One Down, One To Go

Here is the plated dessert that I presented today for my Practical Final: Hot Citrus Souffle (orange and lemon zest) with Créme Anglaise, 2 Spritz cookies, and the name written with dark, tempered chocolate.
Today I'll be studying for my written exam which is tomorrow, then I'll be DONE with Baking and Pastry! (The celebration is really that I won't have to have the same instructor anymore.) Just thought you'd like to see something I produced today.

Work, Carey, Work. Work, work, work. See Carey work.

Yesterday I was on my feet from 5am, when I woke up, until 12:30am, when I got home from work. I went straight from school to work and straight from work to bed. I worked an event last night at a ranch house in Dripping Springs, and I think it might have been the most expensive house I've ever stepped foot in--definitely a multi-million dollar property. It was unbelieveable; very modern/contemporary interior design, which didn't make it feel quite as homey and comfortable as our 1300 square-foot home with an overgrown backyard, a tree house that needs to be torn down, and lots of other never-ending house projects. I'm glad we have our home. But the event was fun and it was an awesome experience. This one was a 12-course meal for top contributors to the Austin Lyric Opera. We had a private concert at the house, too. That was cool.

I have the day off today, but work tonight. Chris is discipling a college student and is meeting with him this afternoon, so I'm in charge of watering the grass, taping Chris's office for painting, and making a list of goals for our house. When he gets back, we'll paint it, take a walk this afternoon, and hopefully have time to watch some college football together before I head off to work.

I've got one week left in my P&B class, then Garde Manger. That will be my last class before my internship. I'm really getting burned out with school, but am trying to enjoy it while it lasts. I was thinking how less complicated my life will be beginning next year because I'll consolidate two jobs and school into one full-time job. That seems pretty good right now.

Singapore

Here are some pictures of Chris when he was in Singapore. He had a good time, even though he worked A LOT of hours. The best part is that he got to share Christ with some people over there in several different ways.

Moving Day Pics

A mound of boxes at our apartment before we moved.
The gang who helped us.
And a cute little horned owl that lives in our backyard. He has a friend but we haven't seen him in awhile.

My Saturday Night...Not at the ACL Fest

Chris is home! I picked him up from the airport this morning at 8:50am, drove home, dropped him off and headed to babysit familiy #1. 3 kids. We played with Barbies, watched "Spirit," ate pizza for lunch, played with trains, and I put the youngest down for a nap. I went home and it was so good to finally go home to my husband who's been out of the country for 3 weeks. He was anxious to work in the yard, and it looked great when I returned. We have our work cut out for us though as far as seeding in the Spring, planting a garden, trimming dead limbs in our trees, and possibly routing out a sprinkler system. Lots of projects. (I want to mention how much I love Chris! I am so blessed to have him as my husband and share life experiences with him. I started praying for the man I would marry when I was 10 years old, and God surely answered my prayer.) We had planned to eat our dinner together after grilling on our new grill, but we couldn't get it to turn on for some reason, so we opted for cooking it in the oven and over stoptop. We made chocolate-covered strawberries, too, a favorite dessert of ours since we started dating. Chris really tried to stay awake, but he was struggling from jetlag. He finally went to bed not too soon before I left to babysit for family #2. And that's where I am now...while many are at the ACL Fest. I'm at a house in the 78704 neighborhood. Very chic house. Nolan is 10 months and he's sleeping. I talked to my mom on the phone, tried to call JMK (you know who you are), flipped channels for awhile, settling on Iron Chef America, and now doing this. Still an hour or so to go. I'm looking forward to returning home once again to my hubby. I love his company. :) And I'm looking forward to a lazy day tomorrow, getting up when we want, maybe going to play discgolf, working in the yard, or going running together. What fun life is with the one you love. Praise God.

"Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fond"

Hurray! Chris has been gone for 3 weeks to Singapore for work. I've missed him a lot! But his return flight is scheduled for Saturday morning! He's leaving his hotel room in about 2 hours from now and will travel about 30 hours to get back to our new home. He left just 4 days after we moved in, so it will be different to him, I'm sure, to come back here. I'm hoping to welcome him home with a yummy dinner that night on our new grill. He's gotten really tired of eating out on his trip. Unfortunately, however, I scheduled two shifts of babysitting on Saturay from 9:45am-1, and from 7:45pm-11pm. I agreed to them too soon, I think, but it will help with our budget. Christopher will probably be sleeping to catch up from jetlag anyway. I'm so happy he's coming home! What a void in my life to have my husband gone for so long. But I will agree with the old saying...

Rest

"Resting in Jesus, I'm resting in Him. Putting my faith in His Word. Trusting, obeying, my Heavenly Friend. Resting in Jesus, my Lord." (Acapella Children)

For awhile there I was beginning to wonder...stress can take over life so quickly, and I admit that I get easily wrapped up in what's going on in the moment that I forget to keep life in perspective. But I've been able to step back now and see it as such a short time here on this little planet that I get to glorify my God and make much of Him each day I breathe air. Life is still busy for me, but I rest in Jesus and His sovereignty. I cast all my cares on Him. And it's so much better that way.

Last night I got to have some girl time, which was good for me and super-fun. Melanie and I went to Becky's and hung out with her and the girlies. We played with Madi and Peyton, dipped to make chocolate covered strawberries for an office birthday party today, drank some ritas, and watched the season finale of Dawson's Creek! We slept over, too. I really needed time away from the house and school stuff. They are blessings to me.

I had my midterm yesterday in my patisserie class, so I'm halfway done with it now..and after this class, only one more to go! This school year has gone fast, looking back. I'm still loving it and enjoying my job, too.

That's the wrap.

Taking Care of Today

So we moved in two weeks ago and since then, life has not slowed down. Chris is traveling and I am in charge of setting up home. How fun, you say? Oh yes, indeed, if I had time...but life has been very busy and chaotic lately. I start job # 2 tomorrow (which I'm super-excited about, by the way), I was in Dallas for the Labor Day weekend, and with working my other job approx. 20 hours a week, house-stuff hunting and yardwork and school 6 hours a day everyday, I'm realizing that a Sabbath in my life is way overdue. It's hard to just slow down and 'take in life' when my mind is consumed with to do lists and tasks to accomplish for the day. This is one of my greatest faults, I would say. It's easy for me to get caught up in what's going on in my life at the moment and completely forget about everything and everyone else but myself. Pretty selfish of me. But to be honest, when I have any free time at all, I usually just want to sleep. Nice, cold sheets. Three pillows. Heavy blanket. Curtains closed. Dark room. Alarm off. What could be better??