Don't forget about the Whole Chicken!

J act We have been trying to save money to the extreme this past year. I had started boiling whole chickens. One reason was because I wanted to save money, yet another reason was that it was useful for the next few days. I also knew that the whole chicken was supposed to be better for you. 

I started by boiling the chicken in a pot of water with simple spices and cloves of garlic. Soon I threw in veggies. Mainly carrots, onions and celery. I have now been more and more interested in the Real Food lifestyle. Which I had always been swaying towards even before I started learning and reading about these smaller domestic farming ideals. I fell in love with Weed'em and Reap blog.  

Definately let me know what you think. http://www.weedemandreap.com/ 

I have been curious what people think about these concepts. 

One of the things I took away from these ideals is that orgins and the bones should be apart of our diet, and by slow simmering the chicken with its liver other bits for awhile and then retuning the meat picked chicken to slow cook made a really mean favoriful stock. This stock is then used in a lot of meals. 

Once it had been strained and bottled. I take the bones and freeze them for the next whole chicken shock I make. I will freeze the tops of celery & carrots when I am using them for another meal and then I always have veggies to trow in the stock as well. 

On a good week I make this twice. If I get extra stock that I am not sure when I will use I will freeze in muffin pans. Once frozen place in freezer bags for convenient cooking for any last-minute meals. 

I have been improving my "ways" each time and this last chicken I used everything but a small portion of the bird. I saved back the scraps that were good for mattock, our dog, to feed him throughout the week as a supliment to his dry food. 

This picture ain't pretty but I was still a wee bit proud of my efforts to use most the chicken. 

This is what I did NOT use...

Pomegranates!

I love everything about pomegranates. I love that they are not convenient to get to those delious jewels. I love that I can destress and watch a movie while I disassemble the whole thing. I love the designs inbetween each cluster. Even the jewels themselves are unique and awesome. The burst of flavor and the tartness that isn't too tart like pomegranate juice or flavored Pom things. They are what they are, so deal and stop trying to make them something they aren't. They are a beautiful fruit! I love that Gwyneth loves them too!

What I've been doing...

We got 125 Days of snowboarding in this last season '08-'09, and it was amazing! Every bit of it; even through the holiday season when I was working every night for over 14 Days in a row as well as snowboarding everyday. It kicked my butt a few times and I had to stuck it up. Over the spring we did a bit a traveling. Road tripin' it out to the mid-west. Feel free to check out my facebook albums of everything we've done.

I have done a few mountains bike races this season. I have beat all my previous set records (not that they were amazing)! My best one was Berry Creek. I was not at the very bottom of the list and I dropped 10mins off my time. Steep climb and decent short course, 4 miles in under 37 mins. Short & sweet!

We went to California for the fourth! Hung out at the beach, saw the SF MOMA, and the top of Herzog & de Meuron, de Young Museum. Saw the golden gate & ate at the oldest sourdough place in SF Boudins, also ate at my favoriate resturant The Steps of Rome. YUM! My brother proposed to Marcie on the top of her birthday hike at Pinnacles. It was all very exciting. We also had a Happy 30th Birthday party for Marcie. CONGRATS to my brother & Marcie!!

Summer is here now in the Vail Valley and I only have two mountain bike races left this season. I might not get to do this weeks because I was camping and hurt myself pretty bad by jumping off of a 60' cliff into the river completely wrong. I was doing fine if it was 50' cliff, but the last 10' my body shifted to almost parallel to the surface of the water.

To say the least I have to worst bruise of my life. I cannot sit or walk very well. I am hoping it heals enough so that I can race on Wednesday. But right now it is worse than that picture. It is swollen and much darker and filled in, OUCH!
EPIC FAIL!!!!

But I will have to say it was Incredibly invigorating & fun (just with and big oops at the end)!

Things are good!

I am sitting here enjoying a rich dark beer. As I look through the beer at the mountains it seems like a dream. The outlines of each majestic hill filtered through a haze of red bubbles. I really couldn’t ask for anything better than I have right now!

About 2 ½ months ago I was laid off of my job that I got right after graduation. This was a little bit of a blow to my ego. I felt like I have always had it somewhat together. Then finding out that I am unemployed really seems weird, BUT things were looking up. There were new opportunities that were all open for the taking. I was elected on the board of directors for my local professional organization here in Vail. I hit the ground running. I had an interview with a firm, finished my resume & portfolio done, and contacted 20 firms in less than a week. Then less than a week later the market crashed. No one was hiring. People don’t start new architecture projects when the economy is struggling. They even put projects on hold when things are as bad as they are. My firm was unable to take the blow as they were already feeling the economic squeeze before the crash. Everyone went to hourly and two of us were laid off.

Two weeks after I was laid off my husband, Curtis, was one of a few in his office that were laid off.

What do you do when you don’t have savings and no job and there is no outlook for any job anytime soon? Good question. I had not learned that part of Architecture in school. I thought I had learned everything there. Well I learned a lot there, and one thing is to make the most of what you have.

We didn’t want to leave the Vail Valley as we are just getting used to the life style here. We let our landlords know our situation, and they were more than awesome!!! We were given many tasks to complete before the big snow came to work off rent. Now we have 6 months that we can wait the economy out.

Yesterday we found out that my past firm, Morter Architects, had to close up shop. They laid off everyone and are moving the company to their home in Austin. This really messes with our possibilities of getting a job out here this next summer. So where should we go next? Where do you go after Vail?

So all said I am really happy right now… Curtis and I have had so much time together. It is so wonderful to really just be together. We have our whole lives in front of us. It is really going to be hard to start working again when it comes to that time though. I could get used to the ski bum life. Although I do miss architecture!!

Anyone want to come visit me…? We could go skiing!

Things.

Music.

My new favorite signer is Duffy. She is huge right now, but I got her album, Rockferry and it is awesome. I recommend it.

We are going to an outdoor concert on Friday. New York Philharmonic playing: Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, & Sibelius. It should be great. I haven’t been to one yet that is at the Ford amphitheater. I am told that everyone bring picnics and make it a social event. Should be fun!! Plus my firm designed the amphitheater.

Races.

My mountain bike races are pretty much over my head. But they are fun and I enjoy the challenge. My first goal for each race is to FINISH. Then my second goal is to not be very last. These goals sound pathetic but they are for real. I have to put all I have in these races to reach one or both of these goals. Last year I only beat one racer a guy at Davos. Davos is the worst race; really steep and only up, and a lot of people puke. This year I cut off 9mins on that race. And I beat two girls. This was huge for me.

My race yesterday, Camp Hale, was pretty hard and I thought I was going to get sick (I wasn’t the only one). That map on the link isn't very accurate profile, notice the only 400ft hight (usually it is a thousand or more). It was 11 miles and I pushed it hard.

I finished! YAY… And I beat at least one girl, I really tried hard for the "not last"; I was in pain. I know there were three others that I passed but they might not have finished. Either way I reached both of my goals, then I helped mow the yard after. I am still sore. This is the first time my calves hurt the next day.

Camping.

We went camping a few weeks ago. It had been a while since I have been, but when I was little we would go all the time. So it was look being a kid again. We hiked all around our site. We found a waterfall. Not just a little waterfall but fairly substantial. It was FREEZING. We were somewhere at about 9 to 10,000ft. Snow runoff. We even got the see the moon rise I don’t think I have ever seen that before. The moon seems to be up all day, but it came up from behind a ridge almost full. It was beautiful. I love camping. Next time I am bringing my bike. Here are a few pictures of the camp out. For more.

A little note for those drivers out there!

I just wanted to say that I think 75% of drivers don’t care about the rest of the drivers. Here are a few things I am concerned with and faced with almost every time I am driving.

1. Pay attention. I know everyone does it; being lazy or multi tasking. BUT IT IS UNACCEPTABLE. There are kids, bikes, other cars, & many more obstacles that are needing you to pay attention.

2. Stay in your lane. Don’t just slide over like no one in the world is driving around you. I can’t express enough the amount of times I am in a roundabout when someone just comes right over into my lane and cuts me off & potentially runs into me. That is my number one pet peeve.

3. Stay in the right lane UNLESS PASSING! This one thing that most people don’t care about. BUT IT IS THE LAW when you are on the freeway. The other part of this law in most places is to not go under 55 in the left lane (expectation for traffic). PLEASE don’t sit in the left lane people are trying to pass in that lane. Again pay attention.

4. If you are on an entrance ramp to a Freeway (or whatever you want to call it), please accelerate. If you are going 40 and trying to merge that is unacceptable. Let’s refer to point 1. Pay attention you are about to get on a very fast road; if you can’t handle it get out the way.

That’s all… Just wanted to say something because it seems that no one cares anymore that they are in a car and it is not a right.

great weekend.

This weekend was awesome. We went to California to visit. We started out with a late night Chess game at my brother’s place Thursday night. Friday we had breakfast with my mom and brother at Stacks. We stopped by to say hi at my old office, HPS Architects.

After having sangria in the sun at Cascals we headed up to Berkeley, CA. We fit 6 people in the car. One of us was in the back of the car they had to lay down; saving on gas for the hour ride up there.

When we got to Berkeley we went to the East Bay Vivarium; where we picked out our new friend, a pet tortoise. He is so little.

After visiting all the reptiles at the vivarium we had pizza at Zachary’s also in Berkeley. The best pizza in the West that I have had. YUM!

That next day we got some tacos at Jack in the Box and In & Out Burgers. Two things I can’t get here in the mountains. There was a picnic with great food and drinks & at the end of the night we played poker. This guy, Ted, that my brother works with is quite good at poker. He seems to be good at everything he puts his mind to. Like the race he did this spring in Africa across the dessert, and got 16th out of 800 some people. I got to play him heads up, it wasn’t easy but I beat him. Love poker.

The next morning, Sunday, We headed up the in the hills to do Muddy Buddy. What a race. The first leg that I biked, Curtis ran, was pretty steep up hill for over a half mile. That was pretty intense for muddy buddy. The rest of the course was rolling hills. The whole race was 6 miles. I am not much of a runner, so this was killer for my legs. We did well about that top third in our category. It was fun. The Lero’s were there racing with us. They did really well too. They were in the top half. Muddy indeed.

My other friend Tyson and his buddy Mark rocked the course and got 22 out of everyone; as well as 11th in there category. Nice. Later that day we went to the beach and jumped in the waves and then took a nap on the sand. Monday my dad took us golfing on his new golf course. It was a beautiful course, and fairly easy. My parents did really well and are thinking about getting into the sport. YAY.

As we were leaving I left my purse in my brother’s car, and right now he doesn’t have a cell phone. Thus, I don’t have my purse. But what a great weekend. We had so much fun.

it's been awhile.

It is funny how life changes so fast. My life is very different from a year ago. Well, school is always unique way to live. I would not want to go back anytime soon though. I am currently trying to get my LEED accreditation, and it reminds me of school and how much I disliked the whole thing...

Here in Vail there is a different pace, different way of life, and interesting collection of people. Mountain people live: small town, everyone knows everyone; all of them are “SUPER Mountain people?”




I used to think I was average, but people out here are incredible. I am below average here. This one guy just hiked his 100th 13er and his friend is just shy of her 400th 13ers. My co-worker, and a select few, are single speed mountain bikers. That means ONE speed not 21 speed for going up mountains on a bike. That is insane. Others are tri-athletes that are constantly training. Somewhere around 1 out of 5 people are pro or ex-pro athletes. The image is Tom who also dose single speed. He is on our team.

Me, I can barley handle a 2 mile run or an 8 miles bike race, besides training in this altitude. I like this crazy athletic attitude because it is motivating. You hardly ever see people over weight. But sometimes it is discouraging when you are walking down the mountain with your bike. I can’t even get down the hill let along get up it.

This winter I boarded over 50days. I was super proud of myself. Then I heard this lady ask the lifty how many days she had…. 128…

That image is Paul and his huge dog, cypress. The end of the season everyone dresses up. (I will show you mine soon... I wear my swimsuit with tank.. silly.)

This mud season, when all the snow melts and the dog poo thaws, I had a bum elbow. The end of the season I got nerve damage in my elbow (my funny bone) from going off too big of a ramp and landing on a cat walk. I hate cat walks. This hindered me from training for my bike races. I tried a little but it was not worth it. My elbow would just get reinjured. I went to Physical Training which helped a lot. I got out and the next week I started the Mountain bike race series. I am on the Morter Architects Team. It is fun when it comes to an office activity. Yet it is torture trying not to be last. This last race was my first race to beat someone in my category. That was huge. I really do love doing the races. It makes you feel excellent and accomplished. It is a rush for sure.

It is fun to be challenged all the time but it is exhausting. Now I am trying to ride my bike to work or back. Right now only one way every day to save on gas and get a workout at the same time. The way to my office is easy and downhill most the way for 8.5 miles. Now I can do it in 20mins. I only have gone back home once; it is up hill most the way. I did it in less than 50 minute. One of these days I will be fit.

Life at home is amazing. My husband is everything I could ever want. He is ready to go all the time. There is never enough time in the day to do all the things we want to do. Clean the house, do lawn work, play tennis, go on a bike ride, play golf, go on a hike, on a run, finish Theo’s home, and I could keep going, but we can never fit it all in. That’s another reason to ride my bike to work. I take care of two things at once. Ha. You would think mountain living would be leisurely and mundane. It is not. I still want to go camping, do some volunteer work, and maybe a painting. I forced myself to write on my blog. I bet you are sorry now.

I can’t get enough of Curtis either. He works down the road from me and I still feel like I don’t get to see him enough. We love doing lunch together just to be together. Pavan, my co-worker, makes fun of me for this all the time. She makes sure to ask if I got my booty call yet today.

We are going to design tattoo rings that would be under our wedding bands. This is something I have always wanted to do with the one I married. It is very symbolic and beautiful. People have started doing this lately and I know it isn’t a new thing, but it is something I thought of on my own. It is something I would love to do. We are probably going to do it for our first year anniversary. Curtis is deathly afraid of needles, so it is a big deal that he wants to do it (especially on this finger). OUCH.

We are going to California today. My parents just moved there last month. We had this tripped planned way before they decided to move. It is nice that they will be there too. We are doing Muddy Buddy on Sunday. It is a fun silly race with a mud pit at the end. One reason I do this race is because it is care free compared to my mountain bike races. Lero and his wife also have invited us last year. We all did the race in Boulder last year. This year we are doing it with the Leros in San Jose.

We also get to see my brother and all my friends from Cali. It will be a good trip. We are also going to get a new friend for Theo. Theo is our pet tortoise who is a 2 year old female. She is famous at my work. She needs a friend, and we got Theo in Berkeley, California, at the East Bay Vivarium where we will get her new friend. Sorry this was so long but I wanted to just rant…

Mrs. Penrod to you!

I was married just a month and a half ago. You can see some of the images of our wedding. Enjoy. We had the time of our lives. The honey moon was perfect too. We got to go on a bike ride and send little baby sea turtles to the sea!!!
We have been trying to get settled but it is hard because we are busy. We started to build Theo (my pet tortoise) a vivarium (a reptile home). It is really nice 4.5’ x 2’. There will be plants, a water fall with pond, a cave, and multiple levels to reach. It will be awesome. It is hard to build because it has got cold and snowy outside.
Last night we started building our snow ramp. It is Perfect. We have a big granite outcropping to get some speed. I jumped a little. It was fun. I will be putting up pix and a video later. Well, I am off to play a game.

Maggie & Mollie

We have new Schnauzer puppies. Well My parents do. Maggie and Mollie are the new additions to the family. They are sisters and 11 weeks old. One is white she is bigger (that is Mollie) and much more calm. Maggie is the feisty one. They are too cute.

OH yeah, By the way...

Curtis and I found a place to live. It is awesome. PERFECT. I never thought life could be so great, so amazing, so wonderful. I have been waiting for life to happen. And now I have arrived. I live and work in Vail, Colorado. I do mountain bike races (well I wrecked my last one). And I can’t think of anything I could want more. I am truly happy.

I move in September 8th, 2007. Curtis will move in after the wedding. OH YEAH… I didn’t say I was going to get MARRIED. I will soon be Breanne Michelle Penrod. That sounds weird. Next week I will be 25 years old. That means I have had my name for 25 years. NOW it will change. I thought about not changing it or maybe doing the hyphen thing. But that just sux. I mean what kid wants a complex about there last name and then dose a daughter have a trip hyphened name when they get married or then who would marry into a hyphened name NO one. No I am changing my name (I already ask Curtis if he wanted to take my name… That didn’t go over well). HAHA.

So my name change happens on October 13th, 2007!!! Very soon… I am ready. Let’s go!

This is how every JEEP should be treated!

JEEPS need their space!

life is perfect!

I have entered the IPOD world. I have been very interested in the IPOD advertising effort. I put a lot of stock in advertising and image. I think it is important to understand a companies passion for what they are selling or their effort to try and get my attention. And when a company puts a lot of thought into it it is effortless to accept. That is what I like. I don’t want to do the work to find out if I think the product is worth my while. Now that doesn’t mean I can afford it. So I have been waiting until the right time to get an IPOD (and maybe if they came out with wireless setup).

My perfect boyfriend got me the RED Nano for graduation (oh and I will have pictures of Graduation soon). He got me one of those arm bands too (love it), so I can work out with music. I have always wanted a small convenient soundtrack to my work out. YAY!

Speaking of working out today I found out I lost 12 lbs in the last few months. I am very happy (thanks to stress and slimfast). I went to show my mom how the equipment at the gym worked this morning. We are going to try to get in shape to feel better and more healthy. Very excited. I pretty much am the happiest Girl in the world. I could not ask for a better life. NOW that I have graduated there is nothing looming over my head (except for my loans, but I am thankful I was able to have them really). I mean I am loving my job, my location, my wonderful boyfriend (who treats me like the queen of the world), and everything in my life. Everything in my life so far has been just waiting for something to happen: getting out of high school, starting college, getting each project done, starting internships, waiting to move to the next place, back to school, and waiting to graduate. NOW, it is perfect! All that work and stress for reaching my goals. I still have goals and things that I am looking forward to, but it is such a relief to know that I can develop as an architect in one place for more than a 3 to 6 month stretch at a time. I thank God everyday for how blessed my life is and is becoming!

Snow in May…

Yesterday, I woke up and it was snowing. It snowed a good amount above 10,000 ft. As I was driving over the pass it was interesting to see the line at which the snow became rain. I never really have seen it so defined. One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

So I started my job a week ago. It is everything I hoped it would be. Yesterday, I went out with the girls at Curtis’ work. They invited me to girls night out. We went to a restaurant called Kelly Liken. It was half off because of the off-season. It was amazing. You can only dream of being that good of a cook. YUM>>>> so I could not bring myself to just eat anything after an amazing meal like that. Today I went down to the store and bought a bunch of cheeses and fruit as well as lunch items. That were good too. I am loving it. Thank you God for the mountain country.

Where dose all the motivation go…

I can’t focus… Focusing on something is not something I am good at anyway. I am a little scattered sometimes and I don’t really get focused unless I have to. I am currently truly unable to focus. I have tried. I have made lists and goals for each day, BUT NOTHING. I do not follow the list and goals I fail in keeping my mind on topic. I am only going to graduate by the grace of God.

Graduation to JOB

You don’t even know how blessed my life is… God has been looking out for me every step up of the way. I received a call yesterday from my number one choice of Firms. They called to offer me a job. I am so excited this firm is ideal for me. It is Morter Architects. They are in Vail, Co where I will be soon after I graduate in May. So there you go. I am an Intern Architect.

52 days

My boyfriend is the best thing in the whole world. Yesterday I had a second interview with Morter Architects in Vail. So I went to see Curtis for his lunch. We decided we were going to go ice skating that night so I stayed in Eagle-Vail until he was off work. I was starting to feel really sick. After work Curtis made me dinner and I didn’t feel up to skating, so we watched a bunch of shows (the office).

I rapidly felt worse and worse, and it was getting late. I didn’t feel like I could drive over the pass to my parents. I felt so bad. SO my perfect boyfriend drove me all the way to my parents and then drove back (that is 40 minutes both ways). I am so thankful too. I am still feeling WAY under the weather.

Before this week I have been non stop with school. Studio mid-critique was last Wednesday. I pretty much didn’t sleep or think before that trying to get my project done. I had a pretty successful crit, so that is a burden off my shoulders. Now there is only 52 day until I graduate. I cannot wait.

The beginning of this semester we went to Texas for a studio fieldtrip. We went to the Nasher, Kimble, The Modern, and Marfa.

Promise!!!

Last weekend was a great time we (Curtis and I) got to see each other and friends. We went to gallery night and saw a lot of fun local art. Then stopped by the Beaux Arts Ball and that was fun. Jimmy, Josie, her sister, Amy, and Philby all tried sushi for the first time. They all were intrigued, but Philby was the only one who would try our raw sushi. The others had California rolls and a dragon roll. Curtis took quite a liking to sushi when we went to visit my brother in Cali last May. Rick’s roommate is a sushi chief, and quite a GREAT one!!! Anyways… Then we proceeded out on the town and found out that Kansas City is open till 3 am; that is way too late for me! I must be getting old. HA HA…

We went to the Nelson-Adkins’ Museum. It was quite enjoyable and worth the trip. For dinner we had Minskie’s, a little Italian pizzeria. GOOD>>> CHEESE. I ate way too much because it was sooo delicious. Good times. The next day we went shopping, I got Curtis a much needed NEW pair of Oakley’s for our fist year gift. They look great on him. He got me flowers, candy and some very nice cute pants. The plaza was very nice, but then I had to drive him to the airport. Man that was not fun!!!

Had a cit on Monday; then I came down with the flu!!! BOOOO. I pretty much slept for three days. Skipped studio, and other classes in efforts to try and get better. Being ill by one's self is a horrible experience. No one is there to take care of you or care that you are suffering. This is ONE of the only major down falls to living on your own. I like living on my own for the most part. I do not like having to deal with illness on my own. I didn’t even feel like going to the store to get food or medicine that I needed. It is bad enough to be sick without your mom there, but with no one… man. You start to realize “through sickness and health” really means more than you could hope just a promise.

I had a marketing test today and the test was simple but very deceiving. Trick questions should not be allowed in an educational setting unless it is for a magician’s school. By the way magician is a weird word.

Luckiest!

This weekend I am going to KC for Curtis and mine’s first year anniversary. This is a huge deal for us. I have never felt like staying with a guy that long until Curtis came along. We are going to go to Friday Night Gallery and Beaux Arts Ball. We are going to hang out with Curtis’ sister Amy, Jimmy, and Matt. So it is going to be a busy weekend. TO start it out my perfect boyfriend sent me a dozen orchid stems. They are White and Perfect and smell amazing. I just am completely HAPPY.

My sister and her family have trekked across the country and are visiting my parents now. They are having a lot of fun. At least it looks like it. The kids are getting sooo big! Little people…

Disneyland FUN!

Jonny has a new best friend!

Kaitlyn has high Aspirations!

HALLOWEEN! BOO!

Jonny might have you walk the plank.

For Halloween Sally and I were pixies… It was just a good excuse to look cute. BUT I did do a little bit of research on pixies, because it became a debate on what the difference between pixies, fairies, and nymphs were. A Fairy is an imaginary supernatural being, usually resembling a small person, with magic powers. The difference, according to the sources I had, were that Pixies are smaller than fairies (4” vs. 5”), but unlike fairies they can morph to human size and are more powerful and mischievous. Pixies can not fly while in their large morphed state their wings morph into their back. But they have wing when they are small and can fly. They are not green but when small have a green aura and like to wear green. Nymphs they are small fairy like but usually don't have clothes on. Nymph is a sprit of nature; a minor goddess or spirit of nature in mythology, inhabiting areas of natural beauty such as woods, mountains, and rivers and traditionally regarded as a beautiful young woman. Now you know something you might not have.
Sally worked and won the costume contest at her work. She was very adorable; even had fun shoes. Sorry no pictures of that I still need to get a camera. So I am going to pack for KC, you all have an amazing weekend!

Life is good!

Today I worked out really hard. Yesterday I did too.... Now I am a little sore, but it feels good! I have not had much motivation on things, but this weekend my parents came to visit and we had soooo much fun. I DID eat Very well by the way. They help me get more motivated it was nice to have someone intown that care for you so much. It is a little harsh in architecture and sometimes you don't think anybody cares about you.

But then I have the best man in the world who is just across the plains. I got more flower from him. These ones are Beautiful!!! (and yellow :)

My appartment is nice and neat right now because I cleaned supper well before my mom got here and then she of course put her touch on it! I really like my appartment.