Family | Pancakes and Postcards

Christmas Actually Is All Around

December 25, 2011 by Courtney 9 Comments

As I sit here on Christmas evening, I’ve found myself thinking about what Christmas means to different people. It’s Jesus’s birthday, of course, but the holiday is celebrated in many different ways by people who believe many different things. There’s an overarching “holiday spirit” that infects us, and takes on a variety of forms. I’ve seen Christmas manifest itself in several ways over the last few days.

Christmas is nighttime Embarcadero runs with friends, followed by fries.

Christmas is a Christmas Eve trail run with mom, a beautiful day with some big hills to boot.

Christmas is cinnamon rolls, cookies, waffles, more waffles, more cookies…

Christmas is spending hours setting up what seemed like thousands of paper bags filled with dirt and votive candles two feet apart across two huge corner lots, only to have the end result be completely worth it.

(Please note the bottom sign: Occupy Christmas! One man controls 99% of the presents!)

Christmas is time with family.

Even the adopted family that barks.

Christmas is receiving Funfetti cake, pancake mix, a waffle maker, and The Stick for Christmas, and recognizing that your loved ones know you pretty freaking well.

Christmas is watching movies that are definitely Christmas movies, some that are debatable, and others that most definitely are NOT.

But to me, most importantly, Christmas is a time to reflect on the faith that shapes my life that defines my heart, that gives me comfort in times of turmoil, that gives me hope in times of despair.

The holidays have been pretty loaded for me these last few years. In 2008 I was overseas and lonely, away from all I held dear; in 2009 I was home for two weeks after 15 months abroad and in extreme culture shock and confusion; in 2010 I had just returned home after 27 difficult months overseas. The post I wrote last year really shows where I was at that time—grateful.

This holiday season has been hard. Instead of filling consumed by joy and love, I’ve been, to be honest, a bit sad. Loneliness has ruled in my mind over togetherness. Stress has overwhelmed peace. But finally this weekend I’ve been brought back to Earth, to focus on what truly matters instead of getting caught up in everything else.

This week is my one year anniversary of returning home from Africa, one year since going vegetarian, one year since the most recent chapter of my life began. So it’s a little emotionally loaded. But what I pause to reflect on is LOVE. Just love.

I’m looking forward to an exciting new year ahead, to new beginnings and endings. And to remember the spirit of Christmas for what is truly is: a gift of love.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Courtney

PS. The winner of the coffee giveaway is MCM mama. Send me your address! : )

What does Christmas mean to you?

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Filed Under: Musings Tagged With: Christmas, dogs, Faith, family, holiday, holidays, Musings, presents, running

Run to Feed The Hungry 10K Race Recap

November 28, 2011 by Courtney 10 Comments

My mom has loved to run for a very long time. While I got many personality traits and interests from her, I never really liked to run. Sure, I did a few 5Ks with her (like this very race I’m about to recap), but more or less begrudgingly. So she said she was “amused” when I got into running in Africa. 1,111+ miles later in 2011, and I’m still running. So one of the things I was MOST looking forward to was running the Run to Feed the Hungry 10K with my mom on Thanksgiving day. (Photo below from race website).

My excitement waned pretty quickly when I realized it was going to be POURING RAIN all morning. I know a lot of you who read my blog are bad-asses. I am not a badass when it comes to 1) cold or 2) running in the rain. (If you’ve seen me in cold or wet conditions, you’ve probably seen me turn blue and gotten somewhat freaked out.) But knowing my mom had paid for the race (thanks, mom!) and that it was one of the only things I’d get to do with her over the weekend made me get out of bed bright and early. And by bright I mean wet and dark.

As a new and excited SF Marathon Ambassador I left the house repping the race—dual sweatbands and race shirt. Hell yes! Though the race was replaced by a fleece. I realized too late that all three of my water-resistant shells were in my closet in San Francisco. Smart.

Standard race day breakfast came through for me!

We got caught in pretty bad traffic and ended up getting there late. I asked mom to pay $5 extra to register for the timed option so we could start before the 28,000 other people (after the NWM race experience I was all for beating the crowds), but the race had already started when we got there. We ran the 0.9 mile to the start, and by the time we crossed the mat we were 1) deep in NWM-style traffic and 2) I was already wet through the fleece. Joy.

Actually, it WAS a joy. It’s funny, I hate the cold and the rain but I had such a good time running with my mom. We were cruising at a 10-minute pace (and you say you run 12-minute miles, mommy!). We took Galloway walk breaks at the mile markers starting around the 3rd mile marker. It was crowded but it was also so cool to see THOUSANDS of people out getting in some exercise and supporting the community despite the horrible weather!

Please ignore the fact that I look like a scary swamp creature in this picture but we were actually running so I found it funny. My mom looks great though Smile

We were like a mile ahead of the markers due to the jog to the start which made the race seem a bit longer at first, but then all of a sudden we were at the end!

It’s AMAZING what running a minute or so slower than normal pace does! We were running about 10 min/mile (my pace when I started running in January was close to 11 minutes and I’ve been lucky to shave about 2.5 minutes off that time) and I felt like I could run FOREVER! Minus the cold wet part.

Once we crossed the finish we had to walk for a bit to get out of the mess. It got kind of freezing right away as our bodies started to cool down.

What kind of steam is coming off of my head????

I made mom take a picture of us with the turkey above as well as one of me (below). I was seriously looking forward to taking a picture with that stupid turkey for the entirety of our 8 mile run. I had a wonderful time running with my mom! Run the last 5 miles of CIM with me, mommy?

Overall, the race was a success! But note to self: people who do the run for fun don’t pay for the timed option. I placed about 150-ish out of 200-ish in my age group. Winking smile I’m wondering when they’ll send my plaque.

Time: 1:04 (10K); 1:24 total for 8 miles with mom

This was fun. I do really want to race a 10K, I only have one other official 10K time of 59:59 from September 2008. I should be able to run in the 50-52 minute range now. But I’m in no rush to race one. I HATE the 10K distance!

Fun race, fun company, fun returning to a “tradition” that I haven’t done in years. Happy Thanksgiving!

Courtney

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Filed Under: fitness Tagged With: 10K, family, race recap, running, sacramento, traditions

Postcards from America: New Hampshire/The Family Table

August 8, 2011 by Courtney 14 Comments

Few traditions are as culturally transcendent as sharing a meal with family. There are a lot of books out there about how to eat and what to eat and the right way to eat, but they all agree on one thing: the profound importance of sharing a meal amongst friends or family. Breaking bread together strengthens relationships, fosters conversation and promotes good will and bonding. It’s no coincidence that a lot of our biggest get togethers are focused around eating. Humans have been doing the same thing for a LONG time, way before late November meant a chemical-laden overgrown turkey and gelatinous cranberry sauce. It’s more important than that.

On the second stop of my Postcards from America tour (first stop was Portland), we come to the woods of New Hampshire, where I spent the last weekend with 35+ of my family members and relatives.

We were a bit off the grid—outhouse and no electricity where we were staying, no cell reception—which was better because it was just family, far fewer distractions. And despite recent tragedies, health issues, emotional troubles, and more, the family was able to come together with joy to celebrate one of my aunt’s 50^th birthdays.

Trekking out from CA to join the New Englanders left me feeling slightly foreign—especially when trying to go for a six-mile run with my mom and having to deal with these things you call “humidity” and “deer flies.” I went out intending to run 12 and after 3 I thought I might pass out from having sweat out all my water and then some!

My artistic, zany, and creative family members guarantee that each weekend gathering is filled with everything from sweet music to fireworks to gorgeous decorations, and of course… games. Apples to Apples, bananagrams…

And then there was the food.

Cooking for DOZENS of people with different dietary preferences—everything from NO VEGETABLES to vegetarian to gluten free—is difficult, but it was done in stride.

In addition to being a celebration of life, the weekend was a communal feast.

One of my cousins is a chef at a restaurant and whipped up several delicious salads in what seemed like just a moment.

Beet salad…

Green bean salad…

Some sort of soybean/cranberry/cream cheese combo…

One of the dishes that was far from the prettiest but definitely one of the most unique was my aunt Steph’s tomato cobbler. She clipped the recipe from some magazine, unfortunately I’m not sure which, but I am going to post the variation here. Essentially it was a mix of tomatoes, asiago cheese, and dough—soggy pizza perhaps, but something about it was delicious and I’m glad to come away from this weekend with not only happy memories of my loved ones but also a new dish to try.

New Hampshire Tomato Cobbler Recipe

FOR THE FILLING

¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 pounds cherry tomatoes
3T all-purpose flour
¾ t crushed red-pepper flakes
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

FOR THE BISCUIT TOPPING

· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 t baking powder
· Coarse salt
· 1 stick cold unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces
· 1 cup Asiago cheese (the original called for gruyere I believe, but she used asiago and it was awesome)
· 1 ½ cups heavy cream, plus more for brushing

DIRECTIONS

1. Make the filling: heat oil in a large high-sided skillet over medium heat. Cook onions, stirring occasionally until caramelized—about 25 minutes. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Let cool.

2. Toss onion mixture, tomatoes, flour, and red pepper flakes with 1 ½ t salt and some pepper.

3. Preheat oven to 275. Make the biscuit topping: whisk together flour, baking powder, and 1 t salt in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or rub in with your fingers until small clumps form. Stir in cheese, then add cream, stirring with a fork to combine until dough forms (dough will be slightly sticky).

4. Spread tomato mixture into a greased baking dish. Drop spoonfuls of the flour mixture on top of the tomatoes, spreading it evenly with a knife but leaving some gaps to let steam out.

5. Put in oven, bake until tops are browned and biscuit mixture is cooked through, 45-60 minutes.

6. Once removed from oven, brush with butter and sprinkle sea salt and chopped fresh basil on top for garnish.

I had a great time getting back to nature and back in touch with family members. Connecting over a conversation, a piece of cake, a cup of coffee. And I’ll carry that with me back on the road.

What kind of “food traditions” does your family have?

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Filed Under: Postcards (Travel) Tagged With: family, food, new england, New Hampshire, Postcards (Travel), postcards from america, recipe, travel

Goodbye to a faithful friend

January 17, 2011 by Courtney 11 Comments

Hey,

Hope everyone had a great weekend! If you haven’t entered my cookbook giveaway, you still have two days–check it out! Back to the weekend–mine was a bit of a downer. I had to say good bye to Millie, my cat aged 20 years. She was my best friend for years growing up, letting me throw her over my shoulder and generally bug the crap out of her in the way that children (or 20-year olds…) do.

and yet rarely failing to cuddle up into my arms at night. In fact, when I first went away to college at 18, I had trouble sleeping without the comforting purr of my beloved cat.

The last year, she hadn’t been herself, my family said. She was sick, but more importantly, she was old, absolutely ancient for a cat. But she kept on keepin’ on. Until this weekend. It was her time to go.

It’s the first time I’ve had to say goodbye to a pet like this and I’m still pretty sad about it, so forgive the lack of blogging this weekend–I’m mourning my feline friend. But I’m certain she’s in kitty heaven, peeing in leather shoes and ruining expensive furniture like she so loved to do in her life on this earth. RIP, Millie.

Have you ever had a pet pass away? How did you handle it?

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Filed Under: Musings Tagged With: family, pets, sadness

What Christmas means to me

December 26, 2010 by Courtney 6 Comments

First of all, Merry Christmas, to everyone out there who celebrates it! I hope your day was as special as mine.

The holidays are always a very interesting time of reflection for me. It always seems a bit contradictory how the time of the year that is theoretically supposed to be about family and friends and love and the most important things is often completely drowned out by materialism and stress. The holiday season in America seems to me to be a distinct social phenomenon that starts at 4AM on Black Friday in still-dark mall parking lots and continues through post-Christmas sales. Sometimes, through all the parties and forced present-buying and mall visits and holiday hustle and bustle, the meaning of Christmas gets lost. I hear people say that they spend so much time frantically “preparing” for the holidays that they rarely manage to actually enjoy them.

I missed the holiday season this year, arriving home on December 23, and not walking into a single store besides a supermarket on Christmas Eve. Part of me is sad to have missed the holidays–the anticipation and buildup, the red cups at Starbucks, the countdown to Christmas, preferably with advent calendars with chocolate in them. I haven’t been in the States for the holiday season since 2007! But with everything else stripped away, it has given me a chance to reflect on what Christmas truly means to me.

First and for most, for me, Christmas means the birth of Jesus, the son of God who I believe to be my savior. This is the Christmas story, the good tidings of great joy. My faith is the cornerstone of who I am, and so for me, to make Christmas about anything else BUT Jesus falls flat. For me, Christmas is about God giving us the greatest gift we could ever receive. This is how I feel. Many people celebrate Christmas who are not Christians–the day has become MUCH bigger than that and that is completely okay–everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. But for me…

Christmas is not about commercialism.

It is about God and love and hope.

For me, Christmas is not about spending money.

It is about spending quality time with friends and family, people that you love.

For me, Christmas is not about rushing around from place to place or party to party.

It’s about taking a slow walk through the neighborhood with no other purpose but to look at the lights and the luminaries.

For me, Christmas isn’t about going to church to see a rock concert.

It’s about celebrating with hundreds of other people who are rejoicing in the wonders of His love and the company of loved ones.

For me, Christmas is not about big fancy dinners.

It’s about peanut butter blossoms for breakfast and puppy chow for dessert.

For me, Christmas isn’t about a huge perfect tree with two-tone matching ornaments perfectly spaced.

It’s about a Charlie Brown-type tree, balding and slanted, weighed down with an eclectic collection of ornaments produced mostly in elementary school art classes. That’s a perfect Christmas tree.

For me, Christmas isn’t about big stacks of presents with impeccable store-done gift wrapping.

It’s about personal, thoughtful gifts wrapped in Nordstrom boxes that have been used every Christmas for half a decade (or more).

It’s about showing you care with an offer from the heart, be it a gift or kind words, a comforting touch, or genuine interest in concern in another.

(Caption: “To make you feel pretty, oh so pretty. Also so you don’t stink.” My sister is looking out for me, coming back from Africa and wanting nothing more but to “feel pretty” after two years of sweat, pimples and bad hair.)

Christmas isn’t about new iPhones (that I still can’t figure out) or new running jackets or Starbucks cards…

It’s about pigs in a blanket on the couch with the family and the dogs and Home Alone on the TiVo.

It’s about blankets and hugs and cocoa.

It’s about midnight pancakes on Christmas Eve, tea, pajamas and snuggles.

It’s about silly traditions like calling up the chimney to Santa and ringing the jingle bells incessantly.

It’s about pausing to take account of what’s important in your life.

It’s about recognizing that while there may be many things that we want, there are very few things that we actually need.

For me, the love of family and friends and a little bit of faith in God and in the world is all I need.

Sometimes that gets lost in the craziness and the stress of our daily lives.

But if there is any time to refocus and take pause, to give thanks, to tell people that you love them and that your life would not be the same without them…

It’s Christmas.

For me, Christmas isn’t about what I don’t have or what I wish I could afford or wish I could be given.

It’s about realizing that everything I need I already have right here. The love of my family, the love of God, the faith that there is beauty yet to be revealed in this life–

love

faith

peace

harmony

grace

hope

love.

For me, that is what Christmas is about.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

What does Christmas mean to you?

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Filed Under: Musings Tagged With: Christmas, cookies, Faith, family, holiday, hope, love, Musings, special occasions

Off to Swazi… and Missing My Sister

May 26, 2010 by Courtney 6 Comments

I have been looking forward to this weekend for MONTHS, and I cannot believe it is really here! May has been a pretty rough month at times with various causes of stress, but the next month is shaping up to be absolutely amazing! Everything is getting better. And it all starts NOW.

I am heading down to Maputo, where I will meet up with some other Peace Corps friends to cross the border into Swaziland on Friday morning for the Bush Fire Festival. This is a huge international music fest right in a game reserve in Swaziland with different stages, events, bands, and a variety of other awesomeness from Friday through Sunday! I didn’t get a chance to go last year (probably because I had never heard of it) and am looking forward to an AMAZING time with some of my favorite people in Africa!

From a health aspect, traveling in Africa can be REALLY stressful, but I really try to keep it all in perspective. I hope they have some different foods in Swazi to try! And my running clothes are packed… running through a game reserve anyone? : ) I guess getting chased by a lion on my morning run would really force me to get some speed work in…

Plus, I will get a chance to do some grocery shopping in Maputo, eat at some decent restaurants and take a hot shower or two—SCORE, especially because of how painful my cold shower has been lately (there is nothing like getting out from under three blankets, stripping off my sweatpants, jacket, and two shirts, to get into a shower that is even colder than the air. Brrr!!!)

I also have a follow up medical appointment in Maputo, about two months after I had my last trip for the same reasons (check out the travelogue and restaurant tour from that trip). I hope everything is okay (I had some complication in my stomach/esophagus that presented as serious chest pain), but my health has been pretty poor throughout the last few weeks, so we will see! Fingers crossed.

As excited as I am about this trip, my heart isn’t completely here. One of the tough realities of living overseas is that you miss a LOT. And this weekend is probably one of the hardest things yet to miss (in addition to holidays and weddings of my close friends). My little sister is graduating from college this weekend. It is a huge production, a family affair, and my heart breaks to not be there. She also turns 22 on Thursday. I feel like I have missed her “grow up”—when I left she was my little sister, about halfway through college, still figuring things out. Now she is a grown woman, graduating from Princeton and starting grad school in the fall on her own. I wish I could be there with here, but unfortunately unless I develop teleportation skills in the next day or so, I can only wish her congratulations from afar.

Have you seen a cuter kid??

It’s just my sister and me in our family, plus my mom and dad, of course. As a kid, I was the typical older sister, bossing her around like crazy, beating her down constantly to make myself feel better, and making her do stupid stuff like wear silly costumes and put lipstick on her face to make home videos, and she put up with me. God only knows why. (Sorry, Caitlin.) We competed in soccer (she was WAY better… collegiate athlete anyone??) and horseback riding and other similar activities, and we definitely had our spats (like when she stole my diary and read it out loud on the school bus and I bawled in the office for an hour waiting for mommy to get there and make everything right again) but it was pretty much all good.

HS decades dance... 50s and 70s!

In high school, we were polar opposites. Both smart ad involved, but I was the straight-edge, teacher’s pet, youth-group dance team princess and my sister was… well, a more NORMAL high schooler. This led to all sorts of conflict–I resented her dating all the guys in my class and always sneaking out to parties, under the guise of being embarrassed by her but really being jealous because I wasn’t dating and wasn’t getting invited to those parties… and she resented me for making it WAY harder on her (older children are supposed to pave the way for the younger, and my boring straight edge existence definitely paved the way for no one).

"Come on Dad, do we STILL have to take pictures on the first day of school?"

But then we grew up and matured and went our own ways. I headed to college in Los Angeles, she came and visited me. Two years later, she headed out to Jersey, I visited a handful of times. I got a life in college and she settled down. We finally met in the middle. And all of a sudden, I found I could talk to her about boys and parties and friendships and relationships and life and family and everything in between. And I don’t know what moment it changed or if it is just growing up, but somewhere down that line, she became my best friend.

In Cabo San Lucas, 2005

I’m missing her graduation, and for that I am infinitely sad (but to be honest, I am equally bummed about missing these booze-filled Princeton “reunions” of lore as the ceremony itself…) and when I get home, she will be off on her own in a new place. I feel like I missed this great transition in her life by spending these two years in Africa. But what I do know, is we have the rest of our lives to get closer and to make more memories, and I am the luckiest girl in the world to have a sister like Caitlin. Happy Graduation and Happy Birthday, Sissy. I love you!

That's my girl... never met a keg she didn't like.

Do you have a sister? What is your relationship like with that person? How much did it change since your childhood?

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Filed Under: Musings Tagged With: family, Musings, swaziland

Christmas Actually Is All Around

Run to Feed The Hungry 10K Race Recap

Postcards from America: New Hampshire/The Family Table

Goodbye to a faithful friend

What Christmas means to me

Off to Swazi… and Missing My Sister

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