A New Year's Story

In high school I would get mopey this time of year. I didn't hate Christmas, but the cold and snow would get me down, and watching everyone so excited for the holidays while I was feeling blue would bring me down even more. Then I met my husband. New Year's Eve, though, would always bring me out of my slump, at least for one night.

My first year with Mr. Wonderful, he got really sick right before school got out for Christmas break. I remember it was a Wednesday night, and I was getting ready for youth group (my hubs was in high school, I was in my first year of college), when I got a call from an out of town friend who was visiting for youth group that night. Mr. Wonderful had gone to the doctor earlier for a throat culture, thinking he had strep, and they also took a blood sample. This friend of ours, who we called our third wheel at the time because we only really went out and did anything when he came to town, always just the three of us, told me he and my man weren't going to youth group that night and that I should just come over. He then started laughing like a madman and handed the phone to my man. "I have mono," he said, laughing. "You... what? That's really not funny." I replied, "Is it strep?" "No, it's mono. I have mono!" he insisted. I then realized he was telling the truth, despite the maniacal laughter in the background (which was induced by a game of Halo). "Yeah, they said it could be four to six weeks before I'm better."

I have to admit my heart sank. At that point in life I had never been kissed under the mistletoe (and still haven't, but it's no big deal to me now), and had never received my New Year's kiss. And it didn't look like that year would be any better. I was also really sad that this meant four to six weeks of no close contact with my boyfriend. My silly 19-yr-old mind saw this as a bad omen to our relationship. Yeah. Right.

As New Year's Eve approached we made plans for a little party with a few friends, including our third wheel who gained the nickname Papa Bear at some point in our friendship. After all, we couldn't pack in too much activity and tire out Mr. Mono. The party didn't stay down to the just few friends we had planned for, of course, it ended up being many more people than planned. I call it the party that spontaneously grew.

 The more the merrier!

 Knowing I was a little bummed, a friend suggested to my now mother-in-law that we just use saran-wrap for our kiss, and the message was relayed to me. So, with no tv available to watch the ball drop, the year 2009 was rang in with Mr. Wonderful and me kissing through saran-wrap before a crowd of close and not-so-close friends. After three weeks of no kisses from my beloved, that was the most memorable kiss of our relationship.

I remember this being really awkward, because all those people pictured above, yeah, watching. All of them.

Two years later we were married, and this New Year we get to ring in for the first time as husband and wife. And I will get my kiss.

We will be spending our one-year anniversary, January 2nd, at a four star hotel in Minneapolis. I'm super excited! I hope 2012 is as wonderful and filled with reasons to praise God as this last year has been. Have a great year, everybody!

Christmas Festivities Lowdown (Long Version)

I'm excited to tell you that I had probably the best Christmas of my life last weekend, which is lucky, because it was my first Christmas with my husband, who I love calling Mr. Wonderful, because that is what he really is. But I'm warning you, this is a long one. Turn back now if you don't have the time, but I put a lot of work into this. Thanks in advance if you continue now.

Here is the Christmas festivities low-down:
We first went to Austin on Friday, the good old hometown.We had some time to rest at the in-laws', and briefly go over the music for the Christmas Eve service at church that the family was playing for. I'm pretty sure it was beautiful, or that's what everybody said, anyway. My nerves always go way through the roof when I play because I have never had high-self-esteem (don't believe in it) when it comes to my playing, and therefore can never tell for sure when to call it a job well done. That aside, after our rehearsal we had dinner as a family at the new Vietnamese restaurant in town, Top Noodle. If you're ever in Austin, MN, for whatever reason that would be, I have no idea, go eat at the Top Noodle. Austin has many great hometown restaurants, but this one is the most unique, and I would have to say, the most authentic. Oh yes, and it's delicious. I've never had such amazing egg rolls in my life. But enough about dinner.

Lo, there was no room for the newlyweds in the inn (err... parents' home, because of the foreign exchange student in their guest room). So we slept on the floor. Never again. I really hadn't thought sleeping on the floor was something I would have to give up for another five to ten years, but nope, age has somehow caught up with my body and sleeping on the floor is just not advisable. This is getting embarrassing. Segue.

On Christmas Eve we had a fab time trading names and Christmas lists/shopping guidelines with some of the cousins to do (now traditional?) Crazy Cousin Christmas! We all went shopping together and it was a lot of fun to avoid (or shop with) the person we were finding a gift for. We then went home and wrapped them, and headed to our Christmas Eve service, which I have already addressed as a success. My family even drove into town from 45 minutes away. It was nice to have them there.

After exchanging some quick gifts with some of the family members on my husband's dad's side of the family, (confused?) including our cousin gifts, my man and I took off to meet up with my mom's side of the family. Which was also a lot of fun, and we got some pretty cool gifts for our kitchen. And for my husband's head, neck, and hands, which shall be forever warm no matter what the weather. Thanks Grandma!

On Christmas day, the best day of the year, we got up early to get ready to go spend the morning with my family, but first we finished gift-opening with the in-laws. We received some super cool lunch bags, which we were both in need of, and some really handy cleaning supplies, amongst other cool trinkets and treasures. Then we were off to see my family, which was quite a nice way to spend Christmas morning!

Mr. Wonderful got his circus peanuts he always asks for but I never let him buy (ack! so icky!). We also got a mixer (more pie! more pie!), an air popcorn popper, and an air mattress (never sleeping on the floor again!). But really, it was just so nice to spend some time with my family on Christmas day, and made the fact that we had a brown (rather than white) Christmas. Yes, somehow, MN is in need of some snow!

After a fabulous, over-indulgent brunch with my family we drove up north a bit to see my mother-in-law's side of the family, where we got to see all of the cutest cousins. We had some fun games of dirty bingo for the kids, the men, and the women, and exchanged normal, nice gifts with the family as well. I got a nice blue throw, which is on my couch, and I find reasons to use it even though our house is too warm.

We exchanged gifts together after we got home Monday night. I got him some more candy I never let him buy, and some games because gaming is his way of destressing, which is important because he is normally so mellow! Which is one thing I love about him most. Another thing I love about him is his ability to buy me great gifts, especially when it's something I only mentioned once and didn't put on my gift list. I am now the proud owner of every Jane Austen book, conveniently packed into one giant book. He also gave me a box of all dark chocolates. I couldn't possibly have a better husband for myself. And that's why he is Mr. Wonderful.

We are now cozy in our home, with all of our gifts tucked away in their new homes. We had decided to dedicate ourselves to working out every day this week, and so far I want to give up. I do not have more energy yet, but maybe a better attitude. It's kind of hard to tell with PMS and a headache induced by post-work-out sore muscles. By the end of the week, though, we expect to feel better and be on our way to having bodies of the gods. Ho-ha! Tomorrow I hope to have the energy (and relaxed muscles) to begin cleaning my apartment, which I want spotless by the end of the week. Just the way I like it. Wish me luck!

Blog #28, done! Thanks for reading my long long post. The next one will be more entertaining.

What was your best Christmas present this year?

More Real Conversations, and a Christmas Wish

Because this weekend is Christmas weekend, and my husband and I will be very busy little newlyweds who can't say no to a single family member (and therefore are going everywhere this year), I have an extra special treat for you this Thursday. Not only do I have some "Real Conversations" but they are also not with my husband. That is right, there are other people in my life with whom I converse, and we have just as humorous conversations from time to time.

First, I would like to share with you a wonderful part of my job, the part that makes all the crying, hitting, tantrums, and all other horrible things kids can think of to do, worth the spike in blood pressure. The cute, no, adorable things kids say and do.

For the last day of school before Christmas break, many of the classes were showing videos at the end of the day. I was subbing in one of those classes. There were to children, a boy and a girl, who we kept having to ask to move away from each other. It turns out there was a little baby romance going on, and it was so sweet. While sitting and watching the movie (and the kids), this is what another TA and I heard:

Boy: "Bria, I'm going to marry you someday."
Girl: "Ok. I'm going to marry you, too."
Boy: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
TA: "Shhh, watch your movie."
(Moments of silence between the two)
Boy: "Bria, your nose is short!"
TA and I: "Shhhh!"

It was almost a shame to shush them, but if we let them continue talking, we would have had a chaotic classroom within minutes. So sweet.

Earlier this week I was thankful not to be awoken by calls for work, because my sister, Nanna (not my grandma, my sister, this nickname stuck when I couldn't say her name after she was born) came to stay for a night. She was here for two days, and slept for a lot of the time, but I think it was just what she needed. The night she stayed, before bed, we stayed up for a bit talking about being married vs. being single, and being happy in the life God has called us to be in. Somehow it led to talking about kids, and then this:

Nanna: "I never want to have kids."
Me: "Whatever! You see Oscar and you're all, 'oh, so cooot!' and squishy faced." (Oscar is our sponsor child)
Nanna: "Well, yeah, I like those kids."
Me: "Well you just need to go down to South America or somewhere and find some pastor/director guy and have cute little Phillipino babies."
Nanna: "Yeah, well, I'm going to Moldova this year and..."
Me: "Whatever, no, they are very white there!"
Nanna: (frenzied) "Well, no... I don't even care if they're white. I just need orphans!"

She was quite serious, but we couldn't help laughing at ourselves after her last exclamation. I love my sister, and I'm so excited to see her and the rest of my family again in a few days.

On that note, have a Merry Christmas!

Blog #27, done! Don't forget the true reason for the season. God bless.

Real Conversations 12/18/11

Hello all! It's that time again, time for what I know you enjoy the most. More real conversations I have had with my husband.

It was morning and my hair looked rather nice, even though it hadn't been washed yet. The conversation went as follows:

Me: "Should I wear my hair like this?"
Mr. W: "Oh, yes! You look like one of the back-up dancers for Van Halen."
Me: "Do you think that's hot?"
Mr. W: "Not particularly."
Me: "Is it hot on me?"
Mr. W: "Everything is hot on you. Except for ice cream... that's hot in a different way."

Also, late last week we received a letter from the family of a child in Bolivia who we have been sponsoring through Compassion. Oscar is only four, so his two of his older sisters write his letters for him. They are so sweet, and always tell us what the family is up to and how Oscar is doing, and that they are praying for us and thankful for our prayers and support for their brother. In the latest letter, the sister who wrote the letter said that they have been praying for us and know that God will give us a son soon to bless us. At first we thought of this as probably being a simple allusion to Christmas coming. Later, I had an epiphany, which I hope is just my mind blowing things out of proportion, but I mentioned it after dinner, and Mr. Wonderful became a bit concerned as well. This was the discussion:

Me: So, I hope I'm wrong, because they could have just meant Christmas and God sending his son, but when they mentioned praying for us and God sending us a son... I couldn't help but wonder if they meant they have been praying for us, that God would give us a son.
Mr. W: Uh... uh oh. (makes noises)
Me: I just, I mean that's nice of them and all but I really hope not.
Mr. W: Well, if they are, it's your fault for telling them that we hope God will give us a little boy someday.
Me: But I said someday! I also said we're very young! Just make sure we're praying that we can at least be living alone, not with your dad, before we have any kids.
Mr. W: Yeah. Definitely. Definitely. Yeah.

Don't get me wrong, when we do have kids, whether our first is a boy or girl, we will both be very happy and excited (and crazy scared). We're just hoping that we can be a bit better established before that happens, that's all. And so that our mothers won't tear their clothes in despair over being grandmothers, with them both being so young and all.

We just have to wait. Wait until they are begging us to have kids. Yeah.

So it's one week from Christmas, and praise God that he has sent a son, who died to save us from our sinful unworthiness, and his wrath.

I am very much looking forward to next weekend. I have all my gifts ready now, and our tree is looking rather small now due to the pile beneath (and around) it. I can't wait to see everybody!

Today, breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus will suffer as we are making more treats to stash away and take with us next weekend. Yum!

Blog #26, done! Have a wonderful week! Find time for peace and quiet away from the crazy Christmas retail rush.

What Happened Last Night

Most people ask what happened last night when they spent a night partying; drinking or doing drugs, or whatever people do when they party. I wouldn't really know. It's not my lifestyle. I on the other hand, am asking this question today because I seriously went from perky and awake to dead tired in about two minutes around nine-thirty last night.

It went like this: Mr. Wonderful and I were sitting on the couch watching some of our favorite TV shows, and I got up and walked down the hall into the bedroom. I can't remember why I went in there. I'm not sure how long it was before my husband came in and found me - probably not too long. All I remember is walking into the bedroom and then waking up in a puddle of slime (where did that come from?) to the hubs jumping onto the bed beside me. He must have thought I was faking? He waited patiently for me to come to, then I apologized and a look of realization flashed across his face.

After struggling to stay awake for ten more minutes I asked him if it would be okay if I went to bed early and he nodded. He told me he couldn't sleep and came to bed three times before falling to sleep, but I didn't notice. And when the alarm went off for him to leave this morning, it took me another hour to wake up.

It was okay. I had a half day of work beginning at 11:30, so there was time to veg out for awhile.

Yet still, I am fatigued. Maybe I am getting sick. I certainly hope not.

This week has gone well so far. I have work every day except Thursday so far, and there's still time to snag a job! Thank Jesus for a good solid week of work right before Christmas (and after a massive blow to our bank account due to car repairs and Christmas shopping)! I'm so ready for the next week and a half to be over.

Blog #25, done! What is something you don't remember? Oh wait, you can't remember.

Blessed

My husband and I have been in such awe and wonder at what has been happening in our lives lately. It's strange to think that nearly a month ago, our car was stolen. Stranger still to realize that this was not as bad a thing as we had thought. Our car was in good enough shape that the insurance company offered over $3,000 for the title of our stolen car. Enough to go get a car, make the repairs necessary, and help pay off the remaining balance in my husband's account at NWC so he doesn't have to take out a private loan. God is so good! It just goes to show you that even bad things that seem like they can't possibly be happening for a reason, always really happen for the best of those whom God loves. It's so true.

So now we have our Monte Carlo, which is a car that I've always admired, and after a few more repairs it may actually be better than our last car (although, it will never have better gas mileage!). But next time, we're not going with a sports car. We feel like punk kids, but it's fun for now. Someday we'll have kids and have to drive real grown-up cars, so I'll just go ahead and enjoy this one!

 

Our "punk kid" car.

I'm getting very excited for Christmas, and to have a whole week free of work and school. I already have all of our Christmas presents wrapped and under the tree.

Mr. Wonderful will be using the time to find a job. He's finally seen the light that though I have a good job, it's not going to be enough in the long haul. He's not lazy, but I think our move was a little overwhelming for the both of us. It was quite the adjustment, and he's very serious about getting good grades. Now that he's had some time to adjust and figure out some time management plans, (and to see our bank account fluctuate more than the DOW), he's ready for his search for a part-time job. We're both excited for this chapter in life to be over. You know, the school part. But we're trying to savor it while it's here. Pray for us!

Blog #24, done! Happy hump-day. Finish the week strong.

The Need for Rest

 As promised, I have some pictures. They're growing! They're growing! I'm such a proud little gardener. My plants are growing.

Poor lighting this time of year + flash not working = I hope you can see the greens!

The garlic cloves are having a little trouble, and so are the sweet chili peppers our friends the E.L.'s got as a housewarming gift. (I call them the E.L.'s because they're getting married, and once they're married their initials will both be E.L.). But as you can see, the tomatoes are coming in quite nicely! It's almost time to transfer them to a larger pot =) Now I just have to figure out how on earth to harvest these things.

I have also been up to my cooking again, and this meal just looked so good I had to take some photos of it! I was slow-cooking a ginormous ham in the crock-pot and had to cut off a chunk so that it would fit. I baked it that night and we had it for dinner, and put the rest away for easy meals for the rest of the week.

 Mr. Wonderful just couldn't get over this meal! My very own recipe =)

 

Oven-baked garlic ham: (Note: I did not measure anything, please forgive me)
- Hunk of ham, fat side facing down in oven-safe cookware
-Fill less than halfway with water
-Cover entire ham in a sprinkling of crushed garlic
-Sprinkle on some herbs de provence (not enough to overwhelm)
-A pinch of black pepper

Heat oven to 400 F. I cooked my ham for about an hour and a half, turning it halfway through. Cook it until it reads 140 F on a meat thermometer.

Now, in my last mini-post I mentioned hating Black Friday. I know that sounds kind of whiny or judgmental, but I really do. And it's not just because people die by being trampled or because of all the craziness that takes place that day. I think that sales are good, my husband and I hit them up as much as possible. Saving money is important. But I just realize that it's not even a day people go out and buy things they particularly need. For many, it's just a day to go out and buy a bunch of things and feel less guilty about spending money because it was "on sale." Let's be honest, unless you're buying electronics, the sales aren't even that great anyway. Is it really worth leaving your family on Thanksgiving, a day we're supposed to reflect on the things in life we're grateful for, to go buy more stuff to fill our homes with?

My mother, who has a hard time turning down a day of work, went in early Thanksgiving morning to get the store ready, then went home in the afternoon just long enough for dinner, then went back to her store to work at least a twelve hour shift, and came home sick and exhausted. She, and many others, did this just so that consumer America could shop. I just can't understand why stores were allowed to open so early this year. Black Friday should remain on Friday, but it has now infringed on Thursday, which is clearly not Friday, but a holiday that we as Americans should observe. Next year, take a day to reflect, a day to be thankful, a day to rest. I believe rest is important from a Christian standpoint, sure, but whether you're a believer or not, there's a reason God calls us to rest. Plainly put, it's good for you. In a world that says go go go, get get get, just stop and take some time to rest your body and mind, and think of the things you've been taking for granted.

Blog #23, done! May you find rest this week.

A Little Update

I am only here to tell you that I am far too tired to update today. Not that you knew or anything, but I decided to take the week off my blog, meaning today, as the beginning of the new week, I should update. I do miss writing on here. But oh, I am really just so tired.

Coming soon:
-Why I hate Black Friday
-Pics of the new car (yes, that's right, new car)
-Pics of my beautiful plants which are successfully growing!

Also, I'd just like to let you all know that words cannot describe how much I love my husband. Meaning that how good God is to me is completely inexplicable.

Blog #22, done (phew). I hope your Thanksgiving break was filled with things to be thankful for.

Real Conversations I've had with my Husband 11/19/11

So, as you know, Mr. Wonderful and I have some pretty strange conversations which almost sound scripted, rather frequently. Because this is an occurrence many other people encounter in their every day lives, I like to share some of our ridiculous conversations with you, just for a laugh. So, without further ado, here are two Real Conversations the hubs and I have had in the past week.

While leaving our insurance company's building, as he pulled the keys out of his pocket, the man I call Mr. Wonderful dropped a piece of Laffy Taffy.
Mr. W (embarrassed): Yes, I carry candy in my pocket.
Me: How mature. So... how old are you again?
Mr. W: (in a kid voice) Gwon up age!!
A few moments later, in the car...
Mr. W: I'm hungry.
Me: (sounding distant) We'll get you something.
Mr. W: Wow, I like how you said that. Just like, oh, we'll get you something. Not like you really care.
Me: Sorry, I guess that's how you say it to a three-year-old, huh? Well, at least you know I'll be able to reassure our kids they'll be taken care of.
Mr. W: Yeah, while they're driving! What?
Me: Hm... so maybe that's what marriage is for, husbands are like practice children. (Getting a look) Well, I guess the same would go for wives, too.

Conversation two, I can't remember what he said this about, but I do remember this:
Mr. W: That's harlarious.
Me: That is not a word. You mean hilarious.
Mr. W: HAR HAR!

This was followed by five full minutes of uncontrollable laughter. He really is too much sometimes.

By the way, I fixed the comments preferences, so now anyone can leave comments, even if they don't have a blog. You're welcome, Mom.

Blog #21, done! Enjoy your weekend!

All This Work for No Pay

No work today. Okay, so there was one sub job out there but I knew I would be late and it was for my least favorite school. The problem is I'm young and ill-equipped to work with the age group. I can't avoid it forever, and won't, but for now I'll practice on the schools I can actually handle. And apparently I can handle the job pretty well, because at the end of just about every day I am asked for my name and number. The more TA's who have my number and bother to call, the less I have to deal with the automated system. Also, it's nice to be booked in advance instead of dealing with the system at the beginning of every day. It's tiring to get up so early to nab a job for the day.

I have been using this impromptu day off to get some other things done, and I'm finding it's a very good thing I did not work today. I have three disks of wedding photos to upload so that I can order prints, and I have been at it since about nine this morning. I'm uploading the last one right now, and it's past 1:30. It will probably take another hour still, and then I have to go through the ordering process. I am still, however, very excited to get this done! And glad that I won't be spending my whole weekend doing it.

I also have all the ingredients I need for a french silk pie (Dad's favorite), and plan on starting on making it as soon as I'm done typing this blog post. I'm making my first one for our church's Thanksgiving meal tomorrow and then making another one (and refining the recipe, if needed) for Thanksgiving with my family. Since Dad's birthday and Thanksgiving usually end up being the same weekend (or the same day!) we celebrate his birthday at the same time, while the family is all around. Every year he wants a french silk pie instead of cake, which we have always purchased from Perkins, but this year I decided I was going to make it! And I even found a recipe that claims to be so similar to Baker's Square's pie that it's indistinguishable. I hope it is!

I have to tell you, I'm digging the music my iTunes is bringing up today. I have it on shuffle, but I'm pretty sure God has taken full control. Recently played artists: Switchfoot, Newsboys, Hellogoodbye (not Christian, but clean), DC Talk, and Gungor. It's been really motivating, and lifting me out of the stolen-car, what-do-we-do-now funk.

Now, the only downfall to today is that I am not getting paid for all this hard work! Well, unless homemade pie counts. Yeah, I suppose it does. Come back later for pics of pie and maybe even the recipe!

Blog #20, done! What's your favorite Thanksgiving day food or tradition?

Reillusioned

Now, I am quite aware that my title, "Reillusioned" is not a real word. But let me explain. I fear that as level-headed as I try to be, I'm still a wishy-washy young twenty-something, not yet done with college, who, though occasionally paranoid, still has some remaining disillusionment of invincibility.

I truly know that I am not invincible. Nobody is. We all must die at some point, sticks and stones and bullets and nails can harm us. But it is wrong to feel a sense of security? For many, it's expected to feel safe where we live. Unfortunately, for some, it's just not. Well, my husband and I got a little taste of that this morning when we went out to the parking lot and saw that our car was nowhere to be found. It was confusing at first. Did we park somewhere different last night? Nowhere in sight. Our car was gone.

We always lock it, and Mr. Wonderful is sure he did last night. We only have two sets of keys which stay with each of us at all times. Our car was broken into, started, and driven away in the middle of the night. I feel violated. I feel insecure, vulnerable. It's something that I've always been aware of as a possibility in the back of my mind, but how can you expect something like this to happen when it actually does?

It has been a long day. We have worked out rides so that this weekend we can still go back to the good old home town and visit family, friends, and our home church. We're just praying that the car turns up soon. We appreciate all the prayers of those who have been joining in our petition to God to bring our car back safe and sound. We don't know why He wanted His car to be stolen, but we trust that He has a plan to work it for good in the lives of the ones He loves. It's just hard to keep thinking that... it's really God's car, everything is His, it was just given to us, it's not ours.

It took about three hours today for me to realize that it was Veteran's day. I felt so self-absorbed at that point, and finally snapped out of my own little world where only things pertaining to myself mattered. I realized I have friends, good friends, who are serving. Some oversees right now. They count as veterans, too, now and for the rest of their lives. Growing up is really just an incredible experience. But we don't always need to be a "grown-up" to get the big picture; to step outside of our own little worlds and care about what others are doing to keep us safe from things we couldn't ever imagine or expect. I couldn't say it better than my intelligent sister-in-law, so here's Mad's post:

 http://anorganizedprocrastination.blogspot.com/2011/11/and-on-serious-note.html

Read it, ponder, go thank a Veteran. Even if it's a day or two or twenty too late. They've made a huge decision to give up their lives for the protection of the country. That's a big deal! Pray for their lives, thank God for their decision.

Blog #19, done! Praise the Lord in adversity, He is our Rock.

Mr. Wonderful Learns How to Cook and Remove Stains

He cooks, he cleans, he is my Wonderful. Over the weekend we were trying to figure out what to do with our old (never used by us) printer from his grandparents, and Mr. Wonderful noticed an ink stain on the carpet. We have no idea where the ink is coming from, but every now and then it just inks. He started panicking and asked if it would come out and I directed him to the linen closet for the stain remover we have, which is actually for laundry, but not exclusively if you ask me. He came back with it, still panicking, "what do I do now? What do I do?" he was asking as he sprayed it on the spots. I told him to let it sit for awhile and then come back with a cloth and dab, not rub. He came back a bit later with a cloth asking, "Dab, rub, dabrubdab?" I told him dab, yes, and he started at it and lo and behold, there was no longer a stain. He was remotely surprised that it worked but now he knows for a lifetime how to remove a stain. Thank goodness!

Even better, however, last night he made pork chops. Usually if he's designated the cooking job for the night we'll end up eating pasta with no sauce, mac and cheese, or ramen. I am now beginning to think this was a ploy to keep me from desiring him to cook, because last night, without writing a thing down, I gave him verbal direction on how to cook pork chops before I left to help a friend with a Comp assignment. When I came home the apartment smelled delicious and we had some very tasty pork chops stored away in the refrigerator, which we ate for lunch today. I'm so proud of my hubby!

Get them while they're young, that's all I'll say!

Now, for those of you wanting to expand your cooking skills, or perhaps teach someone an easy way to cook pork chops (or large slices of pork tenderloin), here's what we do:

Pour enough vegetable or olive oil in the bottom of a skillet to cover the bottom. This varies depending on the size of your skillet.

If you want seasoning, make a dry rub, and rub it on entire chop, but pork chops are fine plain. For beginners, sprinkling some seasoned salt, garlic, or just salt and pepper works fine, or use a favorite seasoning. (My husband just cooked them straight up, no seasoning, and we seasoned them before eating).

Place them on skillet and turn stove on to Medium heat. Cook for 9-10 minutes, then turn over and cook for another 8 minutes. To prevent from dry meat, turn only once.

When time is up, voila! You have some pork chops. Hooray for you (or your friend/relative/college student), congrats on your new cooking skills and enjoy!

Blog #18, done! Now go impress a friend.

Back on Track

Wow, it's been a whole week already and we're to another weekend! It seems like the week just started. Monday was my last day at FH elementary and now I've moved on to... things. Not sure about bigger, not sure about better, but I've been pretty excited about life.

I took Tuesday off to get over my FH experience and get used to the idea of being a sub for the rest of the year (which I am very much looking forward to!). Wednesday, only one job turned up, after the hubs left for class and it was snatched up by someone else before I could do anything about it. Oh well, I survived, and as I've been asked for my information at every school I've subbed at so far, I know I will be keeping pretty busy as the school year goes on. Since they have my information, they can just call me directly instead of using the automated system to request a sub, and that way I don't have to deal with finding a job using the automated system. I look forward to getting to know the schools in the Roseville district better! Everyone is so friendly and encouraging so far. It's wonderful. Yesterday was my first day subbing at the high school (oooooh boy... that's all I have to say about that one), and today I was at another elementary school, which was a fabulous experience and got me in the giddy mood!

There's another reason for my giddyness, though. Mr. Wonderful and I used my day off on Tuesday to go to Ikea and we purchased new chairs that match our table so well! They are also smaller than our old ones and opened up a lot of space in the apartment, allowing us to move just about everything and make our place more spacious and comfortable. It's soooooo nice.

 Assembled by Mr. Wonderful. So cute and old country!

After shopping for chairs, we spent still more money for some needed repairs on my violin. I now have brand spankin' new pegs, and they look so much nicer than the old ones! My old pegs were really worn and in desperate need of replacement as I couldn't play for more than ten minutes without them slipping out of tune. Very frustrating. So, I'm very excited about that as well.

Also, I have become a little gardener! No, I don't have a garden, but I do have a plant box! And five cute little pots filled with herbs that I use pretty regularly.

I have the seed packets next to them until I can get paint to decorate and mark the pots

Thanks to Doc, we have heirloom seeds, so hopefully we are successful in helping them grow and we'll have some pretty nice spices to fill up the spice rack with! I know today I have been overburdening you with exclamation marks and I will not apologize, I'm in a pretty good mood. Indeed.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to going to the Foshay Tower for a fancy, free breakfast with my Mr. Wonderful, whose father gave us Groupons he had purchased awhile ago. We just haven't made it yet, but tomorrow we are finally going out for our free breakfast of $35 value. 

Blog #17, done! Tell me something good about your life right now, in the comments below =)

Real Conversations I've Had with My Husband

Welcome to a new weekend section I'm calling Real Conversations I've Had With My Husband! I don't know if this will happen every weekend, but when I do post a "Real Conversation" I will always include it in a weekend update. Tonight, the ridiculous conversation that I could swear sounded like something from a poorly scripted fast-talking show was as follows:

Mr.: "I can't believe the next Fringe episode wasn't posted this week! How could they do this to me?" (slams fist on table).
Me: (contemplating) "Well, you see, the guy responsible went to a party and got really drunk, and had a three day long hangover and totally forgot he had to do it. By the time he was back to work he had so much other work to do that he didn't even realize it or even have time to do it."
Mr.: "Huh?"
Me: "Well, you wanted a reason, I gave you answer."
Mr.: "Don't lie."
Me: "It wasn't a lie. It was just a possibility."
Mr.: "You didn't say maybe the person got drunk."
Me: "Well, hypothetically. Ok, there."
Mr.: "I don't need your... hypothesizing."
Me: "Hypothecaries?"
Mr.: "That's different."

The conversation then drifted to another subject. Minutes later...

Mr.: "Apothecaries!"

Yes. That is the conversation as it actually happened. Nothing unusual here. I just can't help but wonder what it is that makes our brains work quite the way they do. It is truly incredible some of the connections we make... or, in some cases, miss.

On a side-note, last weekend I went out seeking a balance board, which I found at Target. I wanted one so I could do easy work-outs while watching TV (simply balancing on the board, getting a simple core work-out), or harder work-outs incorporating the board. It's quite the handy tool. I tell you this so you understand my next statement. While I was writing this post, my husband turned on the Wii the to play a video game, whilst standing on the balance board. Ingenuity, people!

Blog #16, done!

Being Flexible

Yesterday was supposed to be my last day at FH elementary, unless I got the job there. I felt a little anxious as a walked in the front doors, not knowing whether it was my last day there or not. On my way to lunch, I was stopped by the principal and told that I have done a wonderful job, and was strongly considered, but they had decided to hire someone with more teaching experience who is male. I expected that if someone with a teaching degree came along they would surely hire that person, and in a primarily female staff, more male figures are certainly necessary.

I am not bitter about their decision by any means. As I said before, what matters is they make the right choice. I have much enjoyed my time with them, and the experience. They have made learning how to substitute teach much easier than it probably would have been bouncing from school to school for the last three weeks. They were also all so thankful and encouraging, complimenting me on how flexible and positive I have been. Many of the other TA's told me with sadness in their faces that they wished I had gotten the job. I will miss the students and teachers I have gotten to know while there, but I know I will be back, and probably often. They already asked me to come in and fill a different position on Monday. I am very excited to see what life looks like day by day from here on out. I am also looking forward to having a flexible schedule! God always has a plan and a purpose, so although this didn't work out the way I wanted it to, I know this was the best way.

Today was a fabulous day in with my wonderful husband. I have lately taken to calling him Mr. Wonderful, and he says he, "thoroughly endorse[s] the use of that name." Haha. After saying goodbye to Doc this morning (it was the first time I had seen him all week with our work schedules... see, living with a father-in-law doesn't have to be so bad) we took some time to do our own thing. Around one o'clock I got some coffee and some laundry ready, threw in a load, and sat back to watch my favorite television show and enjoy a warm cup of peppermint mocha coffee. By the way, this favorite show of mine is amongst about three or four shows I enjoy immensely, but this is the only one my husband doesn't like watching with me. It's my "me time" show, and it's Life Unexpected. This show is well-scripted, has a gorgeous but very likeable cast, and the music for each scene is always perfectly matching for the mood. Overall, a very well done show, and I am addicted. I hope it makes it for a few more seasons for the sake of my enjoyment.

After our individual alone time, I finished up the one load of laundry (which was all I had enough quarters for today... who can't wait to live in a house and have her own washer and dryer? This girl!) and we did some straightening up, vacuuming, sweeping, and cleaned up sinks and counter-tops. Ah, clean houses are so nice to live in! When we were done making the apartment beautiful, we decided to go for a nice long walk. Before leaving, I thought I would put some chili on because it was supposed to be "steam cooked" for 2-3 hours. I mixed the ingredients, put it in the steam-bag (you know, the ones you put in the microwave) and, following very specific instructions which I read over at least three times thinking something didn't seem right, put the steam bag into the slow cooker. In the time it took for us to each eat a quick snack and put on our shoes, we heard crackling and smelled burned plastic. I ran to the kitchen, pulled off the lid, and grabbed some tongs to take out the bag. As I lifted the bag, the chili fell out the bottom, and I got a good look at burnt plastic around the bottom. Yikes. We took everything off heat but it took quite awhile to cool down before we could throw away the plastic without burning a hole in the garbage bag. I'm now praying that the plastic burned to the bottom of the bowl comes off. It is currently soaking in soap water. So, no more steam bags in anything but a microwave for this family! I'll just get chili that is made the normal way from now on.

Once that ordeal was over, we did go on a nice long walk and looked at all the beautiful houses in our neighborhood, and allowed ourselves to dream. With the whole wedding thing off the check-list, what we have to look forward to is children, careers, and a nice house we can be pleased with someday. It was a lot of fun, and we were out for an hour.

When we got home, to make up for my earlier failure in the kitchen, I made some delicious spaghetti using Giada's tomato basil sauce, which I added hamburger to. I also made a pan of brownies, for which I am using the cool-time to write this post. They have powdered sugar on top! I'm so excited and hope I can restrain myself from taking in too many chocolatey good carbs tonight. Though, I did go on that nice long walk...

Post #15, done! Wow, 15 already. Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Exhaustion

The one word that could describe my entire MEA break and return to work would be exhaustion. Not all bad, necessarily. Maybe a better way of putting would be sleep deprivation. Or irresponsible sleeping pattern, but neither of those are one word, so you see, they just wouldn't work for my purpose.

Thursday we got up early for a visit to Red Wing to see the... what would I call them?... grand-in-laws? That should get the point across, anyway. I know you're an intelligent person, I believe in your comprehension skills. Anyhow, Red Wing is a darling little city and G and I always love to visit there to see his grandparents. While there, we saw the world's largest boot at the Red Wing shoe store, wandered around a new furniture consignment shop, the name of which escapes me but I wish I remembered because it's a place worth visiting, and we took a peek into a confectionery that was started in somebody's home; it has now become an adorable little candy shop in which you can view local art and actually watch them make sweets through a window looking into the kitchen. We had a fabulous time.

Friday into Saturday I spent the night away from my darling husband for the first time since our move to enjoy some "girl time" with his mother, sister, aunts, and cousins. We trashed an aunt's house making adorable little flowers for headbands, hair clips, and pins, and ate a ton of junk food. I hardly ate for the rest of the weekend, which caused G some strife but I really just felt like a log as it was. It was worth it, though, because we all had such a wonderful time and I adore his cousins, and they are very expressive in their admiration of me. My husband got to spend some good quality time with one of his brothers while I was gone, but was very happy to have me home and clung to me like a toddler seeing his mommy for the first time in three weeks (which actually happened to him when he was three and his mother went to Europe, so I should be more sensitive toward his needs, but it was quite sweet!).

After a long weekend of late nights and early mornings, one would think that a woman with a new job would learn when to say enough's enough and catch up on sleep, but not this cookie. Oh no. Last night was my good friend's 21st birthday, and I hadn't seen her or really heard from her in several weeks. We were due for some catching up and of course I couldn't decline her invitation to go out with her fiance and friends, so I agreed to meet them last night. My plan was to be home by about 11:00, but I had to make alterations after receiving a call at ten that she wasn't out of her Bible study group yet. We ended up meeting around 10:30 and staying for quite some time due to slow service. I don't blame the waitress, it was late, and they were getting ready to close, so of course it was a little slow. However, when I got in the car to leave and saw 12:10 on the clock I about had a panic attack! It all would have been fine any normal day, I can handle it, but let's not forget what today was. The big job interview!

I had coffee this morning. I ate breakfast. I got a ride to work instead of walking. I tried to do what I could to gain or save energy. I was bleary eyed and my response time was not so sharp. But I think the interview went fairly well. The closing remarks sounded promising and they expect to have a decision by early next week. Keep praying, guys! I know that if I don't get this job it's just because somebody better suited for it was chosen, which would be the best thing. It really is a big job, with a lot of responsibility, and the mental and educational well-being of children are at stake, so what is really important is not that I get the job, as much as I've enjoyed my time there, but that the right person is chosen.

Dinner tonight: Italian baked chicken and spaghetti with tomato basil sauce. Mmmm...

Blog #14, done! Pray!

City Life

Yay! I finally feel like a Twinian. Or whatever you call people who live in the Twin Cities. After some research, we found a bank near our home and set up an account there, about two weeks ago. They told us it would be a week to ten days for us to get our bank cards. We waited and waited, and finally today they came. Now we can close our account with our old bank and transfer all our payment accounts for loans, car, etc to our new account. Life will be easier to keep track of. We didn't want to close our old account before getting the cards so that we could still access our money easily. This feels like a new strange sort of freedom.

More good news from today: I was called for another job interview! I applied for the position that I've been filling the last two weeks, and now I may be able to keep it for the school year. It would be such a blessing to have a job within walking distance, and with set hours each day, and a bonus that I have already had time to develop a relationship with the students and teachers I have been working with. I'll be doing little jigs for days, I'm sure.

On Sunday my husband, Doc, and I ended up helping a lady whose car had a flat tire get to work. She didn't have money to fix the tire, so we scrounged up some cash and change and gave her whatever we had. Hopefully her day got better, because ours sure did after that! On our way home we found a string of antique stores, many of which were having sales. We stopped to check them out because we needed new chairs for the dining room. We didn't purchase any chairs, because a quick call to my mother-in-law revealed there free chairs waiting for us elsewhere (yay, free!). However, we were able to find a nightstand for the Doc, which is something he had been looking for.

The nightstand wasn't so significant, though. As we were shopping the antique stores we smelled something delicious and stumbled upon this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant called The Blue Door... presumably because the door to the building is blue. Their main item is the blucy, which is a burger with cheese inside rather than on top of the beef. Very good stuff! We ordered cajun fries on the side and they were totally worth it. It was a fairly inexpensive place to eat, had friendly service, and good food. It is rather cramped, but it's a pub. The only thing I would warn would be to make sure to order burgers well-done, because they tend to be pretty red in the middle. Don't let that deter you, though. If you're ever in the St. Paul area, go find it! It's worth it.

Dinner tonight: leftovers that need to be eaten! Then a little "clean the fridge" party after dinner, and we should have more room in there (and tupperware). Sorry for the short synopses of life. Maybe I'll write again tomorrow if I'm not feeling so brain dead. I was sick yesterday, after all.

Blog #13, done!

First Lesson

Well, I have to say, I have not worried about choosing the wrong job. Being a substitute teaching assistant is challenging, especially when nobody really knows where you're supposed to be at any given time, the classes and students you're working with aren't there for the whole or part of a day, and you're being stretched between four different classes. Yesterday I forgot to bring my paper schedule to work and I think I did alright without it, except for I forgot to go check on one of my students later in the day. It didn't seem to matter, though, because at the time I was supposed to be with him it turned out another TA was with him anyway. I am in no way complaining, I have it fairly easy. Heck, at least I'm just a TA substitute, and not an actual teaching substitute. Then again, I am the one who always did (and still does) say she would never teach. We'll see where God takes me.

So far this week, I have learned a lot, just from the little kiddies in the school. The school's emphasis is on accepting diversity, and they happen to have one of the best anti-bullying campaigns I have seen so far in my life. Better than the schools back home, I tell ya. It really makes a difference when the rules are strictly enforced and not just suggested by motivational speakers during a yearly assembly, and when the good students who make one small bad decision aren't the ones the teachers make an example of (which happened a lot in my high school, and is still happening today, last I heard).

In my first three days of subbing, I have seen students in sixth grade and younger help mentally and physically handicapped students be understood by their peers and teachers, I have seen them assist these students in tasks, and give them their undivided attention to play and converse as well. I have seen boys high-five girls whose speech is hard to understand and who live in wheelchairs. I have seen sweet little blond girls invite the girls wearing head-coverings and dresses that cover their ankles to stand with them in line, complimenting them without anyone saying anything about the way they are dressed. I have seen kindergarteners have compassion on the boy who lashes out when he doesn't understand, and forgive him instantly if he's hurt them once he calms down. If children can do this, why can't we? Why can't we, as adults, as the role-models of these very children who we are bringing up to be accepting, compassionate, and forgiving, be those things in our own lives, and not just tell our youth to be that way?

It's time for us to stop trying to bring forth change by changing the views of the next generation, and work on these changes in our own. Not instead of guiding the next generation, but alongside them. It's time for us to learn what we've been teaching.

With that thought, I will leave you. Blog #12, done.

On Loving Life

After what seemed like a long weekend and a lot of thinking that mostly caused my head to hurt, I made a decision on my job situation. Today I called the youth worker employer back and thanked her for her time and the offer, but that I was going to take the other job. I hope I made the right decision. It really just came down to both of them being equally beneficial to me in very similar ways and the sub job just fits G's and my schedules better. This way we can still share the car instead of one of us riding the bus every day... even in a Minnesota winter, which neither of us were looking forward to. I'm very relieved to have a job, and an answer, and to have all of this sorted out.

I also went looking for an orchestra to play this weekend (online, not literally going out on a search). I found two that G and I really liked so we sent contact info to them. One of them is actually led by the director of the Austin Symphony we played with for a short time back home, and he got back to us right away. The other one is closer, so we're hoping to hear from them, but it ultimately depends on their rehearsal schedules. We can't play in an orchestra we can never rehearse with!

Yesterday was senior picture day with my baby sis! She's the third and youngest of us girls, and it's unbelievable that she's already a Senior. My parents will be empty-nesters in a year (good luck, Mom!). The Lord was gracious, and though there was rain in the forecast for the entire weekend, we had a beautiful, dry, sunny fall day. Here are my favorites from Suzy-Q's photo session!

And yes, we did go to Como Park. We also used the campus of Northwestern College for a few. But this is just a sneak peak! I got thirty-nine good photos of her this session. They're all beautiful. I'm very excited for her to see them. We have another session planned this winter because she wanted some taken out in the snow. My wedding was last winter and everyone thought we were insane. I guess she didn't mind the outdoor photo session before the wedding, even though it was -15 with the windchill. The wind was pretty calm for the most part, it gusted every once in awhile and froze us all out. The pictures, though, turned out beautifully. I plan to post a few more some day.

Blog #11, done! How are you?

10-mile Mark

So, this week I have been offered two jobs, neither of which I have started. The out-of-school time youth worker position was just offered to me, and two days ago I went to orientation for the substitute TA job and got my I.D. I told the youth worker employer I would call her back. Now it's time to think think think. I wish I had a straight answer so I knew which job to take.

Obviously, this decision would be much easier if I had experience in at least one of the jobs. I do still have employment for the next two weeks so I figure I'll go through with that either way, and hopefully by then I'll have  a clearer grasp of which job suites me. Prayer is always helpful, guys. Please pray for clarity in this decision for me.

So the birthday/new job celebration was grand. We had our free pie and went and ate our favorites at Olive Garden, and also grew up a bit and ordered dessert for the first time. We had never tried an Olive Garden dessert, though we always wanted to, but since we were feeling less poor than usual we went ahead and picked something to share. We ordered the zeppoli (little Italian donuts, like an Italian version of the French beignets, unless you don't know what that is, then I can't help you), it came with chocolate sauce, it was delicious.

While we were dating, I would give G the little notebook I always keep in my purse for his birthday. Literally just days before we met, I had been at Target with a great friend of mine (this was my senior year in high school) and she told me, jokingly, that if I was good she would by me a treat. I think she needed something from the school supplies section, which would be how the tiny notebooks caught my eye, but I remember picking up a little one that said  "notes" on the cover and falling in love. She bought it for me as my treat.

I kept it in my purse as a place to put any little thoughts that came to mind when I wasn't near a computer. Days later I met G at an orchestra festival and we stayed up all night talking. The week after that I started writing at least once a day in that notebook. When his birthday rolled around over half a year later I realized the notebook was almost completely filled with thoughts and poems about him, so I wrapped it with his gift and gave it to him. I replaced it with a new little notebook, and the next year gave him that one as well. He got me a slightly bigger notebook for my birthday the following year, one that didn't fit in my purse, and it has taken longer to fill. However, for his birthday last year I wrote him a poem about his proposal and gave that to him. He loved it.

Nearly a year ago I was in a graphic design class for which the final project was to create and publish three books of our own. You can see them above. Since I already had all this poetry and other writings, I used it. I gave it to G as a wedding gift, and they now reside by our bed. We open them up and read them every now and then, and he still has the notebooks along with all the random torn out pages of other notebooks that I gave him once upon a time. So, here's a little treat for you, a poem from that very first notebook:

Eskimo Kisses

Our faces have been
This close so many times
But all that ever touch
Are our foreheads and noses.
I love the way
You hold me, and
I can't help but wonder
If your kisses would feel
The same as I always imagine.

Blog #10, done! Milestone today!

Divine Providence

Whoever says there is not a sovereign God is wrong. And I can tell you, He has a sense of humor. I have a job. As a substitute teaching assistant. The girl who has always told everyone she doesn't want to be a teacher now has a job doing what? Working in the classroom, with teachers. And already I have a full-time position in an elementary school that's practically in my back yard for my first two weeks of work. How wonderful.

 That's me, wearing my i.d. badge =)

On that note, happy birthday to my hunny! What could be a better birthday present than your spouse getting freaking job? Well, a vacation, maybe. But without gainful employment vacation would not be wise. This calls for celebration! The birthday boy loves pie, and loves Baker's Square, and the pie selection at Baker's Square, and they just happen to offer free pies with the purchase of a meal there on Wednesdays. And what is today? Wednesday! So where better to go than Baker's Square restaurant for FREE pie on my pie-loving husband's birthday?

A few months ago my father-in-law, the doc, gave us a gift card to Olive Garden, which is my favorite restaurant. So where will we be eating tonight to celebrate my new job? You guessed it. And I am going to order the same thing I always order when we go there, the Parmesan chicken, because it's sooooooo good. Now, my rule for myself is normally to order something different every time I go out somewhere, but I don't care that I've only tried one other entree besides that one and haven't ordered anything else there since. I will order it for the rest of my life as long as they serve it; it's my favorite meal, period.

I'll just say it now, with all this food I plan to consume today, I'm going to feel fat tomorrow. Roll me out of the restaurant tonight, don't expect me to eat at all tomorrow, and don't make me move for any reason. Just let me glory in the deliciousness of today without any worry or care. The time for regret is later. I choose not to look too far ahead. Definitely not past tonight's dinner.
Note: we are so full from tasty food and delicious pie, that we decided to move our Olive Garden dinner-date to lunchtime tomorrow. Another motivating factor was the thawed chicken in the fridge that needs to be cooked and eaten. Planning oops.

Now let me share a pondering with you. Like all these plans today, I had a lot of plans this last weekend. And after all of it was winding down, I realized something: we look so forward to doing things that excite us like having visitors, going to our favorite places, new places, seeing the people we love, and tasty meals... and they always end far too soon. As I was thinking of this I realized that every single thing we look forward to in life comes to an end, and it's just over. There's an unavoidable feeling of sadness at that point. I pondered this and it dawned on me that there is one thing in life some of us get to look forward to that will not let us down in the end. That one thing is the promise to believer's of Christ of going to be with our Creator someday. And that isn't going to end. The excitement and anticipation we feel now isn't going to climax when we make it there and then come to an end, but we get to enjoy it forever after our time here on earth. Isn't that wonderful? I think it's pretty remarkable. So whenever you're feeling a sense of loss at a good time having to end, just remember that there is something to look forward to beyond that, something so much better, that will never end. I'm pretty excited.

Blog #9, done! Toodles.

Autumn Amusement

It is nearly noon and I am still waiting to feel fully awake. I took sleeping pills last night, which work quite well, but if I take them too late it's extremely hard to get up in the morning. My mind feels foggy, my eyes want to close, I can't hold my head up independently so I'm forced to slouch against the back of the chair. Ah... some day I'll learn to take them with dinner. Or maybe even lunch.

Maybe more sleep is what I need after the weekend I had, but it's not like I didn't get enough sleep. We just managed to pack a lot of activity into it. In fact, it wasn't until coming home and sitting on the couch for 20 minutes yesterday afternoon before making dinner that I realized I was tired. It was just such a good weekend, there wasn't time to feel tired. The in-laws visited and we celebrated two birthdays. My sister-in-law, turned fifteen last week and my husband will be twenty on Wednesday. Yup, he is about a year younger than I am, and it makes for some awkward introductions every now and then, but we're over it, and have been for over three years. Yes, we are very young to be married, but you know, we'll get older. We're just learning a little early. It's probably a good thing that we both had less time to get set in our ways.

So anyway, on Saturday when the in-laws arrived, we took the birthday girl out for a day of fun. The three of us (the hubby, Mad, and I) went to Como Park yet again, and took more pictures. It was another beautiful day, and we had a blast. I used her camera for some pictures, but she took a couple with my camera as well. Here are the best:

You almost can't tell that we are both full-blooded Minnesotans who don't like having their pictures taken. There was one very good one of me, but of course, my guy's eyes were closed. The sun was so bright! I hope it's this beautiful next weekend for my sister's Senior photos. The trees will be in their fall-color prime by then. I'm so looking forward to photographing my sister, and promise to post pictures from that day, and hopefully some of her if she'll let me.

After some shopping and an excursion to Como, we came home for some pizza and cake, but we didn't go cheap. We ordered Sarpino's pizza, which may be the only pizza I'll ever eat again because it's absolutely perfect, and got a cake from the Roseville Bakery. Needless to say everyone had very satisfied taste-buds. It just occurred to me I should have taken some pictures of the pretty chocolate cake and fall flowers I decorated the apartment with, but it's too late now. Sorry!

We ended the weekend with a beautiful church service and taking the in-laws out to the pet shop so Mad could beg for... I mean look at... a puppy. It was hard to leave without one, but the final answer was no. Had the answer been yes, it would have been equally hard to choose just one, they were all so cute and friendly. Those pups really know how to sell themselves! Heck, I even tried to convince the hubby to get one, knowing that we don't have the money for $600 dog and the cost of supplies. Someday, though, we will have a dog. I will not be denied forever. Besides, I know the guy likes dogs, and is very susceptible to cuteness... he can't always say no. He'll cave someday.

Blog #8, done! Check out my last post to see how dinner looked!

Workin' Hard

So, today. Today I got up and did all the normal getting-ready-for-the-day stuff and sat down to start my paperwork for my new job. That's right, this one got a job! No, it's not the one I was interviewed for, I still haven't heard from them about that job. They did tell me, however, that they first need to hear from all my references. Hey, references... get back to my interviewers! But anyway, I received an email yesterday saying thanks for applying and here's some paperwork and orientation dates, just show up to one of them with all of this filled out and some I.D. Okay, I can do that.

Well, I got this email yesterday, and the first orientation date that applied to me was today. Ok, I'll just print it and fill it out quickly. Printer malfunction... printer malfunction... printer malfunction. What it is with modern technology today?? All it would print was random symbols at the top of page after page, and it wouldn't stop! When we hit the "stop" button, it told us, "invalid function." So we turned it off and turned it back on. It started right back up with the random symbols. Sometimes just one exclamation mark in the corner of the page. Dear printer, you were very naughty yesterday and wasted too much paper. You are now on probation.

With some help from that dear man I married we finally got the packet printed. Just about in time for bedtime. Yeah, nice. So I got up with my husband this morning thinking I'd get it done before orientation started and didn't get it done in time. Luckily, though, there is another session in a week, and I emailed the lady who sent me the packet saying I will be there for that one. I suppose this just gives me another week to see what happens with the other job. But either one is fine with me, they're both with the schools.

I did not use the day to slack off, however, even though I missed my orientation. By noon today, I had finished everything on my list of things I wanted done this week (and neglected to do until today). Birthday cake for my sister-in-law and husband's birthday extravaganza this weekend? Check. Bank account nearly $20 lighter, check. Cleaned the bathroom, check. Swept and mopped the kitchen, dining room, and bathroom floors, check, check, and check! Feed thyself, check. Yup... what's a woman to do when the housework is done? In this case, have free-time, will blog. Apparently.

Dinner tonight: Peppery pork chops! Couscous. Sweet potato fries (as a treat for my father-in-law). And steamed vegetables of whatever variety is currently in my freezer.

Here's how they turned out:

  Yum!

Enjoy another beautiful autumn day! Blog #7, done!

Yesterday

These are photos from the day of my Sunny Day post. As I said, it was a sunny day and so my Prince Charming and I went on a walk to Como Park.

It's so beautiful! I'm taking my sister there in two weeks for some of her senior photos. I promise to post some more pictures then.

I just love it!

Yesterday was an eventful day in this house. I had a job interview in the morning for the school job I applied for, and I will hopefully know by tomorrow if I have the job or not. Keep praying! I am a little worried that I'm not cut out for the job, it really is a lot of work, but if I get the job I know that's God saying I can do it. I know it will be fine. 

After that, I worked on one of my books for awhile, then my husband came home and we went grocery shopping. Why is shopping so exhausting? We were both so weary when we got home. But, I still baked cookies! And they're so good. My husband tells me that I make the best chocolate chip cookies, not that he's biased or anything. But I have to say... I wouldn't argue with him. I even had to remind my father-in-law to watch his cookie intake, because his wife calls him a chubby-hubby and he's been working on his weight. 

I also made a delicious meal. Chicken and baked potatoes, with a cheddar cheese sauce. I'll tell you my secret for delicious chicken, which I simply cooked on the stove-top in a frying pan filled with a little water (to keep the chicken from burning to the bottom of the pan) for about 30-45 mins. Here it is: ginger, sage, and a very little bit of parsley. Add a dash of salt before you take it off the heat and it's perfect! The only thing dinner was lacking was a vegetable, which I had planned to make but totally forgot about until we were at the table. But the cookies make up for that, right? Well, we thought so.

Tonight is simply chilli and corn bread, which is one of our favorites around here. Mostly because of the corn bread. Whoever came up with the concept is surely at rest in Heaven.

Blog #6, done! Enjoy this beautiful day.

God Bless Our Home

I have decided I will not commit myself to writing in the blog every day. You may have noticed, or maybe you didn't, and in the case of the latter, that's my point, but I haven't been updating every day. Wouldn't it be easier for you to keep up with me if I didn't write every day, so you wouldn't have to log on and read every day? I thought so. See, it's a win-win.

I will, however, commit myself to writing something every day. Be it in my notes journal, on Word, in this blog, on scraps of paper on my dresser, or an original thought on Facebook, it will be done. That's my promise to myself. To those who have promised to harp on me if I do not write, take to harassing me if it has been a week since my last post. Or just if you're really bored and this is somehow sadly your only form of entertainment and there is nothing new to read here for you.

Today is not a very exciting day. I stepped out to avoid the men coming in to measure for new windows (new windows in the fall? Right after it starts getting colder? Well, okay, but make it quick), and I walked to the Dollar Tree to get some wall sticker decorations for our boring kitchen. It now says "God bless our home" above the sink, which is much better than ugly, bare white wall. Not that our home is lacking in noticeable marks of being a Christian dwelling place.
Note: today became considerably more exciting this afternoon when I got a call for an interview tomorrow for the position I really wanted!!! Pray pray pray that I get this job =)

The hubby is home between classes to work on his paper, which he has to finish tonight. After lunch he'll leave, and I'll work on dusting and cleaning windows and mirrors, which I've realized we have a lot of. Anyone want to donate more window cleaner and paper towels? Or old rags, even socks? I foresee going through these very quickly.
Note: I actually don't have any window cleaner. How did that happen?

On the menu tonight: cheesy beef nachos! Mmmm, trust me, they're tasty.

Here's to you! Blog #5, done!

Sunny Day

In the past week, the sun has seldom peaked out, and when it has, only to taunt us before hiding behind the cover of clouds once again. When the clouds parted and released the sun late yesterday afternoon, I thought surely it wouldn't last. But it has. And how wonderful it has been.

Once the laundry is done, and my husband has sufficient research to start a paper, we will put on our walking shoes and fall coats and see how close we can get to Como Park taking the long route. It is so beautiful back there; a secluded quiet from the city buzz, I am excited.

Good news for you all: this blog has helped me get the creative juices flowing, and the stories that were once locked away in my mind and my heart and my very being, have begun to be put into print. It will be a slow process and I don't know if I'll ever care to share them with anyone but my husband, but it's still a relief to me to know that I'm capable of doing it.

Success. Blog #4, done!

Life On This End

Ok, so it's my third day of having a blog, and this thing keeps telling me that I need to follow other blogs. There is a function at the top of the page, you may be able to see it, that says "Next blog" so I clicked on it. It took me to another blog. I read one full post by someone, then parts of two others. And I realized something. Bloggers have the tendency to be whiny, self-absorbed, and conceited. Please please please, if you care about me at all, do not let this happen. If I begin to become whiny, conceited, self-absorbed, self-important, pompous, a huge jerk, annoying to read about, anything more than just writing to family and friends, and thinking what I have to say is really all that important, come over here and slap me. Or at least do it verbally over the web, but physically if absolutely necessary.

In short, don't let it get that far. I would much prefer pure, unadulterated thought in print. After all, this blog is for communication purposes. So here is the daily dose of update from me to you.

Last night was the first night of me cooking dinner for three instead of two. Having another person to cook for is not so bad. Having a father-in-law to cook for who is used to a much larger home and different cook is a whole other story. Not to mention he's just getting settled in. I had started dinner late because we were waiting for him to get home, and when he got here he started unpacking his new computer which had come earlier in the day. My husband, thinking he was being helpful, began helping him. The more that was unpacked, the more crowded I felt and the less success I was having getting dinner ready. I started asking them to just clean up and deal with it after dinner, but no, this was apparently much more important than oh, say, eating. I suppose they just hadn't realized they were in the way of dinner being made, but being that they were frequently in the kitchen to set things up (our living space is very tight and the printer is on what is supposed to be a breakfast bar), well, they were in the way.

We'll see how this being the only woman in the home goes. I suppose I will have to get used to the toilet lid being up, shoes being worn all through the house, a wet bathroom floor, boxes, papers, computers, cds, and mail being left on the dining room table, and never feeling we have enough space. I'm sorry, Doc, we're poor college students, and I know it's been a long time since bachelorhood, but it looks like while you're here, you'll have to adapt back to those times.

I hope and pray we can keep him happy here. Or at least, relatively comfortable. I feel better knowing he gets to go home and stretch out in his own large home when he is not needing to be close to work here. God bless him.

Dinner did get made, however, and was rather good. Open faced roast beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes, gravy, and peppers supplied by the father-in-law. Also, the computer did get set up, and so did the printer, and it did fit just fine.

Now today we are going to get our car cleaned, interior and exterior, for $9.99. We have a coupon. Being that it desperately needs cleaning, this is quite exciting.

Blog #3, done! Good day to you.

Day Two

So today I applied to three jobs simultaneously. I am really hoping this works out. The application process for the public schools in the area was all linked together so that this applying to multiple jobs can be done. It was a little strange, especially when it came to writing the cover letter, but they should know what they have done, so I shouldn't look like an unknowing fool, right?

I hope so. That's right, agree with me. It wouldn't help to disagree with me at this point and cause me to have a panic attack when it's only been 30 minutes since said application was applied.

That said, thank you Facebook for making the whole ordeal much less disagreeable. Do I care that you now choose which updates I see? Well, sort of, because I am now curious as to what I may be missing. But no, not while I'm trying to find important contact information in messages and such from my references and you keep finding pop-ups because it's oh so important that I know what's going on right this minute. Here's an idea, when you update at inconvenient times without warning, let me decide when I want to figure the new system out. Stop making decisions for us all, hm? That's all I have to say about that.

Well, family of mine. Dear friends. I am pleased to say that I successfully cooked a beef roast in the crockpot for the second time. I also made gravy, for the first time. And it worked. I think. Okay, so it could be thicker but I'm pretty sure since the roast was marinated in wine the idea was for it to be an "au jus", and not thick gravy. But I'll work on it. At Thanksgiving. So be ready to show me how.
Note: I figured out how to make a roux and added it to the gravy, it works, it's fantastic. Maybe I can teach some of you how to make gravy. Ha.

Anyway, that husband of mine loved it. And I think ate more than he could handle. Oh, I also made carrot cake, but without coconut and pineapple, at his request, and well, it didn't turn out so well. Turns out those are important ingredients, and if exempt, the cake is the consistency of a brownie. Still tasty, not fluffy. I don't feel bad, it was an experimental cake. Better luck next time.
Note: I ate some after my initial post. After having time to sit covered for several hours it was quite soft and very tasty, despite the brownie-like texture.

Well, I am off to maybe clean, but probably procrastinate on that a little longer and let the chores pile up more. Maybe I'll unload the dishwasher and call it a day. Netflix is calling to me, with that cute show I love that my man claims he can't handle any more of. I am also nearly done with Pride and Prejudice. The completion of the reading of a book, we all know, is very pressing and the highest priority of all. Right?
Still procrastinating. I'll have time to clean tomorrow and Friday. Plenty of time.

Well, that's what I'm saying for now. Blog #2, done. Love you all.

First time

I used to have an internet journal that my friends could read, before there was myspace, but that didn't work out so well. Hopefully, this will be more successful. A place where I can communicate without picking up the phone to fit the unpredictable schedules of my mom, mother-in-law, and myself.

This will also serve as a sort of practice tool for me. As Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice insists, practice makes perfect. As a writing major on an involuntary leave-of-absence from school, I need to stay in practice in order to have any hope of surviving when I can go back (whenever that may be). I can't guarantee I will update this frequently, but if successful in communicating with my family, I will do my best to try.

So, here it is. Blog #1, done.