Creek GreenbeltIt's my last week of freedom before I start working full time again, so I wanted to get out on another walk. Today I chose an old favorite that my sister and I used to frequent. <br />
Bear Creek Greenbelt in Lakewood. <br />
Don't confuse this with Bear Creek Park further south as they are quite different.<br />
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This greenbelt is located on Evans just south of Yale, and has a wide variety of trails that cater to bicyclists, walkers, and explorers. Here is their official website<br />
<a href="http://www.lakewood.org/Community_Resources/Parks,_Forestry_and_Open_Space/A_to_Z_Park_Listing/Bear_Creek_Greenbelt.aspx">http://www.lakewood.org/Community_Resources/Parks,_Forestry_and_Open_Space/A_to_Z_Park_Listing/Bear_Creek_Greenbelt.aspx</a><br />
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The parking lot on Estes looks out onto a lovely pond. From the pond, go right to get to the trails along Bear Creek.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3T49ucycnE7ie9kx9nSlYlZzwAfc2QynwMWLdOMMMnaiEM5pVBrvOHNiK9C_WzRmbKkvNJiU6cja25GtIBDEER6mBk_0LZGuBZhn8itilP74fH2AJ_aNod_m234U7e1D3idOol_phmk4U/s1600/2012-06-06+11.20.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3T49ucycnE7ie9kx9nSlYlZzwAfc2QynwMWLdOMMMnaiEM5pVBrvOHNiK9C_WzRmbKkvNJiU6cja25GtIBDEER6mBk_0LZGuBZhn8itilP74fH2AJ_aNod_m234U7e1D3idOol_phmk4U/s400/2012-06-06+11.20.37.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View just from the parking lot</td></tr>
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After going right at the pond, there is a bridge that goes over Bear Creek. You can then follow the trail along the creek south until it crosses back over and loops back to the parking lot. I was meandering so it probably took me about 45 minutes to walk the loop.<br />
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The reason I love this trail so much is that while there is a paved road that parallels the creek there are also numerous inter-weaving dirt trails that run along the creek. They are intimate and woodsy and remind me a little bit of the woods out East. Woods and water are a bit of a commodity in Colorado, so I always enjoy a walk which has both.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq49kFl2-XZLnU4SUEuLYCWzsuFsHhy8kp2cgwic9NOGLsnEDvskRjQRELL7uuaslLPeVjvFh4r9hbEjf99JrOmioT5GVNDTStJ4EHrrLzaJcrrs9AMgp1kgt3VckxcSI8iud-0-e5y04h/s1600/2012-06-06+11.27.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq49kFl2-XZLnU4SUEuLYCWzsuFsHhy8kp2cgwic9NOGLsnEDvskRjQRELL7uuaslLPeVjvFh4r9hbEjf99JrOmioT5GVNDTStJ4EHrrLzaJcrrs9AMgp1kgt3VckxcSI8iud-0-e5y04h/s400/2012-06-06+11.27.29.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Trail along Bear Creek</td></tr>
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Walking along the creek I saw many birds in the trees and hopping around on the rocks in the creeks. There were also plenty of families with their kids playing and exploring in the water. I also encountered a few bikers riding through the dirt trails too, so keep an eye out as the trail is narrow.<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXSr4TnwryA5mqg0hY3cdbcHxTMaFr8sKL3VpS9IGKe3Zo-nryYjr6jzwLUY4d3nP0euT_KQjDIYS4L-w9c0IVSMA8HtY31l_ZC9HAd6MNlfFrGl9Ii1XKNu88B1RtvtEeqrCede6xP8So/s1600/2012-06-06+11.35.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXSr4TnwryA5mqg0hY3cdbcHxTMaFr8sKL3VpS9IGKe3Zo-nryYjr6jzwLUY4d3nP0euT_KQjDIYS4L-w9c0IVSMA8HtY31l_ZC9HAd6MNlfFrGl9Ii1XKNu88B1RtvtEeqrCede6xP8So/s400/2012-06-06+11.35.54.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There is a nice mix of sun and shade along the creek trail so it is not too hot of a walk, even in the summer.</div>
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Near the end of creek before you cross over to make your return loop back to the lot, there is a very active prairie dog community. They are always fun to watch, though sorry this picture isn't a great one.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGLQIcqPg-_TF85ZMP63Plax4i-sXP-uOOheRwUaBqotwc5c8wIdMUMjt19jztMvRKyXRHHzWEjKA35cga5BMWP5RRLwvPfogJT6b8xeqClsCWV9SE7eVG6Yq1EfQLH_bOtx1ZyNGdqL8H/s1600/2012-06-06+11.49.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGLQIcqPg-_TF85ZMP63Plax4i-sXP-uOOheRwUaBqotwc5c8wIdMUMjt19jztMvRKyXRHHzWEjKA35cga5BMWP5RRLwvPfogJT6b8xeqClsCWV9SE7eVG6Yq1EfQLH_bOtx1ZyNGdqL8H/s400/2012-06-06+11.49.47.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prairie Dogs</td></tr>
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The return walk has just as many trails to choose from; there's a wide gravel road that takes you near the pond or you can wander back along the creek. The paved road goes somewhere else at this point though; not sure where truthfully as I always follow the creek.</div>
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The wildlife I spotted today included a black crowned night heron and a mallard hen with her brood of ducklings...very cute.... </div>
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All in all a wonderful walk full of nature and green and water.</div>
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Happy Trails!</div>Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-62047220902123208542012-05-15T15:15:00.000-06:002012-05-15T15:15:15.677-06:00Strawberry Rhubarb PieI have this great big gorgeous rhubarb plant growing outside so I figured it was time to make something with rhubarb.<br />
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I opted for a very simple strawberry rhubarb pie. I started with a recipe I found on allrecipes.com and my trusted pie crust recipe from my kitchenaid book and made a few simple modifications. It turned out great!<br />
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Here's my version of<br />
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<u>Rhubarb Strawberry Pie</u><br />
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1 lb rhubarb, chopped (this was 6 stalks for me)<br />
1 lb strawberries, sliced<br />
1/2 cup flour<br />
1 cup sugar<br />
pie crust (see recipe below)<br />
1 egg white<br />
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In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and flour. Add strawberries and rhubarb, mixing well. Cover and let sit for 45 minutes. (don't skimp on this sitting time or the pie will be runny)<br />
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Meanwhile make your pie crust. I slightly increased my measurements from the standard recipe because I never seem to have enough. This amount made a lattice crust in a deep 9" pie pan.<br />
<u>Pie Crust</u><br />
3 cups flour<br />
1/2 cup shortening<br />
5 T butter, chilled<br />
8-10 T cold water<br />
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In your mixer combine flour, shortening, and butter. Mix until shortening has broken down to pea size bits. Start adding the water 1T at a time until the dough just starts to stick together. Separate into two balls (they say half but i do 2/3 and 1/3 and use the bigger one for the bottom crust) and refrigerate for 15 minutes.<br />
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Now to the pie.....<br />
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out the pie crust bottom and place in a 9" pie pan crimping the edges over the sides.<br />
Making sure it is well stirred, add the strawberry rhubarb filling into the pie<br />
Roll out the remaining pie dough and make a lattice crust over the filling, attaching the pieces using a small amount of water.<br />
If you choose not to make a lattice, make sure you cut an 'x' in the middle of the pie so it can steam.<br />
Using a brush, brush the egg white onto the top crust. Sprinkle sugar on the crust.<br />
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Place on a cookie sheet to prevent spills and bake for 35-45 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the crust is turning golden.<br />
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Now turn off the oven but leave the pie inside to cool down slowly. (you can crack the door if you want). This will help the filling to solidify. These pies can be runny if you don't let them cool for a few hours. I took my pie out an hour after I turned the oven off, put foil over the top and let it sit for another two hours before serving.<br />
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It was sweet and tart and delicious served with vanilla ice cream. A great spring pie and a wonderful way to use up my rhubarb, and really a very simple pie recipe.<br />
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Happy Cooking.</div>
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<br />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-41718985397410649502012-05-07T11:30:00.001-06:002012-05-07T11:30:19.288-06:00Walking in Colorado : White Ranch ParkIt's a rainy day today, but it was glorious last week, so I went on another adventure. I am trying to make the rounds of all the Jefferson County Open Space parks this summer, because they are FREE, and finding a nice place to hike that is free is not always an easy thing.<br />
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So last Thursday I went to White Ranch Park in Golden, Colorado.<br />
<a href="http://jeffco.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R57.htm">http://jeffco.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R57.htm</a>
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It is located off of Golden Gate Canyon Road, which is just off of 93, north of downtown Golden. I have never been to this park, but I have been to Golden Gate Canyon State park also on this road, and I forgot how much I really don't like Golden Gate Canyon Road. I can't explain exactly why, as there are plenty of curving windy roads in the foothills, but for some reason this one always gets me car sick. So be warned, you will have to drive up a windy 35 mph road for a half hour to get here.<br />
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When I finally arrived, the view was beautiful, so it almost made the drive worthwhile.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3b9hJwFc27F1JIlyW_AQRJ-kGcaCYqsb1DVIOhEtq7to0KwMHHLASJXHIZvUqxR7JwXVxVK5nTwezhTVNs_AgVLnSs8xRzlO_w_KSgpN0BpotX8T4fJObsNvAtNAJ4Fu2gNd8JbuhxLXr/s1600/DSC02475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3b9hJwFc27F1JIlyW_AQRJ-kGcaCYqsb1DVIOhEtq7to0KwMHHLASJXHIZvUqxR7JwXVxVK5nTwezhTVNs_AgVLnSs8xRzlO_w_KSgpN0BpotX8T4fJObsNvAtNAJ4Fu2gNd8JbuhxLXr/s400/DSC02475.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White Ranch Park - View from Parking lot</td></tr>
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This park has an extensive trail system, and two entrances. I would recommend accessing it from the west entrance, as most of the trails start there. There is even camping here, as well as an equestrian campground which I thought was kind of neat for the horse lovers out there. While here I saw other hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians. I went on a Thursday and it was not at all crowded, though I don't know how crowded it gets on the weekends.<br />
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After studying the trail map, I decided to start off on the Rawhide trail going clockwise, cut across on Wrangler's Run and join back up with the Rawhide trail which would take me back to the picnic area/parking lot, where I planned to have my picnic lunch. This is a total of 2.5 miles. I was then going to walk the Sawmill trail to where it meets the Maverick trail to create another loop of approximately 2 miles. The trails here have many intersections so I would highly recommend taking a map with you and picking your trail combinations by the distance you want to travel.<br />
<a href="http://jeffco.us/jeffco/openspace_uploads/whitemp.pdf">http://jeffco.us/jeffco/openspace_uploads/whitemp.pdf</a><br />
The open space website also has a trail profile where it describes the trails and their steepness.<br />
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Going in the clockwise direction the Rawhide trail is a gentle slope downhill along a wide dirt road. It travels through meadows and pine forest. Here's a few pictures along the Rawhide Trail. I saw plenty of birds and grasshoppers and even a mule deer on this trail.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPftM5-ub1L3Pm-3pd7ay5IWiowx6RYXwkIlZPcfROZOpJKfs012mcbZfsneCN9p5e4f19ljm0t0KImkvgtC52EdMR_hideHG0mBd3B8eu8Hur2wE97Tkg6OlnUHkRcdLcONbe7ujOR4t/s1600/DSC02479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPftM5-ub1L3Pm-3pd7ay5IWiowx6RYXwkIlZPcfROZOpJKfs012mcbZfsneCN9p5e4f19ljm0t0KImkvgtC52EdMR_hideHG0mBd3B8eu8Hur2wE97Tkg6OlnUHkRcdLcONbe7ujOR4t/s400/DSC02479.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsNZnkum9ARqpw3NwQQKqHG8AEv5xmBgkYSgFfCZ0HgZ5o9nS-S2S6hZZ2oENy1rzeweIB8U_YogtBPu0z9xJdy5NRbh0lW1b9wQOLqEhSlQ0WtWmG9e-vUk1csNBscg7OqlA3qyiL07mN/s1600/DSC02480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsNZnkum9ARqpw3NwQQKqHG8AEv5xmBgkYSgFfCZ0HgZ5o9nS-S2S6hZZ2oENy1rzeweIB8U_YogtBPu0z9xJdy5NRbh0lW1b9wQOLqEhSlQ0WtWmG9e-vUk1csNBscg7OqlA3qyiL07mN/s400/DSC02480.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a mule deer that spotted me before I spotted it</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPsgUPpOSBetM0xFXTQEp2mTcdlymE-RaIQ90k9O1vOk8I5C2G59VATFiKyUxjIB1TpZ2OYzSfYbyZ4BRmFajMd6_Wbp1LLByj8awdxOM7gKbWlajOqj6Kkiv8RMt1CoEgL5vs4SO8jrh/s1600/DSC02477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPsgUPpOSBetM0xFXTQEp2mTcdlymE-RaIQ90k9O1vOk8I5C2G59VATFiKyUxjIB1TpZ2OYzSfYbyZ4BRmFajMd6_Wbp1LLByj8awdxOM7gKbWlajOqj6Kkiv8RMt1CoEgL5vs4SO8jrh/s400/DSC02477.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pine trees and boulders dotting an otherwise open meadow</td></tr>
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The rawhide trail is intersected by the Wrangler Trail, which is a narrow foot path that slopes down through a creek bed. There were thousands of grasshoppers hopping around on this path, though I didn't see any other wildlife.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjds38rg2zFKPquJtcNXlUn2Zek1jdZWZuv1sWjYRZNLXNHeztTS_z2m-_y-L7LdPlmWdomol0CXepz3IPDpwQhI7LHeHCABmfaCXJIqLVMRDvUi8EDidgETVxv4QT4tIwSseBzBPIP0iLh/s1600/DSC02481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjds38rg2zFKPquJtcNXlUn2Zek1jdZWZuv1sWjYRZNLXNHeztTS_z2m-_y-L7LdPlmWdomol0CXepz3IPDpwQhI7LHeHCABmfaCXJIqLVMRDvUi8EDidgETVxv4QT4tIwSseBzBPIP0iLh/s400/DSC02481.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wrangler's Run Trail</td></tr>
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Where Wrangler's Run trail joins back up with the Rawhide trail, the uphill portion of the hike begins. It is about .5 miles of steep uphill back to the parking lot. The trail goes up through a forested area, so there is at least shade while you are trekking uphill.<br />
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When I got back to the parking lot, my total hiking time was about 1 hour 15 minutes. Unfortunately it took me a lot longer to drive here than I had originally thought, so I didn't have enough time to do my second loop of Maverick and Saw Mill trails. <br />
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I would recommend this location if you have all day to explore the trails, as the drive here is long and slow. There are quite a few picnic bench sites with grills (though there is a fire ban here right now) so it could be a great way to spend the day with friends and a picnic lunch. It is a large park offering beautiful vistas, and a good variety of trails.<br />
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Happy Trails!!</div>Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-82521511053384654872012-05-01T13:22:00.005-06:002012-05-01T13:22:44.881-06:00Walking in Colorado : Van Bibber ParkIt's officially May, and one of the nicest months for being out of doors in my opinion. This month I decided to go on walks all around Colorado and document them on my blog. Hopefully they will be informative or inspiring. Even if it is a quick walk in the neighborhood, I always feel great after I've gotten outside for a bit.<br />
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Today I went to Van Bibber Park, which is part of the Jefferson County Open Space. It's off Ward Rd, just south of 58th Street in Arvada. The main path is a 1.5 mile paved trail (3 miles round trip) ideal for walking, jogging, or biking. It's very popular with families, people with dogs and runners. There's also dirt trails if you want a little variety in your walking. I love to go here because it is pretty in all seasons and is a pocket of nature very close to home.<br />
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Here's a link to their website which contains a trail map: <a href="http://jeffco.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R20.htm">http://jeffco.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R20.htm</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZEL8d3sSpLRoDXNbMbHDYjxw38uz5rJ8uVDEHJ2qy8fLErQOJ53pJOylk5XmTy85OBi9QoCeheZ05Jn_v5k6pjiPXDDUnj0A3SqndLpTIleIsYU7Cw9Tne0PGSffvb74wIVVP0-M7XNH/s1600/2012-05-01+10.51.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZEL8d3sSpLRoDXNbMbHDYjxw38uz5rJ8uVDEHJ2qy8fLErQOJ53pJOylk5XmTy85OBi9QoCeheZ05Jn_v5k6pjiPXDDUnj0A3SqndLpTIleIsYU7Cw9Tne0PGSffvb74wIVVP0-M7XNH/s400/2012-05-01+10.51.30.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Van Bibber Park</td></tr>
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There is a stream that goes through the park, which supports lots of wildlife from birds to bunnies, and even a coyote family which I've seen a few times. Walking down the trail there is a constant soundtrack of meadowlarks and red winged blackbirds. Robins, magpies and other birds hop near the trail and if you look at the very tall trees at the edge of the park you may see an owl or hawk.<br />
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Nestled along the stream there are stands of old and narly cottonwood trees. They are so picturesque nestled into the valley. <br />
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There are picnic tables and benches along the trail. Sometimes I've come just to sit there to listen to the birds and the breeze in the trees. Today I saw an eastern blue jay hopping around on this picnic table. I don't know what it was doing in Colorado.<br />
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The trail runs along some major power lines, which can be a little annoying due to the constant hum, but it isn't too distracting, and I have seen hawks and eagles perched on the lines. The path winds all the way over to Indiana Street, where there is another small parking lot, where I turn around and head back. The houses that border the park near Indiana St. abound with rabbits hopping around their fences.<br />
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It works out for me to be about a one hour walk, which is perfect for a weekday; at lunch or in the evenings. And I always feel happier after I've gotten to get outside for an hour to enjoy the great weather, the sunshine, and a little bit of nature. </div>
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I'm hoping my next walk will be the Pawnee Grasslands this weekend.</div>
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<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Happy Trails!</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-67006353926850807542012-04-27T15:42:00.001-06:002012-04-27T15:42:06.363-06:00Spring Planting UpdateI thought I should give an update on my spring plantings.<br />
My spinach has taken off and is ready to be harvested, so we will be enjoying spinach salads for awhile<br />
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My seedlings have a mixed story to tell. The newspaper pots worked great and all my seeds took off and were growing gangbusters. The beans and pumpkins had gotten so tall they were starting to fall over so I figured I had to move them outside. We haven't had any nights below freezing for almost the whole month of April, and so I thought it would be safe to move them into the beautiful raised planter bed my husband made for me.<br />
I was wrong.<br />
It appears that young and fragile seedlings don't like temperatures even in the low 40s. My tomato seedlings and bush bean seedlings died within days.<br />
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The zucchinis, cucumbers, and pumpkins are doing okay, sort of. They had grown too tall for their own good in the warmth of my living room and half of them have just fallen over and are laying prostrate on the ground, groaning in agony at the torture I put them through by going outside. But at least one of each is holding on to life.<br />
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The jalapeno and bell pepper seedlings are hanging on okay, as well as the zinnia seedlings, but they are still tiny. How can they possibly grow to a mature fruit bearing plant by August? I guess I will see, but in the mean time another year that I will have to go to garden store to get vegetable plants for the garden.<br />
What's their secret??<br />
I was given a little bit of solace when I was at Target today and the cashier said she also has a really hard time with tomato seedlings, and she has an enclosed porch. So my conclusion for Denver home gardening from seeds in the spring is spinach, broccoli (because the earwigs stay away from them) and rhubarb (our rhubarb plant comes back happier and happier every year). If you don't hate earwigs like I do and want to try out lettuce, I've had great luck with it, but really I just can not handle picking earwigs out of my lettuce.<br />
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I will keep you posted on the progress of the survivors.<br />
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<br />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-5576357383006098392012-04-23T16:41:00.000-06:002012-04-23T16:41:04.504-06:00Farm Life - a Tribute to CosmoI am first to admit I was not raised a farm girl. I grew up in suburbia, and still live in suburbia. I love animals and creatures of all shapes and sizes and am not squeamish about dirt or hard work but I do not have the tough heart that it sometimes takes in farm life.<br />
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My sister has a small farm, with maybe 15 nigerian dwarf goats, dogs and cats, and chickens to come soon. I was visiting her to meet all the baby goats that have been born so far this spring. Mostly nigerian dwarfs are sold to be pets or small sized dairy goats and have a really sweet disposition if they are properly socialized. We sit with them in the morning while they eat some grain to help socialize them and get used to people. They are the sweetest funniest goof balls, and love to bounce and jump on everything around them including you. They love to chew on your hair, your shirt, your fingers. They snuggle up in your lap and will climb on top of each other to get the best position. In short, you can't help but fall in love with them.<br />
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The goats at feeding time</div>
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In the evening we took three of the does to be disbudded. This is a common procedure for baby goats to remove the horn buds before they can grow into horns. It isn't a pleasant thing to watch, but all the kids seem to recover very quickly from it and it is a low risk procedure when done by an experienced person. All seemed to go well and the girls were up and running and playful in the morning. Sadly, tragedy struck later the next day. While we were gone for a few hours, one of the girls, Cosmo, somehow knocked the area open, possibly on a major blood vessel, and died very quickly from blood loss. It was horrible and tragic, and from what the vet said, a complete freak accident since everything had been looking so good earlier. I was heart broken as she had been holding her just that morning. I think people that breed animals understand that some babies just don't make it and that you have to calculate that as part of the losses of the farm, but it was hard to accept that when it happened so suddenly to such a happy and healthy little thing. When you see a runt of a litter or a tiny baby that develops an illness, you fight for their survival but can somehow accept if they don't make it. But when something that is strong dies suddenly, it feels that life is robbed from them. My sister and I cried and questioned if we could have somehow found her in time or if we could have known something had been wrong, but at the end of the day, all we could do was to say goodbye to Cosmo.</div>
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Cosmo on her last morning</div>
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I can't end the story like this because that would just be too sad, and because as we all know whenever a life is lost another is born. And thankfully later that day a new life came to the farm. My sister's vet friend had gone to a farm where a sheep was dying from a brain infection. She was pregnant, and so two babies were taken from her as she died. One of them survived and the vet was able to keep it and nurse it as a bottle baby. He was premature and tiny but he lived. Since she doesn't have a farm she gave it to my sister to raise. </div>
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Little Huey arrived a few hours after our loss of Cosmo, and he was such an adorable and vulnerable little lamb, we were so happy we could help take care of him.</div>
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Huey</div>
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We put two sweaters on him and worked to teach him to nurse on the bottles and put him in the warm barn at night under a heat lamp. Every day he has grown stronger and stronger. </div>
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We would walk around the yard with little lamb Huey bumbling around after us and he was completely adorable. He is growing to be friends with Bubba, a baby buck my sister got who is also a bottle baby. It is strange to think that he may grow to be up to 300 lbs some day.</div>
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So for this suburban girl who is not hardened to the ways of farm life, it was a very emotional day. </div>
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Full of heartbreak and tears and joy and laughter. </div>
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Life is an intense thing; whether it is the life of an animal or a human, it is full to the brim with...well... life; </div>
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and it will always be hard to say good bye.</div>
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Bubba </div>
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<br /></div>Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-7336410344135860132012-04-12T13:00:00.000-06:002012-04-12T13:00:24.436-06:00War on WomenI read a quote today that the Democrats are asserting that the Republicans have waged a War on Women.<br />
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Given that it is an election season I am not surprised to see quotes like this, as they are trying to blame each other for everything wrong in this world, but this time there really is something going on and I need to speak up about it. It isn't just a battle between political parties; the battle is for all of the women's rights that people like my mother worked so hard to achieve in the '70s and '80s. It is a social and economical battle; it is a battle for the mothers and the single women, for stay at home moms and working mom, and it is a battle we can't afford to lose.<br />
Here are the major battle lines I think have been drawn.<br />
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<b>Battle Line #1 : Contraception</b><br />
Now I had been living under a misguided perception that <i>all</i> insurance companies covered birth control. It is such a common thing. 99% of all American women have used contraception in their life and it is a generally accepted fact that the pill is much more effective than other contraception methods, so for most monogomous couples who don't want to have children it is really the best method. And let's not forget all of the other benefits that the pill provides, helping with severe cramps, acne problems, menopause, the list goes on.<br />
And then I hear in this great debate we had a few months back that in fact many religiously affiliated institutions will NOT cover birth control pills and that there's a huge outcry from conservatives who think that contraception is an evil thing and should never be covered. Seriously?? How can something that provides so many medical benefits for women not be covered, putting aside the primary role of preventing pregnancy? If there is a religious person who doesn't believe in contraception than they shouldn't use it obviously, but how is it their right to deny the use of it to someone else. Maybe we can repackage birth control and call it 'hormone therapy' since there's no problem having health insurance companies cover all the mood altering pills we take to make us happy. I don't know about you but not having debilitating cramps makes me pretty darn happy.<br />
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<b>Battle Line #2 : Rights to our Body</b><br />
So if we can't get access to contraception, then millions of woman will end up with an unwanted pregnancy. I personally have never been in this situation, but of the friends I have known through the years no matter what their beliefs on abortion or adoption it is a very hard, painful thing to go through. It is emotionally scarring and a deep and personal struggle. For those who have an abortion, they often go through years of guilt and regret. For those who give the child up for adoption they too often have incredible guilt. And for those that keep the child even when they are teens or single there are incredible sacrifices that are made for themselves and their child. Now many women and families overcome these hardships and struggles and make wonderful mothers, but nowhere in this deep personal struggle do a see that the government should have a role. Nowhere do I see that they should have mandated vaginal ultrasounds before you can have an abortion. Nowhere do I see where they can dictate what you do or do not do with your body and your choices of how to create a family. When my husband and I make big life choices, nowhere in the conversation do we ask 'now what would the president have me do'. And it should stay that way.<br />
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<b>Battle Line #3 : Families and Economics</b><br />
Women have been struggling for years to get the same pay and respect in the work place. It is nothing new and I must admit that of this current 'war on women' there's not too much that is changing in this continued discrimination. But what has changed is that times are hard and there just aren't enough jobs out there for everyone. Many families have only one person working full time; this could be for any number of reasons, by choice, by necessity of the job market, or because day care for their small children outweighs the income they would have received at a job. This is hard enough for a married family, but for single parents things are even harder. They struggle to juggle work and family life. <br />
But there's another darker side to this struggle that I have seen growing since the economic downturn in 2008. There are fewer jobs, and so those who have jobs are being asked to be slaves to that job. Work / Family balance? Companies just don't care. There has been a shift in the last few years that views employees as widgets not people. The people lucky enough to have a job are supposed to work 12 hour days and be happy about it. They are not supposed to take off work because their kid is sick, or because they want to do something crazy like go on a vacation; if they do then they are looked down on, and led to feel that they might be picked in the next round of layoffs. I have seen first hand women who ask to work revised schedules to accommodate their young children's schedules who are immediately put on the 'expendable' list. This blatant discrimination is hidden because of the poor economy. Employers don't have to justify their decisions, and so they use perception over performance. There is a very old school philosophy that people who want a work/life balance are not committed to their company. It isn't true. People that can take the time to keep their home life in order are usually much more able to be more productive at work. If genuinely hard workers are shunned and ostracized because they want to attend their son's basketball game or don't want to take work calls on a Sunday morning, then we will end up with an empty nation of automatons. We need to be respected as human beings, and when we are, all of us will bring more to the table. <br />
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So let us fight this battle. I feel we didn't ask for it, but to ignore it would be devastating to our future.<br />
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<br />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-55921280212949199732012-04-03T19:46:00.004-06:002012-04-03T19:46:57.514-06:00Scrap Yarn Blanket - Knitting ProjectMy uncle was kind enough to give me lots of yarn recently when cleaning out his house. I love getting yarn, but the pile in the corner of the bed room is threatening to take over so I figured I needed to come up with a knitting project to use up LOTS of yarn.<br />
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I piled up all my yarn and sorted it into fiber type and weight. I ended up with the biggest pile of worsted weight acrylic, so I thought a nice big blanket would be a good project. I wanted a project that I could change colors easily whenever I ran out of scrap yarn and one that could grow to the size of the amount of yarn I had. I also didn't want something to complicated as this was something mostly to keep me occupied while watching TV in the evening.<br />
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My good friend recommended a pattern on Ravelry called the Ten Stitch Blanket by Frankie Brown<br />
<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ten-stitch-blanket">http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ten-stitch-blanket</a>
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Here's a picture of her completed design<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFA9ofM4ICcsQCA751xXYt5BZYCG4ajzltmzqFcp3HY37XNnnEpsoFlOsAtzW8ezPf2BkLK6vtV2x0e4RPQ8woQfJ_utcv96ZkmZgfdl72NOPO2luKxu0Px6tsIKJ_SMBCvw-H-1A_JB3/s1600/2707959664_13135527c1_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFA9ofM4ICcsQCA751xXYt5BZYCG4ajzltmzqFcp3HY37XNnnEpsoFlOsAtzW8ezPf2BkLK6vtV2x0e4RPQ8woQfJ_utcv96ZkmZgfdl72NOPO2luKxu0Px6tsIKJ_SMBCvw-H-1A_JB3/s320/2707959664_13135527c1_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This pattern was perfect for my scrap yarn because it grows from the inside out, I can switch colors wherever I want, and it has nice visual interest without being overly complicated.<br />
The only tricky parts are turning the corners.<br />
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So I picked out a big ball of ivory, bright blue, and smaller balls of navy blue, olive and brown.<br />
Here's my project in progress.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73Ob-MkgXe0oTX9ibn61asWO_BpYfgZeSTp5I_3TvB2noMUzEaRXJ2BG0wIPl5DIHT5QgugRaoTDkcH_JCA3WJou8TzAOFnsXbACpRwigCe09i3WqBMAv7nnIZ0dUskzlIfvhoiPCMJZX/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73Ob-MkgXe0oTX9ibn61asWO_BpYfgZeSTp5I_3TvB2noMUzEaRXJ2BG0wIPl5DIHT5QgugRaoTDkcH_JCA3WJou8TzAOFnsXbACpRwigCe09i3WqBMAv7nnIZ0dUskzlIfvhoiPCMJZX/s320/download.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I don't know if copyright laws would allow me to repost Frankie's pattern, so if you want to give it a try for your next scrap yarn knitting project, just follow the link above and the pattern download is right up there in the corner on the Ravelry site. It's a free pattern but it is copyrighted by Frankie Brown and is intended for private use. If you like to knit or crochet, definitely think about joining Ravelry. It's free and a fun way to share projects and find neat patterns. If you do, come find me. I'm crazyhat.<br />
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Until then, happy knitting.<br />
<br />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-32953601682343569892012-03-29T10:31:00.000-06:002012-03-29T10:31:24.541-06:00Making Newspaper Pots for SeedlingsSo Ace Hardware had a sale this week and their seed packets were $.25 a piece! Go Ace! I figured now would be a great time to get my seeds started indoors to plant outside in May.<br />
Last year my seed trays were a bit of a disaster, because the roots were shocked when i pulled them up out of that nice planting soil and put them in my less than perfect garden soil. So I did a little research, and found out about making newspaper pots to start your seedlings in. They are biodegradable, so when my little vegetables are ready to go into the ground I can just plant the whole thing and hopefully there won't be any shock or root damage. And unlike the biodegradable peat pots they sell at the store, they are FREE (if you have a newspaper and some tape) and honestly they didn't take more than an hour to make.<br />
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So I bought 8 different vegetable seed packets as well as some petunia and zinnia seeds and made up about 45 newspaper pots yesterday afternoon. I put two seeds in each pot, and hope that one of them at least will take off. In case you want to try them out, here's how I made them.<br />
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First I did some online research, and saw that people made them many different sizes, from a toilet paper tube to a wine bottle. I wanted mine to be about the size of the 6pack seedling we get at the store so I decided to use a glass spice jar that I had from Target. It is sort of square shaped which I liked more than a round pot.<br />
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So here's how I made my newspaper pots<br />
Step 1: Open up the newspaper and cut in half. I'd recommend cutting several pages at once.<br />
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Step 2: Fold the paper into fourths. Try to have the loose ends on one side, so that the top doesn't have any loose pages (it makes it easier to fold down)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhafQbW8pzQxUUnhv8ToBVAGMGGdeVmaG80GF7Ms3VIjePpiNPmMfbT283Fx23ryTW75MZj2vTdQ2O9VB0YwhT-jQRH0KVo4nBNW5VswereZIouyubHRNhnhKAoePVnP801SmKt7dGMxlzY/s1600/DSC02463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhafQbW8pzQxUUnhv8ToBVAGMGGdeVmaG80GF7Ms3VIjePpiNPmMfbT283Fx23ryTW75MZj2vTdQ2O9VB0YwhT-jQRH0KVo4nBNW5VswereZIouyubHRNhnhKAoePVnP801SmKt7dGMxlzY/s320/DSC02463.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Step 3: Roll the paper around your spice jar, or whatever container you want to use. Leave 1" extra past the bottom of the jar to form the bottom of the pot. Have the side with the loose page ends at the bottom. Once you've wrapped the jar, apply a bit of tape to the side. I used scotch tape because that's what I had, but if you have masking tape it would be biodegradable.</div>
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Step 4: Now turning the jar upside down, begin to form the bottom of the pot. It's just like wrapping a present. Push down on one side.</div>
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Then fold the rest in and apply a piece of tape.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1D2fB344z6WmaedP1AltJWm5MSew-LT5SAm074fBC4PSL06lvwCncmNPjaJ8mDgqqAz2iy5fcKukWy4XvXD4iUOwoVtWPuX8A2-HB3qDkTVyE6O561pP7r2pSrrG45JNKyxZshVbTcb_j/s1600/DSC02466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1D2fB344z6WmaedP1AltJWm5MSew-LT5SAm074fBC4PSL06lvwCncmNPjaJ8mDgqqAz2iy5fcKukWy4XvXD4iUOwoVtWPuX8A2-HB3qDkTVyE6O561pP7r2pSrrG45JNKyxZshVbTcb_j/s320/DSC02466.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Pull the pot off of the jar, flip it over, and fold down the top to make it as tall or as short as you want. </div>
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And there you have it! Now just continue this process until you have enough pots, or you run out of newspaper (that's pretty much when I stopped as I was having so much fun)</div>
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When I finished all my pots I put them in my old seed container trays. These will get a little wet and messy when you water them, so you definitely need to put them in something while they grow.</div>
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I filled them up and used toothpicks with some duct tape wrapped around the end to make little flags to identify my seeds.</div>
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Here they are before I watered them</div>
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When I watered them, I noticed the dirt compacted A LOT, so my next batch I filled them completely with soil, watered them and then filled them up again to the right planting depth. This seemed to work out pretty well. So here are my completed pots all watered up</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwU7UhHu-9mWAltZhN16baVIWuk0Iwk1JmaI8OwGZpI3kqX25GebRo7ShzIcVpzyp0acAwqlXFLl3pZF-ajLHihsYWK4Pp8WIdlHWa1NFnIez9efEo3rFPEUdO0m6SlC0vMj1yzgJYimu/s1600/DSC02472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwU7UhHu-9mWAltZhN16baVIWuk0Iwk1JmaI8OwGZpI3kqX25GebRo7ShzIcVpzyp0acAwqlXFLl3pZF-ajLHihsYWK4Pp8WIdlHWa1NFnIez9efEo3rFPEUdO0m6SlC0vMj1yzgJYimu/s320/DSC02472.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now I must admit that I am a little bit messy when it comes to home projects, so I am sure your pots will be a little bit neater with a little less spare dirt all over the place, but I thought it was all great fun, and can't wait to watch my seeds grow hopefully into a fantastic garden this year.</div>
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Happy Planting!</div>
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<br />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-73575801625352444312012-03-26T15:28:00.000-06:002012-03-26T15:28:06.806-06:00The Value of a Human LifeSo when I first started writing my blog, I wanted to stay away from social and political rants, but I really felt I had to write about this issue.<br />
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Yesterday I was reading an article on CNN that talked about the US Government's payout to the families of the 16 Afghan civilians who were recently murdered by an American soldier.<br />
They stated that the US Government was going to pay $50,000 to the families of each civilian that was killed, and $11,000 to those injured.<br />
My first reaction was 'Seriously, That's it????' <br />
We spent $663 Billion dollars on our defense budget in 2010, and yet that is all we value an innocent human life? These people weren't killed as a side effect of a bomb or military operation while engaging the enemy, they were killed by a lone rogue soldier in the dead of night. Now the government has carefully stated that this is not 'compensation' but is given out of compassion for their deaths and the murderer will be put on trial, but still... that's it?? <br />
This amount, it was stated, is a substantial increase of what the US normally compensates for civilians killed during our wars. In 2010 we typically compensated $2000 to the families of Afghan civilians who were killed during a military operation. I have to wonder who decided $2000 was an appropriate amount. Could that small amount really helps replace the lost wage earner in a society where there is usually only one wage earner per family?<br />
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In 1988, Americans accidentally shot down a civilian air liner that was leaving Iran during the Iran/Iraq war.<br />
While we never accepted official 'blame' for that incident, we still ended up compensating each victim's family $213,000 for a total of $8million. Quite a bit more than $2,000....<br />
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All of these deaths were civilians caught in the cross fire of our war with their country, and yes we compensated their families for their deaths, but I find it so disturbing to see the wide range of what we deemed 'appropriate' to compensate civilian families for their loss.<br />
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What is the value of a human life? $2,000, $50,000, $200,000?<br />
What would have been paid if it had been American civilians caught up in a military operation? Does our government think that the value of an American life is greater than the value of an Afghan life? Are these civilians part of the war we are fighting? Are they for or against us and does that affect what they are 'worth'? Is it right that though we decided to invade a country 10 years ago that we can still make up the rules as to what is 'collateral damage' and what is 'murder'? I don't have an answer to any of these questions, but I do think they are worth asking.<br />
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Post Script:<br />
I hope that this post can be taken as it is intended, an honest and concerned questioning of our government's ethics and moral policies as a country at war. It is not intended to discredit or dishonor those who are fighting bravely and honestly for their countries, nor is it mean to belittle in any way the lives that have been lost by soldiers and civilians of all nationalities.<br />
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Article references:<br />
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/25/world/asia/afghanistan-killings-money/index.html?iref=allsearch">http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/25/world/asia/afghanistan-killings-money/index.html?iref=allsearch</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/world/u-s-provides-payments-to-afghans-after-soldiers-2261074.html?printArticle=y">http://www.statesman.com/news/world/u-s-provides-payments-to-afghans-after-soldiers-2261074.html?printArticle=y</a><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655</a><br />
<a href="http://www.civicworldwide.org/healing-the-wounds/afghanistan">http://www.civicworldwide.org/healing-the-wounds/afghanistan</a><br />
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<br />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-84381256513766811262012-03-19T16:08:00.002-06:002012-03-19T16:08:50.450-06:00Creating a Place for Yoga at homeSo I have been practicing yoga for six years now, mostly with my yoga teacher in our bi-weekly classes. I try to practice more often than that, either at other classes or at home, but I always have a hard time creating a meaningful home practice.<br />
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I will throw my yoga mat down in the bedroom or living room and go through my stretches and sun salutations but somehow it just feels like exercise; I can rarely capture the feeling of calm and balance that I get when I'm at class. We were talking about this a few weeks ago in class. I explained I can't escape all the worries of the day, what needs to be done around the house, etc etc but when I come to class, I can leave that at the door. So my yoga teacher mentioned that in the beginning of class, we always have a ritual; we light candles in her himalayan salt rock candle holder and chant om. This ritual help bring us from our daily life into our yoga life. She suggested I create some special space at home, where I can create a ritual to transform it from the everyday to my 'yoga place'.<br />
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This idea has been sitting in the back of my mind for a few weeks, where most good ideas bounce around for awhile before I actually do anything with them, and then yesterday my husband and I decided to pop into a thrift store. And there, sitting between ceramic Easter bunnies and 70's glassware, was my Buddha.<br />
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How extraordinary is life sometimes. In the strangest places we can find such wonderful things. So my Buddha shrine came home with me, and now sits proudly on my dresser, ready to turn my bedroom into my "yoga place". <br />
This morning I lit the candle, put my hands to my heart in prayer pose, said Om, and had the best home yoga practice I've had in months. <br />
It is just wonderful that I can 'create' a place in my house, where for a moment, I can let go the worries of the day and recharge with calm and balanced energy. Then I can blow out the candle, turn on the lights, and get back to the crazy.<br />
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<br />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904525928953245688.post-84040912863461000632012-03-18T14:14:00.000-06:002012-03-18T14:14:03.457-06:00Spring has SprungWith the unusually warm March we've all been experiencing this year, I am guessing I am not the only one with spring fever. Spring has sprung and I am anxious to get the garden going.<br />
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In Colorado, March is usually our snowiest month, but this year we've seen highs in the 70s and nights well above freezing, so of course I couldn't resist getting started on the yard and garden. There's been so many things to do; cleaning out the dead annuals, pruning back the dead branches from the raspberry bush and grape vine, putting down mulch, the list goes on. Though that's just cleaning; the best part of March is I can finally start putting things in the ground, instead of just looking at sad brown dirt.<br />
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I know things are different for every climate zone, and Colorado is difficult in terms of what we can put in the ground in March, but there's still some things that will survive our temperature fluctuations.<br />
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My first and favorite addition to my spring garden is the Pansy.<br />
They are such hardy flowers that they can easily survive the freezing temperatures of March, and if you can find a place for them that they won't get harsh summer sun, these survivors will probably make it all through the summer and give you beautiful blooms through the fall. I always like to get them going in March, because while they do struggle a little bit when the snows come, they get a great root system and just explode in April and May. And, on nice days like today, they just add such great color to my still barren ground.<br />
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The next thing I like to get going in March is the early spring vegetable seeds. Most of the gardening in our yard is done in container pots, because A. we have terrible soil and B. we have dogs that just can't leave things alone. I like to devote two entire pots to spinach in the spring (we love spinach and the earwigs seem to leave it alone), and the middle of March is the perfect time to start planting things like spinach, lettuce, kale, broccoli, etc in Colorado. I try to use my container pots on a rotating system, so that come May when the spinach is done, I can plant my summer vegetables/herbs in the same pot. When I put my spinach seeds in the ground this week I also planted basil and dill seeds indoors that I will put outside when my spinach is done. </div>
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The other thing we always seem to put in the ground this time of year is grass seed. Now we don't have the world's best success with grass on our lawn, though not from lack of trying. I think the three dogs may have something to do with it, and that we are the only people on the block without an irrigation system, and then there was the incident where we used RoundUp instead of weed-only killer on the lawn a couple of years ago, but we are trying to get a little bit of grass to grow..... </div>
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So though there's only just a few pansies and crocuses right now, I can feel the seeds stirring, the lilacs budding and the world coming to life. Even if it is just a packet of seeds or a 6-pack of pansies, I hope you can get outside this month and bring a little bit of Spring into your day.</div>
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<br />Erin Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05961912638800213340noreply@blogger.com0