Deceived

Maybe I'm a little behind my nutrition knowledge, but I just found out yesterday that artificial sweeteners can be bad for you.  What?!  So I'm not supposed to eat sugar as a sweetener, and now I'm not supposed to eat non-sugar sweeteners either?  What kind of options does a girl have then?  Or are there sweeteners that aren't sugar and not artificial?

This wouldn't be that big of an issue for me except for the fact that I love this pseudo-crystal light stuff that I buy at the store.  We drink it every night because not only does it taste great, but it's zero calories and zero sugar.  When I found out about it I thought it was too good to be true, and now I've found out that it is.  Sigh.

A very nice Sunday

It was hot!  And after some grilled burgers and ice cream, we headed over to the park.  Our friends Khale, Sarah and Lily joined us.  I realized how nice it is to have husbands at the park with you so that they can help with watching the kids (so you can actually talk to your friends)!  Anyway it was a great afternoon, and despite weather reports we didn't get stormed on!  I realize I'm posting yet again a ton of park pictures, but that seems to be the activity of choice these days!

When it rains, it really does pour

I've pretty much given up running (although I'm a big fan) for other kinds of workouts, simply because it started to hurt my knees a while back.  When I was in highschool, I would run down the street and out into nearby farmland with beautiful trees and green pastures.  It was so wonderful, being away from everything and being able to just run.  It's the only sport where I don't have to be coordinated (and trust me, I'm not), and all I need are a pair of good running shoes.  Anyway, I miss it. Yesterday Eric and I decided to pop out of the house and go for a run in the afternoon.  It was a beautiful morning, but of course the moment we stepped outside it started to rain.  "Should we bag it?" I asked Eric.  He replied that if things got worse we could always turn around, so off we went.  Not only did things get worse, but the rain got really bad, and the wind picked up.  But once we were wet, we were wet, and we kept on going.  It was such a liberating feeling, and when we got home it made me miss my runs even more.  My knees, however, were feeling the pain, so I'll probably have wait awhile until my next excursion.  Oh, to be young again!  

Maybe I'm a bad wife...

but I made Eric skip class yesterday.  After all, it was Patriot's Day, only the coolest day of the year out here in Massachusetts!  Last year I celebrated with Aspen while Eric was at school and had such a great time, I figured he couldn't move away without seeing what all the hype was

about.

We started off the day in Concord, one of our favorite places.  They had a quaint little parade, very short, with amazing costumes!  Most of the paraders wore revolutionary period clothing, and they were all so well put together!  I was very impressed, and a little envious of the paraders.  I've always wanted to be in a parade.

Later in the day we stopped by mile 19 of the Boston Marathon and cheered on the runners. This is my favorite part of Patriot's Day.  It's so inspiring to see those runners working so hard, so many of them for a cause they really believe in.  Maybe one day I'll get my rear in gear and run it!  I was kicking myself yesterday that I haven't seriously considered doing it.  I think it would be amazing, though!  In the evening we went to get some ice cream with a bunch of friends from church.  What a perfect way to end a day, right?

Okay, so these photos of us grabbing ice cream are actually from a couple days earlier, when it was 70 degrees out (hello).  Last night it was raining and cold, but I didn't snap any photos, so here's us at the same place a couple days earlier!  By the way, Eric said celebrating Patriot's Day was way cooler than going to class.....

This and That

I've never been a huge fan of coconut, but lately I can't seem to get enough.  Coconut curry, coconut flakes on everything, I've even got coconut scentsy hanging in our jeep.  Anyway I found this coconut lentil recipe I can't wait to try, and found some masala naan at Trader Joe's to go with it.  Yum!  Anyone out there have a good coconut recipe they'd like to share?
Aspen's favorite thing lately is to grab one of our water bottles (the pop-the-top kind) and take a swig.  She does this by dramatically tossing her head as far back as it will go, either with one or two hands.  If we drank alcohol I think she'd prefer a shot glass.

Today Aspen and I went to the park with our friends Jodi and Darian.  The park was gorgeous, right beside Spy Pond.  You know you've got a kid when you scout out parks.  It was a beautiful day, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Red Sox Mania

It's real, everyone.  Ohhh so real.  I've never seen anything like Red Sox mania in my life! Furniture stores giving out free furniture if the Red Sox win the world series, restaurants giving away free food if they win just a normal game.  People paying thousands of dollars to go to a single game.  When the season starts, it's nothing but Red Sox, all the time.  If you've ever seen Fever Pitch, it's just like that.  I have to say though, I do admire the stalwartness of the fans.  Even if they lose, the fans are true.  

Don't ask me.....

Can someone please explain to me how this could in any possible way be comfortable?  I'm stumped, but my baby does it every night!

Thank you, Jack Johnson

I've been a Jack Johnson fan for a couple years now, and discover new reasons to be one all the time.  Two of my recent reasons are as follows:

1.  When I get really desperate for a free moment I can play Jack's Upside Down music video from Curious George on youtube, and Aspen's glued.  She can appreciate his music even at her age, which is awesome.

2.  At the gym where I work out there's always techno music being played.  It's pretty weird stuff, but one day amidst all the chaotic synthesizers Jack Johnson came on and it was like I was being transported to a sandy beach instead of a sweaty gym.  Now who could complain about that?!