Two Thousand and Ten

2010, in summation:

• GOT MARRIED!
  
• Turned 21
• Got my first passport
• Changed my name
• Took more pictures than I have ever taken in my life
  
• Took my first trip out of the country and spent a wonderful week in Costa Rica
• Became a proud dog parent
• Made new friends
• Graduated with high honors from Texas A&M
• Survived a whole semester of kindergartners
  
• Survived another whole semester of third graders
• Applied for my first teaching position
• Fell in love with Big Bang Theory and Antiques Roadshow
  
• Obsessively read the Hunger Games trilogy about 8 times
• Made Phillip, my uncle, AND everyone else I know read the Hunger Games
  
• Rented our first apartment and decorated it on a budget
  
• Broke out my sewing machine
• Honed my cooking skills
• Forayed into baking, semi-successfully
• Obtained our first handgun
• Got our first Blu-Ray disk
• Hit 200,00 miles on my car (though I had to get new tires to do it).
• Successfully fit into my wedding dress, my mother's wedding dress, my grandmother's wedding dress, and my aunt's going away dress.

In 2011, hopefully, we will:

• Take another trip (Europe, anyone?)
  
• Watch Phillip graduate and get into grad school, maybe even somewhere really cool
• Get my first teaching job
• Rent our first house
• Get a new computer
• Be better about blogging, calling friends, making home-cooked meals, and doing laundry.
  

Graduation!

At 9:00 in the morning, December 18, I became a former student of Texas A&M University!
I graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science in Interdisciplinary Studies (aka Education).


My parents, brothers, Uncle Johnny, cousin Tracey, and of course, Phil, all came to celebrate :)
This absolutely does not mean that I have accepted being a grown up.

Now we just need to pray that I get a job!

Halloween

Yeah, yeah, I know its way past Halloween.
I literally have no spare time in my life, ok?
Geez.

So: Halloween was exciting.
Phillip and I were joined by our friend Hannah, and we went to the traveling carnival that happens to be across the street from my apartment. And, of course, we all dressed up. I love Halloween way to much not to go all-out festive. (I also wore my Halloween shirt and jewelry to school the previous Friday).

I went as a Roman, Hannah went as a 50's housewife,
and Phillip went as a ceiling fan. (we got creative).

We also took silly pictures.

And then, I found Nemo.

And more silly pictures in the car.



And then we went back to the house and watched scary movies. Well, we watched Jennifer's Body, and then scary movies. But only because it was already on TV and we were morbidly curious.

It was a fantastic time. :)

Lazy Day Recipie

So, I tend to get lazy.
Might have something to do with working 40 something hours every week while not getting paid and getting evaluated/judged on everything I do (since, apparently, normal human teachers do not make mistakes).
When I get lazy, I am not domestic. It doesn't work out.
So, I make this for dinner:

Kinda-Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:
1 rotisserie chicken, de-boned
1 can yellow hominy (corn if you are finicky)
1 can original rotel (drain half the juice if you are finicky)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cartons chicken broth
Tortilla chips
Cheddar or Jack cheese

Preparation:
Dump first 5 ingredients into a pot and heat until simmering.
DO NOT ADD SALT.
Put into a bowl, Top with crushed tortilla chips and liberal (and I mean "Would you like some soup with your cheese?" liberal) amounts of cheese.

Its warm, comforting, mildly spicy, and awesome. Its wonderful when its cold outside. Its wonderful when its not cold outside. It also makes a VAT of soup, so you have leftovers for tomorrow so you can perpetuate your laziness. Its also nice to entertain with, since everyone likes it and its pretty cheap per serving.

I have several other go-to lazy day recipes, but I shall save them for another day. :)

Best. Recipe. Ever.

Crockpots are my new favorite thing ever.
This recipe is simple, cheap to make, and tastes gourmet.
I adapted it from something I found online, and was amazed by how delicious it was! (Not to toot my own horn or anything)

Chicken in a Pear and Red wine Reduction

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thawed)
1/2 cup pear preserves or jam
1/3 cup sweet red wine (I like Pinot Noir)
1/2 envelope french onion soup powdered mix
1/2 cup water

Preparation:
Put chicken into a medium sized crock pot.
Combine other ingredients.
Pour over the chicken.
Cook on low for 5-6 hours.
If chicken is frozen, add another 4 hours on low or 2 hours on high.
Enjoy!

You can substitute the pear preserves for another variety. Blackberry or apricot would also be delicious. If your sauce is too watery (mine was), pour into a small sauce pan and boil unit it reduces by half. I paired it with rosemary roasted potatoes, which were also delicious in the sauce.

Seriously. Trust me. Its awesome.

Wedding: Part 3: Bridals!

Bridal pictures! Lots of fun :)
Hot, outside in August in Houston, but fun.











We took them in a neighborhood around the corner from my house and downtown around Mecom Fountain. This was kind of a last minute decision, because we couldn't take them in the hotel that we wanted to take them in. Which was very annoying, but whatever. I loved the way they turned out :)
We framed the last one and put it in a pretty frame to display at the reception.
More at:
Stacy Sherman Clark Photography
Click on Client Proofing.
Password is Arli

Wedding Pictures!

The wedding was perfect.

I LOVE THEM.
LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE.
Did I say Love?

You can see more here:
Stacy Sherman Clark Photography
Click on Client Proofing.
Password is "Shults".

Really good reasons I don't have more wedding pictures up yet:

1. My computer died. As in it's really, really dead. Won't turn on dead. Please note that this hurts my heart.

2. I have been sick at least 3 times now since apparently, children are disgusting and don't wash their hands. I do say this in the most loving way possible.

3. Note, one of these aforementioned sicknesses involved a bacterial infection in my cornea. Don't ask me how I got it, because I don't know and my doctor doesn't like to talk or tell me things, which is lame. But, it involved my eye swelling shut and having no vision for a while, which was terrifying.

4. Student teaching is life consuming.

5. I have had house guests about 4 times now. Which I LOVE, but it cuts down on some free time.

I'll try to get some more up tonight though!

Wedding Post: One.

Are you ready for the wedding posts? Are you ready?

Part One: The Rehearsal.

The rehearsal went pretty well. I might have had a minor freak out when some people (cough, the groom, cough) did not show up quite on time, but the crisis was averted.
I had a great time with the family and my girls :)





Afterwards, Phillip's family threw an awesome party at Italiano's. We had fabulous food and a great time relaxing a little before the big day!

Pictures!

I had a FULL day on Saturday. Schedule: celebrate Taylor's birthday (who turned 22 on Monday), celebrate Phillip's birthday (who turned 21 that day), go to Caitlin's bridal shower, take pictures, pack, and go to Caitlin's bachelorette party.
Needless to say, I slept pretty well that night.

I love the way the pictures came out though!
I wore my grandmother's wedding dress from 1957.
We stopped in Summerwood/Water's Edge for photos.
Photography courtesy of my awesomely talented cousin. :D

Bridal Shower

My shower was, in short, amazing.

The cake was awesome.
The food was awesome.
The flowers were awesome.
The company was awesome.

I had to go re-register at B3 because I got almost everything off my registry!
Everything was so beautiful, and I had the best time EVER.






I'm so blessed!

Rehearsal Dinner

My parents-in-laws-to-be reserved a place for the rehearsal dinner:
Italianos!

I am very, very excited about this for many reasons. Mostly, because I love this place like nobody's buisiness. And Italian food. And the garlic bread knots.
MMMMM.


They have a pretty neat banquet room.

We get to have salad, 3 or 4 entrees, and several desserts to choose from.
I'm thinking:
Chicken Marsala
Shrimp Fra Diavolo
Homemade Lasagna
Capelli Pomodoro
Strawberry Cheesecake
Chocolate Cake


EXCITED.

Wedding Stuff: The Girls.

Bridesmaids:
My girls will be wearing one of two gorgeous dresses and silver or gray shoes. Accessories will be up to them. :)
I'm also having a tiny something designed for them, but its a surprise, and they certainly don't have to wear it.



Me:
I will be wearing a fabulous Maggie Sottero Couture dress. I can't give you pictures, because that would just spoil things.
I was going to wear my hair down and curly. But, my aunt has since custom designed and made me a teeny little bolero out of what was once a shawl that matches my dress perfectly. Its just so pretty that I can't stand to cover it up will all my hair!

Which hairstyle do you like the best?

Wedding Stuff: The Boys.

Monday, Phillip, Mama, and I all went to pick out tuxes for the boys to wear.
I had a vision. Charcoal gray suits with blue vests for groomsmen, and a white vest for Phillip. I hate it when you can't tell which one the groom is, so I thought it would be nice if he stood out.
First, we went to Men's Warehouse, since they're supposed to be better.
False.
They sucked. They told me they had one gray tux. It was silver, and ugly (sadly, it actually looks better in the picture). Also, their customer service was poo.



So, we headed down to Al's Formalwear, which is about 6 steps away. Turns out, they don't have gray either. But apparently no one does, which makes me sad inside. Oh well. They guy at Al's was super helpful, and helped us pick out a black tux that we were just as happy with. They also gave us a discount and Phil's rental for free! Al's is now highly recommended in my book.