It is Wedding Time!

 

 

So we've now done 3 of the 5 weddings we'll have this year.  :)  This last one was this past Saturday at our church.  Here are pictures of the guys in the 20s & 30s group, and the gals of course.  This isn't everyone in the group, but a fair number of them are here. I would have taken more pictures, but my battery was on its last breath do I only got a few.  Note to self: Always charge the battery because the camera doesn't work otherwise. 

Now I'm currently waiting to go pick up my dress for my brother's wedding, which is this coming Saturday.  I'm praying and hoping that she did a good job with it and didn't mess up my Vera.  That and I'm pretty sure I'd be toast if I messed up the dress, but that's besides the point.  We are leaving in 2 days, as in 48 hours will have me and Chris on a jet plane heading east.  :)  We'll get to stop by and see friends for a day or so (Chris will get to have 2 days with them, as Friday I have wedding things to attend to) and then we'll do the wedding.  The rehearsal is Friday night, and then the wedding is Saturday afternoon with the reception starting at 5.  I'm really excited about seeing my family and seeing this all come together.  It has been a busy few months for all the planning, but as is typical with a wedding, it is nice to see the finished product.  You'd better believe that next week there will be several more wedding pictures.  I have a charged battery and will take the charger with me to NYC.  :) 

I think I have my food stuff figured out for this week in NYC -- its quite simple really.  Simply survive off of S'Mac.  I'm not sure if I posted anything about S'Mac after my NYC trip two weeks ago, but let me tell you, the stuff is simply amazing (so its so good I'm writing about it twice because I'm salivating thinking about it).  Its good -- no fantastic -- mac and cheese.  They can make it gluten free (check one) and then add only stuff you want (check two) plus they don't believe in preservatives (check three).  It comes out in a cast iron skillet (they use separate ones for gf pasta -- check four) and is creamy, cheesy goodness.  I ordered mine and then had it halfway done before my friend parked his car.  I hadn't really eaten a lot that weekend, but still, that's how tasty it was.  I originally ordered the larger size hoping to take some home with me on the plane the following day.  I ended up simply eating it all, so I starved the next day on the plane.  I may only make it once in my several days in NYC, so I'll order several things "to go" and eat mac and cheese all weekend.  Ah, I better be careful though or I won't fit into my perfectly tailored dress. 

Overall this past week was interesting.  On Thursday Chris sliced his thumb open at work.  He ended up with 5 stitches in it, but it is healing nicely.  We're planning on taking them out this week while we're in NYC, because we're pretty sure we can do a decent enough job, if not better job, than what they've done.  The doc who sewed him up, well, let's just say I hope he was a first year resident or an intern.  I've done better stitching just about any time I've had to sew anything.  

Still no permanent job offer for me, so I'm working more at the college next term.  The term starts Oct 12 and runs until Dec 16.  This means that I'll be free for the holidays at least.  I''ll do two sections of Earth Science and one section of Physical Science -- Yay for physics and chemistry.  :)  I'm excited enough about the Physical Science that I started working on powerpoints for the course today.  I'm done with the first one, now I've only got a few more to go.  I can only dream about hearing the screams.  I'm also kind of concerned because it looks like several people will earn bad grades this term -- something about missing tests and not turning papers in.  Who knew right? 

I also figured out how to make a chocolate cream cheese frosting/icing to put on stuff.  I made some more of my friend Katie's vanilla velvet cupcakes and wanted to try a different frosting, but didn't have any butter.  It turned out really really well -- ultra creamy.  I may not ever make a frosting with butter again, I may convert to using cream cheese or a comparable cheese.  That makes it healthier right? 

Well, time to go see if I fit into my dress at all I suppose. 

Blissfully Quiet

This week has been blissfully quiet.  We were able to get back to our regularly scheduled lives.  It was interesting to say the least. We got to get up at 4 to have Chris on the train at 430.  Then I attempted to go back to sleep until I needed to be up for work, or house cleaning.  I mainly ended up resting more or less though, so it was an interesting week.  We also got to attend small group for the first time since the beginning of August.  It was quite nice to see everyone.  We've got several new additions to the group, as well as a new baby (who was a week old), so interesting to say the least. 

This week several new seasons of shows came out on DVD as well.  We've got to catch up on all the TV from the past year.  Its so nice to only be a year behind the times.  ;) 

I was asked to teach a third section of sciences at Westwood for the October term.  This is quite a blessing really.  I'm having a difficult time getting a job and with the weddings having to only work Tuesdays and Thursdays will be nice.  I'll make comparable money to what I did at UIC, so it is a blessing, like I said.  Plus I don't have to take days upon days off for the weddings after just starting a new position.  :)  I've also recently remembered that our church is opening a coffee shop with the new site in October.  They will be looking for baristas, so my barista dream may come true yet.  I'm still looking for a full-time position that uses my Masters to its full extent, and it will come.  Eventually and in the right time.  We've got absolutely no reason to believe otherwise, in fact, full faith and reason to believe that it will happen that way and all prior evidence points in that direction as well. 

Anyway, with the whole 4 am wake-up time I'm going to get to bed. 

Yuca Experiment

Well, Chris decided to experiment with Yucaroot tonight.  We were having meatcakes (hamburgers sans buns) and while at the grocery store he decided to pick the yuca up.  We've been talking about trying it for a while now, just hadn't ever been able to find it.  So we boiled it this time with hopes of making mashed yuca, similar to mashed potatoes.  

It naturally has a sweet taste and a texture similar to a potato.  We probably needed to boil them longer than we did as they were kind of hard and didn't exactly mash well.  The mashing wasn't a problem for the mixer though.  So then what to do with them once we got them mashed.  We split up our mashed yuca into two parts.  We couldn't decide if we wanted to do simply butter and salt like mashed white potatoes, or brown sugar and cinammon like sweet potatoes -- so we made both.  With the salt version though we learned that copious amounts of salt simply brings out the naturally sweet yuca, so having a strong cheese makes a good counter balance.  We had some gorgonzola that we needed to use so we threw that in, and it was quite tasty actually.

This means we're looking forward to a winter of yuca in this and yuca in that I imagine.  It will be great! 

We're starting to get cool here, and the weather has been great.  I went on a quick trip to NYC this past weekend and it was truly a whirlwind.  In the future I won't go to NYC when the U.S. Open, Fashion Night Out kicking off Fashion Week, and during September 11.  It was difficult to get cabs and do anything.  I was in NYC for less than 48 hours, and managed to do a fair amount.  The highlights were getting to hang out with my family, getting to go for a run (and a bit lost after listening to Lauren) with my brother and mom, and then getting to eat Mac and Cheese from S'Mac.  I could eat the Mac and Cheese as it was rice pasta, and the shop has no soy or yeast.  It was amazing too!  I'll probably write a review for it on facebook, so look for it there with a picture of my amazing mac and cheese.  I went to NYC for Lauren's shower.  It was held at a country club in the burbs that was really really nice.  They currently have a flower from Nola Jane on top of their roof though, as it went overboard when Nola got sick of it being in her hair.  We got to go to Times Square at night, which was neat seeing it all lit up, and near Times Square was the M&M World.  It was neat to go in and see all the M&M Merchandise and colors of M&Ms. 

Anyway, i need to go shower as I kind of smell.  I went for a run today when it was 83.  It had been a while since we experimented with foods and this was quite successful, so I felt I should journal/share it with everyone in case they ever wanted to try yuca root. 

Labor Day

Well, we've successfully survived our first month of mayhem.  Chris has started his new position, I'm currently just teaching, and we've now done two of our five weddings for the year.  :)

The new position requires Chris being on the 430 train, so this is taking a bit of adjustment.  It doesn't help that we have so much unusual stuff going on so a routine is difficult to start.  Hopefully next week (as in Monday 13) we will be able to get into a routine enough that we stop going crazy.  He's managing the stockroom, and so far the first two weeks of the semester went well.  He's got the usual complaints about training his replacement and stuff, but that's just kinks to be sorted out. 

I'm working at Westwood still.  I'm teaching Earth Science again this term.  I've been asked to teach both Earth and Physical Science next term, so that would take me to Christmas in terms of having a job.  It doesn't pay well, but the work is fairly straight forward and allows me a LOT of flexibility (which is a blessing right now with all the weddings) and possibly a different part time job.  As opposed to having to take a ton of time off for all the weddings I've got this fall, I'm simply scheduling different times to have the classes.  :)  I'm actually thinking of doing a barrista gig for a while since I'm already up at 430 with Chris, being at work by 5 wouldn't be such a big deal.  Plus it would be nice to be on a similar sleep schedule. 

The zoo is mostly done now.  I'll go back in October for extra money, but that will be all.  It ended up well, we got a TON of surveys and I didn't kill anyone.  Chris still contends that I need to find a research position so that I can not have to deal with the general public -- my patience for not trying and not reading have gone down significantly.  So, me doing a barrista thing may not work so well, but we'll see. 


I still need to get my dress altered for John and Lauren's wedding.  I haven't had time with the zoo gig.  The zoo ended last Tuesday and then I had to do nothing but wedding stuff for this coming weekend. 

As one of our crazy things that have happened the past month -- we had friends get married here.  Chris and I were the best man and maid of honor, so it was really quite fun.  We got to play Barbie and Ken.  It was a nice ceremony that was close to here.  It was nice to see everyone and here are a few pictures from the wedding. 

The wedding cake!  It was apparently delicious, and most people ate about 5 slices.  The top two layers are a chocolate gluten free, with the bottom layer being a carrot cake.  Chris salivated over the carrot cake, and couldn't believe it was gluten free! 

I suppose if you make anyone up enough they look good, right?  This was before the ceremony.  It was outdoors and about fifteen minutes before the ceremony it started sprinkling, so we got to play inside a few more minutes. 

What else do you do at a wedding?  I'm starting to get Chris to dance with me some, and from this angle you can kind of see the intricacy of my hair.  It only took a lady two hours to get my hair done...

Anyway, 430 comes early in the morning so I'm going to go now.  I realized that the past few posts have mainly been picture posts without much commentary.  One of these days I may go back and update the posts, but it will be next week at the earliest.  I'm off to New York this coming weekend for Lauren's shower.  I'm looking forward to meeting my mom, Ida, Nola Jane, and Maegan there.  We'll have an interesting weekend that will hopefully bring its own sets of pictures and stories.

Have a good week. 

A quick Trip in the beginning of August.

Not many words for this hasty post.  August has been hectic so far, and promises to be much more so the last two weeks.  We've got lots of people coming in, and we will be going out in the beginning of September.  Wedding season is upon us, so we've got four weddings between now and Thanksgiving.  There will be many pictures, so probably more of these quick picture posts. 

Lemon Meringue Pie

Well since it will cool down to sixty tonight I'm going to make a lemon meringue pie.  I think I finally got the hang of spelling meringue as well as it no longer turns red when I'm done spelling it.  :)  I'm excited and it looks like it will be a pie crust, lemon curd filling, with meringue on top!  Now I think the trick will be getting them to stick together.  I'll try and post pics once I get them done. 

Not much has been new this week.  We did have an interesting Thursday, but other than that it wasn't a bad week.  We "tested" Chris's new work schedule for August when he takes over the department.  That had us getting up at 4am so that he could be on the train by 4:38.  He then gets to work by 6.  He also got off at 2, so often had a lot of time in the afternoon to get stuff done.  We made it and our bodies started adjusting.  I got to the point where I could kind of sleep through him getting around, but most of the time I just got up and got stuff done.  Surprisingly at 5 am not much is going on so you can get a lot done.  For example, on Friday I got my entire class done in about 2 hours, which is significantly less time than it normally takes me. We have also determined that we will be needing a second car soon.  Our schedules are going to be synced up significantly less and having only one car won't work for us. :(  We still have our bikes and whatnot, so hopefully we'll have a mild fall and late arriving winter (hopefully winter comes this year), and can use those as necessary. 

Our Thursday was an interesting day.  The electric company cut the power to the University and so Chris got to work on back-up generators for a while.  The problem was that the fume hoods didn't work in the labs.  This meant that all the volatiles that typically go up the hood were staying in the room and possibly causing a lot of problems.  The department head canceled labs and even the research groups got to go home early that day.  Chris got to go home and soon there after got a call from me.  I got stung by something at the zoo and ended up in the er.  I don't know what stung me, but I started wheezing and itching so the zoo ambulance rushed me up the street to the hospital.  The docs didn't do much (like I thought) and I'm quite perturbed by the whole experience.  We were going to do a voice over for the video at church that night, but didn't manage to make it in time as it took Chris forever to get to me in rush hour traffic.  I talked with my allergist and apparently this means we're going to be doing more allergy testing.  Oh Joy.  I'm going back to the zoo tomorrow for the first time, hopefully no buggies will bite me. 

One fun thing from this week was a wedding the 17th.  Our friends Erica and Rob (from church) got married and we had a blast at the wedding.  It was a good day overall and we got to spend some time with the "athletic" people from our church.  Here's a picture of us at the wedding, I think it turned out well. :)

Fire Game, B'Day, etc

Well, it was a good birthday overall.  I had to work, but it was at the zoo.  We have deemed them "Zoorthdays" for those of us lucky enough to get birthdays in the summer.  We get to pick an activity or two that we don't normally have time to do and those of us working all go and do it.  For example, in June Katie picked the dolphin show.  I picked the carousel as I've only ridden it twice this summer!  That goes to show just how busy we are, as I rode it almost daily last summer.  We also went through the butterfly tent and it was really pretty, as always.  Here's a picture (taken by Jess E) of four of my co-workers and me on the carousel. 

Last Thursday we went to the Fire game.  Our third for the season.  We had quite a bit of fun, even though the Fire lost on a stupid penalty kick.  The game was good and well played.  We got to see Findley (from the US national team) play against the Fire.  We're slowly definitely becoming Fire fans.  We had 5th row seats and it was great being so close.  We could really tell when people were faking it, hence the ability to say the penalty kick was stupid.  It was the third time Findley had tried to get a call in the box and he finally got one.  The Mexicans behind us said something that I imagine translated roughly into, "That's a stupid call worthy of South Africa" refering to the horrid reffíng the World Cup had.  Linda and I ended up wearing a similar color of purple, so we took a picture.  The other one is a good one of Chris and me.  A couple of pics from the Fire game:

This past weekend we also saw the end of the World Cup.  I suppose my mania will go in the closet for a few more years.  Though Chris is becoming a Fire fan and I'm slowly converting him to soccer as a great sport.  He has thought that for a bit, but in taking him to the games and getting him to cheer and explain things, he's really starting to like the sport.  :) 

It has been brutal this week in terms of heat.  We've had to run our ac, but we're glad for the window coatings that may or may not be legal.  We kind of applied them regardless of the condo association.  They haven't said anything, and we've even noticed a difference on our electric bill.  For running the ac so much it should be much higher than it has been.  We are actually able to turn the acs off during the day and it doesn't get horrid hot inside the condo, which is a drastic change from previous years. 

Hoping all is well with you and that you keep cool during this heat wave.