Misunderstood

You always hear those stories about campers or hikers or whoever that get mauled by bears because they were touching or near a cub. And then you hear how the bear that mauled this not too bright person was hunted and destroyed.

I'm here to speak for the bear.

As a mother, if I saw someone, anyone harassing my child or scaring him, the situation would not end well. I probably would NOT maul them, but that truly depends on the gravity of the situation.

It's instinct.

Like when the nurse was holding down my newborn baby's legs and shooting him full of vaccines with scary needles, my first instinct was to pummel her. I knew fully well she was not actually hurting him, but something in his scared cries triggered a strong reaction in me.

If I had been a bear, the situation would not have ended well.

As a mother, you have that divine instinct to protect your babies at all cost. It doesn't matter the situation, or even who is right or wrong. That scared cry, the cry of pain....it awakens the mama bear in you. You become the angry 8 foot bear with huge claws and before you know it, you hear yourself roar.

And that my friends, is not a reason to shoot a bear.

Couch to 5K

If you have read my blog before, or know anything about me, you read that title and thought I was losing my mind because SARA DOESN'T RUN.

Except...now...I kind of do.

My labmate and bestie Miss S and I somehow decided that we wanted to run a 5K sometime. We have chosen to run it in the spring, giving us plenty of training time. Oh wait, it gets better. After we run a 5k in the spring of 2013, we want to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon in 2014. I know it's a ways off, but trust me...I need it.

We've been at the training program, which is a variation of the Couch to 5K regimen, for about 5 weeks now.

My knees are killing me, my shins are screaming profanities, my ankles are all pissed off, and my lungs are trying to flee my body...but you know what? IT FEELS AMAZING. I am RUNNING!!!

My little brother (who is a super runner...seriously, he's like 7th in the nation for college running or something absolutely ridiculous like that) has been giving me tidbits of help along the way, explaining what muscles are changing and such. For example, I said to him "Hey, Little C, I started running and my legs are absolutely killing me. Why is that?" His response: "Um, yeah....you haven't run since like, 1999. It's gonna hurt." He is so wise.

Regardless of the pain, and the fact that the increasing muscle mass is altering the numbers on the scale in such a way that makes me want to vomit, I am really proud of myself and Miss S. After 2 weeks, I treated myself to a boatload of new music on iTunes. I owe myself another prize I feel, for completely another 2 weeks. Putting prize milestones, keeps me on track and keeps me going.

That, and my husband bet me $1000 that I would not run the half marathon.

I hope he is saving his change from lunch and such.

Wordless Wednesday

Snake Bite Pasta

We here in the Lahman family love spicy. We love pasta. Therefore, we love spicy pasta. In a massive haste of a hectic evening, I threw a bunch of things that sounded good into my slow cooker, set the timer, and walked away. A little over an hour later, I came back to what turned into Snake Bite Pasta.

What you need:
1 tub Kraft Santa Fe cooking creme
1/2 jar of Pace Picante sauce (we use hot, but use whatever your taste buds can handle)
1/2 tub of sour cream (I use low fat, but use whatever)
1 small yellow onion chopped
1 can of petite diced tomatoes with jalapenos
1 green bell pepper
4 chicken breasts
1 can whole kernel corn (I use no salt added)
1 box pasta (I use whole wheat rotini...something with texture holds the sauce better)
Cumin
black pepper
Green onions

What you do:
Put the cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Put into the cooker with the cooking cream, onions, tomatoes, and pepper. Season to taste with cumin and pepper. Cook on high for about an hour, until chicken is cooked through. Mix in sour cream, corn, and Picante sauce. And cook additional 10-15 minutes. Cook pasta according to package directions. Mix sauce and pasta in large bowl, garnish with green onions (I usually just cut them up with kitchen shears).

What I love about this is that you can make it as hot as you like. You could also use beans instead of chicken  for a vegetarian option. I have also garnished with a sharp cheddar or pepper jack cheese, if I have it handy.

ENJOY!

PS. One day I will figure out how to take decent food pictures with my camera.

The PhD bracelet

In my lab, we have a tradition. Whenever a member achieves something noteworthy, my adviser purchases a bottle of champagne. The person with the accomplishment paints the cork a certain color, depending on what they have done, and fires it at the ceiling. Then, they sign the tile next to the cork mark, and the lab drinks happily in celebration. Our ceiling is amazing.

But...

I can't take the ceiling with me when I graduate.

I wanted something to mark each milestone, each accomplishment, of my own.

I give you: The Pandora PhD bracelet!

It started with 2 charms, one for acceptance into the PhD program and one for getting an assistantship that covers my tuition and gives me a stipend. The third charm is for presenting at the Animal Behavior Conference in Bloomington, Indiana this past spring. Whenever I publish, pass a milestone (prelims, proposal defense, etc.), receive an award or grant, or present research, I will get a new charm. When I graduate, if all goes as planned, I will have one amazing bracelet to remind me of all the hard work I put in over 4 years and what I have achieved.

Wordless Wednesday: First day of preschool!

Good Eats for D

One of my best friends, D, from California is quite possibly busier than I am. She has three boys, two of whom are twins. She has a dog. A husband. A house and a mortgage. And she is an awesome family person. Oh, and she runs marathons. FOR FUN.

So yeah, she's super busy and I have crazy amounts of respect for her. We have never really lived in close enough proximity so I can help her as much as I want to. She taught me so much about being a first time mother, giving me all kinds of tricks and tips, without being pushy. I in turn, taught her some cooking tips, like how to make gravy from scratch and how to barbeque chicken. I just got to talk to her for the first time in a long time the other day, other than random texts and facebook snippets here and there. It was wonderful. Hearing about her life and her boys made me feel like I was back in California. It was like a breath of fresh air.

I know that she likes to feed her boys good, homemade food whenever possible. I promised her that I would send her some recipes, and I thought that I would share them with the blogosphere. Therefore :)...I am starting a new section to blog, called Good Eats for D. All the recipes that I will put here will be simple and easy to prepare, as well as easily affordable. I get my recipes from all over, and if by chance you stumble upon one that I don't credit you for, please please PLEASE let me know. I will be more than happy to correct myself.

Anyhoo...here goes the first one! Sausage Crescent Pie (as made for me by Miss Sarah Jane). Note: I use low fat and reduced fat whenever possible. It's not necessary to do so, but I like to :)

What you will need:

2 tubes of crescent rolls
2 bars of cream cheese, softened
1 lb of turkey sausage (or any sausage you like)

What you need to do:

Preheat the oven to crescent roll specifications (most likely it's 375).
Brown the sausage in a pan over medium heat, drain.
Unroll one package of crescent rolls and press them flat so they cover the bottom of a 9x13 casserole pan.
Spread one package of cream cheese on top of the rolls.

Now comes the fun and creative part. Add the sausage. Then you can add pretty much whatever you want. I  have added mushroom pieces, spinach, onions...sometimes asparagus or tomatoes. Or you can just leave it as the sausage cause it's uber delicious that way.

Spread the last package of cream cheese over the sausage layer.
Unroll the last package of rolls over the top.
Bake according to crescent roll package directions (usually about 20 works)