#9 The Girl with the Pearl Earring

Book #2!  Just finished this book for my book club.  While I usually enjoy more modern fiction, I was captivated by this historical novel of a maid and her life working in a painter's house in 17th century Holland.  I'm not too keen on writing book reports, so I will not use this blog to summarize the book (there are far too many already on the web).  However, I would recommend it if you are looking for a quick read.  I would also recommend checking out the book's website to view the actual paintings that are described in the book.  I imagined them while reading and then was able to see what Vermeer actually produced.

I was even more inclined to read the book faster because I accidentally checked out a large print version from the library.  After going to the gym with it, I realized large print is so much easier to read while working out.  This mistake was both good for my waste-line and my reading!

The Contemporary Science Center

This is a short video giving you some insight into the Contemporary Science Center.  I am currently working here as an educator.  Over the last few months I have been training and learning the ropes, and in January I start teaching full-time filling in for the current education director (Alice, seen in the video) while she is on maternity leave.  I have really enjoyed my experience there so far and think that it is a great organization.  The goal of the Center is to present an authentic experience in real science through day long field studies developed in collaboration with a local bio-tech or pharmaceutical company.  During these field-trips students follow the narrative arc of solving a problem that the companies are currently facing like developing a drug or combating crop destruction by the corn root-worm through genetically modifying corn.

Fallon

While I don't watch late night TV, I find myself watching more clips of Jimmy Fallon's show than any other. Love his impression of Neil Young. Hadn't seen him slow jam the news before, but this one was worth it:

Santa

Have you been

Naughty

or

Nice?

Elizabeth thinks she is a dog.

Pancake does not approve.

#8 Quilted pot holders

I have found another use for my scraps of fabric: quilted pot holders   This was so fun and easy that I already have plans for making a whole set!

#7 a visit to the Nasher Museum of Art

I am always looking for new things to do for Elizabeth and I especially in the early evenings before Nathan comes home.  It seems like this is the time that we both begin to tire of being with each other all day.  I was so happy to find that the Nasher Museum of Art has free admission on Thursdays after 5pm.  I thought the museum would appeal to her investigative nature, and I would enjoy it as well.

We arrived right at 5, and Elizabeth quietly viewed all the art work from her stroller.  She was a little hesitant at first, like she always is.  Instead of looking at the art she began by checking out the Duke students who were clearly there for class credit and enjoyed looking at the skylights.  When we entered their permanent collection she was taken by the extremely large (~5ft) and life-like sculpture of a man's head.  She stared at it for at least 3 minutes trying to take him all in.  I am always intrigued by this sculpture. I was really glad that she was not afraid of him since his brow is furrowed and he looks a little mean.

We then visited their exhibit on The Vorticists.  To me, it looked like cubism.  She begin to point to some of the artwork and "talk" about what she was seeing.  I think the bright colors and strong lines were very interesting to her.  She was really taken by a sculpture of a small fawn.  She pointed at it and was clearly more intrigued by it than by any other piece she saw in this exhibit.

After that, Nathan joined us and we entered an exhibit call "The Record" - the first museum exhibition to explore the culture of vinyl records within the history of contemporary art. The artists used vinyl records in interesting ways to make art work.  They also integrated music and a lot of reinterpretations of album covers.  Elizabeth especially liked the piece where they had stuffed birds as the needle for the record player and the albums were of bird calls. She didn't get the irony but did enjoy seeing the life-like birds up close.  She also enjoyed wearing the 3D glasses that allowed you to see a life-sized 3D image of a recording studio.  Isn't she cute?

Cooking... Sweet and Sour Beet Saute

The beets in the local grocery have been tempting me, and I finally gave in and purchased a large bunch.  We chopped off the tops for salad greens and washed the roots.  I was surprised that a little beet can go a long way!  We boiled a few to use in salads but still had several roots left.  So we decided to make a sweet and sour beet saute and worked from this recipe. 

2T olive oil
2 beets peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 onions sliced
2 mashed garlic cloves
1/4 cup raisins
2T honey
2T lemon juice
1T OJ
2T soy sauce

Heat oil in skillet; stir-fry the beets, onions, garlic, and raisins for several minutes over medium-high heat until onion is brown. Add the remaining ingredients; lower heat. Toss well to combine. Cover and steam until the vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes adding more OJ or water if too much evaporation occurs.

Decking the halls - Toddler style

During the last two months Elizabeth has gotten into EVERYTHING! When she is downstairs we close off all the doors and allow her only in the main rooms- the kitchen, dining room and living room. We had to move our couch to block the stairs so we don't spend all of our time chasing her up them. We locked all the kitchen cabinets except one which she has successfully found and tries to open at least 5 times every day. We moved all extraneous furniture and even our plants upstairs since she started to topple them over and munch on them like they were crackers. We finally thought we had child proofed the house.

Except now it is Christmas, and I really must have a tree. We discussed our options and decided upon a small tree on our TV stand. To make it more secure we tied it to the wall with fishing line. Here's hoping that we can keep it this nice for the next month.

No longer a baby...

Today Elizabeth is a toddler!

Elizabeth took her first unassisted step on Monday, November 22 in front of both of her parents while she was visiting Nathan's office for lunch. Today, November 28 - one day after her first birthday, she has decided that she is a toddler. Our little girl is growing up!


Toddling from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.

#6 First Birthday Button Onesy

For Elizabeth's first birthday party with our friends this weekend, I made Elizabeth this little shirt.  I ironed on a cut-out "1" and then added buttons of different colors. She seemed to like it. And as you will see from another post, she hardly got a crumb on it, so I think she will be able to wear it on her actual birthday.

#4 Allen Toussaint Concert

So this is not a craft, but it fits into my description of "artsy"...  

On November 7, Nathan and I went to see the famous jazz pianist, Allen Toussaint with special guests Nicholas Payton & the Joe Krown Trio feat: Joe Krown, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, & Russell Batiste.  The whole first act (~1hr) featured only the "special guests", and I didn't think that they were that special.  I was very close to asking Nathan if we could go home, but I am so glad we stuck around.  During the second act they rolled out a grand piano, and Toussaint wowed the audience.  He was very chatty which I always enjoy.  I love to hear back stories about inspiration and context of the musician work. It also gives you a little insight to who the person really is. Toussaint is really interesting and his work is great.  I can't believe that he has a catalog of over 600 songs! 

Here is a sample of him playing Southern Nights

Cooking... Moroccan Curried Couscous

1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup raisins
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 can of chick peas
1 cup couscous
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 lemon grated
1.5 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Combine chicken broth, raisins, chick peas, curry powder and cumin in medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; stir in couscous and green onions. Cover and let sit 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork; cool. In a small bowl combine lemon peel, lemon juice and olive oil; blend until thoroughly mixed. Toss cooled couscous with dressing to taste.

Adapted from this. 

Cooking... Minted Pea Purée

Inspired by a dish from our dinner at Pop's on Friday, we made minted pea puree.  It was a little like baby food - ok a lot like baby food - but had good flavor.  To lower the calories and fat I left out the butter and only put in enough milk/cream to make it tasty.

Minted Pea Purée
*three 10-ounce packages frozen peas, thawed (we only had 2 bags and used them frozen)
*1/3 cup fresh mint leaves
*3 tablespoons half-and-half, or to taste (a mix of milk and heavy cream to taste)
*3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits (didn't use)

In a large saucepan combine the peas with 1/4 cup water and the mint leaves and boil the mixture, covered, for 4 minutes, or until the peas are tender. Drain the mixture well and in a food processor purée it with the half-and-half, the butter, and salt and pepper to taste. The purée may be made 1 day in advance, kept covered and chilled, and reheated.

$10 worth of fabric

On Sunday the Scrap Exchange was having their bi-annual fabric sale. Elizabeth and I went and picked up a big bag of fabric remnants for only ten dollars! I put them on our kitchen floor to remove the tags before washing them and snapped this picture with Pancake to give some perspective to how much we actually got! Some of the pieces are quite large and are really sweet designs like a few from Laura Ashley. I hope to make some outfits for Elizabeth. If I had more time or I didn't have a baby strapped to my front in the Bjorn, then I might have gotten a second bag. Oh well, there is always next spring - and I know that I will probably not get to all of this in the next 6 months (or ever!) anyways.

#3 Heart shaped sachet with cross-stitched bird

I decided I wanted to do a sampler for Elizabeth for her room, but first I wanted to do a quick craft to make sure I was up for cross-stitching a whole project.  After checking out several sampler books from the library, I was inspired to make this little pillow as a Christmas ornament. 

Baking... Chocolate Pate and Raspberry Coulis

For Nathan's birthday I made a chocolate pate with raspberry coulis.  It was so simple and extremely delicious if I do say so myself.  Imagine a dessert that is a mix between a fudge and a mousse.  It was super rich but still light.  And... it only took about 20 minutes (maybe less) from start to finish!!

Chocolate Pate

• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Whipped cream

1. Line 8 x 4-inch baking pan with plastic wrap. 
2. Combine 1/4 cup whipping cream and egg yolk in small bowl.
3. Combine morsels, corn syrup and butter in heavy-duty medium saucepan. Melt over lowest possible heat. When morsels begin to melt, remove from heat; stir. Return to heat for a few seconds at a time, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Add cream mixture to saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for 1 minute. Let cool to room temperature.
4. Beat remaining cream and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until soft peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold chocolate mixture into the whipped cream. Pour into prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or freeze 3 hours.

Raspberry Coulis

• 1 bag of frozen raspberries
• 1/4 cup sugar

1. Put ingredients into a sauce pan and boil until raspberries break-up and sugar melts ~10 min.
2. Press through a stainer to get rid of all the seeds.  It should look more liquid than a jelly, but not too watery.

I got my recipe from here:  http://allwomenstalk.com/15-ingredients-and-directions-of-chocolate-pate-with-cranberry-coulis-receipt/

#2 Happy Birthday Banner

While thinking about what I want to do for Elizabeth's 1 year birthday, I decided I wanted to make a banner to hang from the wall like these. I've seen a few other people do it, but I swear, I've been thinking about doing it for a while :)  I guess these are the new "in" things for birthday parties.

I had all the materials - my trusty box of fabric, Steam a Seem to fuse the letters onto the flags, and ribbon.  My sewing machine has been broken since early August, and this was a great inspiration to go get the part so I could start sewing again.  Twenty-five dollars later, I had a functioning sewing machine and starting cutting out the flags.  I ironed the ribbon in half and sewed the flags to it.  I cut out the letters and ironed them on.  I was trying to get it done yesterday, because today is Nathan's birthday and I hung it up last night after he went to bed to celebrate.  I'm a little disappointed at how the H and the Y flags look with the letters; I was hoping they would stand out more... oh well. You can still read it, and I think it looks cute.

These were two great projects to start out with.  They were very easy and quick which just inspires me to do more!  Any suggestions for my next "act of 30"?

#1 Fabric Wreath

I decided to get artsy yesterday and made 2 projects in under 24 hours.  Inspired by this wreath and my box of fabric squares that I haven't found a good project, I Googled "fabric wreath".  I stumbled upon several and followed instructions from this blog.  She said ~200 pieces, well it was more like 500 -   but it was still fun, easy, relatively quick (~3 hours and could tie on while watching Elizabeth), cheap (originally 2.99 but with a Joann fabric 50% off coupon only $1.61 for the wreath base and free fabric scraps)  and I think it looks shabby chic.   What do you think?

6 months until I turn 30!

October 9th marked 6 months until my 30th birthday.  I know that on April 9th, I will not feel any different than the day before, but the changing decade is somewhat a big deal.  I've been thinking about what I want to do to celebrate.

I'd brainstormed a couple of ideas.
Run a marathon - the plantar fasciitis that has been bugging me for the last two months has sorta sidelined that idea.
Read 30 books - I am such a slow reader that I would need to read either crap books, or do nothing but read. And I have a few other things on my plate so I will pass up that one.

However, with help from Nathan, I have come up with a goal that I think is obtainable and fun, but will help me feel like I've accomplished something [not that a B.S., PhD, and baby aren't something].  I am planning on doing 30 "artsy" things before April 9th.  The definition of "artsy" is a little liberal: making a craft, reading a book, going to a movie, and going to a show.  I may add to/modify this definition as I go.

I plan on posting each thing on the blog to keep track, and hope to do at least 5 a month so I am not doing them all in March.

10 month pictures

As you can see from our recent video, Elizabeth no longer likes to be stationary. This was also apparent in our recent attempt to try to get her 10 month block picture. Here are the first four pictures from that set and two others that illustrate the difficulty of capturing her cuteness (with blocks).

Nathan placing her in front of her blocks

He hasn't yet had the chance to even get out of the picture (see the green sock) before she starts reaching for them

Elizabeth looking at Nathan as he asks her not to grab all the blocks

Here you can see her total disregard to our attempt at trying to capture this month's photo.  Blocks right in the mouth and scattered about

Retreat!

A now somewhat common occurrence in our house - the temper tantrum.  She knows what she wants and would prefer to have it her way.

However we were still able to capture a few sweet moments.  Pay no attention to the shadow behind her.  Unfortunately, our house doesn't get a lot of natural light and we can only do so much.

This one makes her look like she has super long legs.

10 months and cruising

Oh... we are about to have our hands full if they weren't already!!  Elizabeth has just started to cruise efficiently this last week. 



Elizabeth cruising at 10 months old from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.

How I find recipes to try

Going with the idea that my food should look tasty, I have taken to looking at Google images to find the recipes that I want to cook.  I spot a picture that looks good - then go to the website to see if the recipe is doable.  Another website I've stumbled upon is called Taste Spotting.  I love the pictures!  I've used this to find a recipe for savory bread pudding with swiss chard and sweet potatoes...  Just type in the item that you have and up comes a bunch of pictures with links to recipes.  Yummy!  

Babies of the 80's

 

 

My mom saved a few of my outfits from when I was a baby, and when I get bored I dress Elizabeth up in them and take her picture.  

Most of the outfits are completely unpractical - for instance the pink sleeper only has buttons up the back with no access to the legs and diaper region.  I can only imagine that being a very unplesant and time consuming middle of the night for my mom. However, the design of the little greenish/blue onesey should be duplicated for modern times.  The flap that goes around her bottom comes up and snaps on her belly.  There are multiple places you can snap it meaning she can wear as she gets longer.  Unfortunately, it is not the cutest of the bunch, so she doesn't wear it too often.  The top outfit makes her look like she should be out on the prairie. I just love that hat. But she didn't - I have several pictures of her trying to take it off, however it is a good design and she couldn't get it to budge!

We have a few more outfits to get her into and I'll make sure to take a photo.  Good thing they are baby outfits, because I can just hear her now saying "mom this is ridiculous!"  I have to admit they are pretty ridiculous, but they're pretty darn cute too!

Cooking...

"Sun" dried tomatoes

We sliced up some tomatoes and baked them on a cookie cooling rack at 250* for ~ 3 hours.  This produced shriveled little tomatoes that tasted amazing - as if we had doused them in some kind of dressing. Our inspiration came from this recipe. 

While I am really looking forward to fall taking hold here (why is it still mid 90s today?), I am not looking forward to the end of tomato season. 

Growth chart idea

I have been looking for ideas for a growth chart for Elizabeth.  I want to record her height on something for a visual of how fast she is growing, but knowing that we are not going to be in this house forever I wanted something that we could take with us.  I also didn't want something too gaudy or too cutsey that would not be appropriate for when she gets older.  After doing a thorough internet search I came upon this.

I bought a 6 foot board from home depot and painted it white.  I plan on recording her height with a line date and then close to here birthday every year have her put her hand print in alternating colors. It fits all my criteria; I just love this idea! 

Nine months old

Today Elizabeth had her nine month appointment with Dr. Salter.  She weighed in at an even 18lbs and she is 26.5 inches tall.  She is hugging the 25th percentile curve for all her measurements. 

From what we can tell and from what the doctor said, she seems to be developing right on track.   She is pulling up on everything and crawls like a champ.  She has 3 teeth - all on the bottom.   And she is still a very happy baby.  Well, except when she doesn't get her way... she hates having her diaper changed, not eating what we are eating, having things taken away from her (especially things that she should not have like the dog's water bowl or paper that will inevitably go right in her mouth), and initially being put in her car seat.  She doesn't have stranger anxiety which we have read could kick in during this month.  We are hoping that it never does.  She is still a great sleeper but her bed time is creeping earlier and earlier.  We would prefer to have her go to bed a little later so we could go out and do things, but these days she prefers to go to bed around 8:15, and we will probably be pushing that more towards 8 in the next few weeks as she is getting grumpy during those last 15 minutes if we are not doing something to entertain her.  I remember when she used to go to bed at 10:30 and we asked the doctor when she would start going to bed earlier.  Now we know.  She still takes 2 to 3 naps during the day at 45min to 1.5 hours each.

All and all she is great!

Cooking...

Tomato Jam

Inspired by the wealth of fresh tomatoes that we had (some of which were cracking and needed to be used immediately), I looked up recipes for tomato jam and decided to make this one from the New York Times.

5-8 coarsely chopped tomatoes

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh grated or minced ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 jalapeño or other peppers, stemmed, seeded and minced, or red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste (which I left out because I didn't see it in the recipe... but I'm glad I did because what we got was really sweet and tasty. Maybe next time I'll try with a little spice). 

1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy medium saucepan, Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.
2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has consistency of thick jam. Since we did not core and get out the juice it took about 4-5 hours of simmering and occasionally stirring for ours to cook down to be thick enough.  It was so worth it though!
3. Taste and adjust seasoning, then cool and refrigerate until ready to use; this will keep at least a week.

The final product is one that will make all the saliva glands in your mouth work overtime. It hits sweet and savory notes that make this little gem one that will become a staple if I ever have too many tomatoes (and really no one can EVER have too many tomatoes!)

Not knowing what to do with our jam other than salivate over it and sneak bites directly off of a spoon out of the jar, I did a little internet searching and found these ideas for ways to use the jam:
Slather it on warm cornbread or biscuits  (Check!)
Use it as a condiment on sandwiches--roast beef on ciabatta, turkey breast with roasted sweet onions on toasted sourdough, smoked pulled pork with on a roll. (Check!)
Spread it on a toasted garlic bagel with cream cheese.
Mix it with softened cream cheese for a flavorful spread or unique party dip.
Thin it with a little sherry vinegar and use it as a glaze on chicken or fish.
Mix it with mayo for your secret "special sauce" on a hamburger.  (umm not so much for me - what a waste!)
Fill crepes with tomato jam and goat cheese.
Use it in meatloaf in lieu of ketchup or BBQ sauce.

Elizabeth at Eight Months

Elizabeth at Eight Months from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.

Cooking...

Baba ghanoush

3 medium eggplant
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini
3 cloves garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil to thin

Pierce each eggplant with a knife multiple times and place in a cast iron skillet in a 400 degree oven.  Cook for ~40 minutes rotating so each side gets evenly roasted.
Remove from oven and cool (either in fridge overnight or in cold water).
Remove peel.
Place eggplant, lemon juice, tahini, and garlic in food processor and pulse till smooth.  Add salt and pepper.  Taste... add more if it seems like one ingredient is lacking.  Add some olive oil and pulse again until the correct consistency.

Cooking...

Stuffed Bell Peppers

One of our trips took us to Asheville where we raided my parent's garden and came home with TONS of produce!  I have been making lots of things and probably should have been writing them down because they were good, and I can never remember what I did later since I always put together several recipes.

Here is what I remember of the recipe I made (note - I just added lots of things because we had them... it would probably be good without most of these ingredients.  Measurements are estimates.)
2 cups uncooked rice
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup shredded summer squash
2 diced banana peppers
1 diced onion
4 jalapenos (seeded if they are too hot)
1lb ground beef
2 tomatoes
1/2 cup cilantro
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (more to taste)
1 cup spaghetti sauce (marinara)
3 egg whites
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta
5-6 large bell peppers

* Cook rice in rice maker
* Saute carrots, squash, banana peppers, onion, 2 cloves garlic till soft
* In the meantime chop off tops of bell peppers and cut off the good part of the tops and throw in the saute.  Remove ribs and seeds.  Place in a oven safe casserole dish with some water and put in a preheated oven of 400 for 5-10 minutes.
* Add the ground beef to the sauteed veggies and cook until done.
* Make the fresh salsa - Dice the tomatoes, 2 jalapenos, cilantro, garlic, oregano, and cumin
* Add most of the rice (leave about 1/2-1 cup cooked rice to add if you feel like you need it) to the veggie - meat mixture.
* Add spaghetti sauce, egg whites, salt, pepper, feta, some extra cumin and oregano for taste, and 3/4 of the salsa mixture.  If it is too watery or it looks like you need more rice... and the rice you set aside.  If not keep it for something else.
* Spoon mix into peppers.  Put the extra mix (there will be left over!) in a loaf pan.  Put in oven for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy!  Elizabeth (she is now eating real food!), Nathan, and I sure did

Where have we been?

July and August have been busy months for the Marvelles!  We have been non-stop traveling since July 4th...  meaning lots to blog. Check back regularly while I try to update and record our fun filled summer.

Almost crawling?

Elizabeth has been getting up on her knees for a month now... but not a whole lot of forward progress that has looked anything like crawling.  This last week she has started to move her hands and knees forward, but prefers to go a few "steps" then sit.  She is pretty quick at getting across a room and we have started baby proofing. 

Check out our latest video:

Almost Crawling from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.

6 months of Elizabeth

Cooking...

Inspired by this recipe we cooked a
Swiss chard and potato gratin.

Our variation on the recipe:
10 new potatoes sliced thin in the food processor leave skin on
1 cup aged cheddar
1/2 lb swiss chard chopped in small pieces
1 tablespoon butter
dash of salt and pepper
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350.
Par boil the potatoes so they are almost the texture you'd like them in the gratin (this saved us so much time!).  Spay a deep cooking bowl with non-stick spray.  Layer 1/3 of the potatoes, 1/3 of the chard, and 1/3 of the cheese, 1/3 the butter cut in little pieces, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Do again twice making sure the top is cheese not swiss chard or else it will burn.  Pour the milk down the edge.  Bake in for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and the chard has cooked to the right tenderness.  

Cooking...

Cabbage and Apple Slaw

A very tasty and a good way to use our CSA pointed head cabbage
I used a combination of recipes and this is what I ended up with:
1 pointed head cabbage (~4 cups) shredded in the food processor
2 granny smith apples diced in small chunks
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup plan fat-free yogurt
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Mix the dressing in a separate bowl.  Combine with the cabbage and apples.  Enjoy.

A new face

We snapped a few shots after her bath, and she started doing this new face. 

Cooking...

Yellow squash and zucchini rice casserole. What a great way to use all the squash we are getting from our CSA.

The Grueling Triathlon of Doom

Putting the "Do" in Doom since 2008.  GToD.

This morning I participated in my first triathlon.  Before I injured my knee I have played with the idea of doing a triathlon. I had even looked into signing up for several, but never got the courage. Recently I've been working out pretty consistently and again started to think about doing a race again.  Coincidentally, my friend Erin told me about this race, and even though I was past the registration date she was able to get me in.  We met up this morning and were able to do it together.

The North Carolina summer did not disappoint - at 8am it was in the low 90's with sweltering humidity and the air was completely devoid of a breeze. Amazingly enough the weather wasn't too much of a factor. I might have been a little faster on my run if not for the sun beating down on me, but then again I had just finished swimming and biking so there is no way I would have been going very fast no matter what the weather. While the name sounds intimidating don't let it fool you; this triathlon is for the beginner triathalete. It is an actual super sprint distance.  We started off at the downtown Y with a staggered start of 10 lengths of the pool, then transitioned in the parking lot and hopping on our bikes for a 6 mile ride down the American Tobacco trail, then back again to the Y parking lot to transition into the 1.5 mile run (more like slow slow jog for me).

The whole event was super fun, and I really hope to do another one soon!

The two of us swimming

Me finishing

Erin finishing

More pictures here.

Elizabeth's first hike

This afternoon we tried to find a heron rookery by Ellerbe Creek here in Durham, but were unsuccessful. I think they were hiding because it was too hot!

Elizabeth did great. She didn't mind the heat and even managed to briefly fall asleep in the Bjorn.

Elizabeth's new swing

Elizabeth's new swing from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.

Family photos

My mom has been wanting a family photograph of the Naves, Marvelles, and Lankfords for a long while... and before we get around to it the family gets bigger.  So as a gift to her, I organized all of us (it is crazy how hard it is to get us all together for a weekend) and had photos made.  Here are a few of the best.