A Peek at the Poulsens

One of my BK419 roommates in college, Lura (Pura), used to say that she was 'whelmed.' Not so anxious or overcome that you are OVERwhelmed, just heavy enough or worried enough or tired enough to be 'whelmed.' Sometimes being 'whelmed' means that you can't define why you feel down or anxious or on edge or swamped, you just know that you are and it's not full panic mode yet, but you need a hug and a nap.  I think about that a lot, and I think that I am often 'whelmed' in my life as a mom and sister and daughter and wife and friend. Not completely out of control, not in need of a major course correction or intervention or life change, just not completely satisfied with how I am managing things in my life.  I felt whelmed this weekend. I don't feel like detailing everything that led me to feel this way but in summary, I was feeling like the priorities and burdens and responsibilities in my life were stacking on top of me higher and higher to the ...

Austin is training for his first full marathon this September! He amazes me. As he started to do longer runs more consistently he commented that he could definitely tell that what he was eating was either fueling his runs or slowing him down. I remembered my friend Shaina (hi, Shaina!!) raving about a cookbook for runners a while ago and reached out to her to get the details, and a quick Amazon prime delivery later and we had it in our hands. It's called Run Fast, Cook Fast, Eat Slow. It's the second cookbook from this team of authors. Shalane Flanagan is a decorated American long distance runner, and Elyse Kopecky is a chef and nutritionist who also enjoys long distance running. They teamed up to write these cookbooks for runners who were tired of not getting the nutrition they needed. There are tons of recipes of course, but they also write little blurbs before each recipe and sometimes in between. I really appreciate their philosophy on nutrition: eat nourishing, whole foods...

Things I love about Cheyenne: I haven't driven more than 15 minutes to get anywhere that I need to go IT ISN'T HUMID The air is crisp and clean and clear (see above^^) Our wood floors and red door and nice windows and new colorful rug and not clutter everywhere The playgrounds are open!!  A bigger, new fridge Being so much closer to my parents in Utah The pine trees and old west feel Austin loves his job and enjoys his coworkers The constant breeze through our open windows  Things I don't like: Way higher cost of living (like, whyy?!) rent, groceries, utilities, freaking splash pad...everything is higher Moths No A/C Our Lincoln friends don't live here Claire has taken to putting her blankie over her head and body and crawling around like this. She looks so cute and also terrifying hahaha, some sort of blue alien monster.  Jack drew the purple minions from Despicable Me 2 My lunch buddy. Sometimes all I want is some alone time, but other times it's very cute to have...