Camping

Our camping trip went well. It was a little busy, but we had fun with everyone. We lived in luxury in our new tent, with out double high air bed, so it was very comfortable. The only thing that wasn't fun was the pit toilets, but we survived! :)

Andrew forgot his camera, but I'll try to post some pictures that other people took on the trip.

We have a pretty relaxing week planned. I canceled my voice lessons for the week, just to have a week off, so I'm looking forward to having a free evening. Maybe I'll actually do some work around the house!

Happy Anniversary Honey!

It was this day, 4-years ago, that I had no idea what I was getting into! :) I mean that in the very best way possible. I felt like I knew you very well that day, but I had, and still have, a lot to learn about you. Every day, I am impressed with your ability to laugh. You are able to laugh at yourself and you help me to lighten up and realize that it is ok to have fun and enjoy things. You are able to put up with me, with a kind patience, when I know that I am being very difficult. You love me even though I complain too much, demand perfection in house cleaning (you must make the bed this way!), and get so overcommitted that you are the first thing in my life that gets no attention. You know to head directly for the ice and a band aids when I start shouting "Andrew . . . emergency", as I have a lot of accidents, but they are rarely emergencies! You amaze me constantly with your giving heart, your kindness, your devotion to God and to your family, and your patience. I knew the moment we started the criticism fast that you would beat me, hands down, since that is the way you live your life, not judging other people. I have loved every moment of being married to you (even though it's not perfect), you have taught me so much more than I ever expected, and our life together is really only beginning. As all of my co-workers (all married 30+ years) say, "You guys are just babes". So, I can't wait for the experiences of the years to come. It's never been boring with you, and that is the last thing I'm thankful for, in the list of many wonderful things you have given to me! I love you!

This Little Piggy!

My little piggy (actually my big piggy on my left foot) got smashed by the vacuum last night and is quite sore today. I won't go into detail but it has to do with a bent toenail being quite battered. It's amazing how someone can be both accident prone and have such a low pain tolerance, as I do. It's amazing, I should be put on display! :)

My recital went very well. The students over came their nerves (a lot of them) and all performed wonderfully. It all went so well, that if I have consistent numbers, I will try to have another one in December, so we can get in two per year. I will try to sing something at the next one, although it's difficult for me to have time to work on my own stuff, in between working with everyone else. I'll just have to pick something and start now.

In other news: my cousin, Laura, got engaged this weekend. We're all very excited for her. They think the wedding will be next May.

We have a camping trip planned for this weekend. We're going to eastern Ohio near Belmont to camp with Andrew's family. We're especially excited to try out our new tent that my in-law's bought us for Christmas. Our old one got broken in some stong Kansas winds on it's second use! Unfortunately, due to some long distance trips in the middle of camping, Dewey will have to be boarded for the first time ever! I'm already feeling a bit sad.

Yeah for Bloggers new feature. It's now automatically saves drafts in the middle of typing. This will save us much heartache for those "lost" blogs.

Returning and Recipes

I have just now returned home after a very fun and enjoyable trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan to meet up with my sis and her friend to visit my Grandma. We had a great time together, going to a concert, playing games, watching a movie, eating, and shopping! It was such a fun girls weekend together! I wish I could say that I have pictures to post, but I forgot to bring my camera.

Here is the recipe for the Bulgar Pilaf. It actually calls for Quinoa but I couldn't find anything so the Bulgar worked well.

1 3/4 cups water
3/4 cups bulgar
1/2 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra=virgin olive oil, divided
1 small red bell pepper, finely diced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven or toaster oven to 350.

Combine water and bulgar in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and place in a mixing bowl. While bulgar is cooking, spread pistachios on a baking tray and bake until lightly browned and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Cool and roughly chop. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add bell pepper and scallions and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add to bulgar, along with pistachios, vinegar, and remaining oil; stir to combine. Season with salt and peper to taste and serve.

Landlords

Well, we're landlords once again. We were considering selling our house in Sterling, but we could never move forward with our realtor, then within about 24 hours, we had 3 inquiries of renters. So, we're renting it out again. The good thing is our new renter is moving in on Sunday, so right away! I was worried about covering the payments on everything until we sold it and so now we don't have to worry about that. Let's hope the house holds out!

Whirlwind 2 weeks!

Well, we've got a busy two weeks planned, but it's not as busy as last year, when I was singing with the May Festival Chorus (check out www.mayfestival.com). I am going to miss their concerts this year, but hopefully, in the future, I'll be able to join them again as a singer!

Tonight is my dress rehearsal for my voice students. I think they are mostly ready. I have a few that need a bit more work on their songs. We'll see how it goes tonight. I'm giving on lesson tomorrow night. Then the rest of the week (in the evenings) I will be preparing for the recital and reception afterwards. I'm also in charge of our 3 and 4 year old classroom at church. I've been putting together the summer schedule, and it's finally starting to take shape. It's more of a responsibility than I bargained for, but it's only for the summer. Then on Friday, I'm meeting my sister in Michigan to visit our Grandma for the weekend. It should be lots of fun. Next Monday, we will be at the recital, then Tuesday will be another lesson (I have one girl not participating), then on Wednesday evening, we will go down to the Creation Museum in Kentucky to view the grand opening (we are members). Thursday will take us to Grace Chapel for a going away party for some of our friends. Also, two of my voice students have a performance at their school that night, so I MIGHT try to make that. The day after that is our 4th wedding anniversary (I can't believe it) and we are going camping for the weekend.

I can't believe that summer is already upon us. Besides the things listed above that keep me busy, I've been enjoying my kitchen lately. I do wish I had more time to experiment and cook, but I enjoy what I've been able to do anyway. I hope Andrew enjoys it too! :) I'll try to post some recipes on here, when I get a chance.

All for now!

Yard Work!

We finally had our yard graded yesterday! It looks so nice and smooth now. We've still got plenty of work ahead to get our yard presentable, but we're on our way. I took about an hour last night to mow most of the back yard, so our good view has returned. I should take an early morning pictures sometime. It's beautiful! The excavator is still going to come out and rock hound, since the front yard is full of rocks. Hopefully that will help our grass to grow a bit better. Andrew will probably be planting grass the weekend I'm up in Michigan with my sister, visiting my Grandma. I'm looking forward to that trip!

Today is Dewey's day to head to the vet. We're switching vets because the other one was so expensive. We'll see how today goes. Thankfully, Dewey has never been scared of the vet. He loves to meet new people so much that he doesn't care that he gets a little shot at the same time. The only thing he really doesn't like is a bath (or any water of any kind). Perhaps it is because he fell into a swimming pool as a pup, but I'm not a doggy psychologist, so I won't try to figure it out!

Have a great day, ya'll!

Local Happenings

I came across this article today and wondered if my mom made the trip over to see the President (I kind of doubt she knew he was going to be there). Greensburg is approx 1 hour away from my childhood home. I'm so glad that President Bush showed his support for this small Kansas town.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070509/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

Kansas, Kansas

My poor home state has been wracked with terrible storms lately. The town that's been making national news due to its 95% destruction (F5 tornado), was one that I played tennis in frequently. I'm glad I was able to visit the worlds largest hand dug well, before it was all collapsed. Please remember Greensburg in your prayers, as they work on rebuilding their entire town!

I am thankful that my parents are safe, with minimal damage to their property. I believe they had a branch fall on their garage (separate from the house) so it could have been much worse, since there were tornados close by their area. Mom said she spent much of the night in their storm shelter (I heard a rumor of over 50 tornados in the state that night). I'll leave you with a picture looking out my grandparents balcony to their land and the Rattlesnake Creek, due to all the rain.

Our Weekend!

Our weekend went way too fast, but we had so much fun! On Friday night, we had our small group again and like usual, we had some great discussions, and it was a lot of fun. Then Saturday, I cleaned the church, cleaned my house, saw Spiderman 3, went birthday shopping with Andrew (see paragraph below), and went to a Red's game. I have pictures of the game, so we'll see if I ever get around to posting them on here! It was so much fun, but it got started late because of the rain and we were sitting by a few obnoxious drunk people, but I had a good time anyway.

If you've never discovered Andrew's hidden talent for shopping, you should. Anyone who knows him, knows that he is generally free with advice and will say what he thinks (in a nice way) about stuff. Well, this shopping trip I decided to actually listen to him. Besides him picking out a few things that were much lower cut than I would ever wear, he really had remarkable taste. He picked out a fabulous shirt that I would have never looked at, because I thought it would be too small. When I tried it on, it was perfect. He even suggested combinations for me, that looked great (aka, this shirt would go great with jeans, this skirt would go great with this other color). I've had this great fashion resource for almost 4 years now and I never knew he could be such good help when picking out clothes. I know he was uncomfortable for most of the time (me in the dressing room and him standing looking through clothing in a women's clothing shop) but he was an excellent sport and would even go get me a different size, if needed. So, that was a great birthday gift!!!

Wonderful Start

I've had a wonderful start to my birthday. I received a wonderful birthday package from my parents yesterday. My mom had picked out three tops for me. Although they are different than what I normally wear, I like them (which impresses me) and I've already started reading a book my mom sent. Also, Andrew got up early and made me breakfast. I am wearing my pink shoes today and Dewey got to sleep with us last night (and mostly on Andrew's side of the bed). The plans for the rest of the day include a lunch with my co-workers, supper from Abeulos with Andrew (I'm debating just getting takeout, since gas prices are so high) and then just relaxing with a movie and dinner. We are also going to do a few more things on Saturday. Andrew is going to give me my birthday present then. It's what I want every year, and I don't think we've ever done it before. It is for him to go clothes shopping with me (no whining allowed). I like it when he does this because 1) I have someone to carry my bags, 2) I have someone who will be nicely honest with me about what does and doesn't look good (plus I have an issue with looking youthful, so he helps me), and 3) he encourages me to try things on that I never would have thought I liked. I honestly have so little clothes that fit now. Probably 4 or 4 pair of pants, no capri's, one pair of jeans, so it is high time to do a little birthday money shopping. So, we're planning on doing that on Saturday, as well as going to a Red's game. For someone who grew up going to a lot of sporting events (and I wasn't very interested in sports) I have a surprising love for professional sports. I just like the atmosphere and the relaxing "American" feeling that baseball games give.

I'm posting another blog today on my weightloss blog. If you want to read that, send me and email and I'll send you the link to that. Otherwise, I'd like it to be a bit more private!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Pig-Skin Roundball

Andrew's company has tickets to an event tonight, in Middletown, called the "Pig-Skin Roundball". Since Andrew's boss is out of town, we got the tickets. It is a charity event that helps to fund scholarships for Middletown athetics/academics. Tonight we will hear David Pollack (a linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals) and Sean Miller (Xavier men's basketball head coach) speak. I think there are also some raffles and whatnot. Anyway, that's what we're doing tonight!