The Aftermath

After the events of last weekend, we ended up staying with some friends for a couple of nights until we felt like it was safe and we were ready to return. Chris and I both have been working a lot lately, so we haven't spent much time at our apartment other than sleeping and eating. This weekend will be good for the both of us to have a day or two to relax together and do something fun. We are expecting our new car to arrive on Saturday, so that will be exciting. Also, there is a grape stomp/wine fest in New Braunfels that we might go to this weekend.

A Killing Nextdoor

Last night our next door neighbor shot and killed his girlfriend. Chris and I had just sat down to watch a movie and eat pizza when we heard a really loud thud from the direction of our neighbor's apartment. It didn't sound like a gun shot, but more like someone had fallen really hard--abnormally hard. A couple seconds later we heard a bunch of screaming going on outside of our apartment, and my first thought was that a girl was getting beat up by a boyfriend or something, but we heard more than one female voice screaming, so we went out to see what was going on. They were screaming that their friend had just gotten shot inside. They were crying and one of them was already on the phone with 911. Chris went inside to see if he could do CPR or if he could help, and he said that our neighbor was holding a towel to the girl's neck and that she was bleeding really bad. He said that she was really pale and there was blood splattered on the walls and curtains. My immediate reaction was to go and pray, so I went back to our apartment and just got on my knees. I realized then that Chris wasn't with me and it scared me because I didn't know if there was a harmful person next door or what was really going on. So I went to look for him and at that time, the first police officer had just arrived. He went into the apartment and started administering CPR, but she didn't breath. Chris basically saw her bleed to death. It was apparently an accidental shooting. The guy and his girlfriend were having relationship issues and he wanted to leave her for one of the other girls that was there, and he said that he was about to leave and was going to take the gun with him, but someone had messed with it and the hammer was cocked. It was pointed at her and went through her neck. The girls outside were screaming and freaking out. The other police officers arrived and that was when we decided to go back to our apartment. We ended up leaving the apartment complex for a couple of hours and went to some friends' house. We returned at about 10:30pm and there were still a ton of cops there, along with a forensic, crime scene vehicle. They asked if they could ask us some questions, so we went up to our apartment for the questioning. Their door was open and there were investigators taking pictures inside. We gave our testimony of what we saw and heard, then the cop left. We had a hard time sleeping and feeling comfortable today around here. Hopefully there will be more on the news tonight.

After Easter

We had a great time returning to Indiana for Easter weekend. The highlight, of course, was getting to see all of my wonderful family. It's bittersweet returning home because leaving is still hard. It might take several years before I can leave my family and the familiar city where I was born and raised, before I can leave without having emotional attachments. But perhaps that feeling will never go away. I feel that way about Purdue, too. It's been hard the last several months receiving so many wedding invitations from friends I met at Purdue, because I know that we won't be able to go to any of them. If money grew on trees, we could. Speaking of weddings, I am in two this year. I am honored to be the Maid of Honor in my sister's wedding, Laura Bonser. She is marrying Josh Wilkerson on June 17th in Dallas. I am super excited about sharing in her day because I know it will be just beautiful and everything will bring praise to the Father. She is such a beautiful daughter of the King. I love her heart and the way that she just spouts out encouragement. And one thing you can be sure of if you know her, is that she will most certainly speak the truth and the words of God into your life. I'm so thankful for her. I will also get to be in the wedding of my dear friend and sister-in-Christ, Jessica Davey. We have known each other for several years and have toiled through a lot together, even though we've lived hundreds of miles apart for the last couple of years. She is absolutely beautiful, too, and Jesus shines through her heart and life, too. Wow, I am blessed to have such dear people in my life. Jessica's wedding is December 16th in Michigan, and she will be marrying Christopher Kreeger. When we talk, I refer to our men as "her Chris" and "my Chris."

Rounding the Corner

The last several weeks have been crazy. I started my job about a month ago and since then, life has been a little unbalanced. My priorities have suffered. You know how it's supposed to be my relationship with the Lord, then Chris, and then work/school? Well I think I've been trying to fit them all together on the same level, which hasn't worked out or been beneficial. I've been working crazy hours at work, usually directly after school, so that makes for extremely long days without seeing or speaking up to my husband. In school, I have finished another block and have moved onto my Math, Hospitality Supervision, and Wine classes. I'm enjoying them and am appreciating the time off my feet. My dear sister, Jessica Davey, has asked to me be in her wedding on December 16th. I have known her since high school and I can't wait to be there to share in her special day. It's weird, we haven't seen each other in probably 3 years or so, but we talk about once a month, and we are closer than most of my high school and college friends. There's something about understanding the depth in truth of what it means to be sisters in Christ. Also, Chris and I have been car shopping for awhile now and we are looking to buy in about a month or so. Having another vehicle will enable us to move to another side of town. We think we'd enjoy living in Austin so much more if we lived somewhere with trees and grass and where we can have a puppy. So we're also going to move at the end of June when our current lease is up. Chris has been busy working on his project for the Perspectives class that we've been taking, and he's also been pretty busy at work lately, too. Here's some pictures of what we've been up to in the last couple of months. The first is of when we went out to Bastrop State Park a couple of months ago. The second is of me and my closest girl friends at school. Jennifer, Kristen, Sarah, me. Together we occasionally enjoy a drink after class.

5 Point Update

It's been awhile so here is the update:

1. I started my new job at the country club 2 weeks ago. I work in the kitchen about 25 hours per week doing everything from prep for banquets and receptions to making the orders for the restaurant upstairs. It's a lot of fun and it is definitely the kind of experience I need beforing applying for an externship in the Fall.

2. I am throwing a bridal shower for my sister-in-law, Miss Laura Bonser, in a week and I have been having fun creating the brunch menu and organizing the day that will be filled with games and other surprises! She is getting married June 17th and I am her Maid of Honor!

3. Chris's mom is coming in town this weekend so we are looking forward to her company. It's been since Christmas the last time we saw her. It will be good to catch up and show her around our home in Austin. Again, I look forward to cooking for company. So far the dinner menu for Saturday night is: Spaghetti all Carbonara, Artichokes Clamart, and Peach Cobbler.

4. Last night I cleaned out my closest for the umpteenth time since we've moved here. I keep finding clothes that I don't wear anymore and other items that I'd rather give away than have them take up space in our apartment. Every now and then I get on my cleaning rampage where I just need to reorganize and bag up things we don't use to give to Goodwill. I might be the polar opposite of a pack rat.

5. Last week was my Spring Break and I went with a group from my church to Biloxi, Mississippi to help with a disaster relief ministry, Samaritan's Purse. We were only there for 5 days, but we worked on a house by putting up insulation and drywall. In our free time we got to drive around the city and coast and see all the damage and debris still there. In some parts of the city, it looks like it all could have happened yesterday. Other parts are looking better. We stopped in New Orleans for a couple hours on our way back to Texas. I'd never seen the French Quarter before and it was really beautiful. It reminded me of walking on streets in Europe.

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!