The Big Idea

I want a "thing".

This year I turn 30...draw your own conclusions from this statement. I'm excited for my 30's. Last decade was spent having and raising babies. I didn't hate the 20's, they were good to me. But I've definitely grown leaps and bounds from the 20-year-old child who was me a decade ago. Maybe this search for a "thing" is some sort of early mid-life crisis. I don't know. All I know is some kind of adventure is going to happen this year.

It seems like everyone I know has a "thing". My definition of a "thing" is something that you absolutely LOVE. You dream about it, you think about ways to improve it, you educate yourself on it, and sometimes it can define you. Don't get me wrong, there are things I'm good at and enjoy doing but nothing that I can't stop thinking about. I seem to go in spurts with my first love: Music. That's an obvious one though. I don't think there is a church function I haven't sung at. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to shut down my musical side. If anything I'll do more of it.

But I'm bored.

Last year we were building our house and that was my thing for sure. Even though it was major stress all the time, I loved it. I loved decorating and making decisions for our house. The only problem is it's done and it was kind of a let down to not think about it all the time anymore.

Enter the big idea....

I've been feeling antsy for a few weeks now about having something to do. Last week Ryan and I went on a trip to Mexico to celebrate our tenth anniversary. On the plane trip there we watched the movie "Julie and Julia". I love this movie. It was really fun and cute and halfway through I looked over at Ryan with bright eyes and told him, "I want to do something like this!" The seed was planted.
Then on Sunday we had a lesson in Young Women's about Courage. The main point I got from the lesson is you shouldn't be afraid to try new things. After church I looked at Ryan with the same bright eyes and said, "I think I have a little bit of courage to do something!"

The clincher was last night. Let me give a tiny bit of a back story about my kids. My kids are the pickiest eaters known to man. I have hurt feelings about how much of my food they don't like. My sister is an amazing cook who has had some training. She cooks food that isn't usually what I call a "Southern Alberta Staple". You know, the meat-and-potatoes-Sunday-dinner food. Whenever my kids go to Auntie Joey's house they get fed gourmet meals that they haven't even heard of. They LOVE how Auntie Joey cooks. They also don't ever complain about her food.

The same thing goes for when they eat at Grandma Jensen's house. Grandma J does cook a majority of Southern Alberta Staple food. I have incorporated a lot of her cooking into my own menu at Ryan's request. There are some meals that I cook EXACTLY the same as Heather (my mother-in-law). One night we were all eating dinner at Heather's house. I don't remember what she had but it was something that I regularly cook. Katie turns to me and says, "Hey Mom, you should get Grandma to teach you how to cook this. It's super yummy." I just smiled and took another bite to hide my frustration.

That brings us back to last night. I decided to go out on a limb and cook Curry Chicken. My children have never had curry (that I know of) and Ryan loves curry. It was a BIG HIT! I couldn't believe it. Nobody complained and everyone cleaned their plates! Ryan looks over and says, "I don't know why you don't cook more food like this. You should try something new more often."

Challenge accepted.

So that brings us to "The Challenge". I'm going to loosely base this adventure on the idea from the movie "Julie and Julia" and find a cookbook to cook from. Tomorrow I have an appointment to go to in Lethbridge so I'm going to grace the local Chapters and find a cookbook to use for my adventure.

Ryan also pointed out that I have the kitchen for such an adventure. I do remember vaguely making some kind of deal in order to get the double oven...I don't know though, it's pretty far back in the memory vault....but he does make a good point. I have the resources, I now have a lot more time since Emily is in school part time, and I have the basic knowledge. Don't get me wrong, I'm no gourmet chef by any means. I do feel like I'm an alright cook though.

I'm going to give myself a year to work my way through a cookbook. The cookbook I'm looking for has to have a lot of recipes that we don't usually eat. I want it to have mostly ingredients that I can buy at the local Safeway but I want to step out of the box. I'm also going to write about my (mis)adventures in the kitchen. I'm really excited to start! I'm not sure yet if this is my "thing" but it will at least keep me occupied until we know. Wish me luck. Maybe wish Ryan and the kids a bit of luck while your at it....