What a Day

Woke up late this morning but got to school on time. Made all sorts of fried foods in class today. Had a margarita with friends afterwards at a nearby restaurant. Picked up the girls almost 20 minutes late. Headed to the apartment and tried to put Peyton down for a nap. Set Madison up with coloring and toys. Finally got Peyton down about 2 hours later than usual. Took a shower while Madi watched a movie. Felt good to be clean after a couple of days without a good washing. Dressed into clean chef clothes. Woke up Peyton while Madi jumped on the bed and I finished getting ready. Dropped off the girls and headed to my interview at the location of my new place of employment--Onion Creek Country Club. Took 2 hours, then headed home to my husband who I miss a lot these days. Ate dinner: Angel Hair with Tomato Vodka Sauce, Texas Toast, and Pinot Grigio. Talked. Laughed. Went to the Study to start on homework while Chris cleaned up from dinner. Blogged.

Pray for His Back

On Saturday mornings, Chris plays Ultimate Frisbee with a local group of folks in Austin. Yesterday he called and said that he had hurt himself. This is scary news when just a year and a half ago he had surgery on his back for a herniated disc. It turns out that he did throw out his back and he's pretty immobile right now. Hopefully it's not too serious. All day I tried to convice him that we should just go get him checked out to make sure everything was okay, but he can be stubborn sometimes. :) But I think he's doing better, and Chris thinks that he may have just strained some muscles. You can pray for that if you think of him.

I worked again this morning at Hope in the City, which is a church downtown. I work there on Sunday mornings for two hours just doing childcare during their services. I only work two hours each Sunday, but I love the kids and it's a little extra income. Tonight at our church, I'm actually working in the children's ministry, too, so I'll get my fill of the little kiddos this weekend.

I don't have class tomorrow! My Chef Instructors will be having a seminar, so we don't have to go to school which is awesome. For one, I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn, and secondly, I convinced Chris to take off from work. I hope that he feels better tomorrow because we were planning on going to Enchanted Rock State Park a couple hours away for the day. We're planning on bringing a picnic and just hiking around. The weather has gotten so nice here and we always enjoy getting away from the city. But it may work out to where Chris's back isn't better, so in that case, it will still be good that he took off from work so that he can have an extra day to recover.

For Momma

Haircuts #1 and #2.

As of Late

Praise the Lord, it's Friday! What a week. In school, we learned all about and cooked up a storm of all different types of sauces and soups. I've been bringing home different selections everyday for my wonderful hubby to try. School is getting better, as far as the stress level goes. I'm getting used to the fast-pacedness of it all and learning how to better manage my time and do a better job of my mise en place. (I'll just occasionally throw out some French terms for you to look up.) I am enjoying getting to know my friends at school and am discovering ways to connect with them so that I can eventually share Christ. What a wonderful blessing and privelege it is to serve as God's hands and feet. Last weekend I did the whole Happy Hour thing with some of them, and tonight while Chris is studying for his Perspectives exam, I think I'll drop by Elvin's for a little shindig/get-together that he's having for our class.

I'm in the process of job searching. I've been hired for a one-day job next Tuesday at the Palmer Events Center, working for Sysco, the food distribution company, for a food show. I will be the "Chef" of the booth for soups and salads, which is just perfect since I just finished the whole soup shabang in school. They provide the recipes and I bring all my equipment, and I simply cook, garnish, plate, and present to all the companies and businesses that will be there checking out what kind of products Sysco sells. I will also be prepared to answer any questions about the foods. I'm putting myself in a situation that I think will turn out really well or badly. Hopefully the latter. Also, I applied to work at the Chef's Association Conference in Houston next weekend. A couple of chefs contacted me because they needed assistance during their demos, but unfortunately I can't do it now because they need me on Friday, while I'm in school. It would have been another great opporunity. This afternoon I am going to apply and speak with the chef at Treehouse Italian Grill. Ideally, I would like to start working at the end of March or beginning of April, but that kind of depends on my current babysitting job.

Here's some pictures of my girls: Madi and Peyton.

That's what's going on as of late.

Dinner Party

Chris left Thursday night and flew to Indiana for his camping adventure with Todd, Steve, and Ken. They drove to Tennessee and are camping in the cold, rainy weather. They went last year, too, and Chris had such a good time. I know that it's really doing him some good to be with his friends and to get away from work.

This week for me, in my first cooking class, has been really stressful. To make the weekend a pick-me-up, I decided to have a dinner party last night. I invited all the women from our community group at church and some extras. There ended up being 4 people that came, and I would say that they were the four ladies that I don't know very well yet, so it was actually a huge blessing to be able to spend time with them and talk. We had dinner: Manicotti Italiani, Roasted Vegetable Medley, Challah bread, and New York Style Cheesecake with Strawberry Topping, and we planned on watching a movie together, but instead the conversation just naturally went really well and we talked until about 11:00pm when they decided to go home. I was encouraged and uplifted from those women.

It is a rainy, dreary day here in Austin, and it's reflecting my calm, quiet mood today. I loved being able to sleep in this morning, and having the entire bed to myself was great! :) I think it's the best sleep I've had since I've been married! Today I'm getting my hair re-cut because I am not pleased with how it was done last week. I'm also going to a friend's house to deliver all the of the junk food that's in our apt. I was looking through the pantry and frige last night and couldn't believe how much unhealthy, sweet foods we had...and we definitely don't need them around, so I'm going to let someone else have them around.

Bon Appetit

I got my hair cut yesterday. I really like it, and hopefully I'll have a picture or two to post soon. This morning Chris and I are going to my school for the Gumbo Competition. I have several classmates who will be participating and it will be a great time for Chris to meet my Chef and friends. Monday I begin my first lab. It's Culinary Arts 101, and it's the saucier class: sauces, stocks, and veg. Here's a bunch of random stuff we'll be doing (according to my syllabus)... veal demiglaze, marchand du vin, shrimp bisque, corn and crab chowder with basil, brussel sprouts with prosciutto and pignoli, breaded mushrooms with horseradish-cream sauce, fresh spinach pasta, alfredo sauce, white clam sauce, gnocchi parisienne, feather dumplings in lemon-sage broth, hungarian potatoes, garbanzo beans with tomato, zucchini, and cilantro, and risotto alla parmigiana. Wow..I'm excited. That's just a brief synopsis, too. I'll let you know when I learn what all those words mean. :) Now that I'm in culinary school, I kind of wish I would have taken French or Italian instead of Spanish. Also today, we're getting Chris a framepack since he'll be camping in Tennessee next weekend. It will be cold, I'm sure, but he's really excited to be with his friends, Todd, Steve, and Ken.

Baby Peyton

For 2 weeks now, I have been nannying for the Travis family, who go to my church. Madison is 3 and Peyton is 7 months. This week I just have Peyton because Madi is visiting with her grandparents for a week in Houston. I've been taking Peyton back to our apartment everyday, and we've been having lots of fun together. :) She is crawling a lot, but can't quite stand up on her own yet. She loves music and looking at her reflection in the mirror. She likes it when I sing to her in the car, and when she laughs, it sounds like her voice is shaking--pretty cute. I took a few pictures of her to show you. I wish I could upload the video clips, too. I want you to take a close look at the picture of her and see if you notice anything....see that itty-bitty tooth on the bottom? That's all she's got! Soo cute. :)

Also, I made lots of Valentine cookies (Mom's recipe, of course!) for Chris to take to work. We weren't able to celebrate V-Day together because he's been really busy with work, and I had to babysit practically all day that day. Chris was fine with that because he believes that V-Day is just a holiday that Hallmark created to sell more and get richer. But because it's important for every woman to know that she's loved and appreciated, and because dates are just good for a marriage and fun, we're going out tonight to celebrate our love for each other and God's love for us. :) More details to follow...I'm not sure what Chris has up his sleeve for tonight.

Catching Up

I don't know what it is, but every time I listen to Alison Krauss sing, my soul gets happy. She'll be in concert in Houston in March, but tickets are crazy expensive. When I listen to her music, I think of my paternal side of the family that has a bluegrass band. They're getting together in June to sing and make music together, but I can't go. Kinda bummed about that.
This week will be my last in the CS class and Culinary Arts class that I'm taking, then next week I'll start my labs in the kitchen! I'm very excited about that. Our first class will be over stocks, sauces, and vegetables. I love school right now. I think it was a really good decision for me.

I've started babysitting 3x/week for two little girls; Madison and Peyton. It is just a temporary job until the end of March, but in the meantime, we're having lots of fun together. It makes me feel old when I'm chauffeuring carseats in the back of my car, and especially when in public, people make comments about how cute my kids are!

I have an interview tomorrow for a food server position at a law firm. I don't know anything about the company, so I'm not sure if I will take it or not. Wednesday is a Career Fair at school, and several companies will be there. I will have an opportunity to set up interviews for my externship or for a part-time job, if I'm interested.

That's the scoop.

End of the Spear

You should definitely see this movie. Inspiring. It will mess you up.

My classmates

In culinary school, our class has definitely begun to "mesh" together. It's fun getting to know everyone. We see each other five days a week for five hours a day, so our relationships have sort of grown faster than normal. Here are a couple highlights from some of my new friends:

Sarah- She sits right next to me and is from Brinkley, Arkansas. She has a THICK accent and it's fun hearing her talk, although it sometimes seems like she'll never shut up. :) She's very sweet though. She got married in Vegas and that night her husband had to go to work. He's in the Army and has been in Iraq for a year and a half. They haven't seen each other for 7 months now, and she's counting down a week and a day to go until he's here for a leave of 2 weeks, then back to California, where he's now stationed. His ETS date is in May. So they'll finally get to have a marriage again.

Adan- He's a short Hispanic man with grey hair and he's the sweetest person. He stutters a lot when he talks, but I'm so glad that no one has made him feel less because of it. Everyone really likes him.

Kristen- She was on American Idol when they came to Austin, but she was #27 and they ended up only taking the top 25 singers. She has one of those kinds of dogs that has a wrinkly face, and his name is Big Mac. Her mom is a pastry chef, so her whole life, Kristen has made lots of wedding cakes...one reason she's not pursuing a patissierie degree!

Elvin- He sits in front of me and he's one of the class clowns. He worked in California as part of an improv team. They traveled for their performances all over.

That's the wrap. Tonight's menu: Sherry Almond Chicken on a bed of cooked rice, asparagus, and grapes.

Happy February

It's already here. Month number two. Last weekend was a lot of fun because my sister-in-law, Laura, and her fiance, came to visit us for a couple of days. It was a great, lazy weekend. We ate a lot of food, played some old-school Nintendo, watched a movie, and talked. It was good to get to know Josh, too. He's a quiet fellow.

In school, I'm onto my CS class and Intro to Culinary Arts. In CS, we spend three hours a day discussing things like how to save a file to a folder, choosing ClipArt, and other fun things. It's not challenging at all, so I usually catch up on email during that time. I'm learning a lot in my CA class though, even though we're not yet in the kitchen. Today I'm reading a chapter that differentiates between braising, broiling, poaching, steaming, simmering, boiling, grilling, BBQing, and griddling. Lots of new things I learn. This afternoon I'm actually trying to stay awake for my study time. I didn't get in a nap today (hard life, I know), so I'm a little sleepy. Last night was a late night because Chris and I hung out with people in our small group. We went to the Taste of Austin and filled our bellies with yummy foods from tons of restaurants. Afterwards, we went back to Jason and Jenny Ford's house to talk. It was a good time, but we got out pretty late, so I was tired this morning.

Tonight's dinner: Roasted Red Pepper Potato Soup, a romaine salad with feta, croutons, and cherry tomatos, and biscuits. Mmm.

Chao.

Chris's Birthday Weekend

Chris turned 26th yesterday and we had a weekend of festivities. Saturday night we went out to dinner (compliments of Laura and Josh) at Romeo's, a small, romantic Italian restaurant voted Austin's best date spot. We went all out for dinner, which was pretty special considering we rarely go out to eat...but this was for a special occasion. We started out with calamari, then bread and rolls, Chris had a chardonnay and I had a pinot grigio, Chicken Marsala for me, Shrimp Romeo for him, and a dessert to share. While he was in the restroom, I asked the waiter if they did anything for birthdays, so after our meal, she brought out a brownie sundae with a candle on top. He was surprised. After stuffing our bellies, we headed over to the hotspot Saturday night activity on the East side of town--Bingo! When we moved to Austin, we were surprised out how many Bingo places there were and we always said that one day we'd go play. It was so much fun even though we didn't ring in the big $400-$700 of the night's winnings. Those people are intense. Not just senior citizens were in their, and they tell you if you're being too loud--or if you called Bingo when you really didn't have one (I learned from experience). They are focused. So, I had to take a picture of our cards. To Chris, I'm sure it seemed as though the celebration was over, but I had a little something in the making and we just had to wait. After church last night, we headed back to our apartment quickly because Chris had forgotten to send some important emails for work to Singapore. It was perfect him being in the study because I worked on picking up the house and putting the finishing touches to his birthday cake. At 9:30, tons of friends from our Community Group from church and a guy from AMD showed up to surprise Chris and celebrate with us. Chris was surprised, and I was too, especially since I had expected 7 people to come, and 17 came instead! It was a lot of fun having our little apartment packed full of good friends. I made the famous Dora Cake, Chris's favorite and his mom's recipe, and we had two kinds of ice cream. It was a blessing to us that others came to share in Christopher's birthday. A fun memory for our first year in Austin.

Wisdom All Gone

The dentist put them in a box for me so I could keep them. See the one with the sharp hook? That's the one they worked on for like 30 minutes. Pretty mean-looking. So glad it's over. It has not been a fun recovery process.

One Sick Puppy

Last Friday I had all four of my wisdom teeth extracted, and since, I have been battling sickness and pain. I took the recommended narcotic, but because I was unable to eat (and haven't done much of it since Friday), I got really sick from the medication. Also, I knew that I wouldn't be able to function very well at school this week or driving to and from, so I stopped taking it. But as a result, I've had to deal with the really painful recovery. It's been 5 days and I'm still not better. I'm just taking Tylenol religiously and making sure that I get a nap in during the afternoons. So, life hasn't been very enjoyable lately. Tonight I made dinner, even though I can't eat anything solid yet, because I've felt bad for Christopher eating mac and cheese, spaghetti, and whatever else he's gotten by on while I've been out of service.

My Chef Shoes

The industry is really picky about the shoes you wear while working in a kitchen. Texas Culinary Academy specifies what type are allowed, also. Here's a pic!

Food for Thought

Yesterday was my first day of culinary school. I am taking two classes; Sanitation and Nutrition. Every three weeks, I finish a block (consisting of 2 classes) and move on to the next block. So basically I will be taking intensives for the next year. I started yesterday, and I have an exam in each class on Friday, then my mid-term in next Wednesday. Crazy, huh? I have to really stay on top of things in order to do as well as I want. I have a feeling I will really need more self-discipline for this new academic journey. I learned about inhumane things that happen on chicken farms during the production of the poultry. It makes me want to raise my own chickens. Also, here's some "food for thought"...You know how there are so many products out there today in grocery stores to accomadate vegetarians and vegans; such as, "Not-A-Dogs" (hotdogs) and Veggie Burgers and something that looks and sort of tastes like cheese, but it's not? Well, my chef instructor brought up a good point. What about those who don't eat vegetables? How can our equal opportunity society accomadate their tastes? Chef Ritter ingeniously gave some suggestions for names to call vegetable subsitutes made from meat products...."Tomeatos" and "Mockoli." Anyone have an any other ideas??

The Fam

These are special people in my life. I love my family. I miss Aaron a lot.

Happy January!

One of my favorite traditions that Chris and I have started (this being only our 2nd year) is to get away and reflect on the past year around New Year's. Our usual place of retreatment is Starbucks, but not because we like to support corporations, (had to put that in there) but moreso to commemorate our first date there way back in February of 2004. So we retreated last night. We have this leather journal that we write in and we have our annual entry and then it sits on the shelf and collects dust until the next January comes around. We decided to cover a big event for the year in a 2-sided story. Then we make a list of all the major and minor events that happened because we are likely to forget all those details years later. Last, we write down our dreams and ambitions and goals for the upcoming year. It's interesting to look back and read last year's entry. It showed what we valued and what was dear to us. Last year we wrote the story of how we met, our first impressions of each other, and cute stories that we've already forgotten about. When we read through them last night, I just couldn't hold back the tears. It's amazing to read OUR story and see so clearly how God has manifested His perfect will into our screwed-up lives. To God be the glory, great things He hath done. This year we wrote about our wedding. A lot of other big things happend (trip to Europe, moving, starting new jobs, losing credits, etc.), but we felt like our wedding and all the emotions we felt was something we wanted to record while it's still fresh. I love reading what Christopher writes about me and I love to write about him. So this has become a really special thing for us.

The Stranges

For some reason, I wasn't able to post text with my last entry...We spent a week in Colleyville with Chris's family, then last Friday morning, headed off to Santa Rosa Beach in Florida for the wedding of Curtis and Catherine Strange. Curtis was a high school friend of Chris's and they swam together, too. We met Catherine about a year ago and she is the sweetest. They had a beautiful wedding on the beach near Destin. They rented a huge beachhouse for their wedding party and we got to stay there, too, even though we weren't involved in the wedding. It was a lot of fun and sort of like a mini-vacation for us. They had an absolutely beautiful day for their ceremony, and the sunset was gorgeous. Chris and I had fun just roaming around on the beach and relaxing into the new year together.

Beach Wedding Bliss