Off We Go!

Yes! It's finally Saturday and our vacation has begun. To recap on the week, I had my practical final on Friday..ended up making Saltimbocca of Sole with a Whole Grain Mustard Sauce with Capers, Haricot Verts in a Red Bell Pepper Ring, and a Twice Baked Potato with Lemon Supremes as the garnish. For my other plate, I made a Mahogany Duck Breast with a Hearty Chutney, Cheesey Cauliflower, and Red Quinoa. I took pictures, but I'll post later this week. I felt so good about my production and presentation and my chef instructors were impressed. I ended up making the highest grade in the class!

Thursday we went out on Lake Austin with Rex, our friend, who just bought a boat. We ate dinner on the water and wake boarded. It was so much fun.

Last night we hung out with Chris's new friend from work and his wife. We had dinner, drinks, and ice cream. They are nice people who have also been married for just a year.

Today we're heading off to celebrate the birthdays of two sweet, little girls that I've babysat for. They are having a pizza/pool party this afternoon. Madi will be four and I got her a kid-sized chef's hat and apron to wear when she plays with her little kitchen.

Then off to Canyon of the Eagles! Our little cabin is awaiting us for two nights. Tomorrow we have a kayaking trip reserved, then we'll hike and enjoy God's beautiful creation. Can't wait. I'm so thankful for time off from school and work. We'll be at the Bonsers' in Colleyville the rest of the week, so I'll post more later. Have a great day!

Food and Fireworks

I'm at school now, but thought I'd chat a bit while I have my break. Today we are prepping for our buffet that we're having tomorrow. Chris is coming and bringing some co-workers. Our class has done a Continental Summer theme and I'm in the starch group, which means that my team members and I have been concentrating on just the starches for the buffet. It will be fun. I've been working on studying for my practical final on Friday, too, and I must say that I'm excited. When we walk in the door on Friday, we'll be assigned two proteins and two veg and we have to present to plates in a certain amount of time with two starch, two sauces, and two garnishes. I really love studying classical French cuisine. Presentation is fun, too. I'm starting a portfolio and gathering pictures and descriptions of plates I've done.

Chris and I are really looking forward to our vacation next week. Saturday we're going to a birthday party for Madi and Peyton, but we'll be leaving town after that. We have reservations for a cabin at Canyon of the Eagles for two nights and three days. We also have reservations for a kayaking day trip. I'm excited to sleep in, hike, be in the quiet, and relax with my hubby. Then we'll head to Colleyville to be with the Bonsers for the rest of the week. The last couple of years, we haven't done anything special on the 4th of July, so this year we will see fireworks and cookout. Last year we had just moved to Austin and I spent the day unpacking boxes. I'm actually doing that as of lately, too. I figure it is easier to pack little by little than to be swamped with it all at the last minute. About a month and a half until we move!

Upcoming Finals and Vacation

Right now I'm studying for my written final in my proteins class. I have this final on Monday, a buffet that we will presenting on Thursday, and our practical final on Friday. Culinary school is so different than a traditional college. It's so fun, too. I have learned so much and have really gotten some great experience and exposure in the industry from food shows to working for a country club to seeing famous celebrity chefs demo dishes. But I'm on the job hunt again and this time it's more stressful because we now have a car payment and mortgage to worry about. Speaking of mortgage, I'm looking forward to moving sometime in August. Our small apartment is getting filled with boxes that we're beginning to collect. Chris and I have a vacation coming up in a week! We so need a break from school and work. To start, we'll be heading to Canyon of the Eagles and staying in a cabin for two nights, compliments from my parents as a Christmas gift. We'll get to spend the days hiking, kayaking, and touring a vineyard in the Hill Country. After that we plan on going to Dallas to stay at his parents' house for the rest of the week. Can't argue with free housing and food. Although, I am looking forward to cooking for them. We plan on making a list of activites we want to do in the DFW area and just knocking them out. I'm also looking forward to just hanging out in the pool and getting some sun. Working in a kitchen, I don't get much sunlight, especially wearing long sleeves and long pants everyday. Gotta get some Vitamin D!

Mom, Dad, and Wedding

The last couple of weeks have been the most fun in a long time. My parents have been on a 3-week vacation around Texas, seeing old friends and meeting new ones. They stayed with us for 5 days last week and they were gracious enough to let Chris and I drag them around different places we wanted them to see. We went hiking on the Greenbelt, visited my school, our church, ate Mexican food and BBQ, went out at 11pm on 6th Street, visited the LBJ Library, toured the Capitol, drove around UT's campus, watched movies, I got to cook for them, and more. It was a ball. I love my parents so much and it is always hard saying goodbye. I'll always be their little girl. :) This last weekend was packed full of fun, too. Laura, my sister-in-law, married into the Wilkerson family. They are honeymooning in Banth, Canada for a week. The wedding was beautiful and so much fun. I was her Maid of Honor, so I had lots to do the day of the wedding. I can't wait to see pictures. Back to school now. I have 2 more weeks until I'm out of this current block, then I have a one week vacation!! Woo hoo. I'll have to soak up my summer break in 7 days. Chris took off a couple days, too, but we're not positive what we're doing yet. We're trying to save the pennies, so our trip will most likely be a froogle one.

San Antonio

We went to San Antonio on the spur of the moment last Saturday. We had planned to go there for a weekend to celebrate our anniversary, but we decided instead to save the money for our vacation in July. Neither of us had been to San Antonio before, so it was fun exploring the downtown area and visiting the Alamo. We walked up and down the riverwalk and ate an early dinner at one of the landmark Mexican restaurants there. We had such a fun day! It sure is getting hot here since summer has begun.

Yesterday was our one year anniversary. We got to eat a piece of our top cake that we had saved from the wedding. We were pretty skeptical since it had been frozen and refrozen a couple of times, and it had also started to leak out some sort of goo as we thawed it, but it didn't turned out too bad. After a small piece, however, we said goodbye and tossed it out.

My parents are coming to visit us at the end of this week. They are taking a two-week-long vacation in Texas to see several old friends. They'll also be going to Laura's (Chris's sister) wedding in just 2 weeks! It will be so good to spend time with them and show the our life in Austin. I'm excited to cook for them, too!

We have been pretty busy lately with all the last minute details with our house. We close on it this Thursday and will officially be homeowners. I am starting to gather boxes from school to save for packing. We won't be moving in until August, but we are looking forward to all the remodeling, yard work, and decorating ahead.

Another pretty big thing is that I quit my job on Friday. I have not enjoyed working there ever since I began and it was a real struggle to go to work each time. I feel so much better already, but now I'm on the job search again. Not sure what too look for now, but I'm keeping my options open.

*For the record, no, Chris doesn't often wear a shirt around home.

1st Anniversary

Sunday, June 4th, is our one-year anniversary. It's crazy how much has happened in one year: new jobs, new school, new church, new friends, new city, new home. I am so thankful for Christopher. He's a wonderful husband and friend. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the many more years to come!

Fun Times

We went to Colleyville this last weekend for Laura's shower. It was fun and she's getting excited for wedding coming up on June 17th. Chris found out last night that you can't use regular dish soap in the dishwasher.

Our Home

Here it is

Not a great picture, but for now it will do. Our offer was accepted! We still have the inspection to go, so I guess we're not completely locked in yet. Closing date is to be June 9th. FYI: The grass in Texas is never that green normally. We've just had more rain this year. By June it will probably be brown.

Odds and Ends

Had a birthday yesterday. It didn't feel any different than any other day though. Chris took me out to dinner at a really nice Italian Ristorante downtown. Our food was delicious. We got dressed up and we looked very nice, but I didn't get a chance to take a picture of us. We'll have to do it again sometime. Here's a list of all the people that called me yesterday to make me feel special: ALISHA, Laura, T.J., Yuliya, Jenny, Stephanie, Susan, Brenda, Mom, Alicia, Amanda, Meredith, and Aaron. Today we made an offer on a house. That's exciting. It went on the market this morning at 8am, and by 1pm, 3 people had visited already. It's so pretty and it has an awesome backyard, but again, I forgot to take pictures. If we get to buy it, I'll let you know.

A "Strange" Visit

Curtis and Catherine Strange came to visit us this weekend and it was great to get to hang out with them. The last time we saw them was at their wedding on New Year's Eve. They have since settled into their apartment in Dallas and are doing well. Catherine is an occupational therapist and Curtis works for an insurance company, although his real talent and passion is carpentry work. He has made some really incredible things. Yesterday morning we went to my school for the first annual BBQ cook-off. It was a volunary contest and I went to support some of my classmates. We had some yummy brisket, sausage, ribs, and chicken. Afterwards we went downtown to the Old Pecan Street Festival where there were tons of booths and vendors selling local artwork, food, etc. We all got a little too much sun. For dinner we went to one of our favorite Tex-Mex places, and we finished off the night seeing Mission Impossible III at the movie theater. Chris and I hadn't seen a movie at theater at least since last year, so we really had a good time. The massive theater screen was somewhat larger than our 15" laptop screen that we usually watch movies on at home. We both admitted to each other that while the movie was starting, we had to overcome nausea a couple times from how big it was. This morning we went to Zilker Park and played Frisbee for awhile. We had planned to grill out for lunch, but we were not hungry since Catherine and I fixed such a big breakfast for everyone. She made homemade salsa and migas. I made my mom's famous pancake recipe. (Pictures of BBQ at school & us and the Stranges)

The Zoo

Last Monday I took Madi and Peyton to the Austin Zoo. Their mission statement is: To assist animals in need through rescue, rehabilitation, and education. Let me tell you, the animals we saw sure must have been rescued from something because they were u-g-l-y. I felt a little disappointed that I couldn't give Madi a better zoo experience, but she didn't seem to notice the difference. No giraffes, no gorillas, no sharks. These animals looked like living roadkill.

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.