The Science Nerd
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Pure Adrenaline

April 3, 2012

As you probably know by now, Gayle and I went to ZipQuest yesterday.  ZipQuest is a 2.5 hour zipline adventure through a North Carolina forest.  Our tour began at 1:30, and by 2:15 I was happy to be there.  I did not start out super excited about this trip.  It was something Gayle really wanted to do when she recovered from having major surgery in December and I wanted to be supportive – I really did.

So I stressed and worried and went back and forth about participating in her recovery zip.  For a while, I told myself that if she got enough people to go with her, I could just stand back and watch, holding everyone’s stuff while they went off and flew through the air.  Now that I think about it, that’s what I’ve been doing my entire life – standing back and letting others have fun.  Even when I was little, during recess at school, I would volunteer to be “permanent holder” and hold one end of the jump rope while others jumped.  I was afraid to take a turn.  In college when we would go to Magic Mountain or other amusement parks, I would hold people’s stuff while they rode the roller coasters and had a great time.

Well, not this trip.  About 2 weeks before our scheduled zip day, I made a decision.  Yes, I might be scared, terrified actually,  (Frequently walking down a flight of stairs is frightening to me) but I was going to do this.  I convinced myself that it wasn’t dangerous and just made the choice that I was going to go, participate and have fun, no matter how scared I was.  Celebrating Gayle’s recovery and return to health was more important than a little fear.

And it all worked – until the moment I was strapped to the first zip line and Patrick, one of our guides, told me to go ahead.  I couldn’t let go.  I turned to Patrick and said, “I’m not going anywhere am I?”, meaning “If I let go, I won’t fall straight down to the ground, right?”.  His reply – “Not right now,  you have to let go first.”  So, after a few deep breaths, I did it – I let go.  Here is Gayle’s video of my first ever zip.

Note the look on my face, and the tone of my voice.  I wasn’t having the greatest time.  But, I kept going.  And each one got a little easier.  Stepping off every platform still took a conscious decision and a mental push, but after a while, I was able to relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings and even the rush of flying through the air.

Here is the video of a later zip.  It’s obvious by the tone in my voice that I am having fun!  And I was!  It was an amazing experience.

On the ride home, there was plenty of time for me to reflect on the day and how it really could change my life if I let it.  The biggest thing I realized was that I wanted to remember that terrifying feeling just before I stepped off the platforms and let the zipline carry me on.  I need to stop equating that feeling with stopping, backing down or giving up.   I want to remember in all situations, that even though I might be scared out of my mind, the important thing is to step out and enjoy the ride.

I would recommend a ZipQuest vacation to anyone!  The staff was friendly, patient, fun – the perfect guides!  I knew they actually cared about us having the best experience we could; they were not just out there punching a clock, waiting for the day to end.

I think our next adventure will either be Rock Climbing and Rappelling in the North Carolina mountains or a zipline course through the Redwoods in California.  Either way, I will be scared, but willing to let go and have fun!

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: Research and Development
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Stepping off the Ledge

April 2, 2012

Gayle, Mary Martha and I getting ready to zip

Yesterday, Gayle and I and a group of friends went to Fayetteville, NC to ZipQuest.  A few months ago, Gayle had major surgery after being sick for at least 2 months.  The road to recovery was long and difficult.  During recovery, the Geico commercial with Maxwell the pig on a zipline aired frequently.  Then we discovered there was a zipline just 2 hours away.  So, this became Gayle’s recovery goal – to ride the zipline.  And once she was cleared by her doctor for ALL activity, we planned our trip.

ZipQuest is a 2.5 hour eco-adventure outside of Fayetteville.  During your time, you travel on 8 ziplines, traverse 3 suspension bridges and climb 4 spiral staircases over trees, rivers, waterfalls – absolutely beautiful terrain.  The highest zip is 90 feet in the air and while zipping you attain speeds of up to 35 mph.

I must admit that while excited, I was incredibly nervous about it.  The staff at ZipQuest does a great job of easing you into your ride.  The first “practice zip is only about 6 feet off the ground.  You get to practice and get comfortable with how the harness feels, how to brake and where to put your hands, etc.  Then you head up two flights of stairs to the first zipline.  Still not too far off the ground, maybe 20 feet.  The lines get progressively higher and longer.  The second to last zip starts you off at 90 feet above the ground.  Along they way there is a beautiful waterfall, rivers and amazing trees.  We also walked across three suspension bridges.  They were not my favorite – mostly because of the swinging motion and the bouncing from others on the bridge.  Even though we were strapped in the entire time, I sometimes had to force myself to keep going.

Our guides, CT and Patrick were great.  They were funny, willinging to chat and joke with us, and very patient.  On the first zip, Gayle went first, then I was up.  Patrick hooked me to the line, and it was time to go.  Stepping off that stump, trusting that the line would hold and letting go were the most difficult things I have ever done.  Once I was going, it was great fun.  The scenery, feeling a part of the forest, it was awesome!  But that first step was incredibly difficult.  Every time.  Even though I knew, without a doubt, that once I got going I would love it.

The first step is a doozie

I want to remember that feeling – the almost paralyzing fear of stepping off the ledge, then doing it anyway and the exilerating feeling of flying above the trees.  And the sense of accomplishment afterwards.  It helped me realize that I could do anything I set my mind to.  I just need to take that first step.

If you ever get the chance to go to ZipQuest, I highly recommend it.  And even if you are nervous, or scared silly – it’s worth it.  You might be surprised at what you can do.

Head over to Gayle’s blog to read her account and see video and more pictures

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: Life in the Lab, Research and Development
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Crock Pot Steak Fajitas

March 20, 2012

In our quest to add diversity to our dinner repertoire, I have turned to Pinterest.  (You can check out my Food page here).  If you haven’t checked out Pinterest yet, I would highly recommend it.  Just don’t start if you have somewhere to be.  Tonight’s dinner was found while goofing off planning this week’s dinners.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

1 pound thin steak, cut into strips

This isn't my picture, I forgot to take one.

1 green pepper, cut into strips

1 medium onion, cut into strips

1/2 cup beer (or water)

1 tsp. chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Place all ingredients into crock pot, cook on high for 4-6 hours.  Serve in corn or flour tortillas with cheese, salsa and sour cream (or whatever you like with your fajitas).

I also heated up some refried beans as a side dish.

These were incredibly tasty, the only complaint we had was that they were too watery.  Next time I will take the steak, green peppers and onions out of the crock pot and drain them before serving.  Other than that, they were excellent.

This is also one of those crock pot meals that can be made ahead of time and put in the freezer.  Just put all the ingredients (except the beer) into a Seal-A-Meal bag or freezer bag and place in the freezer.  Then, when you need a quick easy meal, it can go straight from freezer to crock pot along with the beer and a few hours later, dinner is served!  It couldn’t be any easier.

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: Slow Cooker
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The Joys and Trials of Parenthood

March 13, 2012

Wrigley & Marshall

Recently, our youngest son, Marshall, got sick.  He threw up  and I didn’t think much of it – dogs throw up sometimes.  However, that was not the end of things.  He was sick twice more that day.  And he was sick for most of the weekend. Monday morning, poor Marshall threw up again and we called the doctor.

The first thing we learned at our vet’s office was that Marshall had lost about 8 pounds.  That’s a lot when you only weigh about 45 pounds to begin with.  That would be like me losing 43 pounds.  The next thing we learned was that there was no obvious reason for him to be so sick.  He was given a liter of fluid because he was dehydrated and some other medications to help with the nausea and to soothe his stomach.  The vet gave us a few options – we could go home with medicine to ease his symptoms, they could x-ray his intestines to see if there was a blockage, or he could have blood work done to determine if there was something more serious going on.

We chose to start with the x-ray.  When looking at it, there was a vague shadowy something in his stomach, but nothing conclusive (remember this later).  The doctor recommended that we also do the blood work, since he had lost so much weight, so we did.

We left the doctors office with a lighter wallet and four different medicines.  We quickly learned that Marshall does not like the taste of Pepto-Bismol, although, who does really?

The blood work came back inconclusive, so we were basically where we started.  He was acting some better – eating a bit and not acting as lethargic, but he wasn’t our same crazy puppy.

Until Wednesday night.  We had people over and just before dinner I went outside with Marshall.  And out it came!  Remember that shadowy something?  Well, it was a sock and fortunately it found it’s way out of the tunnel it had found it’s way into.

The change was drastic and immediate!  He was back to his usual self, full of energy and mischievousness.  However, I think that would make me feel better as well!

We are keeping a better eye on him, and so far – no more sock eating.  I’m not sure if there is a moral to this story, I think it might just be that life happens.

 

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: Dalmatians (not Labs)
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Oven Baked Chicken

February 28, 2012

Last night’s meal was not anything fancy, but it sure was tasty.  Oven roasted chicken, parmesan mashed potatoes and green beans.  Here is the recipe – perfect for those evenings when you don’t feel like cooking, but are too hungry for cereal.

 

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 425.
  • Take one large chicken breast and cut in in half (which makes the perfect portion size for us).
  • Then I covered both sides of chicken with rotisserie seasoning.
  • While working on this, heat 1 Tbs oil in a oven proof skillet on medium-high heat.
  • Place the chicken in the skillet, allow one side to brown (2- 3 minutes), then flip.
  • Brown the other side and then place skillet (and chicken) in the oven.
  • Cook for 30-40 minutes, or until meat thermometer reaches 170 degrees.

While chicken is cooking, work on the side dishes

  • Peel and cube potatoes.
  • Boil on the stove until soft.
  • Drain, add milk, cream cheese and 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese.
  • Mash with a potato masher until desired consistency.

And I just heated up some canned green beans (french cut) to keep it simple, you certainly could pair this with any vegetable or salad that fit your tastes.

So, the whole meal took about 40 minutes to prepare and cook, but it certainly wasn’t an intense time of prep work.

 

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: Quick and Easy
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It’s a New Look!

February 27, 2012

Gayle and I spent most of the day yesterday giving my blogs a facelift. Both this one and my triathlon blog received much needed updates. I am super thrilled with the new look and think that the new themes make navigation easier, especially between the two blogs.

Gayle really did the bulk of the work, I was just the support staff, adding my opinions and giving suggestions when needed.  She has a talent for designing websites, and it’s something that is truly fun for her.  Now the hard work begins….posting.  Be on the lookout for more posts on a variety of topics.  I’ll keep up with the kitchen experiments, but hope to add some every day life stuff as well as more deals and coupons.  I’ve also added a section on books I’m currently reading.

Take a few minutes, look around, then leave a comment and let me know what you think of the new look.

On another exciting note, I am currently waiting to hear if I’ve been accepted as a member of the Brambleberry Athletic Club.  They were looking for athletes to sponsor this year.  You can read all about it here.

 

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: Life in the Lab
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Chicken & Dumplings Redux

February 18, 2012

A few weeks ago I made chicken & dumplings in the crock pot and while they were very good, they weren’t great.  So, Thursday was another cold rainy day and we decided to have them again with a few changes.  Check out the original post here.

I made sure to buy some Cream of Chicken soup and used that instead of the Cream of Celery.  I also omitted the onions.  The plan was to dice them much smaller because in the first batch they were just too big, but I was lazy and just decided to leave them out altogether.  They were not missed.

The Cream of Chicken soup gave a much better taste to the dish and as I said above, neither of us missed the onions.  I might leave them out in the future as well.

Of course, when making this dish, you could add anything you wanted – peas, carrots, mushrooms, celery, corn, onions….whatever makes you happy, and I’m sure it would still be good.

 

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: Kitchen Experiments, Slow Cooker
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3 Good Things – February 8th, 2012

February 9, 2012

One of my self improvement goals is to find 3 good things that I have done each day.  By coming up with new things each day my hope is to learn more about myself and build up my self worth.  You can read more about why 3 Good Things  here

 

  1. I’ve been working hard at keeping the house clean daily and not letting it get out of hand.
  2. I have taken 3 minutes off my running pace.
  3. I was able to fit into pants that are 1 size smaller than what I have been wearing.
I know these things aren’t all from the 8th, but they have all happened in the recent past and I am proud of them.

 

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: 3 Good Things
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Scotch Eggs

February 7, 2012

In honor of Gayle’s Scottish heritage, we occasionally have Scotch Eggs for dinner.  Although, as usual, we have made some changes  to recipes I’ve found in order to suit us.

The eggs wrapped in sausage were originally made to be food on the go.  Something farmers could take with them out to the fields and have a substantial lunch that could be carried in their pockets.  We eat them hot, and forgo the mustard sauce that you often see.

Here is my recipe:

4 eggs – hard boiled and peeled

1 lb sausage (I sometimes use spicy sausage, sometimes mild and I have even been known to go crazy and mix the two)

Encase each egg with 1/4 of the sausage.  Place on a roasting pan and bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes.

And that’s it! Very easy, and very tasty. If you don’t have a roasting pan, you can use anything that will keep the eggs out of the grease that drips from the sausage.

I usually serve the eggs with green beans and mac & cheese, but your side dishes can be anything that sounds good to you.  The eggs can also be served sliced or cut into quarters as finger food at a party.

 

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: Kitchen Experiments
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Armadillo Potatoes

January 29, 2012

For the past 6 days I have been fighting a cold.  And the cold has been winning.  I haven’t had the energy to do much besides sleep, cough and blow my nose.  Which means there has been a lot of eating out and pizza ordering.

Potato?

So tonight, for something different, we ate at home.  Our meal was simple, but good – and very easy!  We had salad, steak and “Armadillo Potatoes” The recipe for the steak came from theKitchn, and was super easy.  I found some horseradish sauce in the fridge, and we had that with the steaks which was a nice addition.  The potato recipe was

or Armadillo?

found on Pinterest and I decided to give it a try.  I took two baking potatoes, washed them thoroughly and then cut thin slices almost all the way through each potato.  I drizzled them with olive oil, added salt and pepper and some grated parmesan cheese.  Then baked them in the oven at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes.  Gayle commented that they looked like armadillos, therefore they will now be called armadillo potatoes (at least at our house).

Again, I had trouble getting my steaks cooked enough.  They were a bit rare for our tastes, but the flavor was good.  I think that I’m worried that I will over cook them and so I err in the other direction.  I even used the meat thermometer this time….think I”ll have to work on my placement with that.

On another note, if you haven’t yet succumbed to Pinterest, you really should check it out.  You can get all sorts of great ideas and organize and categorize them to your hearts content.  Let me know and I can send you an invitation.  But be careful, it can be addicting!

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: Kitchen Experiments
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