sick @ home

well we’ve hit another “first” in our marriage.  we’ve been apart overnight (twice, actually) and now we’re sick together.  zach had a weird stomach bug the first two days he was back and now he’s recovering from a bad head cold.  this morning i woke up with a scratchy sore throat, throbbing head, and aches all over.  i thought maybe if i took a shower and just pushed through, i would feel well enough to head into work.  i got as far as my jeans when i realized that i just couldn’t do it.  ugh.  so back into bed i crawled. 

you know, if i didn’t feel so yucky, it would actually be kinda fun to be sick together.  haha.  but the throbbing head and hearing zach’s hacking cough make it decidedly un-fun. 

so we’re both hanging on the couch… dozing, playing a few games, watching a movie…  eating broth and noodles. 

hoping i feel better for tomorrow.  hoping we both do. 

me without him :(

as much as i wished and vowed that zach and i would never have to spend a week or more apart once we got married, i knew that wasn’t realistic.  opportunities and such arise and sometimes we just can’t do it all together.  like this week.  the band that zach is a part of – West Coast Revival – was invited to play as the worship band for a conference in San Diego.  so tuesday morning at 6:30am we headed to the airport where i dropped him off, saying goodbye for six days.  oof. 

i am familiar with being apart, though.  i mean, we were long-distance friends before we were in a long-distance relationship, right?  and as much as i don’t like it, i am somewhat versed in how to deal with it.  solution?  stay REALLY busy and distracted!  it’s worked out pretty well since i am in the throes of conferencing with Together 2010 less than 3 weeks away.  it hasn’t been difficult to stay busy and distracted at work with all that needs to be done!

evenings have been a little harder.  oh and night’s are the worst.  i have the hardest time falling asleep when he’s not here, and i definitely don’t sleep as well, either.  but i have manged to fill up my evenings pretty well.  here’s what i’ve been up to… 

tuesday night my sister in law (ryan’s wife) came over and we ate pizza and watched a movie and she slept over.  ryan has been out of town all week so jessica was definitely interested in filling time as well!

wednesday night was ladies night out with my small group gals.  although only one other lady was able to make it, we still had a blast painting pottery together at As You Wish.  i painted a vase with an abstract cityscape.  we’ll see how it turns out!

thursday night i hung with my bestie, raigan.  we had dinner at Joe’s Farm Grill and watched HSM3 (loving the cuteness and innocence and fun songs and choreography while simultaneously poking fun at the unavoidable cheese and ridiculousness we both have to admit is there).

(can you tell i’m taking advantage of the time to do all sorts of things that zach’s not really into?)

tonight is a girl’s night with some of the younger singles from my church. 

saturday is completely full as well – hanging with a fb friend (slash, wife of a high school friend of mine), getting dad’s father’s day present, picking up my pottery, maybe sewing some pillows for our bedroom, making another batch of sweet tea… priorities, you know.  then my Leetle Seester is coming over to spend the night with me!

all the busyness and distraction has definitely helped, although it’s no cure for the missing.  sometimes i feel like a big baby missing zach so much while he’s gone.  i mean, it’s only 6 days.  i will live.  but honestly, i’d just rather be WITH him.  that’s why i married him, right?!  hee hee. 

i’m more than ready for him to come home.  so glad it’s only 48 hours away! 

in the kitchen

my father-in-law started making homemade french bread a couple of weeks ago.  when zach and i were in pasadena we got to enjoy some of it.  my mom-in-law gave me a bunch of boomsma family recipes when we left, including the french bread recipe.  it’s super-simple and we have been loving it!  i made some yesterday and thought it would be fun to share with you all. 

ingredients:
3 cups white flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp yeast
1 1/2 cups water

step 1 – boil some pots of water (sounds silly, but just wait…).  while bringing the water to a boil, pre-heat the oven to as low of a temperature as you can (my oven turns on at just under 150*)

oh yeah – and i have some cell phone pictures.  because a blog post should always have pictures.

step 2 – mix all ingredients in a bowl

step 3 – place the pots of boiling water in the oven and then turn off the oven.  cover the bowl of dough and place it in the oven with the pots to rise for 4-5 hours.  don’t forget to actually turn the oven OFF!  turning it on was just to make it warm in there.

step 4 – (4-5 hours later)
remove the dough and pots from the oven.

(this is the dough all puffy and risen)

put a rounded dish/pot into the oven and preheat it to 425*.  once the oven is pre-heated, transfer the dough in some form of roundness (try not to handle it very much) to the pre-heated dish/pot.

step 5 – cover the dish/pot and bake for 30 minutes.  remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes.  (although i have baked it the entire time with the lid and that seems to work fine.

(yesterday i split the dough into 2 balls/dishes because i wanted to turn them into bread bowls for dinner)

it comes out a lovely golden brown, tough and crackly on the outside and soft and tasty on the inside.  last night i cut off the top and forked out some of the insides and filled them with potato broccoli cheese soup.  it was all so yummy!

this has become one of zach’s favorite things to eat.  and it’s very simple for me to make – i do the first couple steps on my lunch break and put the dough in to rise while i go back to work for the afternoon.  when i get home, it’s ready to be baked and i have nearly a full hour to make dinner while it’s in the oven.  so besides a little bit of planning ahead, it’s a cinch.  love it!

thanks for the recipe, mom/dad-in-law!