Farmer's Market

For nearly 2 whole days we are completely roommateless. It's kind of strange. And very nice. We took the opportunity to clean out the roommate's bedrooms. They haven't been cleaned probably since we moved in over a year ago. Or at least that's the way it seemed judging by the amount of dust and dirt. The guest bathroom was also in need of a deep cleaning. Seriously, who lets the toilet get so bad that there's a stain around the rim? Gross! It seems ridiculous that we have to clean up after our 21 year old roommates, but I guess not everyone is as responsible as we are. We felt that it would be rude for our new roommates to have to clean their room before they even move in. So we cleaned it. It took us about 4 hours to clean two empty bedrooms and a bathroom. Half of me was annoyed that our old roommates were so rude, and half of me was just glad that we could get in there and do it ourselves. We do have rather high standards compared to other people.

This morning we went to a farmer's market. It's the largest one in Colorado, and it's just 5 minutes away. It was so much fun! There was live music, and tons of booths set up. There were local farms selling the typical produce, and also people selling homemade soap, an entire cow, organic dog food, homemade jellies and jams, and even a vineyard! We also got to try some goat's cheese that was just made yesterday. For lunch we got a pizza that was made completely fresh from all local ingredients right in front of us. They crushed up fresh tomatoes, sprinkled some mozzarella on top, and topped it with basil. It was the best pizza I've ever had! I love the idea of buying local produce. I would much rather give my money to small local farmers than huge industrial farms in South America or Mexico. The food has to travel a much shorter distance so it's more environmentally friendly and fresher too. We can definitely tell the difference- the tomatoes, lettuce, and onions taste amazing. Since we discovered the market 3 weeks ago, we haven't bought a single vegetable or fruit from the grocery store. It also encourages us to eat seasonal produce, which is more healthy too.

With our local produce Daniel cooked pad thai for dinner tonight. I was a little apprehensive because I don't love thai food in the first place, and it sounded too complicated to make ourselves. But it was delicious! It tasted just like the stuff we get at small thai restaurants. There's something so satisfying about eating homemade meals. Daniel and I love to cook. We almost never eat out- except for sushi. I really prefer to eat at home most of the time. You can better control how much you eat, and what's in the food you eat. We can choose to use less salt and less butter in our recipes.

On a completely unrelated note, Daniel and I have finally come to a sort of agreement about our future plans. With graduation so close, we have been discussing our future a lot. Mostly our careers and family. It's been really difficult to figure out how we are going to time everything. I want to have kids right away, while Daniel wants to wait a few years and enjoy our time as young single people. He wants to make some money, and spend it on things that are not children. But on our flight to Chicago, he told me that he was beginning to think my plan was a better idea!!! After thinking about it a lot, he agrees that we have had plenty of time to be just a couple. He also understands that more than anything, I want to be a mom. So we have sort of come to a tentative plan: I graduate in June 2011, the wedding in December 2011, Daniel graduates March 2012, and we have kids about one year later in the Spring of 2013. I know that seems like we're planning way too far ahead, but it's really only 3 years away. Well, 3 and a half. That's not long at all! In the time between my graduation and us having kids, I will work full time. Daniel will hopefully get a job soon after graduation so we will have some money to support kids. Then when our kids are older, maybe when they start Kindergarten, I can go back to school. I can get my master's, PhD, PA, or whatever. I think this plan will work well because I won't have to worry about balancing a very important career with being a mom. I can just plan on taking a few years off and when I'm ready to go back, I'll have a brand new career. While I have young children, I can work part-time as a research tech or something similar to what I'm doing now. I just can't believe that Daniel has agreed to this plan! He has finally realized that my career is completely secondary to my family. Although everyone tells me how smart I am and that I can do anything I want (including be a doctor), all I want is to be a mom. I'll worry about the big fancy job later. Now I wonder what my parents will think about this plan. My guess is, they won't like it very much.