The Perfect Meld of Human and Machine

My wife deserves all the credit for the contents of the post, since she has been the inspiration for everything it contains. As some of you MAY have noticed, Amber is a little green-conscious. I have said before and say it again: I greatly admire her for this, and for the changes she has brought about in our family to make us more earth-friendly. To name a few: we have a garden and have begun to eat food we have grown; we recycle more and throw away less, including re-using containers and making our own cleaning solutions; we use reusable grocery bags; we use cloth diapers (except at night and as occasion warrants); we (ok...my wife) buy local when we have a choice; we (ok...my wife) dry the clothes on a clothes line as often as possible; and, the one which is the subject of this post, we both have bikes and a trailer for the kids, and use use them for transportation instead of the car whenever possible.

The best pic we have of Jason's bike

I must admit that when my wife first suggested that we buy bicycles and use them instead of the car, my gut reaction was something like: "What a hassle. Who do I have to blame for putting this garbage in my wife's head?" Masking my inward doubts, as the ever supportive husband, I agreed without giving any hint of my reservations (at least I think that is the way it came off - don't tell my wife I fooled her). Little did I know how much I would love riding. And mind you, I don't use the word "love" lightly here. I ride to and from school and work everyday (between 10 and 28 miles a day depending on where I am working that day); I take it to run errands (if what I am getting will fit on my bike); and have ridden to and from church for the last month or so. I actually feel a twinge of disappointment when we/I go someplace and have to take the car; on Friday I drove in the car for the first time in three weeks-ish, and literally felt disoriented and car sick the whole time. The same thing happened on Saturday and Tuesday when I also had to get in the blasted thing.

This is how Jason feels about his bike!

If you are like I was, and are hesitant to give the car keys a break, let me list a few of the major benefits. 1) We are a one car family so now Amber can have the car when she needs it (which indeed she often does because we cannot take the kids everywhere in tow....sometimes its just not safe). 2) Riding a bicycle doesn't pollute. 3) Gas is over $4 a gallon; riding is free. 4) Its great exercise; I have lost 15-20 pounds in the last couple of months (that's sort-of a guess because I was getting so heavy before that our scale broke; what I do know is that clothes which didn't used to require a belt now won't stay up - not even close - without one) and have some definition to my legs for the first time in...a while. 5) I feel happier. 6) I feel like a part of my community in a way which I wouldn't have predicted and cannot really describe...perhaps because I am connecting with others who bike-it.

I could go on, but you might consider my other reasons trite. I will say however, that even though their are cons to riding everywhere...none of them seem to matter: I don't mind being hot and sweaty when I get places because I will cool off in 15 minutes (and sometimes have on a clean pair of clothes) and because I got there on my own steam. I don't mind it taking a little longer to get places because it doesn't really take that much longer (you would be surprised how fast you can get around). I don't even really mind the occasional flat tire (I had my first today...thanks for stopping to help Dave) because...well...I didn't' really feel like a biker until I had one (consider it an initiation into the club); it also felt nice to be able to stop on the side of the road, fix my bike, and be on my way again. I am not even bothered by the occasional mindless ignoramuses who yell out "get a car" (or other things which I won't repeat) as they speed past me, exhaust billowing out their tail pipe; they are the ones who don't get it. Buy a bike I say! Stop putting the pedal to the metal and just start pedaling!

To track our success in using our bicycles whenever possible (and maybe to indulge just a little in my excitement for my newfound mode of transportation). I am going to start tracking on the side bar how many miles we put on our bicycles and how many we put on the car. My plan is to do a day by day for each week for Myself alone, Amber alone, and for when we go someplace as a family. Mind you this is NOT a competition between myself and Amber; our situations are very different. It's just a way for each of us to see how we are doing individually and as a family. We also thought others might find it interesting.

Jason was very excited - at least it seemed to me, to start biking it. He went through many hours of looking for a bike. The first one was fine but I can see such a difference in how he feels about biking with his second one. The first one he would grip about, the second one he raves about (all the time!!! it's a little over the top but don't tell him that :)

So a few "keys" to biking-it 1) find a bike you LOVE 2) figure out the best times of day to run errands 3) map out the best biking roads - some just are not safe! 4) live as close to the center of town as you can - the closer you are to your everyday stops the more you will be motivated to bike it instead 5) lastly, make sure your bike is adjusted correctly and has the proper air pressure, brakes that catch can really influence your love/hate relationship with your bike - we can both attest to that.

(comments in red are Amber's)

A Perfect Wednesday

Today we met some friends at a farmers market. We got some cherries, peaches, tomatoes and chow chow (yum, yum). The tomatoes and chow chow were local but the cherries and peaches were not. It's still not the season here yet, but it's coming very soon. After the market we went to Cazanovia park and ran around on the water fountain pad. I wish I had the camera. The kids were so cute. Abygail was Miss. Brave and ran everywhere with out worry of where Mommy was. She got knocked down a few times by other excited kids but she did really well. Jackson also ventured further than I thought. Each time he would come back, reach up to me with a huge grin as if to say, "Did you see what I did Mom? It was sooo cool!"

I love my kids and admire their bravery.

It was a perfect summer day:)

Book Club: The Last Lecture

Last week we had another book club meeting. I must say, I'm enjoying book club so very much. I encourage anyone with a love of books or a like of books to join a book club. Ours is an open book club, anyone can come, and our numbers are growing by word of mouth. It's so fun to meet and share one another's impressions and thoughts of a book and then be influenced by the thoughts of others.

This last book was The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (you can see my review of the book here). The discussion was a great one. We talked about our impressions of the book, childhood dreams, satisfaction with life and how we can keep our dreams alive - even if they change.

Some of my childhood dreams were: become an Astronaut for NASA, be a teacher, a conductor of a symphony, and a mother. Although some of my dreams haven't come true, lots of them have or have morphed into something attainable and suited more to my current situation.

So what are some of your childhood dreams, how have they changed and what do you do to keep the dream alive?

A Visit With Family

The kids loved hanging out with their cousin Brittany!

Last week Jason's sister Tiffany, husband Tony and daughter Brittany were in town. We enjoyed having them around so much. They came in Tuesday night and stayed until Saturday morning.

Our picnic was on a perfect day in a perfect spot with great company!
Jackson really liked his watermelon!

While they were here we enjoyed a picnic at Glen Park, with the waterfall and ducks, and a walk to Sweet Jenny's Ice Cream Parlor. It was a great day and a sweet dessert :). I should add that Jason and Brittany wanted to take a bike ride so they road to the park on the bikes while the rest of us drove. It was 3 miles(ish) and they got there maybe 10 mins after us and coming home because of traffic we all got home at the same time.

We also went to Anchor Bar and enjoyed some Chicken Wings (or as non Buffalonians call them: Buffalo Wings), then drove to the beach in the rain. We got the windows stuck open on the van we borrowed (THANKS SO MUCH Rachel & Tyler!), I asked Jason to get out in the pouring rain to push on the window to help it close...he refused so I got out, I'll leave the rest of that story to Jason to tell. Tiffany, Tony and Brittany also got to go and visit Niagara Falls, they had a good time. Mostly the 4.5 days they were he we justed chilled and visited. It was so nice to have family in town!!!

Jackson also liked playing with Daddy's (new) bike, we think he'll be a bike man...
what do you think?

I don't have many pictures so I'm at Tiffany's mercy for pics...Please send them to us and we will post them :)

Service Always Brings Blessings

This is more of a journal entry than anything else. We had a very full week this past week/weekend.

Not only did we have family in town but we had lots of other things going on. A few things slipped through the cracks...well, on my part at least. On Tuesday at 6:09 Tiffany's flight came in, at the same time(ish) I was scheduled to teach an enrichment activity on sprouting seeds to eat (bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts...etc). Due to the timing one thing just had to be dropped, fortunately for Tiffany she was not the one that was dropped :). Wednesday I got the privilege of bringing a meal to a new mom (I love these opportunities!). Not only was it a new mom but it was a friend and neighbor which made it even better. Saturday a friend asked me to help her with some commitments she had made in watching children, I was glad to help because it meant that I could offer some final service to a family that was moving out of the ward and our neighborhood, who we had grown really close to. While Diana and I were watching 8 kids (our own included) Jason was helping the Uries pack the moving truck.

I detail all of this because...although it seemed like a lot, it didn't feel like a lot. We (I) felt like I was doing my part as a friend, neighbor and family member, but we received so much more in return than we gave. Most importantly by listing it out (the opportunities for service) I can put it next to the following list and see how blessed we are when we help others.

Blessings Received:
While Tiffany, Tony and Brittany were in town, they paid for everything!
The Uries brought us their left over fridge food, and clothes for Jason!
They also brought us a great outdoor play set their neighbor had and wanted to get rid of along with some other outdoor play toys!
Rachel and Tyler let us use the van so we (Tiffany's gang and ours) could all go out together!
Our Garden is really growing!
We got to form even stronger bonds with family and friends!
We got two deliveries of COOKIES :)

These may all seem like little things but they were really big to us and it made for a SUPER GREAT WEEK!!!

So, next time I feel overwhelmed and like I've taken on too much...hopefully I'll remember to come back to this post and see that it's all worth it.

Kids Playing

Here are some video clips I took with my phone last Friday after the activity at church of Abygail and Jackson playing with one of their friends. (By the way, Amber was in charge of the activity and did a great job organizing and presenting it.) I don't know if you will be able to hear it, but every time Jackson fell down he just broke out laughing.

I know there are a lot of clips but I only posted half of what I took (I couldn't leave any more out) and they are all only 30 seconds long.

The one fall which didn't result in laughter, resulted in a bloody nose. I wasn't taking video at the time but got a picture. Jackson, always the trooper, only cried for a few seconds then was back on his feet playing with the others.

While I was Blogging

While writing the previous post...this happened:



What keeps your skin softer than Crisco? What plasters your hair to your head better than Crisco? According to Abygail - NOTHING!

It's June Already?!

Here's just a few things that have happened since the last post.

~Abygail's friend James was over on Wednesday, I got some great film of them dancing.





~Jackson got a bloody nose from playing so hard on Friday at the Ward Activity

~Jackson bit his tongue last night

~I got a new calling, Activities Committee Chairman - now I have keys, is this a good thing or bad thing?

~More planting: Corn, Carrots, Lettuce, Zinnias, Peppers

~Garden growing like a weed, weeds are growing too :)



~"We're in the spinach", we've had spinach every day for the last 4 days. In eggs and salads.


(Before the first harvest of baby spinach leaves, The first dish with spinach in it)

~We rode to church today. Jason left me 2 miles behind...but I finally made it just in time for the announcements :)

~Jason sold his 2 month old bike and got a new one

~I've ridden to the store a few times with the kids. Here's a picture of Abygail after one of those rides :)



****UPDATE****
~And apparently my daughter got in a fight with one of her very good friends in nursery...what a crazy girl! Her father took care of it.

A New Ride

Friday we ventured out and bought me a bike. We had plans to do this and had already bought a child trailer for the bike I did not have yet. We found that the only way to get it home was for me to ride it home. So I did. My maiden voyage on the bike was a sweet 4 mile ride home - by the time I got home I was glad to be home! Once home for a few minutes I decided, hey, I could do that again, it wasn't so bad.

Sunday morning I had an 8 am meeting. I'll actually have an 8 am meeting once a month now with my new calling. New calling you ask...well 2 sundays ago I was called as the Activities Chairman. This is actually a pretty hefty calling in our ward and I'll be plenty busy. Anyway, I was going to ride my bike to church (6 miles) but we decided it was best if I drove because I don't have a basket for the bike yet to carry my binder, purse, and other assorted things that girls like to carry. It was a bit too early for all of us to go so I took the car and Jason decided to bring ride to church with the kids in tow!!! He made it in just over 30 mins and was pretty sweaty when he arrived. After a few minutes he decided, hey, that wasn't so bad...so I think we are officially going to be riding to church as much as possible now (weather permitting).

The kids don't seem to mind the ride too much, they just don't like sliding into each other, I think they like to have their own space. In the trailer there really is no such thing as personal space.

We are so glad to have an alternative to our gas powered automobile. It's nice to know that if we need to get somewhere and don't have the $$ for rising gas prices, we can get there and back on our own steam :)

We were inspired by two fellow Buffalonians (or at least I was), so we cannot take credit for the ideas. We would like to thank Kristie and Anthony for the trailer idea and Kashann and Brent for riding to church! You guys are awesome!!!