Grilled Peaches

We went to South Carolina to hang out with Kim and Brian. South Carolina is known for it's peaches... it even has a huge peach (aka butt) on I-85 see pic below. On our way back into NC we picked up a peck of peaches (no they were not pickled :)
We had so many peaches! So we had to find a way to eat all of them. My sister suggested we grill them.
Here is the recipe we made up:

Cut peaches in half and remove pit
Sprinkle with sugar
Place halved peaches on the grill and grill until caramelized
Remove skin (it should be very easy)
Cut peaches into slices and place in a bowl
Drizzle with honey, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and fresh mint
Crumble feta cheese
Serve warm - and enjoy!

Babies!

All the spring babies are here and boy are they cute! We have another wave coming in the fall with Sarah Birken having a girl, Stephanie White TBA, Andrea O'Hara having a girl, Adrienne Abramson TBA, and Kathy DeBree TBA.

Here are some of the latest pictures of all the little ones.

Michelle and Mark's baby, Camden Ross Leslie born May 10th. Now at 12 weeks old and laughing. More pics on our photo website.
Seth and Anne's baby, Daniel Mordecai Kotch born May 18th. Pictured below at 7 weeks. Elese is holding Daniel on the left and Anne is holding Graham (2 weeks old) on the right.
Elese and Christoph's baby, Graham William Stutts born June 21. In this picture he is 1.5 weeks old playing his first game of Settlers of Catan... with a mom like Elese this boy is going to be a gamer. More pics here.

Heather and Jeff's baby, Jackson Jeffery Petursa born June 30th. Here he is tiny (~5lbs) at 2 weeks old. More pics here.

The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating

New York Times recently published an article about easy to find foods that are extremely healthy. Here's the list.

1. Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.
   
2. Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.
   
3. Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
   
4. Cinnamon: May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.
   
5. Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.
   
6. Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but they are packed with antioxidants.
   
7. Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.
   
8. Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.'’ They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.
   
9. Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,'’ it may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties..
10. Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil; associated with better memory in animal studies.
    
11. Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.

I hope to go to the Farmer's market when we return from our trip and stock up on some of these items. We've been eating Swiss chard out of Michelle and Mark's garden and it's delicious! also tons of blueberries that Michelle, Camden, and I picked fresh from frog pond farm. Although I am not sure if I am down with #8 Sardines... I think I will focus on the other 10.

A new music genre

This is what I am coining "lab boy band" music. Go here to see a music video and listen.

You can even download the MP3 and listen to it on your ipod while pipetting.

What are you waiting for? go listen already :)

Things I like right now

Toast paninoteca
Sandwhich (yes there is supposed to be an extra 'H')
Locopops
Cookout's chocolate and peanut butter milk shakes
Decorating with birds
Riding my bike
Todays weather
Tomatoes from the framer's market

Master Bathroom Remodel

We took our bright seafoam green bathroom and remodeled it this weekend. The new color is Bay leaf green. Here is Keith helping us paint.


Nathan rolling the back wall

We replaced the old white shrunken linoleum with a updated tile-like linoleum. We cleared out the living room and cut it there.

And the partially finished project. We are waiting for light fixtures and new framed mirrors. We also updated all of the towel bars, face plates, and toilet paper holder. As well as painting the cabinet white. Soon we will have pictures of the completed project.

Grandpa's 80th Birthday

Grandpa Marvelle is the only grandfather Nathan and I have. So, it was such a joy to join with all of Nathan's 34 immediate relatives to celebrate Grandpa's 80th birthday. Everyone gathered at Francis Farm's for a Massachusetts clam and lobster bake.

Here are a select few pictures from the event. You can see more here and here.
Grandpa and Grandma Marvelle with their children and their children's significant others.

Grandpa and Grandma Marvelle and their grandchildren.

David showing off his lobster. Yum!

Amanda with little Madeline.Nathan and Amanda after a long day of picnicking.

World's Actual Largest Basket

Early this month I posted about a sighting of what I claimed was the world's largest basket... my claim was bogus (really?!). And I have been directed to what actually is the "World's largest basket". This basket is a 7-story basket shaped building and home of the corporate headquarters of Longaberger Basket Company in Newark, Ohio.

One website states:
"The basket is a replica - 160 times larger- of Longaberger's Medium Market Basket. It's 192 ft. long by 126 ft. wide at the bottom, spreading to 208-ft. long by 142-ft. wide at the roofline. It is a magnificent sight- especially at night.

We'd like to think that job satisfaction is higher than normal at Longaberger's. After all, no matter how menial your daily labors or how incompetent your boss, you still work in a giant basket."

I am just going to ask... Who wouldn't like to work in a giant basket?

This website also illuminates that OH is known for all their large baskets... who knew? Visitors come carrying baskets... to look at giant baskets. Very odd hobby.

"Another reason that aliens could be confused about the relative importance of designer party baskets on this planet are the hordes of basket carrying zombies that routinely make pilgrimages to [the] woven Mecca. Over a half-million fans, many members of the "Collectors Club," visit HQ and other area Longaberger landmarks each year, carrying baskets, ready to remortgage the house for more, and hoping to get an autograph.

The entire region around Newark is basket-happy, thanks to the Longabergers. The World's Largest Apple Basket -over 29 feet tall - stands at the Longaberger Homestead in Frazeysburg, OH. It was hand-woven from hardwood maple in 1999. It's become an even better photo op since it was augmented with giant fake apples.

In nearby Dresden, on Main St. and 5th, you'll find the old HQ still standing, a house-sized picnic basket- 23-ft. tall and 48-ft. long. This huge basket was the first architectural creation of the Longaberger juggernaut.

The Big Easter Basket up in Lorain, OH is not a Longaberger creation, and it is a tad amateurish when compared to the other big baskets. Still, at 9 ft. high and 10 ft. wide, it suggests that big baskets have something to do with the soul of Ohio, not just the market-savviness of the Longaberger Basket Company. [Note: Giant eggs are placed in the Lorain basket, but only between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.]"

How dare they have giant eggs in the basket any other time...

Weekend: Pros and Cons

I am taking a line from my friend Laurel's blog. She is way more personal and conversational with her writing and I am going to try her style for a few posts and see how I like it. I also love her weekend pro and cons posts so this may or may not be a weekly addition. It also reminds me of the High/Low from Keith and the Girl (a daily podcast). Keith and Chemda always recap their day with the what was the best and the worst event/thing of the day... let's recap the weekend:

Pro: Dain's place and Nathan's return (see post below). I hate it when Nathan is gone and was really excited to hear about his first trip to New Orleans.

Pro: Finishing The Beak of the Finch! Saturday morning I had a lovely relaxing breakfast and sat out on our back porch and read. Pro #2 Humidity was low and the temperature was perfect! I'll post a review of the book later.

Con: Shopping at Costco on Saturday. There were thousands of people! and the lines were ten deep... but I made it out with all the things I wanted.
Pro: One of the things I wanted was Mario cart! I love love love this game and it even comes with a wheel.

Con: P.F. Chang's was too busy - a 30 minute wait.
Pro: Because of this, we went to Ted's Montana grill and had a bison burger and baked sweet potato. Yummy!

Pro: Bought hiking poles for the Galapagos, BPA free water bottles, and a new bike seat for me!

Pro: My lab came over for a picnic. Karen brought baby Adam - He's too cute! And he did not even cry. We introduced more people to ladder golf. And had a good lab bonding time.
Con: It rained - It poured! We had to go inside, but we played Wii and everyone loved it!

Dain's Place

On Friday Nathan returned from an overnight trip to New Orleans. This was one of the few overnighters that he has had to do with his job. In order to "catch-up", we headed to Dain's Place, a local bar on Ninth Street. We love this place! We each had several micro-brews and also a yummy marinated chicken sandwich. We love the decor, the people, and to top it off it is one of the few bars that is smoke free (note North Carolina is a leading producer of tobacco). While we were chatting about Nathan's amazing meals and the wonderful reception his report had with the city council, we watched the UNC tarheels beat LSU in quarter finals of the college baseball tournament.

Back Porch Music - David Wilcox

The Back Porch Music Concert series is held on the lawn at the American Tobacco Campus where Nathan works. Tonight, we joined up with our friends Lloyd, Adrienne, June and some of their friends with kids. We brought our blankets but the place was packed and there was only a few inches of empty grass. We had to squeeze in tight.
Everyone came out to hear David Wilcox. He is from Asheville and evidently has a huge following here in Durham. I have not heard his music before, but tonight I was a little disappointed. The music was slow and monotonous. The lyrics weren't that cleaver and his voice wasn't all that good. Although we had a good time and the weather was amazing (I hate humidity!), I will not go out and buy any of the songs.

New Zealand here we come!

Yay! I am so excited! We just booked our flights to New Zealand for next spring. Although I tore my ACL, I am having surgery in August and should be fine by February for a trip to one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I am crossing my fingers that I heal correctly (and speedily) because we are planning on hiking our butts off and taking in all the beautiful mountain scenery.

Brett's Wedding in Beautiful Boulder

Amanda and I had a wonderful time at Brett Saum and Ashley Hafner's wedding. To commemorate the occasion, I created this slideshow on YouTube with the pictures we took.



The song playing in the background is called 'Geneva' by Rockwell Church. Jake and Alex love to play this song and whenever I hear it I have the fondest memories of my B-CC boys. Here's a video of Jake playing 'Geneva' the night before the wedding.

Durham's Bike Co-Op

Last Sunday, Amanda and I took our bikes to the Durham Bike Co-op to see if we could get some help making them a little more road worthy. My bike hasn't had much attention since I was in middle school - its super dirty and the enormous and very heavy tires reflect my long-elapsed aspirations of riding rugged mountain trails. Amanda's bike is a kind of like a pet rescue: we bought it for ~$30 at UNC's annual auction of bikes that have been abandoned on campus. So it too needed some love. While both ride reasonably well, we thought they might need a tune-up especially since we're hoping to ride them to help Amanda strengthen her knee. We were greeted generously at the Co-op and told that our bikes were in pretty good condition and just needed some cleaning. We were soon learning how to repack wheel bearings and clean chains. It was a great time and we vowed to come back for more.

In this picture, you can see our overturned bikes sitting behind the Co-op and the bike 'junkyard' that's kept there.

Chinese food and a big basket

Last Saturday we tried a Chinese restaurant that had pretty good reviews, China Palace. We tend not to do Chinese food since Nathan is such a good Chinese cook, but with a review like: "I've just discovered one of the best Chinese restaurants in the Triangle, and I'm kicking myself," we thought we would try it.

The decor was a little on the barren side, but aside from aesthetics, we ordered three dishes that were recommended in the N&O article to share (and then to take home and have for two more meals! They gave us lots of food.) 1. The ohn choy with beef, the delicate leafy green that goes by the English name of water spinach. 2. Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce and 3. Wide rice noodles (ha fun) with beef.

I really enjoyed the meal and the veggies were really fresh, tender yet crispy. Nathan had other opinions. He had a much higher bar than I did for Chinese food and thought that each dish needed more flavor. I would go back. He said he would too, but would probably order something spicy.

After our delicious dinner, we trekked over to South Point where we looked at light fixtures and mirrors at Restoration Hardware. I have been dead set on redoing our bathroom. And since we have decided that we are not moving from our current house for sometime it makes sense for me to go ahead and try my hand at home decorating. We decided on the Dillon collection (see picture). But only the lights and mirrors seemed resonablly priced, so we went to Home Goods - the TJ Maxx of all things home- to try to find the other hardware things for the bathroom. We found a towel rack and a robe holder that matched the style of the light fixtures. We also found this:

THE LARGEST BASKET IN THE WORLD!

Can anyone tell me what the heck you would use this basket for? Really, you could put several reasonably sized men inside here! I can't remember how much it cost, but you can probably guess that it was on clearance!

Heather's baby shower

So all my friends are pregnant (or already with child) and I am starting to feel a little alienated! Really, I am not kidding! Well maybe I am kidding a little, but I can count on one hand the number of women who I hang out with here in Durham that are not pregnant. As you would image, this makes for lots of baby showers and lots of opportunity to sew and buy really cute things.

On Saturday I went to my friend's Heather and Jeff's baby shower. They are having a little boy and he is due July 3rd. We had a light lunch of chicken salad, fruit, and pasta salad. And then went straight into the age ol' baby shower game of guess how big Heather's gut is using toilet paper. Most people guessed between 13 and 16 squares... Heather was only 11! (or maybe 12, I can't remember but we will give her the benefit of the doubt and go with 11). Here is a picture of Heather.

After that she opened presents. Then we moved onto my favorite part of the afternoon, painting oneses. The hosts had bought all different sized ones and had provided stencils, paint, and painting utensils. Lots of people did the frog stencil, but I went free hand and did a little whale and elephant. Heather out did herself with an orange guitar with shading. She entitled her masterpiece Guitar Hero. This was such a great idea!



I am finding that I am starting to get my baby fill with Camden, but with more babies on the way I can offer up my babysitting or just holding skills and hopefully stave off those late twenty motherly urges until after I finish school and find a job.

Darrell Scott at the American Tobacco Campus

On Thursday May 29th, Nathan and I went to see Darrell Scott at the American Tobacco Campus. Adrienne, Lloyd, and June joined us for the first set as well as Nathan's co-worker Michael. June enjoyed strawberries and had a good time dancing. Michael and I discussed the intricacies of ACL surgery since he had one in college.

During the second set, Mark and Michelle's mom, dad and brother joined us. Michelle was at home napping with Camden. Nathan and I really loved the music and we started singing one of the songs a few days later. We were so impressed we bought "Long Time Gone" on itunes.

Softball is very dangerous!

Sorry about the lack of updates from the Marvelles during the month of May. We have been busy traveling, working, and injuring ourselves. Well only I did the injuring... here's the update.

In the fall, while playing flag football (see article where I'm quoted) during a play I planted my foot while pivoting and a player from the other team collided with me. Covered in little black rubber specs from the intramural field, I had to be carried off to the training room where I was iced and bandaged up in a foam leg brace from my quad to my ankle. They sent me off with crutches and an appointment with the orthopedic doctor the next day. The next day the doctor did several manual tests on my leg, but everything hurt. He couldn't get an end-point on my ACL (the Lachman's test), but that could have been because of the swelling. I hobbled around on crutches and hardly used my leg, fearful that I would hurt it more. After the initial swelling went down, I started physical therapy. Since I had not walked on the leg for almost two weeks, I had so much atrophy of my muscles and couldn't straighten or bend my knee. The doctor suggested an MRI, but he also said I might have just stretched my ligaments. and I could just wait till all the swelling went down and I completed PT. About 2 months after the initial injury, the doctor did another Lachman test and was able to feel my ACL, so he thought I did not completely tear the ligament.

It took almost 6 months to get my knee back to "normal". And this spring I felt good enough to play intramural softball. Even while running around the bases I didn't feel too bad although a few times it felt weak and wobbly. Kneeling down was also harder than it had been before the injury.

On Sunday May 18th, Nathan and I went to softball practice to prepare for Summer session I intramurals. After a nice warm-up we started playing. I was playing shortstop and a ball was hit my direction. As I was going to catch it, I planted my foot in a normal straight-forward running direction. I felt the top part of my knee move without the bottom part of my knee moving and I collapsed. After having what I coined as an adult tantrum because I was so mad that I had done this again. I was carried off the field by Tim and Toby. Thank goodness Nathan came to practice even though he is not on the team! He drove me home and I spent the whole evening moping.

The next day I went to the same doctor who dealt with me in the fall. He remembered my injury. After testing my knee, he recommended an MRI, saying he thought I had torn my ACL and my meniscus. I had to wait until Thursday. On Thursday, I went to UNC's hospital and had my MRI. I spent 45 minutes in the big machine. It was so loud! I was prepared to not move for 45 minutes... but I was not prepared for the noise. I was hoping to get the results soon after the procedure, but I had to wait until Tuesday of the next week (1 wk 2 days after the injury). On Tuesday I got the news that I had actually torn both the ACL and the meniscus. I was really upset and was feeling completely down on myself. Unfortunantly I got this news on our 1 year wedding anniversary... Nathan helped me put it into perspective but allowed me to be a little down on myself, and after a short cathartic cry, I felt much better. I dawned the dress I wore at our rehearsal dinner and my knee brace and we went out to dinner then watched our wedding video.

On Monday June 2nd, I met with the orthopeadic surgeon and talked about my options. We decided to do the surgery mid-August after our trip to the Galapagos. I started prehab immediately to get my muscles strong enough to stabilize my knee while walking in the Galapagos and to get the muscles 110% before the surgery so there would not be as much atrophy.

Happy Mother's Day!

To each of our moms,
We love you very much and are so fortunate to have such loving and caring people as our moms.

Love,
Amanda and Nathan

Camden Ross Leslie

Camden was born on May 10th at 1:37 in the morning. He is a healthy baby boy weighing in at 7 pounds 8 ounces.