Three Years Ago Today

And what a kiss it was. :)

Chinese New Year

I saw this video on a guy's blog that I frequently read. It's a snippet of just some of the fireworks that are popped all over the country to celebrate the new year. This year is the year of the cow (in case you were wondering).

It really picks up after about 25 seconds.

Lentil Soup and Other Recipes

Yesterday morning I spent a good half hour chopping celery, onion, garlic, carrots, and cabbage for this lentil soup that I found at allrecipes.com. All the reviews said it was wonderful, so I even made a double batch in order to have leftovers for the week. I waited all day in anticipation as it slow-cooked in our "new" crock pot (a wonderful hand-me-down from Jason's dad and Susan). It was finally ready, and I tried a bowl. There's not really a way to describe the taste besides weird. I'm a texture person and there are very few tastes that I just don't like (sour cream, cantaloupe, and papaya being some of the only ones I can think of off hand), but this soup was just not enjoybale at first taste. Now I have at least a gallon of the stuff. I think I'll try it again before I throw it out, but I definitely will not be making it again!

Beth suggested at the beginning of the month that I share my successful recipes. Well, here's one of the only ones that I've made that's been a success time after time:
Step 1: Pour Shredded Wheat'n'Bran into a small bowl.
Step 2: Add desired amount of light soy milk.
Serve immediately.
Yep, I CAN still make cereal. Thank goodness for that. ;)

My Wonderful, Sacrificial Husband

Over the holidays, Jason spent 2 days digging a 50 foot long, knee deep drainage ditch around the house so his wife could have a washing machine at home. The following pictures don't quite do justice to his labor of love, but if you look carefully in the last picture, you can see one of the TWO sidewalks he had to dig under. Our friend Chris came over a few times to help, but Jason worked long hours to get that finished.

He also did some re-wiring and replaced some breakers so we have a dryer too! I'm always amazed at how much Jason knows how to do, or can figure out, like it's nothing at all.

This week he's been working on the garden. It looks really nice. He and a friend hauled dirt today for both of our families' gardens and have a few truckloads to go to fill them. I know Jason appreciates having someone to work with (who has a little more muscle than me...but I'm working on it!) and all the gardening tips.

Here's Jason, shovel in hand. I love watching him work.

Back to School, Back to School, To Prove to Daddy I'm Not a Fool

(That's from Adam Sandler's movie Billy Madison, by the way.) I spent my holiday on Monday dreading the arrival of Tuesday, which would send me back to my crammed schedule of trying do work, school, and all our other activities without it killing me (or at least completely burning me out). So far it's going alright. I don't know for sure if I'll be able to handle 3o hours of work with a full load of grad school again this semester, as my courses seem a little more work-intensive, but I guess we'll find out soon enough.

There is one class that I'm REALLY excited about. It's called Planning for Healthier Communities, and already it's speaking my language, with discussion about the concept of "wellness" and how in our country "healthcare" is really just "illness care." Since prevention is one of my interest areas, and it bothers me that "modern medicine" is more about drugs than fixing root causes of disease, that brief discussion alone had me hooked. From what I have gathered, we will be learning about how different parts of society (schools, businesses, individuals, public policies, etc) have to work together to make healthier changes for a community. I actually can't wait to get some readings for that class, proving once again what a huge nerd I really am. :)

On another note, I have a few pictures that I hope to post this weekend. I've just been too lazy to put them on the computer so far.

Vegitarian Progress

Jason and I completed our first week as non-meat-eaters! We've had some good meals, some "so-so but we're learning" meals, and one that I almost threw out (I overcooked the eggplant and it was pretty mushy). My favorite dish so far is one I threw together for lunch a few days ago. It was quinoa cooked in vegetable broth with sauteed mushrooms and spinach, green onions, and a little bit of chopped pecans (which weren't necessary because of all the protein and crunchiness of quinoa but it still tasted good), with some seasoning.

I think I could not eat meat ever again and be fine with it (though that's not a commitment). The tricky part has been no dairy, which is surprising, considering how little cheese I generally consume. Most restaurants around here have cheese on almost every non-meat food (at least the ones I'd go to for a quick lunch, which I rarely do anyway). I went to Jason's Deli for lunch and they didn't catch my "no asagio" request for my wrap, so I did eat a tiny bit in my first bite (before I realized it was there and took the sandwich apart to attempt pulling out all the cheese melted throughout all the other ingredients). Yesterday I was put to the test when we had icecream cake for my coworker's birthday and could only eat the frozen strawberries off the top. I do like icecream. :) I really enjoy all the vegetables we're getting, though. It feels good to eat healthy.

Six Christmases

Here are some pictures from the different places we went this year:

First stop: San Antonio for a wedding and Christmas celebration with Jason's immediate family on his mom's side.

Pictured here: Bryan, Jason, Shawn (the groom), Stacy, and Jason's "Uncle Josh."

I didn't get any good Christmas pictures there, but here's Stacy and Debbie saying goodbye.

I forgot to take pictures of Christmases #2 (at home, just the two of us) and #3 (in Hallettsville at Jason's grandparents).

Christmas #4: Jason's dad's. We went to 6 grocery stores to find these white fudge covered oreos for Gus. They sure are worth it.

Next stop: Sheridan with Jason's mom's whole family. Here are some of the "kids" waiting to open presents.

And Jason and his cousin Robin.

And finally, Christmas #6 - Plano with my mom and siblings. This first picture was actually taken at Thanksgiving, but it's around a Christmas tree and everyone is there, including our soon-to-be brother-in-law and niece.

Santa brought us each a marshmallow gun, so here we are waging war. We had marshmallows all over the living room. It was pretty fun.


We LOVE spending time with everyone and are glad we get to do it every year.