I stand corrected

So apparently my pity party worked...Olson moved the deadline for the paper to Friday.

This is unheard of in my school life saga...

I'm still a bit in shock...

Hopefully I'll take advantage of these extra two days and get this paper done early so I'm not cramming on Thursday night.  Funny thing is my final is on Friday as well...so perhaps I should get this paper done by tomorrow night.

It would be quite an understatement to say how excited I am about the weekend.
-CELEBRATION of one less summer school class
-Spending the weekend with Steven's ridiculously large extended family (as in Steven often says "we're related but I'm not sure how")
-fireworks
-good food all weekend

Friday at 5, you can't get here soon enough

Because I know I'll laugh about this later...

I'm going to take a total of no more than 5 minutes to write this post because I need to vent so that I will get back to my research paper that is due Wednesday...that I haven't even started...

Except for Christmas breaks, the summer after graduating from undergrad, and a month after I was married I have been in school non-stop since my freshman year of college.  That's six years of higher education with only 9 months off combined...blah.

Needless to say I'm a bit burned out right about now and really need to have a pity party (again no more than 5 minutes long)

I know years from now when I'm knee high in a job, children, a mortgage etc. I'll look back fondly on the simpler times when Steven and I were merely knee high in text books and research papers...but for tonight that just isn't cutting it.

Instead I look at my computer screen like a crazed woman waiting for the motivation to come to just write this paper so it will be over with

Ok thanks for listening...being my overly-logical self I am completely convinced that throwing a pity-party is in no way productive, and in the grand scheme of things my life is pretty amazing...but nonetheless sometimes throwing a 5 minute self-centered pity-party makes me get over myself, buckle down, and hit the books...

Ranch Breaded Tilapia Fillets

And the tilapia saga continues...

I'm quickly falling in love with fish.  It's so simple and quick to make, and the light taste is perfect for hot summer evenings.  It's at times like these I wish I had a patio Steven and I could go eat our dinner on surrounded by citronella candles...ah Texas summers.

I got the recipe for this dish off of Allrecipes...big surprise I know.  But let's be honest, it hasn't let me down yet!  Click here to see the recipe.

Theological musings...

Let it be known that doing a class presentation on a theologian you disagree with is exhausting intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.

Let it also be known that reading a primary source of the theologian you disagree with will take at least 3 times as long because you have to stop every other paragraph to argue with said theologian in your head.

Let it also be known that presenting on a theologian you disagree with, while exhausting and frustrating, has a strong capability of strengthening your faith.

It's at times like these I'm truly grateful Truett doesn't tell me what to believe and doesn't only present me with the ideas held by my professors and denomination.  I'm encouraged to wrestle with my faith and read very convincing arguments from theologians throughout history that don't support the views I have of God, salvation, Church, society...the list goes on and on.  While it's exhausting now, I know this struggle will only make me a better minister and only help me understand better the diversity of the Christian faith.

While we certainly don't all agree on everything it is comforting to know that through the centuries we have wrestled with the Scriptures and with each other all in order to try to understand better our mighty God.  We don't have all the answers, and God is certainly bigger than our human minds can ever comprehend; and yet, I rest assured that at the end of the day I am spiritually intertwined with a group of struggling believers (the church ecumenical) serves a loving Savior.  Praise be to God!

Things they don't teach you in seminary...

This might be the cutest thing I have ever seen in a church pew...apparently this doodle pad is only for the young and reformed.

Precious moments

The Blue Blazer and I hit a milestone today.

70000 miles and still going strong.  wohoo!

I will now immediately go and knock on wood so as not to jinx myself...

The one where La and Alec got hitched...

My la, la di da, loodle, (aka Lauren) got married this weekend.  It was perfect, beautiful, worshipful, and just down right fun to see so many amazing friends.  It was also great to see so many of my friends' parents...I don't think I often realize how much I miss them as well as my friends.  I was so lucky to grow up in the same place starting in preschool and have had many of my friends for as long as I can remember and thus their parents played equally important roles in my childhood.

Lauren and I have been friends since the third grade, and I cherish so much having lifelong friends like her.  We went to the same elementary, middle, high school and college where we were roommates for 2 years.  She is the sole reason I have to have a noisemaker now when I go to bed, which Steven has thankfully adopted as well (hopefully Alec will too...)  We have had so many great conversations, adventures and bear trail walks around campus.  I even remember the first time Alec came into our apartment the summer before junior year when he had convinced her to go running with him at 5 in the afternoon in the ridiculous texas summer heat...I guess La was pretty smitten for him!

Here are a few pictures from the amazing weekend!

Rehearsal Dinner

La and Megan (Maid of Honor).  Friends since they were 5, and amazing friends of mine.  Megan and I used to play Rainbow Bright at her house when we were in early elementary school.

The Murray and Burgess Couples

"Princess Lauren"

Me and my bestie, the beautiful Mrs. Caroline Smiley

My dear dear Rachel

Lexi Musta - My one and only (I called her that long before Steven was even in the picture...thus the name has remained :)

The last one of the night

What an amazing weekend!  I am so happy for La and Alec!  They are an amazing couple and amazing followers of God.  I know they will have a lifetime of happiness together!  Love you both!

Because you have to read the book when your professor wrote it...

At first glance you probably aren't too jealous of me...

But at second glance perhaps a sudden realization that you too wish you were studying the English and Catholic Reformations...

Thank you Starbucks Via packet, milk, sugar, vanilla, and Hershey's Chocolate Syrup 

Now I'm off to read the Council of Trent and the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity

...oh the humble life of a seminary student...

Sesame Tilapia

So we bought Tilapia on sale at HEB (8 fillets for $6!) Now I just have to find 4 recipes for Tilapia...

My first attempt can be seen here, which turned out quite mediocre.

Last night we tried for round two and made Sesame Tilapia and were very pleased!  I used Allrecipes.com to find the recipe.  This sight is amazing!  You can search by the ingredients you have and for each recipe you put in the number of servings you want and it will convert the original recipe for you.  Yay for not having to do math that makes your head hurt just so you can figure out how to make a recipe for 6 into a recipe for 2!

Click here to look at the recipe.

With a side of Uncle Ben's Wild Rice and Asparagus...delicious.

And now a youtube clip of what kept coming to mind as I was cooking...thanks Mom for the hours and hours of Sesame Street.  (I quote clips/songs from it more often than I'd like to admit)

Thou Shalt Not Covet...

...thy neighbor's house snack

1/2 cup ice
1/2 cup juice (i used orange)
1/2 cup of fruit (strawberry for me)
1 cup of Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt (I love food that has a title I am striving for...good motivation)
(Makes two glasses...but I wont judge if you have it all to yourself)

Because we all need a good laugh...

Well, I don't really have anything today, but didn't want you guys to believe I had stopped my amazing blogging skills after one week.  So I will now share with you one of the BEST clips from Whose Line is it Anyway.  My roommates and I used to look up clips when we were really bored at night and stay up way too late laughing/crying at the ridiculousness of this show, especially Three Headed Broadway Star skits, a true gem really.  If you've never seen this in action (first of all why are we friends?) the basic premise is that they make up a song on the spot and each person can only sing one word at a time...genious.  If anyone wants to start a Whose Line night where we act these things out let me know...I'm game.  (hint hint Aurelia and Morgan...you guys would rock at this)

Fish Tacos

I love love love fish tacos for two reasons mostly.  First and foremost they are delicious, secondly I can order them at mexican restaurants (read tex mex) and not feel like I just ate my weight in cheese.  It's a win win really.

I attempted to make my beloved dish last night and let's just say there is room for improvement.  It was pretty bland, and Steven and I finally decided it was because this particular recipe didn't call for mango-salsa topping...a staple to say the least.  We definitely wont me making that mistake again.  

Tilapia, avocado with lime juice, and cole slaw with spicy chipotle thousand island

sided with margaritas and bush's baked beans...(because I forgot to buy charro... oh well) 

Katie vs. Bug part II

At exactly 5:30 this morning I woke up to the feeling that something was crawling up my left upper arm.  I immediately took my hand and swatted at this intruder and definitely felt a big bug that I knew my simple swat had not killed.  I jumped out of bed screaming "STEVEN A BUG!" which caused him to jump out of bed (although I think it was because of the tone of my voice because I have said those words quite a few times since we moved into our new apartment).

We searched and searched and searched for about 5 minutes, pretty much dismantling the bed in the process.  I kept saying "I swear it's real, and it should be HUGE", but after 5 minutes I felt pretty ridiculous and figured I must have dreamt it up.

And then there it was, right before we turned the light off this black beetle crawled up our quilt...talk about disgusting.  I about died and probably woke up our neighbors with my scream. (overreaction you say?  Not so when you realize that 5 minutes ago that huge thing was almost to my shoulder in route to my mouth...ack!)  Steven heroically removed and flushed it while I stood shocked and dismayed.

Worst thing is the exterminator came 2 days before this.  And I know what's supposed to happen, the bugs are supposed to get worse before they get better because the bug fumes cause them all to come out and look for water. But in the past those bugs have always looked a little sickly and were at least heading towards the bathroom or kitchen...this guy was just kicking along clueless.  Hopefully he doesn't have any friends or else I might just move out.

Friends

So Steven and I watch an episode of Friends every night before we go to sleep...without exception.  We watched one of my favorite episodes the other night "The One Where Everyone Finds Out" (season 5) so I thought I would share the clip here  (The embedding was disabled so I couldn't post the video, but it's definitely worth going to the link!)

Proof

Let it be known that I killed this nasty, disgusting, beyond creepy cockroach this morning...with the help of raid and of course my very brave pup.

Let it also be known that almost 2 years ago I called Steven at 12:30 at night to come drive 15 minutes to my garage apartment because there was a freaking flying cockroach that had caused me to lock myself in my bathroom...I've come a long way.

And yes I took pictures...because otherwise I'm not sure Steven would believe me...as a matter of fact I probably wouldn't have believed it either.  

Steak Salad

Delicious, and even more amazing, a salad that Steven will eat as its own standing meal.  He didn't once ask "so what are we having with this?"...apparently miracles are possible ;)

I used (for 2 servings) 4 cups of spinach, 1 diced tomato, 1 shredded carrot, 1/2 diced red bell pepper, and 1/2 avocado diced for the "salady" part and then heated up a 3/4ish lb steak on a skillet (rubbed with cracked red pepper and Worchestershire first).  For the dressing I made (yes made) a red wine vinaigrette dressing.  I then topped the salad off with a light sprinkling of seasoned salt.

Red Wine Vinaigrette (this will make much more than 2 servings, so have a container ready to save the leftovers)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Steven approves

Home Furnishings 101

So I might have found the coolest new site  Knock-Off Wood.  You should seriously go visit it!  It made me want to run to Lowes and start buying carpentry stuff to make all new furniture.  I tried to convince Steven of this telling him "if we make our own furniture it will save us money!" to which he kindly reminded me that we don't need to buy any new furniture so technically it would be wasting money...oh that boy, always being practical and crushing my little carpentry dreams (i kid).

Seriously though, the second we have a need to buy a new piece of furniture you will be able to find me with a saw and nail gun in hand probably making a fool of myself.

I know by now some of you are saying "seriously Katie?  You can't possibly build anything."  And to all you doubting Thomas' out there I reply...oh ye of little faith.  The best thing about this website is that a woman created it.  She gives detailed instructions with pep speeches letting you know she has complete faith in your abilities (she even has video for some of the designs) and all the comments are by women who get depressed by Pottery Barn prices just like I do...it's like your own self-esteem counseling session that teaches you basic work skills (all my social work friends know the importance of this...strengths perspective anyone? ha!)

Here are my top two favorite pieces.

The Farmhouse Bed

Look Familiar?  (Image from Pottery Barn)

Ana (the designer) predicts it will take $120 to complete the bed including paint and finisher (I'm not sure what wood she used so that could change the cost).  The bed at Pottery Barn (Queen) costs $1,199.00 (pre-tax).  And being the person who drools over her Pottery Barn catalogue every time it comes in the mail I might as well learn how to make my own knock-offs with my own blood, sweat and tears.  

This is the piece I will probably make first

And the best part...

I am now taking donations for any spare lumber, saws, nail guns etc. you might have lying around the house...just saying

Banana Bread

I really wish there was a smell feature on posts because you guys are seriously missing out.

I l-o-v-e bananas, like I could eat them 5x a day...potassium overload much?  An important side note to my slight banana obsession is that I like them when they are green, any sign of squishy-ness or brown spots on the peel and it's a no-go.  Which perhaps explains my love for banana bread.  Instead of getting depressed that I allowed scrumptious bananas to go to waste I simply bake them into a delicious (and incredibly sweet) treat.

I follow the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook recipe and add the streusel-nut topping.  (yes I made something with the word streusel in it...I'm telling you this extra counter space is making me quite distinguished).  Just incase you don't own this great recipe I will post it below...is this legal?  I'll site it in MLA so it is

Better Homes and Gardens. New Cook Book: Celebrating the Promise Limited Edition. Des Moines:   Meredith Books, 2009ish.   (hopefully you just laughed...if you took that seriously you obviously don't know me very well and we need to hang out more)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I always add a little more cinnamon...another addiction of mine)
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe (aka not Katie edible) bananas (I used 3 large bananas for this)
1 cup sugar (this just proves it's good)
1/2 cup cooking oil or melted butter or margarine (I figured with 1 cup of sugar there was no need to hold back and definitely used butter...aka I'm not making banana bread to help me loose weight)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Streusel-nut Topping:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup walnuts

Directions:
-preheat oven to 350.  Grease bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of one 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.  In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.
-in a medium bowl combine eggs, banana, sugar, and oil.  Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Stir until just moistened.  Fold in walnuts.  Spoon batter into prepared pan.  If desired sprinkle streusel-nut topping over batter in pan.
-(Streusel-nut Topping) in a small bowl combine brown sugar and all-purpose flour.  Using a pastry blender (had no clue what this was so i used a fork), cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in walnuts.
-Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool on rack completely.

Love how something as nasty looking as this...

Turns into this

A look inside (love the Streusel-nut topping!)

This yummy goodness is in good company with a cup of joe and a take-home final

Dutch

Steven and I have taken my parent's dog Dutch out on a temporary loan.  Why temporary loan you ask?
3 reasons mostly...
1) we didn't want to pay for a dog
2) we didn't want to train a puppy
3) we aren't sure if future Dallas apartments will let us have a dog so we didn't want to get too attached and then have to give said dog away.

So let me introduce you to our almost 7 year old chocolate lab mix...although with his energy you would never know he was almost 7.

This is a very common sight...

There is a great little field caddy corner to our apartment which we have visited nightly to help get Dutch some exercise so he can keep up his exquisite figure.  He's got to impress the other lady dog friends in the apartment complex...even if he no longer has his manhood.

Such an obedient pup

My boys

And one with the photographer

Pizza

For those of you who don't know, Steven and I spent almost our entire first year of marriage living in Collins Residence Hall at Baylor.  I was the resident chaplain, and while we loved having an apartment rent free (along with all the fun of living where you work) there were a few things our humble abode didn't have, counter space being one of them.

We moved last weekend and in one week I think I have made more meals than I did this entire past year combined.  Tonight I really went out on a limb and made homemade pizza dough with yeast and everything...yeah, I was impressed too.  But I figured I was up to the challenge and a little extra work especially since I could eat pizza every day for the rest of my life (seriously).

To be honest it didn't turn out exactly as I had expected but it was still yummy none the less.  The yeast didn't rise even though I kneaded it until I couldn't feel my hands and left the loaf un-bothered for 2 whole hours in our pantry...so for now I guess the count is Katie 0 - Yeast 1.

The dough pre failure to rise

The finished product*

Now don't let the picture fool you, this stuff was really good.  The dough was thin but soft and for toppings I used Ragu sauce (b/c I'm fancy like that), ground beef with seasoning, and mild cheddar and monterrey jack cheese...yummm.  I'll post the recipe for the dough on here if I can ever get it to rise.  And hopefully over the next few months I'll be able to make a pizza that better resembles a circle. 

(I must confess at one point I tried to be really fancy and throw the dough up in the air and all I ended up accomplishing was making the flour on the countertop fly all over the kitchen...classy)

*please ignore our ridiculously stained baking sheet.  What you see is the product of making 50 cookies a week for the past 9 months for the hugely popular "Cookies with Chappie"

So let me get you up to speed...

Wedding Day

Honeymoon

Our First Home

And now here we are almost one year later and I've finally decided I should start documenting life.  Truth is, I have always wanted to be a person who writes journals, who takes lots of pictures, and who scrapbooks, and I finally realized a blog is the best way to do that.  

So here we go...not quite sure what I'm going to write about but hopefully it will be entertaining