Things Part 1

I do this every year, whether publicly or privately, to reflect on what I've accomplished in the past year and set goals for myself for the next one. I feel like this year is a bit different for me, although I'm having trouble pinning down exactly why. Perhaps it's because I'm happy to see 2011 go and so excited for what 2012 holds. Perhaps, for the first time in a few years, 2011 didn't mean any big, life-changing event for me. Perhaps because 2012 will be the FIRST year of my life that will not spend as a student (I say that now...).

In any case, I am pleased with how 2011 went. I did a lot of pretty awesome things, but I am so looking forward to 2012 and all the amazing things it will bring. Here's to ya!

10 Things I/We Did in 2011:

1. The first three months went by in a blur. I had my nose in my planbook and Art was busy moving from Check Flight back to Dragons on the flight line. In April, Art and a couple of fellow IPs competed in the Adventure Race out by the lake. They decided that having me on the team would be too much of an athletic advantage, unfair to the other teams really, so they finished the race as a three-man team. They still let me have a t-shirt.

2. Later that month, Lily Marie Sanford was welcomed into the world and we officially became Uncle Art and Aunt Amy. I met Lily for the first time over Christmas, and although she's not this itty bitty anymore, she is all kinds of adorable. Emily and Kirby are moving to Italy in a few months, but I will most certainly continue to spoil her rotten via UPS.

3. Being in our mid-20s brings weddings, weddings, and more weddings. We were more than grateful that so many people wanted to include us in such a special day, but unfortunately couldn't make it to all of them. We did make it to a few, starting with Clay and Lacey's in Austin:

 Then Brian and Lauren's in Mackinac, Island:

And finally Brandon and Erin's in Lexington, KY:

(PS - 2012 will see the first 108 BABY, as Jill and Aaron are expecting a baby boy in April!!)

4. One of our dreams since I can remember was to buy a boat. Art grew up on lakes, and even though I didn't and can't really swim, there are few things more relaxing and freeing than a day on the lake. In early 2011 (can you tell I'm not going in any order whatsoever here?), we bought a Malibu speed boat off of Paul and Maria who were PCSing. Best purchase ever?

 5. Brian and Lauren got married on Mackinac Island (see above), where motor vehicles are allowed. We could have taken a ferry, like normal people, from mainland Michigan, but as soon as Art discovered that he could rent an airplane in Columbus and fly us up there himself, there was no reasoning with him. So into this mini Cooper on wings we went, all the way to Northern Michigan. And now Art wants a plane. And I just want to sit on solid ground for a minute. A really, really long minute.

6. Our travels also took us to Ft. Myers, Florida for my mom's 60th birthday. It was a real treat to be around my whole family, which doesn't happen very often since all of us kids have scattered across the country. There are few things I love more than hanging out with my brothers, and I'm so glad their girlfriends Dawn and Jamie were able to make it out there with us. It was a great way to end the summer!

7. I made my second Thanksgiving dinner this year, with lots and lots of help from the many visitors we had. This year my mom, Mikey, Aunt Cathy, Grandma Jean, Jeff, Mary, and Charlie all DROVE down from Dayton to celebrate my favorite holiday with us. We made all the regular fixins, including brined turkey, cranberry sauce, sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie and apple pie. I was happy to put somebody else in charge of the gravy, something I always ruin! I also vowed never to wear this white top again.

8. We got a NEW ASSIGNMENT, which was definitely the highlight of 2011. First, it was the B2 bomber to Dyess AFB, Abilene, TX, which we were stoked about, but it was by far our 2nd choice. Art was then picked up for an interview for the U2 Dragon Lady, landed it, and now we are headed here:

(Technically we won't be living here, but this will be our new Lake Amistad. It's Folsom Lake near where we will be living in Cali Cali!!)

9. I was awarded a grant from the state of Texas to teach math and participated in the Regional Math Collaborative out of Region XV. Even though I won't finish the school year, I loved being a part of the grant! I have no picture of math camp, sorry.

10. Last, but certainly not least, I finally graduated with my Masters degree from UD in education. That wasn't even the highlight of the day though... the real treat was meeting Roosevelt Chapman, famed UD alum, basketball great, and middle school teacher. :)

Peace out 2011!!

Thanksgiving mealplanning!

When I was a little girl, I used to dream about making Thanksgiving dinner for my whole family. Not the potluck kind, the kind where I do everything myself and wow everyone with my culinary skills and my ability to keep it all together.

Most little girls dream of fairy tales and weddings. I dreamed of stemware and poultry.

Last year, I did a pre-Thanksgiving dinner for my parents, who were in town the weekend prior. Emily and Kirby were still living in Del Rio, and Emily's friend Ann was in town as well. 

Last year's spread: Brined fresh turkey, sage and apple stuffing, gravy, cranberry orange sauce, sweet potato casserole, whiskey glazed carrots, mixed mashed potatoes

Emily was just starting to show with Lily in this photo. On actual Thanksgiving, it was just the four of us, and we had a much smaller turkey dinner. It was nice, and I had a blast arranging all the recipes. But it wasn't the same, since most of our family wasn't there.

But THIS year, we've convinced my mom and Mikey, Art's parents, Charlie, my Aunt Cathy and my Grandma Jean to all come down for the actual turkey day! And, believe it or not, they're all DRIVING the 24 hours from Dayton to Del Rio. Better them than me!

My brothers and their respective girlfriends, Dawn and Jamie, are currently on sibling probation for their absence. I will forgive them on Christmas. I think.

Anyway, here's what I've got on docket for this week, Thanksgiving recipes included. Links up where available!

Sunday:

• French onion sliced steak with Grueyere sauce and green beans Do you think they have Gruyere cheese in Del Rio? No. I'm using Swiss.

Monday:

• Roast chicken, broccoli with garlic, sweet potato biscuits

Tuesday:

• dinner out at one of the two non-chain restaurants in Del Rio (there's a third, but it's inedible)

Wednesday:

• Thanksgiving prep:
• Brine the turkey. I am extremely picky about my turkeys. I refuse to buy a frozen one, which means I can't get my turkey in Del Rio. The past two years we have ordered a free-range turkey from Whole Foods and driven the 6 hours round-trip to San Antonio to get it. Worth it!
• Make mashed potatoes and refrigerate (recipe: potatoes, cream cheese, salt, pepper.)
• Make stuffed mushroom stuffing and refrigerate separate from reserved mushroom caps for tomorrow's appetizer
• Make Roasted butternut squash soup and refrigerate
• Breakfast: Pumpkin Pie Smoothies
• Dinner: Braised chicken (Side note: This is from my old blog, and I wrote it just a few days after Art proposed. Ah, memories.)

Thursday:

• Breakfast: Art's pumpkin pancakes, turkey bacon, eggs
• Appetizers:
• Stuffed mushrooms (my own recipe... someday I'll post it!)
• Brie en Croute
• Thanksgiving dinner:
• Roasted turkey
• Gravy (someone else is doing this, maybe Grandma Jean. Gravy stumps me)
• Sweet potato casserole (Art's mom's recipe)
• Cornbread dressing with sausage and apples
• dinner rolls from the Kitchen Bible (best cookbook ever!)
• Roasted asparagus with tomatoes and parmesan
• Mashed potatoes
• Cranberry-orange sauce
• Dreamy apple pie with hard sauce
• Traditional pumpkin pie (made with PW's pie crust)

 I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving!

Our first visitor... and some GREAT news!! :)

Last week, Art and I got our first visitor from Ohio!! Our friend Jamie, Art's former boss and roommate, was at a conference in Abilene and decided to rent a car and visit us for the weekend. Now that he's been here, Jamie might rather have had us drive up to Abilene, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

The Rio Grande and Lake Amistad have been flooding crazily since Alex and the subsequent tropical storms rolled through (here's something I didn't know: the desert gets hurricanes. Bizarre.), which made for some bummer weather lately, but while Jamie was here we got one day of good sun! It was so awesome to show someone from our hometown what Texas border life is really like! :)

Jamie got to see all the Del Rio landmarks: the Walmart, Wings & Rings (our only sports bar), the Herald (best restaurant in town), the Veranda (one of two wine bars... we don't have a fabric store, but we have two wine bars.), and a delightful Laughlin tradition: Drop Night. Of course, I think Lake Amistad is the best thing about Del Rio, so on Saturday we hit the lake with our friends Paul and Maria and their enormous puppy, Bud. Good times, as usual!

And, for those of you who are wondering, the answer is no: Art did not wear his stand-in wedding ring to the lake. :) We were out on Paul and Maria's boat when Art's ring was lost, and they noticeably went this time sans wedding rings as well. We were happy to spread caution! :)

The day Jamie got here, I got a call from the principal of Del Rio Middle School, asking me if I could come in for an interview the next day. I didn't want to abandon Jamie, but of course I took the opportunity!! She offered me the job at the interview (crazy!), it was approved by the school board that Saturday, and I'm scheduled to sign my contract on Wednesday of this week.

I am Del Rio Middle School's newest 8th grade English language arts teacher!! I cannot explain how excited I am to have been given this opportunity. I student taught math at Mad River, and had always thought I would teach math, but I came into this position as an English teacher and I couldn't be more excited about it. Of course, this is the one time where being the cheapest grad student ever has failed me: I got all my Language Arts methods books from the library at UD, and thus returned them, so much to Art's chagrin, I had to purchase them again today. But I am truly exploding with ideas about writer's notebooks, classroom library, book assignments, and first-week teambuilding. I spend pretty much every day writing things down that I want to do with my students. I'm so excited to get to work with them on a subject that I've had such a passion for all my life. I am truly, truly thankful that God led me to teaching at just the right time. Such a gift! :)

Speaking of gifts... look what came home with my wonderful husband on the day I got the job:

Lucky me. :)

For tonight's dinner, I made homemade pesto (with my Aerogarden basil!) with spaghetti and chicken cutlets with a Parmesan/sage crust. I hope someone is making you something special tonight! :)