Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008

If any of you have been following us on Facebook, you undoubtedly know that not every part of our trip to KS was good. We had delays out of Austin and DFW on the way to KS and then one of our suitcases didn't arrive when we did. Then when we were both tired after a long day we had to drive over 2 hours in thick fog the whole way to Iola. Not fun!

However, once we got there, the trip went very well. We spent Christmas Eve with Michael's family. We had a nice visit with Diana, Bill, Michele, Chris, CJ and Lexi. Michele and Diana cooked a fabulous meal.

Christmas Day we spent with my family. It was fun to see how much Brent and Dani have grown since we were there in the summer. It was actually more fun to watch the two of them open their presents than it was to open our own. Well, it was also fun to watch Billy play with Brent's toys!

Nicole and Kay gave me a baby shower on Friday. Several people were out of town and couldn't attend, but we still had a good time. Thank you Nicki and Kay for a great afternoon!

Saturday we headed back to KC to catch our flight. We stopped off for a terrific lunch at Jack Stack BBQ. Once we finally got to the airport, our flight was delayed 3 hours, so we hung out in the Admirals Club. That at least made the wait more enjoyable (something to drink, clean bathrooms, and free Wi-Fi). When we finally got to DFW we discovered that our connecting flight to Austin had already left, so an AA rep was able to get us on a different flight. Unfortunately, it had already started boarding, so we were trying to run through the terminal to get to the gate on time. Well, I say run...that's a little hard to do when you're 7 months pregnant, so I just went as fast as I could.

Because we had such a short time in Dallas, our luggage didn't make it onto the same flight we did. We hung out at the airport, though, and they did eventually arrive.

We spent Sunday being lazy, catching up on laundry, and then having dinner with Tom and Stepho.

Overall, it was a good holiday. We enjoyed spending time with family and friends, and now we're happy to be home to catch our breath before final preparations for the baby.

We hope all of you had a Happy Christmas as well!

Roomba for Christmas 2008

I got Andrea a Roomba for Christmas, so we had to record it going around and around the on its inaugural run.

Warm Dressed Spinach Salad

Warm Dressed Spinach Salad

Among the other things I have been been staying busy with these past couple of months, I have also been taking a cooking series at Central Market. I've made several tasty dishes that I learned from the class, but when I made this I actually remembered to get a picture! Here is the recipe for Warm Dressed Spinach Salad and Cajun Grilled Shrimp. Enjoy!

Cajun Grilled Shrimp
1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2-4 tbsp Cajun spice
1/4 cup oil

Toss all together - use more spice mix for hotter flavor. Set aside in frig for 20-60 minutes. Place shrimp on skewers and grill until they are pink and curl into a "C" shape.


Warm Dressed Spinach Salad
8 oz baby spinach, rinsed and dried
1 med yellow bell pepper, diced
3-4 shallots, diced
3 garlic cloves, minces
4 tbsp EV olive oil, divided
2 tbsp raspberry or balsamic vinegar
15-20 red grape tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp stone-ground mustard
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1 med avocado, sliced
feta cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Divide the spinach between 4 serving plates and top with the nuts. In a medium skillet, sauté the shallots in 2 tbsp of oil until they soften. Add the garlic and cook another minutes. Add the bell pepper and sauté another minute. Add vinegar, tomatoes and salt and pepper. Cook a few minutes until the tomatoes lose some liquid. Off the heat stir in the mustard and remaining oil. Let sit for a minutes, stir again, check for seasoning and spoon over the spinach. Top with feta cheese and avocado. Serve immediately.

Apple Pie

Apple Pie

These few pictures are of the apple pie I made. Diana took the time to teach me to make her famous pie crust. Now I can make pie as well as both of the moms! Thanks Diana! My husband will be forever grateful - now he won't have to make the apple pie all the time. Wait, maybe it wasn't such a good idea for me to learn this new skill! LOL!

Inner Space Cavern

Inner Space Cavern

Michael had to work part of the week that Diana was here, so she and I did a little site-seeing of our own. We spent one day at Inner Space Cavern. It was very interesting, and surprisingly some of the pictures turned out OK, even though there wasn't much light.

San Antonio August 2008

San Antonio: August 2008

In August, Diana came for a visit. While she was here we drove down to San Antonio. We started at the Alamo, then wandered down the river. We had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe then continued on our walk along the river. After seeing all we could along the Riverwalk, we went to the Ripley's museum and enjoyed the fun and education exhibits on display.

On the way home we stopped at Oma's House for dinner. This German style restaurant has gotten some hit and miss reviews on the internet, but we all enjoyed our meal. Overall, we had a great day, and enjoyed talking and listening to music on the drive, as well as the sites in San Antonio.

Trip to Kansas: July 2008

Trip to Kansas: July 2008

At the End of July we drove to Kansas. We spent the week visiting with family and friends. It was nice to see everyone, enjoy good food, and play cards. I took lots of pictures while we were at Mom and Dad's, but I forgot my camera when we went to Joplin to see Michelle, Chris, and Lexi. I was so mad at myself! But, alas, I can't fix it now...I'll just have to make up for it at Christmas!

We had a good time, and at the end of the week Diana rode back to Austin with us. It was a great road trip!

Curling With Tom and Stepho

Last weekend we went curling with Tom and Stepho at the new ice rink at Northcross Mall. Unfortunately for Michael and me, they make it look much easier that it really is. Needless to say we both took a few spills on the ice, but we were starting to get the hang of it by the end. Stepho took lots of pictures, so I've linked to them here in case anyone wants to have a look. Thanks for sharing Stepho!

It was a lot more fun (and a lot more physically demanding) than we thought it would be. Hopefully we'll get a chance to go again!

The Normans at Home

Our new house!

We are officially at home in Austin now. We closed on our new house this week, after a myriad of issues, but we're not going to dwell on any of that now. What we have to do instead is unpack all of these boxes!

We've decided that we were spoiled by the size of our other kitchen. The kitchen boxes are mostly unpacked now, but I'm running out of room to put things. I have piles of glasses and bakeware all over the kitchen counters until I can figure out the best configuration to make it all fit. We'll have to figure something out (like maybe a kitchen remodel?!?) but we have higher things on our priority list for now.

Michael's been unpacking upstairs in the office and he's making decent headway as well. He also installed a new thermostat downstairs.

I've posted an new album with pictures of our new house. These are pictures I took when we were house hunting, so the house is empty. It will look totally different with all of our stuff in it, but it's going to be a while before I can take pictures that will show you anything other than boxes. So, for now, just use your imagination!

I'm still blogging

I know, I know....I haven't blogged in a really long time. Well, that's life. Maybe I'll go back and catch up some time, and then again maybe not. In the mean time I'll try to post about things happening in our life, and not feel guilty about all of the stories I have yet to tell from our year in Europe. Stay tuned to read more about what's going on with us.