Bette

I have the coolest Mother-In Law and her name is Bette! She drove 14 hours to see us in September for a visit.

She and Cory went on an adventurous 50 mile bike ride throughout Portland.

She played Risk with us and let me win! (She’s too nice for world dominion)

She braved the banana slugs and went with me on a coastal forest hike.

She bought food for us 3 times at Costco! 

And she organized a remarkable canyoneering trek for the girls on the Wise side of the family. She spent many hours planning and preparing for us to have this experience. She took time to teach everyone how to have fun and Jenny and I to tie knots and set up lines.

She worked hard so we all can appreciate the beauty of Southern Utah dessert!

And I enjoyed both 4 hour drives with her chatting away and watching Matilda as we glutted ourselves on homemade garlic bread!

Steel Cut Oats with Fig and Coconut

So Sarah was working hard to convince me to start a food blog when she was out to visit. I'm still not sure if I will, but I have been experimenting with recipes and recording my successes over the past month. I thought I'd share them with family/friends to see what you think of my food blog attempts! 

You all know I love my oatmeal! This is one of those filling breakfasts that I love to take to work with me. I usually make the oats ahead of time (on the weekend) and then mix in a combination of fruit and nuts the morning of. One of favorite mix-in combination is fig, coconut, and walnuts! 

 

Steel Cut Oats with Fig and Coconut

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup of Simple Steel Cut Oats (could be made ahead)

4 Black Figs, sliced

I Tbs. unsweetened shredded coconut

1 Tbs. Chopped Walnuts

Drizzle of Honey or Agave Nectar (about 1 tsp.)

Directions:

Spoon 1 cup of simple steel cut oats into a bowl. Top with Sliced figs, shredded coconut and walnuts. Drizzle with honey. Eat!

Makes 1 Serving

Simple Steel Cut Oats

Ingredients

1 Cup Steel Cut Oats

3 Cups Water

1 Cup Almond Milk

1 Tbs. Coconut Oil

1/4 Tsp. Salt

Directions:

In a Medium Saucepan, combine water and almond milk. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally.  Meanwhile, Heat coconut oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add the steel cut oats and sauté until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Once the liquid has come to a boil add the steel cut oats and 1/4 tsp. salt. Reduce to a simmer and stir well, cover.

Simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the oats have reached a desired consistency (I prefer mine more like a firm porridge so I cook mine for about 35 minutes). Serve immediately or store in fridge for up to 5 days.

Makes 6-7 Servings, or 5 Cups

Simple steel cut oats Nutrition Information: (3/4 cup)

Calories: 111

Total Fat: 3.6g

Monounsaturated fat:  0.4g

Saturated fat: 2.1 g

Protein: 3.7 g

Sodium: 111

Carbohydrates: 17.4 g

Fiber: 2.5g

Sugar: 1 g

Fig combo and Simple Steel cut oats Nutritional Info:

Calories: 324

Total Fat: 10.6

Monounsaturated fat:  0.4g

Saturated fat: 4.35g

Protein: 4.7

Sodium: 111

Carbohydrates: 25g

Fiber: 7g

Sugar: 34g

Tree to Tree

This weekend we decided to get our crazy side out and play on a ropes course! We went to Tree to Tree, a ropes course near Hagg lake. This course was really cool because instead of using poles for supports for the ropes obstacles they used trees! 

This was one of the obstacles at about 30 feet.

 

 As you can see there were various obstacles, from logs to weave through, rock walls, beams and ropes!

 Sorry, most of the pictures are of me because Cory was taking pictures with his phone!

 After passing the "easy" levels, green and blue, we had to prove ourselves for the harder levels, red and black, by climbing up a series 60 feet of logs, tires and rock wall. Believe me, it was not easy! Even the teenage boy in front of me couldn't do it! I was determined to get to the higher courses with the longer zip lines though!

 One of my favorite obstacles, the spider web! We basically zip lined and landed on a web and had to climb up it!

 This is one of the more challenging ones. Nothing but widely dispersed poles and a vertical rope to hang on to, at 60 feet in the air! Cory made it across, after falling first!

 This one was fun also, a tight rope with a horizontal rope to hold on too.

 Finally, a picture of Cory! This one was our least favorite! We had to walk across hanging logs that teeter tottered with a few vertical ropes to balance with!

 I wish I had taken a video of Cory running across the longer stretch of planks! I think I married a Ninja! 

Just an Update

 

For those who are wondering this post is an update on what has happened so far with our fertility treatments. We just tried two cycles of Clomid therapy (a drug which increases follicular development) and no luck yet. Much apologies to family members and friends that I might have been crazy around- Clomid made me feel like a 4 year old on steroids! The good news is that I had good follicle response to the Clomid.

          Because of my pelvic pain and other symptoms we are moving on to the next step, hormone shots. This one has a slightly higher percentage of working (25% instead of the 12%) but with a higher risk of having multiples (15-25%). It makes me feel a little nervous with the chance of having multiples but we are hoping to not be in that 6.25% bracket of having twins or more! I will be basically injecting myself with hormones 1x day and visiting the fertility clinic every 3 days to check my labs and to monitor follicle development. Once there are 3-4 follicles at a decent size I will give myself a ‘trigger’ shot to stimulate ovulation.  Luckily I have been improving on my fat stores and have plenty of places on my stomach for pokes.

 

         We also talked about doing IVF. With IVF we will have more control by only transferring 2 blastocytes (early stage of an embryo) but we are not ready to take that step yet! IVF is a much larger commitment. I could have to take up 3 injections a day and Cory would have to give me injections in my bottom for 8 weeks! (I don’t know what’s more scary, Cory sticking me with a needle or getting injections for 8 weeks!) Of course there is the issue of storing the other blastocytes for future treatments. Right now we are going for the hormone treatment and are hoping it works! If not we will be taking some time to consider the IVF option.

 

 

This is a picture of my 'pen.' Looks innocent enough, right?

 

 

Not! The pen is a device that helps me get the right dosage of hormones, since I will be titrating my dose and would have to draw up such a small and precise amount. I'm so glad I'm a nurse and am use to needles!

I feel pretty cool having my own little sharps container!

Thanks for everyone's support! We will need it in the months to come!

Family Time

 We recently were lucky to have Matt and Sarah over for a visit! They did their research prior to coming about all the fun things to do in Portland.

 

We visited the Rose Garden, went on a hike in Forest Park, ate doughnuts from Voodoo, had Opera cake from a French bakery, went to the coast, and played board games almost every night.

 We also went on a hike to Punchbowl Falls and Matt and Cory talked about business the whole time! Me and Sarah talked about at least 10 different topics, from crafts, fashion, food, family, religion. It was so fun to have one on one time with both of them.

 

I'll miss rummaging through thrift stores with Sarah and sharing our creative ideas. We will also miss laughing at Matt's quirky remarks. Thanks for visiting guys!