Cookies & Stir-Fry

Well, so much for my weekend full of projects. I spent most of the weekend doing absolutely nothing, i.e. catching up on episodes of Raising Hope, sleeping/napping, and watching the Butler/Florida game at Chili's with Deric. (Side note: Eating only bottomless chips & dip and a Coke + 3 refills for dinner isn't a great idea.) It was a great weekend, but I went back and forth between enjoying being lazy and wishing I had the energy to get something done. But then I thought about the upcoming week and the exhaustion caused by 2 1/2 year olds, and I didn't feel so bad.

I made up for my laziness a little on Sunday night, however. If you'll glance over to the right of this here blog, you'll notice that I follow Elizabeth @ Lizzy Writes. I don't actually know her, but I wish I did. She went to culinary school and therefore has some seriously good recipes. I've tried a few of them before and always liked the dishes. So on Sunday night, Deric and I made her stir-fry pasta for dinner. Its a perfect dinner for us because Deric loves anything stir-fried whereas I love anything with pasta. Needless to say, we both loved the recipe and will have it again.

Didn't stop there, though. Deric innocently picked up a bag of chocolate chips at Walmart knowing full well that I would end up baking chocolate chip cookies. He claimed the chips were so he could make chocolate chip pancakes, but he knows I hate them and would rather make cookies so that I don't miss out on the chocolate. So, back to Lizzy Writes for her so, so, so good chocolate chip cookies. I've never been able to make chocolate chip cookies that stay soft after they cool, and her recipe solved my dilemma. I froze most of the dough and every day this week, I've heated up five or six cookies and we've shared them. Before dinner, which is definitely when they taste the best.

I've got at least four or five more of Elizabeth's recipes written down and waiting for me (or Deric, since he cooks now...). But not tonight. We've been saving an Olive Garden gift card since Christmas and we can't wait any longer :)

Oh, the Places We Go

(Dr. Seuss, anyone?)

Last weekend, as you already know, Deric and I traveled to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to look at a church. It was a long weekend. We left around 7pm Friday after I got off work and we packed up the car. We drove until midnight and stayed in a hotel near Lansing, then got up at 6:30 to leave by 7/7:30 and drive five more hours. We got into Sault Ste. Marie (a town on the northern coast) around 12:30, met up with the minister for lunch, then headed to the church for an interview with the elders. After two hours with the elders, one of the elders took us on a brief tour of the town and then we headed back to the church for a potluck dinner. Thankfully, after the dinner we went to our hosts' home and had a chance to relax. The next morning, we did Sunday school and church, hung around to meet some of the members, then went to lunch with the minister and a few elders and their families. And before we knew it, we were back on the road for a 9 hour drive home. Needless to say, it felt so good to get home that night. I'm not one for roadtrips so it works out perfectly that Deric enjoys driving those long hours. We listened to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for probably 17 of the 18 hours we were on the road. Deric loved it and since he was driving, I figured I'd let him listen to whatever he wanted :)

I didn't have time to take any great pictures-- most of these were snapped on the way up to the Sault or on the drive through town on Saturday afternoon.

View of Lake Michigan (I assume) as we crossed the bridge to the UP.

Completely frozen over. Not a good sign :)

The next exit after Sault Ste. Marie. 

View from our hosts' back window. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture

 of the sunset we saw Saturday night, which was stunning.

But even when its cloudy, it was still really pretty.

Canada, right across the river.

As for whether or not we'll be taking the position up there, we haven't decided yet. We're still praying and asking God for discernment. We both feel that we'd need a fair amount of convincing to move somewhere thats so cold for so many months and is somewhat remote. So we're praying that if God wants us to be there, He makes it very, very obvious. I'm just not sure I could handle six months of winter :)

TGIF

I am so unbelievably happy its Friday (night, now)! Its been two weeks at the new job and I'm worn out. Two-and-a-half year olds ask more questions than I ever thought possible.

"Ash-e-ley, whatcha doin'?"
"Cleaning off the table."
"Ash-e-ley, whatcha' doin?"
"Cleaning off the table."
"Ash-e-ley, whatcha' doin?"
"WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?!"
"Cleanin' off da table."

Now multiple that times twelve (since that's just one little friend) and then multiply that times, oh, maybe one hundred times a day. Oh, and add in potty training twelve kids at one time. I think its safe to say I just want some peace and quiet, some me time.

And that's what this weekend is for. Last weekend, we left immediately after I got off work at six to drive to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to check out a church. (I'll post about that tomorrow.) We had no time to relax all weekend and then it was straight back to work for the week. After that, it feels so good to have absolutely nothing planned this weekend. I'm going to sleep in (of course), maybe paint, maybe sew, finish my library book, get more library books, catch up on reading blogs, clean the house, and watch basketball with Deric. Bliss.

Happy weekend!

Welcome, Spring.

In celebration of the first full day of spring-- not to mention the 70 degree weather-- Deric and I spent the evening in the backyard. Deric started a fire in the firepit and I had the luxury of sitting back and watching him do all the work :) It was so unbelievably peaceful that we're going to do it again tonight, despite the chance of rain. After a winter spent cooped up inside watching movies and The Office, it was so nice to get outside, feel a breeze, and not listen to or watch anything except the bugs and the sunset.

Thank the Lord for spring!

Chef in the Making

While there are many drawbacks to working full-time after getting used to being home and doing whatever I wanted, there's definitely at least one perk: Deric makes dinner now! When I wasn't working, it was obviously my job to get dinner going. But now I don't get home until at least 6:30 and Deric's usually home by 4:00, so if we want to eat before 8:00, Deric's got to take over. I think he actually enjoys cooking more than I do. I'd rather bake. He's so good at timing it to be ready right when I walk in the door, too. I never got the timing down and would have to make him wait for a while. Always felt bad about that.

Anywho, tonight I came home to a brand-new meal that neither of us had eaten or made before: fettucine carbonara, a la Joy of Cooking.

Definitely not good for you, but it tastes good! I was impressed. Deric says he likes cooking because he's never really had to do it before and he likes experimenting with recipes. I say, have at it. I get to reap the benefits :)