Eat, Cook, Read, and Other Things That I Love

The main point of the blog was to record milestones and events in my first year of marriage.  We had a wonderful and eventful year.

I have plans for a new blog.  Check it out:  http://knitcookread.blogspot.com/

Happy One Year Anniversary To Us!

Today, Jon and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary.  It was a very special day.  We looked back at what we were doing around this time last year.  It was fun to remember how we were feeling and what we were doing.

The past year has been wonderful.  We have had so many great times and  made so many wonderful memories!

We are in New Orleans.  This is where we started our honeymoon around this time last year.  We have had a great day celebrating and remembering.

Happy Anniversary, Jon!  I love you so very much!  Looking forward to the many years to come!

Some Thoughts on our First Anniversary

It seems unbelievable, but our first anniversary is here! We have so many things for which to be thankful. This year has brought us many incredible memories. One of the greatest of these is that of our wedding. Vita and I reminisced about it earlier this afternoon. I can still remember our special day in vivid detail and hope that this clarity doesn't fade with time.

Our wedding day (and honeymoon) was a momentous occasion, but the following months were just as special. I couldn't have hoped for a better year. I pray that the rest of my days are filled with so many blessings.

Most importantly, our first year was marked by the special covenant between God, Vita, and me. We must never forget that our marriage is a living sacrament, an outward of sign of the invisible reality of God's love. I eagerly anticipate the adventures of our second year of marriage and have faith that God is directing our lives. This brings us great comfort and peace.

Vita, I love you and my love for you grows each day. Happy First Anniversary!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOkAU9gOm0w

Our One Year Anniversary Is Around the Corner...

May 30, 2010 is almost here!  Jon and I are going to New Orleans to celebrate.  I made our reservations last month.  I look forward to taking it easy for a few days.

 

We spent two nights in New Orleans as part of our honeymoon, before we flew out to San Diego.  It is a special place for us. 

 

Ideally, we would go somewhere else, but I can't because of my job.  I am not allowed to take any vacation from May 20 until July 31.  That's the way it goes!  So, New Orleans it will be!

Hattiesburg Trip

On April 8th and 9th, Jon and I visited Hattiesburg.  It was nice to take a quick trip just to get away.  I had a great aunt that lived there.  I had not returned, since her death many years ago.

Jon had gone to a conference previously, and told me about a barbecue place that he wanted me to try.  We figured this was be a good time to go.

Hattiesburg does not have a lot going on there, but we had a great time.  I was amazed at all the things that I remembered about it.

We also visited the Hattiesburg Zoo.  It was a very nice little zoo.

Other than Leatha's Barbecue, we at Red Lobster and Zaxby's.  I love Zaxby's!

It was nice to get out of Baton Rouge for a while.  It was a nice trip!  

Happy Birthday, Jon!

Today we celebrated Jon's 28th birthday!  His first birthday as a married man!  Even though I had to work, we had a nice day.  We had lunch at The Pastime.  When I got off from work, Jon opened his birthday gifts.  Then we had a nice dinner at Coyote Blues.

I made Jon a cake on Saturday.

A caramel cake that was quite yummy!

I made pizza on Sunday!

White Clam Pizza on Neo-Neapolitan pizza dough is delicious!

Portland, Oregon

I have been in Portland for the Public Library Association Conference this week.  It is the longest that Jon and I have been apart, since we have been married.  We had a little practice when he went to his music theory conference in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. 

I don't like going places without my Jon!  Part of me is missing, and I wish we could have shared this experience together.  I hope we can visit this great place together one day.

I did have a nice time.  Portland is a great place!  Lots to do and very different from Louisiana.

I was put in a pre-conference that did not pertain to my current job situation.  It is valuable information for maybe the future.  It was a little sad that some of my co-workers had two and a half free days before the conference began.  They got to have fun and adventures, while three of us were in a pre-conference.  It was interesting that those that could have benefited were the ones that had all the free time.

Then I was kept on a very busy schedule once the conference began.  I did not have much freedom.  I guess that's the price I have to pay for going on the library's dime.

Today the conference came to a close, so I got half a day to explore.  I took the Max to the Oregon Zoo.  It was an adventure.  I am so tired!

Away at Conference

Jon is at a music theory conference.  This is our first night apart, since we've been married.  I miss him!

It will be practice for when I'm gone for a week in Portland for the Public Library Association conference.

Our First Valentine's Day

Jon and I had a great first Valentine's Day as a married couple. 

 

We didn't really do the whole surprise gifts thing this year, because we have both been busy.  He's been focusing on is school work and I am working all the time.

 

We talked about it and decided that we would just go together and get something we wanted.  We don't randomly go out and buy things for ourselves on a regular basis, so this was nice for us. 

 

On Saturday, we went to one of our favorite stores, Barnes and Noble.  He found some books that he wanted.  I picked about a kit of knitting patterns, a book of love poems, and a bag for my knitting.  We also went to Hobby Lobby, so I could get some knitting tools that I needed.  Since I am starting to knit things other than scarves.  I needed to get things like row counters, and stitch markers.  I found a set that included the necessities.

 

Earlier that day we went for a hike at the Comite River Trails.  It was fun, until I got spooked by an armadillo.  I don't like over grown areas too much, because I am scared of snakes, etc.

 

Yesterday, we decided to go to the zoo.  There was a "love your zoo" type program, so we thought it would be a fun thing to check out.  We realized it had been awhile, since we had gone to the zoo.  It was nice to see the changes and improvements that are being made.  We also saw the elephant show and the otter show.  Our favorite was the elephants. 

 

We had a nice dinner at Carrabba's.  We didn't make reservations and we were very happy to not have to wait very long for a table.  It is a pain to get in to places in BR.  We started to go to Zea's, but there was a long wait.  I think most people probably went out on Saturday.  We were not sure which would be the best night.   

 

I used to like to plan ahead, but things are so different now.  I am never sure how I will feel or what I will feel like doing.  This was a great weekend.  We didn't have to adhere to a certain schedule.  We just did whatever we wanted to do, when we wanted to do it.  I love this! 

 

I think that having a job makes you want to be more spontaneous on your off time.

 

I look forward to having tomorrow off.

New Years Resolution--In Action

I got up and walked over a mile this morning, then went back and walk over 1.5 miles tonight!  Yeah!

Also, I am going to do my best to stay away from toxic people this year.  You know the type that are emotionally exploitative.  Beware of toxic people.  They are everywhere!

Happy 2010!

Greetings friends,
It's hard to believe that it is 2010 already. Here's hoping everyone has a good year. Vita and I had a great holiday season. I'm hoping for more of the same in the new year; I had a great 2009. Besides spending time with Vita, I'm looking forward to writing, playing, and teaching this year. I hope you also have special activities and people in your life to enjoy in 2010.


Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Happy New Year!

Well, it's 2010!  I think that 2009 was a great year!  It was a very important year in my life.  The main highlight was that I got married  to my soul mate and best friend.  We had a beautiful wedding and a wonderful honeymoon.

In our seven months of marriage we have made some wonderful memories.  Married life has been great!

I look forward to having a great 2010 with Jon.  We hope to go on at least one fun trip this year.

As for new years resolutions, I have one.  I am going to exercise more and lose some weight.  I have been good about establishing a little bit of an exercise routine, but I know that I can do so much better.  So here's to 2010 to help me reach my goal!  We shall see!

Happy New Year all!

Merry Christmas!

Jon and I had a great first Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as a married couple.  We spent it here in Baton Rouge.  Just us and the cats.

Jon had to play for his church service yesterday, so we celebrated our first Christmas together in Baton Rouge.

I have been planning the perfect meal for sometime.  I planned on having it for Christmas, but we were invited to my Uncle Ben and Aunt Marsha's in Gonzales for Christmas Day.  Since we accepted the invitation, I decided to make my dinner on Christmas Eve.

I cooked a turkey breast, oyster dressing, spinach Madeline, and mashed potatoes.  We had tea and lemon meringue pie for dessert.

When I got off from work Wednesday night, I cleaned the Christmas china and got the kitchen cleaned and organized.  I wanted everything to be ready in the morning, so things would move smoothly.

I can appreciate the effort that it takes to make a nice Christmas dinner.  It takes a lot of work.  It was my first time doing the cooking, but everything came out perfectly!

We got up this morning and opened up our Christmas gifts.  I am not going to list each gift that Jon have to me.  I got a set of bamboo knitting needles and a knitting book.  I also got a bracelet, a knit hat with cat ears on it, and a Janis Joplin bio.  I got Jon some books, a hoodie, Stephen King's Under the Dome on audio, among other things.

Then I made waffles for breakfast.  They were great! 

Jon and I had a wonderful first Christmas as a married couple.  Full of fun memories!

We look forward to our trip to Virginia for our Christmas visit with Jon's family.  We will be there for the new year.  We leave next week on Wednesday.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Our First Christmas Tree

Last night, Jon and I put up our first Christmas tree!  It was so much fun!  We got a nice big one this year.  The cats have not started to climb the tree, so I am happy.

We decided to put our wedding gifts under the tree, so we can keep them all in one place.  This will allow us organize the other areas, such as closets to make room to store what we are not going to use for a while.  I do not want to unpack all that stuff, since we are not staying in the apartment forever.

Our tree does not have a particular theme.  It is a tree of our memories together.  Most of our ornaments have some special meaning or stories behind them.  I had some of our leftover wedding favors and hung some of those in our tree.

Our First Christmas ornament

Wedding favor

 Wedding Favor

 Bought on our honeymoon!

2009 was a great year!

So that's a few pictures from our first tree.  I will also get to cook our first Christmas dinner, since Jon is playing for church on Christmas eve.  Stay tuned...

First 6-Months of Marriage

Jon and I have been married 6 months, as of yesterday.  Half a year!  Time flies when you are having fun!

 

Our first Thanksgiving was nice.  We were surrounded by our Virginia family.  Jon's siblings have been so great about treating me like part of the family.  They are so much fun!

 

It was a great time.  We will be going back for the New Year's holiday.

 

I could go on about all of the things for which we are thankful, how we are blessed, etc., but I'll spare the reader.  We do have a wonderful life together, but we live in the real world and it isn't always that simple.  I wish more people could acknowledge this fact.  Instead, we get the storybook version.  It gets quite old.

 

We plan on spending our first Christmas here in Baton Rouge, since Jon has to play for the church service on Christmas Eve.

 

I guess I need to start planning my Christmas dinner.  This should be fun.  I really do look forward to it!

 

We will go to Opelousas the weekend before Christmas to visit my family.

 

While in Virginia, I found a Christmas tree.  Artificial trees are very hard to find at good prices.  They can be very pricey.  I try to be environmentally conscious.  I thought that an artificial tree would be a good choice.  After reading up on this, I have learned the opposite.  Well, I do not plan on getting rid of this tree for sometime.

 

I went to a new dentist today, and he is great!  His whole staff is friendly and patient.  I was very pleased.

 

November 20th marked 4 years of being a couple.  Now that we are married, our wedding anniversary will be bigger deal.  It's just nice to remember.

 

 

Long Time, No Blog

It's been a long time, since I've posted.  I have been busy with work and just living life (or trying). Yesterday, I finally finished a scarf that I had been working on for some time.  I just didn't really dedicate much time to it, and it got left untouched for several months.  I'm glad it is finished, so I can move on to something else.

Work is the same.  Never better, always the same.  I put my foot down and got an extra day off, so I could spend more time in Virginia.  Now we get to stay for two days, instead of one.

I'm really getting screwed this year, since I have to work the weekends after the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.  Just when we had our holiday schedules arranged, they have to go and change things.  Luckily, no airfare has been purchased.  No more taking our holiday time the week before or after.  We have to take it that week, and it can't be on our night scheduled to work.  Well, hell!  Tell me what I should wear and cook for dinner, why don't you!  So I have no idea what it all means, I'm sure it will all be sorted out tomorrow.

Well, I must go and do my 4-mile walk as part of my training for my upcoming half-marathon.

Off For Veterans Day... Yay!

I'm always happy to have a day off! 

I had originally planned for this to be a day of cleaning.  Since I made some progress over the weekend, I decided that I could just have fun today.  That is exactly what I plan on doing.

Jon and I are going to have lunch with a friend.  Having lunch with friends is another favorite activity of mine.

In other news, I have decided to train for a half-marathon.  I have to do some training for it, so I can't do the Baton Rouge Beach Half-Marathon.  Luckily, there is one in New Orleans in February.  It is one from the Rock n' Roll Marathon Series.  I am so excited!  Unfortunately, we are a little late signing up, so we will have to pay more of an entry fee.

Jon is a runner, I am not, so I plan on walking this half-marathon. 

TGIF

I have Saturday and Sunday off!  I will be so glad to not have to be at work.

I think that I will move on to organizing the bathroom this weekend.  It will be nice to have two rooms organized.  I will have the bedrooms, the living area, dining area, and closets left.

We get Veteran's Day off, so I will take advantage of the day off by getting something accomplished.

I am going to see my grandparents in a week.  We are going to drive up on Friday and just visit.  It is so much easier on all of us to do that than try staying over night.

We are meeting with our photographer to talk about the finalization of our wedding album this evening.  We will hopefully also get our wedding images on DVD. 

We are going to Virginia for Thanksgiving.  We just decided to go this a few weeks ago.  I was not allowed Tuesday or Saturday off, so we are going to drive to VA on Wedneday after Jon's class.  We will spend Thanksgiving (Thursday), then drive back on Friday.  Thanks a lot, job!

When Jon gets his Ph.D. and we move, I will be so glad.  Then I can focus more on what is important; family and home life.  I think I was meant to be a full-time homemaker.

We shall see...

First Yoga Class

I went to my first yoga class this morning.  I really enjoyed it and plan to go back.

It is something to do on Tuesday mornings, since I don't feel like working out when I get home on Tuesday nights.

Tuesdays are my night to work, so I don't feel like doing much when I get home.

Facebook-free for 48 hours

Well, I fell off the wagon.  I will make good use of the features and settings that are offered.  We will see how that works.