Bin 54 interview

I was invited to Bin 54 yesterday for a working interview for the position of Pastry Chef.

 This is my account of the evening:

 

I made Crème brulees, tempered chocolate and covered truffles, made an ice cream base (I didn't get to freeze it so as of now I have no idea how it turned out. This is a concern only because I used honey instead of sugar, which I have done before successfully, but not with this same type of recipe.)

A few other things included kicking myself for Still not knowing Spanish, and plating desserts for service.

I sat down with the Chef towards the end of the night to chat. The wait staff brought me a glass of wine, which was very nice. We talked for about 30 minutes, during which time I sipped my wine, while simultaneously becoming very aware of how little I had eaten in the last Oh, 8 hours.

 

He offered me the job, and I accepted.

 

It was while we talked logistics that the food to wine ratio really started to get out of hand. 

Now, I want you all to understand, I was not drunk.

I suppose maybe I would have been had I not been so incredibly, conversation drowndingly , nauseous. 

As it was, I was making every effort to breathe steadily and not make any sudden movements, while also trying to remain engaged in conversation, this alone is difficult enough, but I also had to have some sort of a plan, if it should happen that I could not keep it together. This, my friends, was terrifying.

The conversation came to somewhat of a close and I mentioned that I needed to get home to eat something, to which he replied that there was still 15 minutes left until service was officially over. No wait, THIS moment was the most terrifying. Go back into the hot kitchen and stand around with everyone for 15 minutes! That was not part of my plan.

I had to come clean. I told him I hadn't eaten enough and *hand to face in embarrassment* that I wasn't going to be able to go back to my station. 

Whatever he thought at that moment, he was perfectly kind, and asked what he could bring out for me to eat. I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain this, but the idea of having a plate of steak and mashed potatoes in front of me just then, did not sound great. So then he offered a crab cake, still no. Lobster ravioli, …umm can I take a rain check on that one?… but seriously I can't fathom eating that right now.

Uuuuhhhhg. I wanted to crawl under my patio chair.

I assured him that I just needed some water and went inside to grab my things.

Apparently I handled myself well enough for him not to change his mind.

He shook my hand, and said “see you Monday”.

-Christie

Jet Lag

We were scheduled to land in Salt Lake City by 8:30pm. Close to 4:30 am our internal time clock. I thought, this is going to be easy. I'll just go home and go to bed as if I stayed up until 4am (which I did technically and physically) and wake up in the morning ready to take on the world again.
When I woke up though, nearly full rested, I was surrounded by the darkness of night, and not the golden hue of the morning. There were no birds chirping... not even the crickets were making noise. What time was it anyway. My phone still set manually to Paris time agreed with my body that it was indeed time to get out of bed. 10:30 am. Wait what?... but what time is it really? In my real life, in the world I'm living in now? 10:30 there makes it.... um subtract 7 hours. 3:30 am... perfect. There will be no golden morning hue for another 3 hours at least. Welp. I guess all the other people I know that I have traveled internationally were right about jet lag... and I was wrong.
Phil is awake too. We try to stay in bed for about 45 minutes longer. Its no use, our bodies are restless, its almost lunch time for heaven's sake!

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

 

 

   These are Phil's favorite fall time cookie. I will admit that they are one of my favorites too. I've been thinking about making them for a few weeks now and as we are expecting a bit of snow later on this week I think I may have missed the mark on fall. Luckily it is still October, and pumpkin will be in vogue for at least 2 more months. These cookies are more cakey than say a chocolate chip. They are also pretty sweet,  but that can be adjusted by the amount of butterscotch chips that you add.

The recipe took some trial and error to perfect, but I couldn't be more proud of the fruit of my experimentation. The secret is in NOT over-mixing the dough.

Ingredients:

4oz      Butter

1 C      Sugar

1 C      Pumpkin Puree

1 tsp    Vanilla

2 C      All-Purpose Flour

1/4 tsp  Salt

1 tsp     Baking Soda

1 tsp     Baking Powder

1 tsp     Cinnamon

1/2 tsp  Nutmeg

1/4 tsp  Cloves

1/2 tsp  Ginger

1 1/2 C  Butterscotch  Chips

1/2 tsp   Pumpkin Pie Spice

Pumpkin Pie Spice (make this amount and save it in a small jar or just adjust the amounts for a single batch of cookies)

1/2 oz    Black Pepper

1/2 oz    Ginger

1/4 oz    Mace

1/4 oz    Nutmeg

Procedure:

- Preheat oven to 350 F. (bake time approx. 12 minutes)

  make sure racks are in the center of the oven

- Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer on Med. speed until light and fluffy

- Beat in pumpkin and vanilla

- In a separate bowl measure out the dry ingredients, sift them or use a dry whisk and stir it all together to make sure that the spices, salt and leavening are all evenly distributed

- Take the paddle or beaters out of the mixing bowl with the butter and pumpkin mixture (you will not need the mixer any more)

- In 3 additions, add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture by folding

- After the last addition, before all the dry has been completely mixed in, add the butterscotch chips

- Continue to fold together until all the flour has been mixed in and the chips are distributed evenly.

-Drop the dough on to cookie sheets in 1 1/2 oz portions (approx. 3Tbs)

  Really you can make them whatever size you want, but this is my standard home size

-Press each cookie down lightly with your fingers (these babies don't spread very much so they need a little help to flatten out)

- Bake for 9 minutes then check for doneness

- Flip pans around and bake for approx. 3 more minutes

 - The cookies should be very soft, matte in color, not glossy (glossy means doughy), if you bake these until they are golden on top they will be overdone

- Allow them to rest 3-5 min on the hot cookie sheets before moving them to a cooling rack

Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis, MN

One of our favorite places in the world. I love it because I was born there. Minnesota is and will forever be my motherland. Phil loves is for other more practical reasons. (none of which has to do with the length or potency of the winters there)

 

Reasons we love Minneapolis MN:

1. Friends and Family who live there
2. Summer: perfect temperatures for being outdoors and enjoying any of the available 10,000+ lakes. May through September experiences an average low of 53 F. and high of 78 F.
3. the Food scene

check out http://www.vita.mn/ for local information on Food, Concerts, the Arts etc.

 

 

Our Recommendations



Eat Here

Lucia's- www.lucias.com It was here that I began my Pastry career, I could not have asked for a better beginning. To this day it is the 1st place we return to each and every time we find ourselves back in the neighborhood. Whether you are looking for coffee and a breakfast pastry, a casual/upscale lunch or dinner, or just a few drinks and an appetizer Lucia's has you covered. Any choice is the best and most delicious choice you could have made.
La Belle Vie- www.labellevie.us This is where Phil and I had dinner the night he proposed. I'm pretty certain that neither of us has had a better meal sense. NOTE: this is a Special Occasion place, unless of course you happen to have a couple $100's lying around. Either way the price is worth the experience 100%

Punch Pizza- www.punchpizza.com Neapolitan style. Phil and I changed our entire homemade pizza identity because we needed to have this pizza in our lives after we moved away. Don't forget the Chopped Italian Salad!

Brasa- www.brasa.us Its a Rotisserie. I've never been to any other Rotisserie; I don't think I'll ever want to. This place satisfies that place in your heart that longs for Southern comfort food, and then rearranges that place so that nothing else will do. *Great place for Gluten Free Food!!!

Alma- restaurantalma.com Confession: I have not actually been to this establishment. Two things I do know 1. Alma was opened by Alexander Roberts 8 years before he opened Brasa (yes the amazing Rotisserie just above on this list) 2. Ann Bridges is the Pastry Chef. I worked with Ann at Lucia's, when we were both at the very beginning of our pastry careers. Her dedication to her craft is immense. I respect her work entirely, and cannot wait until I can take the previous confession off of this note.

Sebastian Joes- sebastianjoesicecream.com If you know Phil you know that he holds strong opinions; you also know that he LOVES ice cream. If you ask him where to get the best ice cream he will send you here. In fact we would just take you ourselves, why miss an opportunity to enjoy the best ice cream there is?

Café Lurcat/ Bar Lurcat- www.cafelurcat.com (Also available in Naples, FL if you happen to be in that neighborhood instead) Get the Lurcat Burgers, get the Lurcat Burgers,...get the Lurcat Burgers. (Bar Menu)

Stella's Fish Café & Prestige Oyster bar- stellasfishcafe.com Amazing Happy hour specials! There are fancier places in town to get oysters, but why not enjoy them in your favorite pair of jeans while you sip two for one drinks? (September- April is the best time to get fresh oysters in the Midwest)


Go Here

Lake Calhoun, Lake of The Isles, Lake Harriet - If you find one you've found all 3. They are connected by paved trails which are accessible to walkers, bike riders, and roller bladders alike. Located in Uptown. Just a 4 block walk from Lucia's!

Sculpture Garden- garden.walkerart.org Great place to spend one of those perfect Summer afternoons.

Twins or Vikings game- Let's be honest I'm running on loyalty at this point, but win or lose live sports can be a lot of fun. (Timberwolves... have yet to inspire my loyalty)

Ice Skating- www.thedepotminneapolis.com/ice-rink.php If you're not quite accustomed to the winter weather you can still enjoy the season. If it happens to be a tolerably nice day there are countless outdoor rinks that are open to the public.


Shop Here

Kitchen Window- www.kitchenwindow.com Greatest Kitchen Store. Everything you need, everything you think you need, anything you think someone else might need.

Magers & Quinn- www.magersandquinn.com Need a good book before you hit the beach (the beach that happens to be a lovely 4 block walk from here)?

CB2- www.cb2.com Crate&Barrel's cool little brother. Not many locations around so take the time to see and feel for yourself what many people can only imagine via their magazines and web site. We are currently furnishing our apartment with CB2... just say'n.

Mall of America- www.mallofamerica.com This place will blow your mind and your pocketbook before you can say "Did you remember where we parked?" You might as well plan to make a day of it. 1: because everything is there. 2: because when you finally find your way out you will be left with exactly 0% energy for anything else. Not to say that the parking lot or the layout is extraordinarily confusing; it's just the enormity of it all. One more thing... the amusement park was way better as Camp Snoopy. Charles M. Schulz's characters belong there, Sponge Bob is an intruder.

After Reminiscing over all of this, what I wouldn't give for a trip to the Twin Cities!

 

Time

An average day in my life is a 24 hour wrestle with time. As of now, it being my very own, time has proven ownership of me. It taunts me with its passing, and I am brought to tears when I realize how much of it is gone and how little I have as evidence of its existence. I try to tame it. My mind works best in subdivision, so to me it only makes sense to divide my time evenly between work, housekeeping, relationships, hobbies. One portion of each day for each activity, that's 4 hours for each category and plenty left for rest. Reality, I've found, does not subdivide so neatly. Any given day is a heap pile of all four. My method of untangling this is and has been to take a deep breath and dive straight into the middle, where I can keep an eye on all of them at once. Being able to multi-task has been a point of pride for me for some time now. Look at the things I can manage to keep functioning all at the same time! Then, at the end of the day hear me whimper once again that I have accomplished nothing and the pile of responsibilities mingled with aspirations is still a jumbled mess.

I have thought about this long. My journals are littered with this plea: "Lord, How do I manage my time?" "How do I own the time that I have and accomplish something with it?" Phil's ears I'm sure are weary from hearing the rollercoaster of inspired ideas followed by whimpers of defeat.
This is what I have learned. This very morning as I search myself once again for the reason that I, filled with so much energy and so much desire to accomplish many things, can end up so empty and so tired. I have become the third servant. In Matthew 25:14-28, Jesus speaks to His disciples a parable about three servants. Each of them are given a specific amount of money to use while their Master is away. The 1st two servants take their money and work deliberately and diligently to build upon their Masters investment. The 3rd servant is, I suppose, afraid of failure and keeps his money where it cannot be wasted. When the Master returns he praises the 1st two servants for their work and rewards them with more than what they had already earned. The 3rd servant is given no reward for keeping his money safe and secure and tight in his own grip. In fact, what he had been holding onto is taken from his hands and given to the 1st servant who had proven himself productive.
I had always assumed that the 3rd servant is an illustration of people who have been given an opportunity to follow Christ with their lives, but refused to do so. I see it now though. I have been the 3rd servant. The time I have been given was never mine to own, to hide, to horde and try to juggle. If I desire to redeem anything from the time I have been given, I must accept it. I must accept time openly, use it while it remains and allow it to flow freely. It cannot be successfully subdivided, however, if I am wise enough I can make the most of it by remembering it is a gift and redeeming it deliberately and diligently. There will be multi-tasking at times, but time is not for multi-tasking.

Psalm 90:12 & 17
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us- yes, establish the work of our hands.

NYC

Here we are! In NYC. Well, actually in this particular photograph we are in Brooklyn with Manhattan in the background.
I kind of can't believe that we're here. That we're still here...nearing the end of week two already. That we still have another whole week! It's amazing, I love it, and I feel very blessed to have this opportunity, and I will be quite sad when this adventure comes to an end.

Then there are those moments. ...When the Subway is literally 50 degrees hotter than the 80+ degrees outside (bad at any point in the day, but especially disturbing after having showered done my hair and makeup, and put on a clean, pretty dress only to arrive at dinner, sweaty and disheveled from the sheer effort it took to get there); when I have to sit on the counter over the sink to make a phone call from my hotel room (Im grateful for the room, don't get me wrong, we just don't get reception... at all.); when Phil doesn't end up getting home from work and dinner until nearly 9pm, only to wake up at 6:45 and do it all again ( i feel bad for the guy, but im not really sure how to make that better); when my feet hurt so bad from walking that I feel that I just can't go on, but I have to because there's so much to see and I feel like a bum if I just sit in the room; when I walked for miles this afternoon just trying to find a Starbucks that had an electrical outlet so that I could plug in the laptop that only runs for about 5 min on it's own/ my phone into the laptop so that it could charge enough for me to find my way home again; when I go for a run in Central Park and end up 51 blocks from where I thought I was. That is the difference between Midtown Manhattan and Harlem. ...yeah... I ran to Harlem.



 

 

 

Here's the visual of that treck. I started on the bottom left hand corner, and ended up on the top right hand corner. ... I didn't really realize where I was until I had traveled a few blocks into the neighborhood. I took this picture after I made it back to the top left hand corner.

These, of course all seem like complaints, but really, they just come with the territory. Life is exciting here, even when you try and avoid the chaos, it seems to find you, right where you are. Phil and I both have photos that we can't wait to share with you. It could take a while though, considering the ratio of outlets to people with laptops in this place, and the fact that the internet connection in our hotel room is only slightly more reliable than our phone signals. 

-CM

This past week, from Arkansas

Hello friends and followers. I am writing to you from a borrowed IPad in Arkansas. So not only do I have only one trustworthy hand to type with (that being my non-dominant hand, as it were), but I also have no real keypad; compensated by an over active and usually not entirely useful auto correct. I just wanted you to be aware that this update comes to you by way of no small effort from me. You want to know what else has required no small effort from me this past week? - brushing my teeth, left handed - washing my hair, left handed - doing anything with my hair besides leaving it to hang all slipshod off my head - baking, cooking, and cleaning( which is really all I was planning on doing while Shannon was at work this week. I came to visit her so that we would both have company while our husbands were out of town. I was planning on being her housewife for the week. Being a housewife, pretend or for real, is much more challenging with only one useful hand.) - everything else that would be difficult to accomplish with ones non-dominant hand I suppose you might like to know what happened to my right hand to render it useless. Well...I'm not really sure, but it hurts, not really the hand so much as the forearm, but as they are intimately connected, I cannot properly use one without the other. I've been told that it might be carpal tunnel, which is not very exciting news. I have not been to the Dr. To have it officially assessed. I'm still debating on whether to go get it checked out or not. It seems to be getting better, until those moments when it seems like its getting worse. Better or worse, it leaves me with not much to do,alone,in someone else's house, with only one useful hand. I did make left handed scones the other day! They were just as delicious as right handed scones. You wouldn't even be able to taste the difference if you had tried them yourself, just ask Shannon. So there it is, what I've been up to. Phil is in NYC learning about his new job, I think he's enjoying it. More on New York next week after I arrive there. For now Arkansas is Freaking Hot, but nice, and I am having a very good visit with my long time best friend, when she's not at work... Oh and we are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baby Brokering! Any time now...seriously.

Operation Chocolate Cake, results

Success!

Rainy day. Operation Chocolate Cake. Bird in the Apartment.

It's a rainy day here in Salt Lake.
I know right! I wasn't sure it was possible either. Fact: It does rain in Utah.
It has been rainy (if not actually raining) sense I woke up this morning.
What does one do to entertain themselves during a rainy day in Utah.
Bake a chocolate cake of course!
Specifically this Chocolate Cake.
Of course there's a reason my usual recipe would not suffice.

I was at the State Wine Store the other day picking up some Port for our hamburgers; (Bobby Flay's "Blue Cheese Sirloin Burger with Red-Wine Onion Jam") (Yes I bought a bottle of Port for the purposes of dressing a burger. Please, Don't knock it till you've tried it.) when I deiced we would probably need a good beer as accompaniment. This required a decision on my part, as the selection at this particular store was only Imported or Local brews, none of which I was familiar with. I was weighing two options and finally went with less familiar (barley wine) more local (brewed right here in SLC) option and with 10.4% alc. by volume I figured I was getting more bang for my buck so to speak. ie: according to the all reliable Wikipedia:
" Current Utah law sets a limit of 3.2 percent alcohol by weight (4 percent by volume) in beer sold at grocery and convenience stores and at establishments operating under a "beer only" type license"


The burgers were delicious that night, the adventurous brew, unfortunately was not. Between the two of us I don't think we drank over 3oz. It was...strong. 
So with two bottles of this "beverage" on my hands and an entire rainy day ahead of me, i embarked on operation Chocolate Cake, aka don't waste the beer you probably paid too much for. (thank you to my friend Sigrid for the heads up on this recipe)
It's cooling now, I'll let you know how it turns out.


On another note, what does one do when a bird flies into their kitchen? 
Obvious suggestion would be to not leave the door wide open as to invite them in, but its too late for that. 
In my own personal experience (30 minutes ago to be exact) I was rendered completely terrified both for my fate and that of the birds, mumbling confused profanities under my breath until the equally terrified and confused (I'm certain of this of course) creature found its own way back out the door which is now partially closed and thus less welcoming to bees, man eating (sized)flies, and birds all of which have wandered into my home at various times. Perhaps I should invest in a screen. 





P.S.
Bobby Flay's Blue Cheese Sirloin Burger with Red-wine Onion Jam was probably the best burger I have had in a number of years, however it does not hold a candle to the Lurcat burger available at Bar Lurcat in Minneapolis, MN...and apparently in Naples Florida (though I have never been to that location)

P.S.S
If you didn't know about Smitten Kitchen (where the Chocolate Cake recipe came from)... you do now, one of my favorite places to find new recipes, check it out!

Enlightening documentary: The Real Roots of the Emergent Church

I read the book of Colossians just before watching this video, I would encourage you to do the same.
Colossians 2: 2-8 specifically
"... I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments."
"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world, rather than on Christ"

Matthew 23:24
" For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect- if that were possible."

2 Timothy 3:5
" having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them...(7) always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth."

Christians, read the Word! be aware of what it says, Know what it says. Examine the scriptures to know if what is being taught is true. (Acts 17:11)

Comments and discussion welcome.

How we got here: Part 2

Apparently Im only allowed so much space for each post. I was on a roll with what is now "How we got here: Part 1" and then I could't upload any more pictures. ... so here we are Part 2

Hey! If you haven't read Part 1 go back and fill yourself in or you will miss out on the suspense!
(yes I am aware that I let the suspense drag on for far too long, and that by this time most of you have lost interest or faith in my returning to finish this thing. Take heart! I have returned, and will finish this thing, today!...I hope.)
Anyway, where were we...
Ah yes. Our trailer looked like this:

I made this picture extra large so that hopefully you can tell that the trailer tongue is riding literally 3" from the concrete. 

this is where Sack-boy and I waited for Phil to drive 30 minutes to pick up a new trailer and haul it back.  In the Outlet mall information office.

This is where we settled to camp that night as we did not make it quite as far as we wanted that day.
Not sure if I mentioned it or not but we only made it 70mi from Denver before we stopped.

This was not too bad of a place to stop, the bathrooms were clean and much to my surprise in the chill of the early morning, heated. There was a river just downwind of our campsite that lulled us to sleep in our open air tent. We decided it would be best to leave the rain fly off because of how moldy it was after Phil took it out last. (...all is forgiven, but certainly a lesson learned, nobody likes falling asleep to the sounds of nature and the smell of thick must.) Here there was also plenty of space between campsites, which we learned by experience later on in the trip, is a necessary commodity when lodging on non-wooded terrain.

Next Day we made our way to Aspen. Besides the outrageous price on gas, $5/gal, Phil was immediately convinced that we should live there because the bus drivers were courteous to us on the road. Apparently it's the little things with him. I was a little harder to convince, I mean, besides the fact that this was the most beautiful place that either of us had ever been our entire lives. This sign is what did it for me.
Im still not exactly sure what it means, but im convinced that there is a large hula-hooping community in Aspen and drivers are to be aware that they often utilize the crosswalks.













If those things are not enough to convince you to move to Aspen, CO, or at least visit; maybe these views we captured on our hikes will.
Day 1 went something like this

Day two began rather early. 3:45am to be exact. We wanted to catch the sunrise from Crater Lake which was just under a 2 mile hike from the parking lot at the base but around 1300' in elevation. It took us about 50 minutes in the predawn darkness with only our headlamps to light our way. The previous afternoon took us an hour+ to reach the lake. I think something about the possibility of being attacked by bears and or mountain lions could have made up the difference for our speedy ascent. (Remember how I had been sick just two days before this, well my fever had left me with a very unpleasant amount of sinus fluids, which rendered my breathing capacity at about 30% for this high altitude adventure, not to mention the fact that my insides were doing their monthly dance. Just note that I do not recommend an intense hiking excursion under either of those circumstances, let alone both of them at once.) Our fears were proven unnecessary, as we did not encounter one creature on the way up,  and whatever state of uneasiness, breathlessness, or bodily discomfort we were in once we got there ...it was SO worth it.

Aspen CO everyone, Go there!

 Our last adventure before moving in day, was to camp at Arches National Park in Utah. 

When we arrived we were flabbergasted at the # of people who had obviously copycated our great idea. We made the decision at that point to not go to Arches all together, and save the experience for another time when we can really enjoy it. Not that we don't like people, we just don't like crowds of strangers in our photographs.

 We camped just outside of Moab instead.  

Nothing says no worries camping trip, like all your earthly belongings camping next to you  in a UHAUL

This was the night that we discovered that camping at a public sight in the dessert kind of sucks. We fell asleep to the sounds of the river, the crickets, the frogs, and our neighbor camper snoring as if he was tucked right in with us in our two person tent. Also, breathing in copious amounts of dessert sand whilst battling a sinus cold...not cool.

What was cool though, was the Not crowded park that we went to to take our sunset pictures. 

Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah.

We woke up bright and early the next morning, surprisingly rested, considering our snorry neighbor and the blazing moonlight that made 1am seem like dusk.

Headed straight to Salt Lake City, through the stark wilderness that is Southern Utah, we were altogether exhausted, excited, and unsure of what exactly we would find once we got there.

So far, I think we like it. 

How we got here: Part 1

Its been just about two weeks since we arrived here in SLC to actually begin living. The 1st arrival was kind of a fluke, as we left 3 days later for vacation.
Now that I can say we officially live here, it's time for me to tell the story about how we got here (the 1st arrival), especially for those of you who did not follow Sack-Boy's updates on Facebook.

This is Sack-boy, He was made for us by our beautiful and talented friend Rachel Myers.
He is a replica from "Little Big Planet" http://www.littlebigplanet.com/ ...super fun game.

We love our Sack-boy

So here it is, our journey from Raleigh, North Carolina to Salt Lake City, Utah: A picture story.

I had a grander Map photo in mind, but as I am a novice in the Bloggosphere, we will all have to deal, until I get better.
2,344 or so Miles. We stretched out the trip over 15 days, so it wouldn't be excruciating, although the leg between Quincy and Denver ended up being excruciating anyway (more on that later).

Day one began at Liz and Jake Winfield's house
in Fuquay-Varina, NC. We Said goodbye to Zack and Laura Hanlon in Holly Springs, then we were on our way.
I really wish we still had a picture of our "truck and trailer" at the very beginning, Im not sure where that one is. This picture would only be important in that you would be able to see how low we were riding, and I don't mean that in a cool gangsta kind of way. The trailer seemed to be pulling fine enough, so we decided not to worry about it.

Our 1st stop was in Murfreesboro TN.  Where we spent two days with my oldest brother and his family attending track meets and community theater auditions, baking eclairs and getting very little sleep.

We stopped by in Saint Louis for a lunch date with friends. (yes there are very few pictures that have either Phil or I in them, but here's one with the both of us, oh and Sack-boy of course.)

We spent the next 4 days in Quincy with my parents, and the remainder of my immediate family. This was a special part of the trip because we got to meet Leila (our youngest niece) for the 1st time. 

Instant Best friends!

4 Days with family and good friends we rarely get to see, ='s a great time and consequently 6 days total of little sleep.

In order conserve days for camping once we got out west we drove through the night from Quincy to Denver. As you may well have guessed, we got little sleep that night too, but it was worse than that. My body decided to revolt and i battled a fever all the way through Kansas (and into our brief stay with Phils Grandparents in Denver). As if driving through Kansas wasn't torture enough, Phil had to stay awake and drive the entire night as I was incapable of either driving or sleeping. 

Turns out Grandma Hoy is a good nurse (an entire day of sleeping didn't hurt either), and I was feeling better (better in a relative sense, I still had some sinus infection of sorts to deal with) in time for us to head into the Wild Wild West for some camping and photography. 

Before we left, Grandpa Hoy tried to get us to rearrange our low riding load, but in the end we decided it wasn't worth it. So we headed into the mountains with high spirits, and unbenounced to us a very very low ride.

Silverthorne, CO is where we decided to stop for lunch. Im pretty sure God made us both hungry at the same time, this is apparent to me because all we had to see was the Chipotle sign, and we were off the freeway. As opposed to the usual, "Phil: Are you hungry yet" "Me:I guess" "Phil: what do you feel like eating?" "Me: i dunno, what do you want?" "Phil: I want you to tell me where we should stop." "Me: we should stop where you feel like eating." ...etc and by this time we have usually traveled 10 -15 more miles, and, not uncommonly, passed our last exit for food for another 45miles. Ahhh road trips. 

Not this time though, this was one of those times when God provides, when all of your prayers for our safe travel were answered very graciously. You see, when we stopped for lunch, our trailer looked like this: 

On becoming a housewife.

It's not bad, this getting to stay home while Phil is at work. Spending my days doing whatever I want to  do.
The world is my oyster.
I'm on no bodys time clock but my own.
Master of my own schedule.
For example this is what my day looks like tomorrow:
6:10am Make Phil's lunch
6:20am Drive Phil to work
6:45 am Make an attempt at Bible study
8:45am Wake up from attempt at Bible study
8:45-10am Have breakfast, make coffee and sit down to Bible study...seriously this time
10:30 am Begin the day which will inevitably consist of cleaning the kitchen, the dishes, and then there's the floor; begging to be swept and moped. (Before I do though, I have to buy a broom.) The waiting list for the washing machine is getting shorter but there seems to be an endless line of stragglers; bath towels, pants and teeshirts, dress shirts, undermentionables, one by one filling up the laundry basket. (Who am i kidding we haven't replaced the one we gave away yet, so these things pile up in the corners of rooms and bathrooms.) Various and sundry chores to do online. Including getting this blog in running order. Playing my guitar which i have tragically neglected out of exhaustion since...oh since I decided I wanted to play in the 1st place. Make chicken salad for dinner. (Oh! the chicken, the roasted chicken that was supposed to be our dinner tonight that took 1 1/2 hours to bake instead of 30min like the recipe said. My poor starving husband. He got a smoothie instead of roasted chicken and vegetables. Im certain June Cleaver would never approve; not to mention I'm supposed to be a professional.)  ...If I get all this done before 5pm, I may make it out to the pool for some R&R.
If not, the dry cleaning needs to be picked up, and Phil will need to be picked up around 6.


Wait...how does this happen. Somehow I managed to keep us fed, and safe from drowning in dirty laundry while working full time the past 4 years. Now that I actually have time to keep the floors clean and pick up my guitar, I can only seem to get to one or the other. It's almost as if I NEED less time in order to get things accomplished. Time management is officially not my forte. An entire day with no time constraints, I just don't know what to do with.

I'd like to know how she does it. I want to be like her.

The Wife of Noble Character

Proverbs 31

^10 [b]A wife of noble character who can find? 
    She is worth far more than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
    and lacks nothing of value. 
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
    all the days of her life.
¹³ She selects wool and flax
    and works with eager hands. 
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
    bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
    her arms are strong for her tasks.
¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable,
    and her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff
    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor
    and extends her hands to the needy. 
²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
    for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
²² She makes coverings for her bed;
    she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate,
    where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
    and supplies the merchants with sashes.
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,
    and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many women do noble things,
    but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done,
    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Firstly and Secondly

Firstly :  This is what happens to folding chairs when a vacuum cleaner  is placed on them in an effort for the brush hose to reach all the way to the ceiling fan, and the owner of said vacuum cleaner is unaware that the brush roller continues to run until it is manually turned off, as apposed to a vacuum that would not run its brush roller unnecessarily while the hose is being utilized.
I understand that this is entirely my fault and not the vacuum cleaners...however i am still angry, and wanted to share my story with the world to prevent another tragic occurrence such as this. (Thank goodness we don't have nice chairs...)

Secondly: I would like to welcome back my Sister and Brother in-law from their Honeymoon.
Welcome back Dorothy and Josh!!!
(I would have posted a picture of the two of you, but apparently we didn't take any of those.)

Thirdly: Frankly I don't have time for a thirdly right now, but let Firstly be a lesson unto you!

~Christie

On Top of Old Smokey (part 5)

Day 3 Sunday (part 1)

1st waterfall of the day was. Whitewater falls.

The kids were super excited.

Falls # 2  Silver Run

a little something we came across in between falls 

 # 3 Upper Cullasaja Falls

 #4 Dry Falls

Everybody staying dry underneath Dry Falls

#5 Lower Cullasaja Falls

# 6 Bridal Veil Falls

Perfect Day for waterfall viewing. There was a lot of time spent in the car between viewings, but the kids didn't seem to mind too much... that is until we were finally on our way back to meet their parents. Our little gray map was missing a few roads that we needed to know the names of in order to get back. Our Phones were out of service, and we were at least an 1 1/2 hours away from our campsite. It was at the moment that we realized we could be truly lost that Sunny informed us that she had to tinkle. Perfect...  There were no marked streets, let alone roadside markets with public bathrooms. I've never in my life felt so helplessly lost. Worried that we would not find our way back before dark, worried that Sunny would end up tinkling in the back seat. Worried because we were all hungry and no one knew how long it would be until dinner. Worried because the road that we had chosen as the one we needed to be on turned into a gravel  after about 10 miles. and then...

 We had coverage...we found a bathroom...and Shiloh decided that she probably wasn't going to throw up after all.  

WHEW! ! !