Pearly Whites

Ok, so that "What's Cooking" background was officially the ugliest background I've ever had. I couldn't wait to change it. I think it's served its time.

Anyway, here is the picture I was telling you about last time, with the prizes they won from "Elmo's Birthday Party" at Borders (minus Elmo.)

I have no idea what we'll do with that big yellow thing. Right now it's just taking up space in the closet. Come to think of it, a lot of things are just taking up space in the closet. (My sister-in-law Michelle, a personal organizer, is probably just cringing right now! Yes, I have a lot of purging and organizing to do around here; maybe in my next life when I have some "spare time." Then again, I apparently have enough spare time to write on my blog. Did I just have a whole conversation with myself?)

We haven't been up to a whole lot lately, except Emily did have her first ever dentist appointment on Monday. She was so excited and did great (or so Jeremy said, he's the one who went back with her.) Here she is in the dentist chair.

The above picture just cracks me up. I don't know if it's the pants, the cowboy boots, or the sunglasses, but it just makes me laugh.

And Lord help me if someone ever takes a picture of me in the dentist's chair!

Food, Glorious Food

If you notice my new background, it reads, "What's Cooking?" Well, certainly not oatmeal, beans, and rice anymore. We ended our food challenge on Friday after doing our taxes (the time seemed right.) We celebrated surviving the week by going to Broadway Pizza, and it tasted delicious. Even throughout the rest of the day I found myself forgetting that I could actually eat other food I had been denying myself all week. Little things like animal crackers that the girls were eating, or fruit. We also went to dinner that night with some friends (had a free buffet coupon) so needless to say, we didn't go hungry on Friday. Come to find out, that wasn't the wisest choice. Although I didn't eat all that much, my stomach has had a hard time adjusting to real food after eating such small amounts of plain food all week. I woke up in the middle of the night last night and seriously thought I was going to get sick. I didn't, but my stomach still isn't back to normal. Who knows how long it'll take.

As we were eating lunch on Friday, I commented to Jeremy that looking back, the week and its diet went by pretty fast. Maybe not at the time, but isn't that how life always is. We are glad we did it, and have come to appreciate what we have a lot more. And all week I have been craving Fogo de Chao's chocolate mousse cake like crazy. It's like I'm pregnant or something (NO, I AM NOT.)

I mentioned in the last post that I was asking God to show me something special this week. He did not disappoint me. It wasn't really anything related to the diet or reaching those less fortunate, but he touched my heart in other ways and showed me several instances of his hand in my life and ways to reach others. Now I need to act on these things since I asked for them! Why did God show up in special ways this week? Was it just because of the diet? I don't think it was. I think it was simply because I asked him to. Maybe he saw that I was willing to give something up to gain a greater understanding from him, or maybe it was just because I cared to ask and wait. There is not a special formula for this. Anyone who wants to find greater purpose in their life. . . it's there for the asking. Read his Word the Bible, get to know him better, and he can't wait to pour out his blessings in your life. For me this wasn't material blessings this week but opportunities for me to reach others with His love. Now I need to take advantage of these opportunities and keep seeking him; we only have power if we are connected to the source.

On another note, we had a fun Saturday together as a family today. We took the girls to storytime at Borders this morning, and the theme was 'Elmo's Birthday Party.' Wouldn't you think that maybe Elmo would be there? Nope. Just a lady who read some Elmo books, sang a few little songs with them, had them color a picture of Elmo's face, and asked them some Elmo trivia. The girls enjoyed it, though, and even got their names drawn for some prizes! Here is Emily with the 2 prizes they won: a SpongeBob poncho and a giant Fancy Nancy book. (Nevermind, my pictures aren't loading from my memory card right now. So just imagine Emily wearing a huge yellow poncho, standing next to one of those huge books like they used to read in elementary.) Anyway, it was neat that they won something -- they obviously inherited Jeremy's luck, not mine!

5-Day Food Challenge update

Some of you might be wondering how the 5-day Food Challenge is going that Jeremy and I are doing. If you didn't know, we are participating in a challenge to eat only what much of the world eats for five days, portion size as well. Therefore we are on our third day of eating only rice, beans, tortillas, oatmeal, cornbread, and tap water. We eat three meals a day, no more than a cup of food per meal. So far we are still alive and well. The food has been bland, to say the least, and we have definitely been hungry at times. However, each day has seemed to get better. I admit that I have been crabby at times because I just want some fruit or chocolate, or some popcorn to eat while watching American Idol or the Olympics. But I am sticking it out and will make it two more days. I am asking God to show me something special this week, whether it's just a bigger appreciation of all we have, or something else!

Valentine's Day

It was a fun Valentine's weekend around the Brandt house. I already told you about Fogo De Chao on Friday, but what I didn't mention was that Jeremy was also planning a surprise for me on Saturday. That is, until I walked downstairs and he was in the middle of a phonecall to a friend and I accidentally heard some plans. So the surprise element was gone, but it all worked out great. We went with some friends to a restaurant called "The Nook" in St. Paul. It's a hole-in-the-wall burger place but apparently has been featured on The Food Network, and it was delicious. Jeremy got a burger that had pepperjack cheese inside the hamburger (like a Juicy Lucy if you've heard of that). I got a plain burger (big surprise there), onion rings, and a shake. Afterwards we walked around the shops in Maple Grove for a bit and then went home to rescue the babysitter.

The next morning the girls woke up to a Valentine's table and thought that was pretty cool.

After church we decorated heart sugar cookies and that was fun, too.

It was a great Valentine's Day and I hope yours was good, too!

Now this week Jeremy and I are participating in a 5-day food challenge that our church is doing. They just started a series called the Micah Project (based on the verse Micah 6:8) and are challenging everyone to participate by eating only what much of the world eats: rice, beans, oatmeal, cornbread, tortillas, bits of fish or chicken (not more than a chicken nugget size), and tap water. Eat three meals a day, no more than 1 cup of food per meal. It's not like a total fast, but will still be tough. So far the first day is going well, and the red beans and rice mixture I have cooking in the slow cooker for dinner tonight actually smells pretty good! Around 11:00 this morning I was getting pretty hungry and found myself getting crabby with the girls. But I want to stick with it all week and not cheat! I have never done anything like this so pray for me! We want to feel the hunger pains that half the world feels, and appreciate what we have so much more. We are very blessed here in America. If you want to watch a great, eye-opening video, scroll back to the top and play the "Mini Earth" video under the big picture.

P.S. Fast forward a few hours . . . although the red beans and rice mixture smelled good, it did not taste good. Despite several spices in it, it had no flavor. Therefore we became even more appreciative of all the wonderful flavors of food we have to choose from.

P.P.S. I would love to have just one Hershey's miniature chocolate right now but am not going to.

Fogo De Chao

Wow, it's been nearly 2 weeks since my last post; sad! I guess we were without our computer for nearly a week of that, and then have spent the past week catching up on work and other things. But enough excuses, now to post some updates and pictures. Today I surprised Jeremy and kidnapped him at his office for an early Valentine's gift and to celebrate him getting off "ACP" at work, which is the program he is on until his renewals reach a certain point. Kind of hard to explain, but I am so proud of him for his hard work the past 5 years. Way to go, honey! Anyway, I first took him to the indoor golf dome where we hit some golf balls. Then we went to a restaurant in downtown Minneapolis called Fogo De Chao. It's a Brazilian steakhouse where they bring out huge skewers of meat (15 different varieties of beef, chicken, lamb, and pork), as well as have a salad bar and other side dishes. It was awesome!
We had heard about it but had never been there before, so I wanted to take him there. We had a great time and the food was amazing. If you want to try it, try to hit lunch on the weekdays as it's basically half the price as dinner and the exact same food.

Jer went a little crazy and then suddenly hit the wall.

But we did manage to squeeze in a little dessert, a chocolate mousse cake. I know I posted a picture of that dessert from Manny's last time, which was great, but this was probably the best dessert I've ever had. We brought half of it home to let the girls try.

We have some other fun things planned the rest of the weekend, too. After being busy with work and other things lately it's nice to get away and spend time just the two of us and with friends.

The girls have been excited about Valentine's Day lately, too. We got our princess Valentines all ready to give to friends, and they've enjoyed all the cards and gifts from family and friends.

Have a great Valentine's Day! (unless you're married to a Nascar fan and then your husband will be watching the Daytona 500 on Sunday! That's why we're celebrating early! :)