Crafty!

I went to a HUGE craft fair yesterday morning - I didn't buy much but found so many things that I want to have 'someday'. Most of it was decoration type stuff that I just don't have space to store right now but really loved.

My absolute favorite was the artist Randal Spangler. This is how I want to theme a kid's room... someday - a boys room more specifically. I love all the prints with the little dragons reading books. They are so colorful and really illustrate the love I hope any future child of mine will have for reading. He also had some paintings of awesome libraries. Really, really neat and whimsical. Check it out if you have a chance.

Also, and this isn't anything new, but they had some really cool felt play sets. I really liked the Bible Costumes and Costumes of The World sets.

I finally got to wear my new coat! I bought it a few weeks ago on a 50% off sale and loved it! Of course, the weather got warm again so I had to wait until today to wear it out of the house. Sorry for the dorky photo, I wanted one outside with the fall leaves and such, but when we pulled in the parking lot Calder had to dash upstairs to watch a replay of something that had just happened in the Vikings game.



I also feel the need to clarify my last post, just in case anybody was jealous. I thought he had folded the laundry. I later realized he only folded the whites and sweats and things that don't need to be kept unwrinkled. All of the actual clothes are still in a laundry basket that I will now need to iron. It was a nice try I guess.

Today I am Thankful that Calder did laundry (and folded it!) while I was working on a group project. Thanks babe!

Tripe

Ok, somehow I have lived the past 22 years without anybody being kind enough to tell me about tripe. I, before tonight, was oblivious to the fact that I shouldn't order it. Never. Nobody told me this. I'm blaming you.

Calder and I went out to a Thai restaurant that we've been to a few times, and every time previous I've had pad Thai. I really like it and am of the mindset that if I know I really like something, I don't want to risk getting something I don't like. Especially when I have to pay for it.

This said, I decided to act out of the box tonight and try something new. I saw Beef Laab on the menu and it looked delicious. Lime, green chilies, mint, cilantro, beef tripe. yum. I told Calder he pretended to look at it on the menu and said it looked good and I should get it.

My first hint that I was making a mistake was when the manager came out and described it as a very authentic dish just to make sure I knew what I was getting. I figured it is Minnesota and we weren't exactly in an area that I consider to be very open minded about food (I know, I'm one to talk) so I didn't think that much of it. Until my food came out and large chunks of something gross were all in it. I, still not understanding, tasted one. It was VERY SQUISHY.

To me, texture is huge. So I went through, and picked it all out of my food, and gave Calder one. Calder then, as I am starting to choke down the rest of my food (which still had small bits of the squishy stuff) decides to tell me what he things it is.

Intestine.

Not ok.

I covered up the bowl that I had put it all in and couldn't take another bite of my food.

Luckily and thankfully, Calder was nice about it (since I tried it with an open mind) let us get dessert (delicious banana egg roll things with ice cream) and then got me some egg rolls to eat so I didn't starve.

So now I feel an obligation to warn everybody about tripe. If you see it on a menu, be really careful and don't order it. Gross.

I'm thankful for...

Ok, so I'm a copycat. But today I'm thankful for the snow. I know I'll hate it in a month, but it snowed all morning (then melted) and it was so pretty and peaceful. It made me want to listen to Christmas music, then I decided that if I started now I'd be tired of it by Christmas, which would be sad.

If it were Obama, they'd be in jail.

It's official! Calder called yesterday and accepted a summer associate position at Richards, Layton & Finger in Wilmington, Delaware! They focus on corporate law, which is exactly what Calder wants to do. Delaware's law is such that many businesses throughout the country are incorporated in Delaware, so he's excited to be able to work that environment. With the economy in its current state, we feel very blessed and excited for this great opportunity. Many of our friends have had a hard time finding jobs since many firms have significantly cut back on their summer hiring.

Of course we had to celebrate - if you know me at all, you know that I love any excuse for a celebration. There's a seafood and steak restaurant called Alaska right by our apartment that we've been curious so we stopped in. Calder had a rack of wild boar and I had a bison rib-eye. Mine was definitely better than his (I think he just got sucked in by the idea of eating wild boar) but both were delicious. The best part about the dinner was the Parmesan truffle fries. Holy cow - delicious. If they sell just the fries to go I'm in deep trouble!

We're excited to see what Delaware has to offer! It's another place that I've never considered living, but seems to be nice. Wilmington is about 2 hours from DC, 45 minutes from Philadelphia, and 2 1/2 hours from New York City so that's three places (where I've never been) that I'll get to visit for sure!

Hurricane Ivy?

I usually try to keep my blog positive and free of complaining and whining, but I've had this incredible bad luck streak these past few weeks and it is actually starting to by funny. Here it goes (some of my days might be off a little...)


• Sunday - rolled over and smashed the end of the printer cable with chair so we had to print everything at school for a week until we got a new one
• Monday - Spilled water bottle in my purse - Everything was ok, Calder pulled the car over so I could dump it out...
• Tuesday - Dropped and broke laptop - Luckily Calder had accident protection on it so it's at Dell getting fixed now.
• Skip ahead a week…
• Wednesday – Mixed up the time for my Chemistry test and missed it completely - The professor is giving me an excused absence so no real harm done
• Thursday – Desktop computer (which only I use) mysteriously wouldn’t turn on - This isn’t my fault, but it was just one more thing wrong. Calder said it’s something about a power supply
• Friday – On our way to a nice relaxing dinner Calder asked for his credit card that I used for gas on Tuesday.- Looked everywhere, haven’t seen it since Tuesday

Stingy?

Is it bad to make food to bring somewhere, while secretly hoping that nobody likes it (or is even inclined to try it) so you can bring it home and eat it all yourself? I made some crawfish cornbread for enrichment tomorrow and already I can't stop eating it! It'll be amazing if any even makes it there, but if it does, I don't want anyone else to eat it. It's one of my favorite things and I don't have any more crawfish to make more!


(This is a picture from google, but mine looks similar)

Just for fun...

Cajun Crawfish Cornbread

2 c. cornmeal or 1 ½ c. meal and ½ c. flour
1 T. salt
1 tsp. soda
6 eggs
2 med. Onions
½ sliced jalapeno pepper (or more)
1 lb. cheddar cheese
2/3 c. oil
2 (16 oz.) cans cream corn
2 lbs. crawfish

In a large mixing bowl combine cornmeal, salt, and soda. In a medium bowl beat eggs thoroughly. Chop onions and peppers. Add grated cheese. Add to eggs, onions, jalapeno peppers, cheese, oil, corn and crawfish. Combine this mixture with cornmeal mix and mix well. Pour in a 12 x 14 inch baking dish. Bake at 350º for 55 minutes or until golden brown. 12 servings.

Since my mom linked to my blog today - I figured I'd better update! We've been busy busy busy and it doesn't look like it's going to calm down anytime soon. I'm sill working part time at Encompass and going to school in the afternoons and evenings. Calder's back in school too, as well as traveling around interviewing for summer jobs for next year. Generally the firm/company where you work the summer after your second year offers you a job after graduation, so it's a pretty big decision. So far he's been to Delaware and he's in Phoenix right now. He still has Dallas and some here left. I've been trying and failing to find time to do things like clean the apartment and enjoy myself. Some things I've just given up on, like folding clothes. Since school started, we've been grabbing clothes out of a basket of clean laundry that sits in the hallway. I wash every Sunday, hang up the stuff that will wrinkle, and everything else just sits there. Dishes pretty much sit in the sink until a weekend.

Here's a few thoughts on school:
1. I miss the BYU dress code. Some things I'd rather not see.
2. Everyone is really early to classes here. If I show up 5 minutes before class starts, it's hard to find a good seat and I actually feel like I'm late.
3. Nobody uses laptops in class. In some large classes, I'm the only one with my computer open. Super weird. I've actually seen people pull them out to look something up, then put it back in their backpack. So I guess people have them - just don't take notes on them?
4. People smoke here. Something I never thought about not seeing at BYU.

I am really enjoying being back in school - and it hasn't been too bad so far since I'm really excited to be there.

In my 'spare time' - I've been making thank you cards for Calder to send to his interviewers - look how cute!