HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Goodbye 2011. Hello 2012!

We wish you all good things for the new year.

Vacation Food

One of the favorite things about preparing for our ocean vacation is making some of our favorite dinner meals ahead of time.   Having frozen just the right amount, I pull a home-made dinner out in the morning to thaw.  There’s no cooking except the pasta or steamed veggies that go with the famous family recipe spaghetti sauce, or my beef stroganoff, and don’t forget the chicken fettuccini or the chili. Yes, I took a picture of how it looks stacked up in our vacation freezer, I am a food dork.

 We are rhythmic eaters and on this vacation we continued the rhythm. Really cuts down on the holiday weight gain our culture is known for. Plus we tend to like our food more is served in most restaurants. BUT I don’t want to cook on vacation. So for weeks before we go I am making large vats of whatever and freezing some just for our vacation.

Pack and bring whatever food you can on vacations: this is my Thursday tip.

One place peace lives

It takes us 4-5 hours to get there, depending on how well we time the ferry. This year I felt like a migrating bird going back to its proper place, we have been in this yearly cycle now for at least 15 years. LaPush Washington is our destination.

This year there was no rain, in the rain forest. I Know… a very unique year!

Day after day watching the ocean waves coming in, seems to take my stress away little bits at a time.

The first few days it feels like a struggle. I’m unsettled; I can see the beauty but have trouble relinquishing to it.

The waves and the sunsets keep pulling at my body and soul until about day 5 something lets go.

Then each day gets easier…lighter. I notice worries are leaving, really leaving, and peace is entering.

You might ask what do we do there? Well not much…I read a few books, took an few runs,and lot and lots of ocean watching and walking. We had week-end visitors and the big excitement is when the Coastguard decides to practice at twilight.

By the end of our stay we feel relaxed, we feel this way every year to some degree. But this year I think all the wrinkles got ironed out.

I feel a little guilty because I feel like I abandon my culture in the height of its most stressful time. But in the same breath I would recommend it. We walk into the New Year very rested and ready to go.

And the memories of my favorite ocean beach is not far from me. I just need to close my eyes and I can see it perfectly.

Do you have a favorite peaceful place?

2011 in our book world

What a year 2011 was! Linda wrote a fantastic wrap-up of her races, so we thought we should do a year-end recap of what happened in our manuscript’s marathon (ultra-marathon) toward publication in 2011.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Title change.  Before 2011, we had a different working title. After holiday reflection in late 2010, we both thought it was time for a title that summed up the positive, you-can-do-it message of Linda’s memoir. At a brainstorming session in January 2011, we hit on One Brave Thing a Day. The domain name was available, 1bravething was up for grabs at twitter, and we felt inspired every time we said it. We love our new title, and readers seem to, too.

• Book Doctors call.   David Henry Sterry of the Book Doctors followed up with us after November 2010′s Seattle Pitchapalooza. He and wife/co-author Arielle Eckstut provided great enthusiasm and ideas for how to find an agent and get our manuscript published. David also gave us the first professional feedback on our new title, “One Brave Thing a Day– it’s like Oprah, in the best way!”

• Website launch. With help from our brilliant designer Courtney and our tech-savvy husbands, in March we went live with this website, www.onebravethingaday.com. It’s been a real learning process, but as the year went by, we both got more comfortable using photos, making links, and figuring out what to share with the internet several times a week. We love the feedback from readers, and the archives sure make it easier to reflect on the calendar year.

• Our agent. Our first round of queries in 2011 yielded results! Stephanie DeVita of Dystel & Goderich started representing us. This was a huge step: now we had someone in publishing in New York who believed in us. We polished our proposal, and Stephanie made submissions to our first round of editors.

• Our first passes. We heard back from some editors, and while they had positive things to say about our proposal, they didn’t give us an offer.

• Our new agent. Stephanie left Dystel & Goderich to pursue another opportunity in the publishing world, so our proposal was placed in the capable hands of VP Stacey Glick. With her help, we’re getting the word out about One Brave Thing a Day.

• Over 2/3 of our manuscript DONE! There are always revisions to make and I’m hoping our editor (come on, universe!) has some great ideas for us when we finally find one another, but based on our outline, we have over two thirds of what we want to write for this book written. Some trusted folks have even read most of it. It’s shaping up!

• Support and enthusiasm is building. Linda and I have been working hard on brave things related to the book, like submitting to This I Believe, pitching to magazines, handing out our cards, and telling our story. You’ve been helping by talking up our site and giving us such great feedback. THANK YOU!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

“Peace on earth, good will to men.”

Thursday tip: stretching leftovers

My secret to making good leftovers into great leftovers? Stretching them with bonus veggies!

I had some lovely lentils left over. But they looked kind of lonely on my plate, and I had an inkling I wouldn’t feel satisfied when I finished them in about 5 bites.

So I grabbed two handfuls of spinach out of my bag of prewashed Trader Joe’s organic spinach, then grabbed a handful of broccoli from the bag of prewashed organic florets. I broke some of the bigger florets into smaller pieces and dusted everything with a crank of fresh ground pepper.

I put the two together, microwaved for 2 minutes, and had a big, satisfying, healthy lunch.

I use this trick often with curries and stir fries. I find it helps me reduce my sodium intake, increase my healthy veggies, stretch my budget, and fill up on nutrients and fiber rather than “I had lunch but I’m still hungry” afternoon snacks.

Do you have a bonus veggie strategy?

Downtown holiday visit

Seattle is all lit up for the holidays downtown, so Heather and her favorite family went for a field trip. While it’s hard to know exactly what Heather likes, she lets us know what she doesn’t like. For years when her class went downtown for their holiday field trip, they would try the carousel and Heather would holler.

So this year we just opted for the in front of the carousel photo op, while Dasia and her dad rode on it… I think everyone is happier.

This sweet picture is rare as Heather wraps her arm around Dasia. Heather has an affection for her and vice versa, and they don’t get to spend that much time together, so it was a special day.

I think that is what makes the holidays special for all of us. We carve out the time to spend time with people in our lives we care about, and do special sparkly things and make memories and take pictures. I already can see the changes in Dasia from the last time we took their picture together.

Cheers to your holidays and who you will spend it with. From our house to yours may it carry warmth and blessing.

One brave quotation

Because I’m feeling a little silly today…

I don’t know the meaning of the word “surrender.” I mean, I know it, I’m not dumb… just not in this context.

- The Tick (one my favorite cartoon superheroes)

And the winner is…

Saturday night, many creatures were stirring, but before our holiday party, we picked a winner for the contest. First, I made sure every comment had an entry.

We folded all the entries equally and mixed them in a gift bag. Then Jordan did the honors of picking our winner:

MARGE!

Congratulations, Marge! I’m sending you a private message to get your mailing address, and I’ll get your prize in the mail to you pronto.

Thank you all so much for joining our contest. We’ve loved your enthusiasm.

Final day of our contest: comment to enter

Happy Friday, everyone! How’s your week been?

Thank you to everyone who chimed in to make the week on the blog one of support and excitement. This weekend we’ll do the random drawing to pick the winner of the One Brave Thing a Day mousepad.

You have until midnight tonight, Friday December 16, to add more comments to get your name entered more times into our prize drawing. We’ll be pulling names of commenters on posts from last Wednesday’s (Rock ‘n’ Roll!) through today’s. You get one entry per comment you’ve made, and if you refer a friend who mentions you in their post, we’ll enter you a bonus time.

Good luck! We wish we had enough mousepads to give to each of you; you’re all winners, and we love that you’re inspired by our title. Go out and live it, and have a healthy, happy weekend! One Brave Thing a Day.