Playing Catch-Up

Crazy week! :)

So, since I haven't blogged about life happenings lately, I figured I'd fill y'all in through one big post! My parents made the trip up here last weekend for the first time in 5-6 months and we got to take them around town (more like they took us around town...we saw parts of town we've never seen since living here! LOL). We also made a trip down to Jeff City to see family and the guys got to see some former Cardinal baseball players at the Cardinals Carousel. Sunday we went to the Catholic church on campus for the first time which was a lot bigger than the Newman Center at Arkansas - that's for sure! I got officially initiated into the Columbia alumnae chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota (international women's music fraternity) on Sunday, too, which was exciting. And then Monday we didn't do much of anything on our day off...the highlight of the day was Sonic!

Speaking of...their cherry limeade chillers are delicious!

You know you want one right now!

Wednesday was my 6-month "anniversary" at work so I officially get to use paid vacation time now. :-D

And then all excitement was ruined Thursday when we got the dreaded utility bill...
I seriously thought Eric was joking with me when he told me the amount. Boy, oh boy! Michiganders, I think we're going to have to take up your 65 degree thermostat tactics. I've been freezing with it at 70, but maybe it'll be worth it if we can keep a few extra bucks in our pocket. So, you can guess what I'll be shopping for this weekend...

I'll search all of Mid-Missouri if I have to just to find a leopard-print or zebra one!

Yet another reason to add to my list of why I despise winter here. And, my car is still dirty after the snow two weeks ago. No sense in cleaning it off yet since we're getting rain and the roads are still black. At least in Arkansas the snow is melted within a few days and they don't put black stuff all over the roads.

In other news, Eric started school again Tuesday and it seems like it'll be a good semester. I'll see if I can get him to blog about his classes soon.

Happy weekend!

Weekend Update

Happy Monday! Hope your weekend was went well and didn't feel as short as our's! :)

We had the delight of several tasty meals this weekend, including a new recipe we tried out. Friday dinner was delicious Ruby Tuesdays (I'm in LOVE with the way they cook their broccoli! I never ate broccoli until this past summer and now I'm addicted!). Saturday lunch was the wonderful Harry & David chicken noodle soup mix...



Saturday dinner Eric cooked steak and potatoes...





And Sunday we tried out this new recipe:
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Chicken and Pineapple Slow Cooker Recipe



Ingredients:
-2 Chicken breasts cut up into cubes
-1 can of canned pineapple chunks
-1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Teriyaki sauce
-Dash of ginger
-Dash of cayenne
-Thawed bag of sugar snap peas (we used mixed veggies above)

Directions:
Mix pineapple, chicken, Teriyaki, ginger, and cayenne in slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours. Add in sugar snap peas for the last 30 minutes.

*NOTE: I couldn't find a bag of just sugar snap peas at the store, so I picked up a mix of veggies. It was really good, but ended up being a little too "busy", so you might try to swap out the pineapple chunks with either juice or of larger pieces of pineapple.
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On Sunday, we got a nice little surprise outside our back window (that even almost made us late to church we were staring for so long!)
Eric opened up the blinds to find this...



Look closely or click to enlarge...
You'll see 5 deer hidden in the trees! :)



We've never seen them behind our building before - it's always been behind some of the other buildings. One of them actually got so close that I thought he was going to fall off the edge of the brick wall and land in the alley!







Speaking of church, we went to The Crossing again yesterday. It's a Presbyterian-based contemporary church that started in 2000 (that's always filled to the brim!), and to be completely honest, it's been a lot different than what I'm used to. Very casual, a lot of technology, and a more "loose" structure to the service. The church has theater seating (much more comfortable though than Catholic pews! :), screens everywhere, coffee bars in the lobby (and everyone drinks coffee during the service) and a large stage. No altar, no pulpit, and I don't even think there was a cross on the stage this week. I'm still not used to the lighting effects and amped-up musicians. The service consists of a lot of singing, a few readings/prayers, and the sermon. They pretty much always have a really good message, but I'm still warming up to the whole "pop concert feel on a Sunday" idea...I'm much more traditional.

In other news, I'm currently working on some blog updates (you'll notice I got the comments link to work thanks to Kalyn pointing it out!, and I've added labels to the left) so be looking for more little changes soon! :)

Weekend Update

Anna-Marie and Emily came and visited me this weekend! In the less than 24 hours they were here, we toured around town, did some shopping, and tried out the famous Shakespeare's Pizza downtown. They helped me get some antique furniture, too! A coffee table and a chair!
Our sofa and bed were delivered yesterday as well - things are looking more put-together now.

Antique table before...


And after painting it!


The living room is looking more complete now.


And I don't have to sleep on an AeroBed anymore!


I went to mass this morning at this cute old church downtown - definitely a neat building! (Here's a pic of it I found online)



Tomorrow is my first day of work! I'm excited, but I hope I can manage to get up at 6:30 - not working the past few weeks has sure altered my sleep pattern! It will definitely be a busy week...I've got several surprises/projects up my sleeve to get done for Eric's birthday next week! I'll post pics on that next Sunday after he sees it all! :)