Homecooked Sundays

Along with Joey, I have two college girl-friends going through their last year of law school, and therefore PC, right now.  Carolyn and Dana came over to our house for dinner one night the week before PC began.  The two of them and Joey sat there talking about what lies ahead and all the tricks and tips they had heard from friends and previous students in preparation.  That's when I got the idea for Homecooked Sundays.

I know from living with Joey that these poor students have class from 7:45 a.m. until 3 or 4:00 in the afternoon.  Reading and preparing for the next day starts immediately, and the only break Joey takes is for a quick dinner, and then he often is reading until after midnight.  While I am so happy to be able to handle the house, dinner, bills, and whatever else I can do so Joey doesn't have to, I have been thinking about my other friends who don't have anyone living with them to cook dinner, etc. 

Of course I have told them to call me if there is ever anything I can do to help, but have decided to schedule one night a week that I will cook dinner for a group.  No one is obligated to come, but my goal is to provide a homecooked meal and an opportunity to take a break and talk with other students who are in the same boat.  Sunday seemed to be a good day since week nights are so full, and last Sunday was our first one.  We had Chicken Tetrazzini, Garlic Bread, and Salad.  So, in honor of our first Homecooked Sunday, here is the recipe for my Chicken Tetrazzini.

Chicken Tetrazzini:

1 (7 oz.) package of vermicelli pasta

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 cup shredded Parmesean Cheese

1 (10.75 oz.) can Cream of Chicken soup

1 (10 oz.) container refrigerated Alfredo Sauce

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

1/2 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare pasta as directed on package.  Stir together chicken, 1/2 cup Parmesean cheese, and next 6 ingredients.  Stir into pasta.  Spoon mixture into lightly greased 13 x 9 baking dish.  Sprinkle with almonds and remaining Parmesean cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Dallas Weekend

Last weekend there was a lot to celebrate in Dallas!  There were two wedding showers, and Joey and I had made plans to go stay with the Roush's in their new house.  Joey ended up having too much school work to be out of town, but Harley and I still drove up after work on Friday.  Harley and Tegan had so much fun together!  They hadn't seen each other since the move back in May, so it was cute to see them reunited.  They are still best girlfriends! 

Harley kept sitting on top of Tegan while they were wrestling... It was the weirdest thing!  Megan looked it up and found out that dogs often do this when they are tired of playing but trying to show dominance.  Tegan has got Harley by about 40 pounds, but she sure tries to be the "big dog".

Friday night Rich and Meg ordered us Chinese food for dinner  (one of my favorites since there are really no good take-out Chinese places here), and then Meg and I went to Homegoods, for the first time of the weekend, to shop for accessories for their new house.

Saturday morning I attended a wedding shower being given in honor of one of my college room-mates, Kristin.  It was really fun to see her and Lauren, another college friend and room-mate.  It has been way too long since we spent time together, and it was wonderful to celebrate Kristin as the bride-to-be!  There were a lot of other Tri-Delta girl friends from college there too that I had a blast catching up with.  It will be fun to see them again at the wedding.  Kristin is going to be a beautiful bride!

Lauren, Kristin, me, and Carolyn

Me and Shay at Kristin's shower

Saturday afternoon I headed back to the Roush's, and Meg and I shopped a little more for accessories.  Saturday evening we were invited to a couple's shower for Shay and Adam.  I definitely missed having Joey there, but enjoyed getting to celebrate Shay and Adam with a lot of friends.  I have met and even become close to a lot of the people that mean a lot to Shay and her family over the years of us being friends, so it was fun to see many of them again.  Shay and Adam have a lot of fun together, and it was cute to watch them open presents as a couple.  Getting to see Shay twice in one weekend was pretty fun!

The girls and Adam

Who knew you were supposed to brush a dog's teeth?  Megan brushes Tegan's and it was pretty funny, so I snapped a few pictures.  Tegan loves it, so Harley wanted to try... she was not too fond of it!  It was pretty amusing to watch though. :)

Sunday morning I went to church with the Roush's and then Meg and I had brunch.  We stopped by Homegoods one more time for curtain rods and then went back to their house to hang them... only Rich was still at church.  We learned pretty quickly that hanging curtain rods is a good man project!  We finally figured out how to use Rich's electric screwdriver (maybe that's what it's called?) in time for the battery to die... and the Roush's don't know where the charger is.  So, we tried to drill the screws in by hand... Yeah right!  That was hard.  So, we ended up just marking where they needed to go and deciding to let Rich handle it when he got home.  It was a fun weekend getting to spend time with and celebrate exciting times with good friends.

One day down...

...47 more of this quarter to go.  Joey had his first day of PC- practice court, today.  PC will consume the next two out of three quarters Joey has left of law school.  Although, word on the street is that the first quarter is the most challenging.  I have not heard many good things about this part of law school.  It is tedious, grueling, and sometimes next to impossible to accomplish all the work that is assigned.  PC is what makes Baylor the third highest ranking law school in the nation for advocacy though.  It prepares its students like no other school for life in a court room.

Joey has worked hard to prepare for this day.  Last week he was in Waco after being gone all summer working internships.  He had a lot to get done and organized for a busy work load.  Joey and I spent many hours going through his syllabus and the materials he had trying to get organized.  It all ended up being a lot more complex than either one of us had anticipated, and he ended up missing plans we had in Dallas last weekend to stay home and prepare. 

Yes, all of the binders and books on that shelf are for the next two quarters and full of cases that Joey will read and study over the next several months.  And yes, that is a new shelving unit just to store all of the reading material in our study.

This is what Joey will cart to and from school every day to transport all of the material he will need for class. 

I am very proud of my husband already for what he has accomplished in law school and in preparing for his career.  I know it will all pay off one day, and we will look back at PC and Baylor Law School as a memory.  Until then, it looks like we will be counting down the days!

Anniversary Celebration

Our anniversary fell on a Monday this year.  Joey still had one more week at the firm he was interning with in Houston, so I came in town and worked from my parents house for his last week.  We were both tired of being apart and especially didn't want to be in different cities on our anniversary.  It worked out that the firm had a few social events that I was able to attend as well. 

We had a little anniversary trip planned for the following weekend once his internship was over, so we decided to hold off on most of our celebration.  Monday evening Joey came home from work with beautiful roses for me, and we went out to dinner at Carrabba's in Sugar Land and then had ice cream at Marble Slab.  We talked a lot about our future and reflected on the two years we have been married.  It was a great evening and reminded me a little bit of high school, going on dates in the Land of Sugar. :)

Since we were in Houston, I called the bakery that did our wedding cake and asked them to make us an anniversary cake that was the same flavor and style of our wedding cake.  I picked it up on Friday and we took it back to Waco with us.

We cut into it that night when we got back.  Yum!  I didn't get a whole piece at the wedding.  It really was good cake!

Saturday we slept in, unpacked, ran errands, and re-packed for our little anniversary get-away.  We left Sunday morning for Granbury, TX.  We explored the historic downtown district and all the cute shops. We stopped for lunch at a little diner called Rinky Tinks that played the movie Grease while we ate.  The restaurant was a step back into the 50's.  We checked into the hotel and got ready for dinner at the only "fine dining" restaurant in Granbury open on Sunday night- Stringfellows.  We were the only people in the restaurant for most of our meal.  Kind of romantic...

After dinner we got candy and headed to the drive-in movie theater in town.  The last time we did this was right after we started dating again when we were in college.  This place played two movies in a row.  I made it through the first one, but slept through most of the second one.

Monday our plan was to enjoy the beach at Lake Grandbury.  It was right next to our hotel and looked so fun.  We got there without towels, chairs, floats, or an umbrella for shade and decided fast that we were armatures... it was so hot!  So we waded into the water, took a few pictures, wished we had some jet ski's or a boat, and packed up.  Next time we'll be more prepared!

Lake Granbury Beach

Then, we were off to Dinosaur World on our way back to Waco in Glen Rose.

It was an outdoor park with over 100 life-size dinosaur replicas... again it was hot, but fun!  Joey didn't realize I had an interest in dinosaurs, but hey- the Land Before Time movies were some of my favorites growing up!  This park made me want to watch them again.

We stopped at the Nike Outlet in Hillsboro before we got back to Waco and got Joey some cool new basketball kicks.  It was a fun weekend and a great celebration of our anniversary.  Now, Joey's gearing up for PC, practice court, that starts on Monday.  PC is the toughest part of Baylor Law School... so you could start praying for us now!  :)  I think we're both going to need it.

Two years ago today

Two years ago today I married my high school sweetheart and the man of my dreams.  I never thought that after dating for 7 years that I would love him more after we got married... I was wrong!  There is a country song called Then by Brad Paisley that talks about how a couple's love grew over time and through all of the life experiences they shared.  I now fully believe that our love will continue to deepen as we go through life together.

There were so many things about Joey that attracted me to him in the beginning.  The fact that I was 14 years old and he was 16 and could drive was a big perk! :)  But, other than that of course, he had a confident personality and strong character.  My parents always told me that dating was preparation for marriage, and there was no use dating someone that I couldn't see myself marrying.  In high school that seemed a little extreme, but as usual, they knew what they were talking about.  Because 7 years later the teenager I met my freshman year of high school and fell in love with would be the man I called my husband.  And today he is the man that I am so proud to be married to.  He is hard-working, strong, and generous.  He is the counsel that I trust and the opinion I want in any situation.  He is the safe place where amidst transition and uncertainty I find peace and comfort.  I am blessed to be married to a man that accepts me and encourages me to be all that I can be and all that God created us to be.  Two years has flown by, and I look forward to many more filled with meaningful memories and life experiences that will shape us and make us look back and say, "And I thought I loved you then."