A Few Quirks

I am a bit obsessive when it comes to organization and cleanliness.

- In my closet, my clothes are hung according to their color and season--like at Goodwill. As of this year, I switched all of my hangers backwards to hang from the inside instead of the outside. When I wear an item, I switch the hanger to the 'correct' side of the rod to show what was worn. After so many months, the idea is to clear out what I haven't used.

- When at other peoples' houses and using their restroom, I ALWAYS dry my hands with the backside of the hand towel, not the front. I feel like it's cleaner and less germy.

- I'm a hand sanitizer junkie.

- I have an OCD behavior that I'm trying to fix. When driving or watching TV, I'll subconsciously see a word or number and begin writing it with my right forefinger over and over. Minutes or miles will pass and I'll notice it and remember that McDonald's sign or 800 number that caused me to start writing. Weird, I know.

And 20 Makes 29

Chris had a birthday today. He is 29 years old. We celebrated by hosting a Game Night/Banana Split Party--two of Chris's favorite things. 20 people came. I did a little decorating and found some photos of him as a youngster. A few of the fellas are still here playing Risk.

At Last

...Because it's now ingrained in my head after hearing it so many times and watching President Obama and the First Lady dance is so many times. What a gorgeous dress though, huh?

At last I am living my dream job. I would have never expected business to pick up so well and so quickly upon my return from vacation. Several opportunities were put in my lap with no marketing or referral--amazing! I've picked up a family for whom I cook for in their home during the week. They prefer to pay for the grocery bill and my time separately, which is not how I typically do my pricing, but it works really well for them and they are by far my favorite client. I get to work in a top-notch kitchen, buy amazing products to work with, sip vino with the Mrs. as she watches and talks to me, and feed and serve their whole family. Love it. I couldn't be happier. I never thought I would enjoy working as much as I do. What a blessing from the Lord.

What I'm Up To Today

Baked a few dozen of these sugar cookies (not bagels).

Happy Birthday, Big Brother!

Andy is 28 today.

Updated

Check it out. Thank goodness for Java. (And my husband.)

Oh How I Love Thee

Honey Whole Wheat is where it's at.

Seasonally Confused?

Is it just me or is anyone else down here in Austin seasonally confused?? I mean, it was almost 90 degrees yesterday and it's not even mid-January. Come on! I miss the cold. Bring back sweater weather! I raked my front yard yesterday because our monterrey oaks decided to shed their leaves during our vacation and with the sun out now, our grass would die unless we got them up. I feel like it's already summer time but leaves are still falling and Christmas lights are still up in the neighborhood. Weird.

The Chronicles of Carey: January 9th

1995 (Hilarious!!!)
It will be Andy's birthday soon. He will be 14!!! Just think, in one year he'll be taking Driver's Ed. Oh my! Tomorrow I'm wearing a white turtle neck, my navy blue body suit, and blue jeans. For Valentine's Day I'm wearing Mom's red shoes, my red silk shirt, red socks, and I have red sweat pants but not so sure if it'll look okay with the silk shirt. Guess what, it's Girl Scout cookie time. I had one whole order form done in 3 days! I'm working on my second one already. I'm sorry but it's 9:35pm (and my bedtime on school nights is 8:30). I really have to get going. Thanks for listening!

2002
...This decision really showed that I have no integrity and shallow character. But despite all of the bad that has happened, I praise God for J's sweet spirit, her uplifting and forgiving spirit. She's helped me so much...oh how I will long for her to be near when she is gone. But I believe God crossed our paths for a reason and I am thankful for her.

2003
I am at the plasma donation center waiting to get in. Need the extra bucks. I have to pick up Aaron from his job and bring him to school. He's grounded from the car for a week because he got a speeding ticket.

2004
I understand now what it feels like to be refined. You brought me through that painful process, stripping away impurities from my life, so that I could look more like You. I want to know You more. You are all that matters.

2005
If all goes well, Chris and I should know by the end of the month where we will be moving. That is exciting! It's weird how willing I am to move to an unknown location. I feel comfortable with this life change. It will be fun to see what it will be like to live with CB. What a blessing the Lord has given me; to love my heart out on him all the days of my life.

2006
I had my first day of culinary school today. For some crazy reason, I still get nervous on the first day of school...I enjoyed getting up early actually...hot tea and a little something for the stomach and off I go.

Beginnings

I'm not usually one to write down New Year's resolutions, if I make any at all. But I have some that swim around in my head that I thought I'd put down on paper this time.

Time

1.5 years it took us to save up money from birthdays, Christmases, tips, etc. until we finally had enough to buy a video camera. Chris went out last night and bought it; Sony Handycam DCR-SR45. I haven't had a chance to play with it yet, but it will be fun. A year ago, prices were much steeper. The benefits of waiting is that prices have come down a lot. So much so that we were able to purchase a big birthday gift for Chris's birthday coming up--an xBox 360. He's a happy boy. And we did it all with gift cards and cash! Thanks to everyone who contributed.

2.5 years we receieved free cable. The cable company never turned it off after we moved in. I very much enjoyed HGTV, Food Network, the Discovery Channel, FX, and HBO movies at the click of a button. Last week our phone company came to bury an exposed phone line outside. It seems they may have severed the TV cable. For obvious reasons, we can't call and complain. So sad.

8 hours I've been cleaning the house. While listening to the Zac Brown Band, I took down Christmas decorations, vacuumed, and have been packing everything nice and tight until I open them up again in 11 months. I ventured out this morning and hit up Target and Hobby Lobby, thinking I would score some major after Christmas deals. To my dismay, there was hardly anything left. However, I did buy a fake tree that we will use in the future. It was 80% off and a great deal! After spending a total of $140 on two year's worth of real trees, we've decided to go artificial and I think it will save us big bucks in the future.

Happy 2009

We had a great time traveling up north, visiting many friends and family along the way. We had two weeks off from work, put more than 3,000 miles on the car and drove through six different states. We felt extremely blessed by all the people who arranged their holiday schedules in such a way so that we could see them, even if for a short amount of time. We shared many meals, drinks, laughs, competitive games, and conversations with those we hold dear to our hearts. All that being said, we also were very glad to come home to Austin, Texas and get out of the car. Marlow was a great traveler and brought smiles to lots of faces.

After working hard and fast on my last day of work, I drove home quickly, took a shower, and we packed up the car. We drove to Chris's parents' house in Colleyville, Texas and spent the night. That evening we had a short Christmas celebration, opening gifts, stockings, and eating cookies. Early the next morning we hit the road and drove to Evansville, Indiana, home of my big brother and sister-in-law, Andy and Amanda. They have an adorable home and hosted us for a night before we left early again the next day. After a 4-hour trip up to Anderson, Indiana, we arrived at my parents' house and where I grew up. Full of memories and cold weather, my week in Anderson was filled with visits with high school friends, cooking Christmas dinner, seeing "Marley and Me" in the theater, playing board games with family, eating mom's delicious pies, singing at the Christmas Eve service at my parents' church, and a fun annual date with my husband on Christmas Eve morning. It is our tradition to go out for coffee and donuts each year. Our week went by fast, but it also allowed us to slow down enough and enjoy our vacation.

Our next stint was to West Lafayette, Indiana, where we visited Purdue's campus for the afternoon. Marlow left a present on the lawn of the memorial mall, we walked all around our old tromping grounds, and visited the Liechtys, Tennenhouses, and enjoyed a lunch of 4 different crepes from Greyhouse Coffee & Supply. After a short stop for coffee at the location of our first date, we hit the road once again and made our way up to Western Springs, Illinois, home of Aunt Marcia. She fed us well, lended us her pass for the Chicago Art Institute, and Marlow had a fun time playing with her cocker spaniel, Libby. We took a train into the city one day and walked all around downtown, mostly on the Magnificent Mile. We found a wonderful, little Italian coffee/pastry shop next to the John Hancock building and stopped in for refreshment. Bundling ourselves up as best as we could, we ventured onward and battled the cold. It truly is the Windy City for good reason. We spent another evening dowtown with cousins and enjoyed dinner, talking about life, careers, and oohing and ahhing over our newest second cousin, Grant Oliver.

From Western Springs, we drove just 45 minutes southwest to Aunt Di's house in Naperville, Illinois. We really enjoyed our time with the Murphys and were reminded of what life is like around teenagers. Buddy, their Beagle-mix became friends with Marlow, too. We left Marlow at their house one day and visited Chris's grandpa and grandma. We played 3 hours worth of Rummy with them and an ate out-of-the-can meal at a nursing home. We took the train again into the city and spent New Year's Eve downtown, eating authentic deep dish pizza at Gino's East. We convinced each other to spend the money on a cab back to Union Station. It was a blistery cold night. We felt old going home so early, but were glad to have feeling in our toes again. On the way back, we picked up a bottle of wine and ingredients to make flourless chocolate cake. We had lots of fun playing cards with Paul and Di, drinking champagne, watching the ball drop, and giving/receiving our New Year's kisses. It was a great way to begin the year.

Sleeping in the next day and being couch potatoes, we finally found the energy to pack ourselves into the car once again and drive to Kankakee, Illinois. Upon arrival Grandma Allison prepared and served us a feast, including that oh-so-yummy sweet corn from the Midwest to which none can compare. Apple pie, too. Our bellies were full and happy. Chris did a few fix-it jobs for her and I was of no help since I started getting a cold about this time. She sent us off with apples, ginger cookies, and Kleenex for me. We drove a few hours east and stopped by Purdue once again to see the Burkholders for lunch and a short visit. How their kids have grown! They are beautiful children and fun to be around. We treasure our friendship with Todd and Lacy.

Onto Louisville, Kentucky! Us and 7 other Campus House 'Has Beens' spent the night at Cori's house. She recently got engaged, so it was a fun night spending quality time with her and her fiancé, Matt. They are getting married April 11th! Matt and Cori cooked us dinner and provided us with board game entertainment that night. Chris and I played 'Ticket to Ride' for the first time and he dominated, of course. That guy is unnaturally lucky! The evening ended on a very encouraging note as we all went around and answered the questions of what our highs and lows were, reflecting on the year of 2008. This really helped squeeze out as much depth and quality time in the short hours we had together. Scattered all over the country, it was so great to reconnect and see college friends again.

Yesterday we rose at 5:30am, dropped by Norm's Bakery in Louisville for caffeine and sugar, and hit the road back to Texas. It was a long and horrible drive, especially since my not feeling well from my cold was multiplied with my everlasting battle of car sickness. Chris and I took turns climbing into the backseat and cuddling with Marlow for naptimes. We set the cruise control to an efficient speed and pressed on until we arrive back in Colleyville, Texas, home of Chris's parents. Walking inside, I felt like I had been beaten and run over more than just riding in the car, so to say the least, we were glad to have a break from the road. They had dinner waiting for us; amaazing smoked brisket, fingerling potatoes with Gruyere, sage, and bacon, salad, and alas..more Christmas cookies. Josh and Laura, my sister-in-law and her husband, drove out from Dallas to eat with us. We enjoyed everyone's company even though we were fatigued from our journey.

Today we slept in, ate breakfast, and took our time getting ready before packing up once again and reluctantly getting back into the car. A 3-hour drive never felt so long. We almost felt like crying out of joy when we finally parked in our garage.

It is good to be home. Pictures of our adventures can be seen here.

Peace Out

...to my job as a Sous Chef. I'm no longer employed with "the other company." Hooray for being off work and home and ready for the holidays. I shall find a theme song for my mood today.

Blah

That's how I'm feeling right now. Two more days of my job, which I'm ecstatic about. All in all, it has been a good experience and I felt extremely blessed to hop right out of culinary school and into a Sous Chef position. I learned a lot. Drove a lot. Washed lots of dishes. Met some interesting people. I was given lots of really great, expensive wine by rich hostesses, as they pitied me carrying loads of trays and such to my car after their parties. I would have settled for their help in carrying some things, but the wine was even better. I broke some crystal, dropped food, slipped, got cut, burned, and bruised...locked out of my car, brought great leftovers home, and went many days without seeing my husband at all. I'm thankful for the opportunity I had to work as a personal chef while I created my own company on the side. It really was the perfect job to accompany me through that life phase. But I'm ready to move on.

Besides work, we are pet-sitting for our friends' dog, Reagan. She is a Golden/Lab mix, about 5 years old, and A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. Marlow has really enjoyed having a friend to play with. I just wish the weather would have been better today. It was so dang foggy outside and the ground was too muddy to take them to the park. Reagan makes me want another dog. I'd definitely be in for getting one, probably a smaller pooch, if we had a bigger house/more yardage. Canines are fun creatures and wonderful friends to us humankind.

Merry Christmas from the Bonsers

Dear friends and family,

It has been an adventurous year for our little family. Here are some highlights…

Singapore and Thailand

In January I was sent to Singapore again for work, so we decided to cash in some airline miles and get Carey a ticket. For less than a road trip to Indiana, Carey joined me for a week in Singapore and then five nights in Thailand. We ate lots of good food, saw the symphony orchestra at the beautiful Singapore Botanic Gardens, rode elephants at an old Thai capital, climbed the Temple of Doom, participated in a Thai cooking class, and enjoyed being together and being married.

The Adventures of Marlow

It’s been a crazy year for our dog. You might think we are irresponsible pet owners when you hear this list but here it goes anyways… This year he has gotten himself bumped by a car, lost in the 800 acre Austin Greenbelt for six days, blistered the pads off his feet, and jumped in a fire. Each event comes with its own story, the most dramatic of which was when his panic in the Greenbelt resulted in us leaving for the night without him. After six days of fliers and searching, we found him two miles from where we lost him but only a few blocks from where we normally enter the park. I’m convinced my pee on the trailhead helped him find his way home. Carey is not so sure. Needless to say, we are very thankful to have the little guy back. We are not sure what he ate for six days but we know he is a good hunter. So far his kill count from the backyard consists of two rats (killed), two birds (killed; one brought into the living room), and two squirrels (both catch and release).

Taste and See

This year has been an exciting year for Carey’s business. It has been exciting to see her grow in her skills as a chef (yes, I am the most spoiled man ever) and to see her learn how to run a business. She has picked up her first corporate client, learned how to market herself, and her webmaster (me) finally got off his tail and posted a website. In case you are wondering, the name came from Psalm 34:8; “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”

Our prayer is that whether you live in plenty or want, whether times are joyous or difficult, whether in times of health or illness, that you might taste and see that the Lord is good and that all things in this life pale in comparison to knowing Him and living in His grace.

Peace and grace to you this Christmas season,

Chris and Carey

Blessed

After sleeping literally all day long (I woke up at 5:00pm), I feel like I'm a bit recovered from our Christmas party last night. 35 people replied "yes" on the Evite, 14 "maybe." So I prepared for 50 thinking not everyone would come that said they would. We counted 65. Yes, 65 people crowded into our 1400 sq. ft. home. It was a ball. I felt honored to be able to give that gift to our Austin friends. I realize that we know a lot more people than I think we do and we have been extremely blessed with friends since we moved here. It was cool to see the different groups that intermingled; AMD folks, old church, new church, and neighbors. I served a buffet of food that was devoured and left nothing behind. Always a good sign. I think everyone had a great time. I haven't started cleaning up yet and really don't have the energy to start picking up the mess, but we have an inspector coming on Tuesday morning because we are trying to refinance our house. Thus, I must get started.

I'm gearing up for my last 6 days of work, expecting 12-15 hour days this week. I'm starting to feel like I'm getting a bug. Too much work and physical wear on my body. But after Saturday, I'll have a lot to be happy about since I won't be working for "the other company" anymore. We are also very excited to see family during the holidays. Marlow can't wait to see snow.

Sleepy Time is Calling My Name

In the last 2 days I've worked about 30 hours. I can't even tell you how tired my body is. In the midst of it, I really regret not wearing some kind of support hose because I feel like I can tell when my veins are bursting from so much time on my feet. They feel like they are on fire and my knees still ache today. I know I shouldn't complain, especially when some of my readers are nurse friends who understand long hours of standing and the physical demands on your body...but I hear you guys get something called a break. What is that?? I woke up early so I could sing again at church today, which was super-fun, but I left right after the 'amen' and came home and slid right back into my covers. I love, love, love naps. I feel a bit more rested now although I had to peel myself out of the wonderful, little, dark sleeping cave I had going on underneath my blankets so I can sleep tonight.

The menu last night was:

Asparagus baked in Parmesan Pastry
Bacon-wrapped Shrimp with Pepper Jack Cheese
Zucchini Cups with a filling of Sundried Tomatoes, Basil, and Feta
Corn Pancake Chalupas with Avocado Cream and Queso Fresco
Chili Beef and Sweet Potato Skewers with Chimichurri
Cheve Tartlets

Mini Strawberry Shortcakes with Marsala Mousse
Iced Sugar Cookies
Brownie Bites dipped in Peppermint White Chocolate
Bite-Size Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

And as lame as it sounds, I might duplicate the menu for the annual 'Eat, Drink, and Be Merry with the Bonsers' Christmas party on Saturday. I overbought on some of the products, so I'll get to use them and feed my friends. I wish I could stop menu planning in my head (and dreaming of it, too), but I have to press on until business is done for the season. Rest will come.

I have the day off today and all I want to do is be a couch potato and watch Christmas movies with an ongoing cup of hot tea. But you should see my house. It has been neglected and looks abused. Laundry baskets are overflowing. This desk I'm supposedly using looks more like a landfill, piled with junk and mail and notes and...oh yes, the stack of addressed and stamped envelopes waiting for the Christmas letters to go inside. We alternate every year who writes the letter and this year is not my turn! :) You'll get one eventually.

Merry Christmas, folks!

The Countdown Begins

Yes, folks, it's true. I gave my two week's notice today and will officially be no longer working for 'the man' (or in my case, 'the woman.'). 16 days left. I am thrilled. The goal, of course, is to be self-sustainable so that I don't have to get another part-time job, but I'm guessing I won't have enough clients ordering weekly meal service, which is consistent income for me (as opposed to one-time catering gigs), so I'll have to find some kind of supplemental income early next year. Nonetheless, I already feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I have worked for "the other company" for two and a half years, which isn't all that long, however, I started it while in culinary school and learned a few tricks along the way which helped me form my own business plan. And it taught me a lot about what not to do, too. I can't tell you how happy I am to be counting down. Celebrate for me, will ya?

Work has again been consuming my life. Working for myself is very rewarding and I have seen an 82.36% increase in business this year compared to last. What Black Friday does to the retail world is what December does for my business. I earn the majority of my income for the entire year within one month. It's exhilarating. I am so thankful God showed me this path in life. I have a deep love for all things edible and especially enjoy sharing my gift with others. Speaking of which, I am catering a party for 50 this weekend for a bunch of ladies from my church. It's always more fun to work when you're serving people you know. They seem to appreciate the work more.

Thanksgiving Week Pics

Happy December!