After reading about my friend Charlotte's day of blueberry picking...YUM!...I was inspired to bust out a recipe my mom used to make when we were little. She enjoyed it when she was little too! This is a quick and easy way to prepare one of summer's most delicious fruits...
Blueberry Bars
crust:
1 cup butter
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
filling:
4 pints blueberries
cinnamon/sugar
Mix crust ingredients. Divide in 1/2. Press 1/2 into bottom of a buttered glass baking dish.
Add blueberry mixture to dish (spead evenly over the crust).
Crumble remaining crust mixture loosely on top of the blueberries.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. It is also delicious room temperature for breakfast! :)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
The Anniversary (a return to happy posts)
Well, I figured we should end our marathon day of blog posts on a happy note. June 14th was Emily and my first year anniversary! It wasn't the biggest celebration, but it was a good one. I was lucky enough to have a coworker who had gotten married a couple weeks before us, so I learned something about anniversaries that I had never heard before: there are specific themes for each one! I'd never heard of the Paper Anniversary, but coming from someone who likes having an outline to help guide me what to do, I was intrigued.
We ended up both doing cards for each other with a nice little romantic not in them. Emily's card was musical and played the song we danced to during our First Dance. My card was handcrafted by The Sandman himself, using some borrowed crafts tools of Emily's. I also made a gift certificate to Michael's, one of Em's favorite stores... that way she could splurge on even more paper products. It's not my favorite place to go, but I've promised her a trip there without complaining. She's used the money to get a nice paper cutter, which I'll admit, is pretty cool.
Finally, I had sent Emily some carnations from a local florist. Apparently, carnations are the first anniversary flower, and although they're not usually my favorite flowers, these ones turned out beautiful. Em loves flowers, so it was wonderful to see her simultaneous look of surprise and happiness when they showed up.
We then went to play putt-putt golf. Now, I've always known Emily wasn't beyond fudging some numbers to help her win, so it didn't come as any surprise to me that it continued on to this game. I caught her hitting the ball twice several times before it had stopped, and she even picked it up, after it went wildly off of the hole we were playing, and placed it back on the green without counting it as a stroke penalty. However, I did keep track of all of these "plus" shots. Unfortunately, I didn't think I'd need them. That all changed when she hit a hole-in-one on one of the hardest holes at the end. If you add up the scores and only count her "pluses" as one shot, she won, however there were definitely times when the ball was rolling way backward down the hill where she stopped it and kept on playing. I hate that she'll get the last post on this matter, but just keep in mind that I'm a rule-follower and have never been known to cheat. Emily's record is shattered by one word, "Twister."
To cap off the day, we both hit the town and went to one of our favorite Tucson restaurants, Casa Vicente. It's an awesome place with live flamenco dancing, Spanish guitar players, sangria, and delicious tapas and paella. It couldn't have been a better day to spend with the girl I love, and I'm so glad I had a day off that weekend to spend with her.
So, having just had a sister get married, what kind of wisdom can I share that I've gained over the last year? I can honestly say it has been the best year of my life, despite being the hardest. I've learned that I depend on her so much, that I don't function well when she's not here... just ask her what state the house is in whenever she gets back from a trip I've not been on with her. We're an unbeatable team, and not only, this sounds cliche, is she the love of my life, she really is my best friend. I never thought I could love someone more than I did when I first said those words, but I honestly fall harder for her every day that we spend together. My morning's not complete without leaning over and giving her a kiss, unbrushed teeth and all, before I head off to work. She still makes my heart beat faster when she's around. I think were just as giddy together as when we first started dating, and I'm confident we can keep that up for at least a few more weeks... err... decades... err... centuries. I'm the happiest person in the world when I'm with her, and I hope you all have, or will have, someone to share your life with like that.
I love you Em, and I can't wait to spend our cotton anniversary together!
We ended up both doing cards for each other with a nice little romantic not in them. Emily's card was musical and played the song we danced to during our First Dance. My card was handcrafted by The Sandman himself, using some borrowed crafts tools of Emily's. I also made a gift certificate to Michael's, one of Em's favorite stores... that way she could splurge on even more paper products. It's not my favorite place to go, but I've promised her a trip there without complaining. She's used the money to get a nice paper cutter, which I'll admit, is pretty cool.
Finally, I had sent Emily some carnations from a local florist. Apparently, carnations are the first anniversary flower, and although they're not usually my favorite flowers, these ones turned out beautiful. Em loves flowers, so it was wonderful to see her simultaneous look of surprise and happiness when they showed up.
We then went to play putt-putt golf. Now, I've always known Emily wasn't beyond fudging some numbers to help her win, so it didn't come as any surprise to me that it continued on to this game. I caught her hitting the ball twice several times before it had stopped, and she even picked it up, after it went wildly off of the hole we were playing, and placed it back on the green without counting it as a stroke penalty. However, I did keep track of all of these "plus" shots. Unfortunately, I didn't think I'd need them. That all changed when she hit a hole-in-one on one of the hardest holes at the end. If you add up the scores and only count her "pluses" as one shot, she won, however there were definitely times when the ball was rolling way backward down the hill where she stopped it and kept on playing. I hate that she'll get the last post on this matter, but just keep in mind that I'm a rule-follower and have never been known to cheat. Emily's record is shattered by one word, "Twister."
To cap off the day, we both hit the town and went to one of our favorite Tucson restaurants, Casa Vicente. It's an awesome place with live flamenco dancing, Spanish guitar players, sangria, and delicious tapas and paella. It couldn't have been a better day to spend with the girl I love, and I'm so glad I had a day off that weekend to spend with her.
So, having just had a sister get married, what kind of wisdom can I share that I've gained over the last year? I can honestly say it has been the best year of my life, despite being the hardest. I've learned that I depend on her so much, that I don't function well when she's not here... just ask her what state the house is in whenever she gets back from a trip I've not been on with her. We're an unbeatable team, and not only, this sounds cliche, is she the love of my life, she really is my best friend. I never thought I could love someone more than I did when I first said those words, but I honestly fall harder for her every day that we spend together. My morning's not complete without leaning over and giving her a kiss, unbrushed teeth and all, before I head off to work. She still makes my heart beat faster when she's around. I think were just as giddy together as when we first started dating, and I'm confident we can keep that up for at least a few more weeks... err... decades... err... centuries. I'm the happiest person in the world when I'm with her, and I hope you all have, or will have, someone to share your life with like that.
I love you Em, and I can't wait to spend our cotton anniversary together!
The Break-In
Well, I don't mean to interrupt all of this positive and exciting posting, but I guess there's one bit of news that needs to be discussed. Last Monday I got home from work, and everything seemed normal as I was walking up to the house. I could hear Annabelle going crazy, like she always does when my car pulls up, and it was a nice, sunny day outside. I noticed Emily's car wasn't in the driveway, so I figured she hadn't returned home from work yet. However, once I walked up to the back door, things started to seem funny. The back door was unlocked. Now, I'm sure I've forgotten to lock the door at least once this year, but Emily's always good about it. I kinda laughed at how I was going to be able to make fun of her a little bit when she got home. She had gone to pick up Annabelle that morning from the Kennel, and I could totally see her sleeping too late and coming back in such a rush that the door was missed.
Anyway, I walked inside and let the dog out.... that's when I saw the knife. One of our carving knives was sitting on one of Annabelle's beds in the second bedroom/office/cave. I thought it seemed weird, but we had just gotten back from Shelley's wedding and hadn't unpacked yet, so things didn't really click yet. You can tell I'd had a rough day at work. Anyway, I walked out to the front of the house, and then I noticed our branch cutters sitting on another of Annabelle's beds... and the front door was wide open.
Seriously, chills went up my spine as I typed that, and I'm almost in tears again thinking about how I felt in that one moment. My mind instantly shot back to how my friend, Paul, had been killed. I grabbed the knife and went tearing back through the house screaming Emily's name. I almost passed out as I walked into the bedroom, almost expecting to see the worst. Thankfully, Emily was not home. I noticed the back window screen was missing and the window was slid open.
The first thing I did was call Emily to make sure she was ok. She was only a few minutes away from getting home. I then called the non-emergency police number, and they said they'd send a car to the house. The next most chilling moment of this whole ordeal came when the lady on the phone asked me if I was sure I was alone in the house. I'd been in all the rooms except the front bathroom and our guest house. I decided that I was going to wait for Emily in one place with the dog, and not touch anything else. I was never so glad to see Emily walk through that front door.
Eventually, the cop showed up, and he really put our minds at ease for the time being. He was even a little funny, and his professional way of talking to us and looking over the house made the whole situation much more frustrating, instead of scary. Unfortunately, our thief was wearing gloves, and he wasn't able to get any fingerprints off the door handles or the knife, which I had grabbed anyway. We took inventory, and here is a list of the damages:
Emily's iBook computer (including several thousand songs and pictures she had on it)
My Dell PDA
Our new digital camcorder (complete with all of our film from Tucson and the Inauguration)
My old camcorder (with a tape in it... I hope it wasn't my last Vandy tape)
Emily's makeup bag from the trip
Emily's jewelry bag from the trip (including the Tiffany necklace I got her)
My Xbox (but not the Wii, which was sitting right next to it)
Our Bose iPod docking station stereo from our wedding registry
Looking at the list, things could have been much worse. Emily was wearing her wedding/engagement ring at the time, which she hadn't been earlier this month because it had cracked. Annabelle, who had been locked in the bedroom, had successfully prevented anyone from entering that room. And most importantly, all three of us were safe. We'll miss all of those memories lost on the computer and the camera, but some of it is on this blog, so we haven't lost it all.
Anyway, as it stands now, nobody has been caught. It seems someone had tried to break into our neighbor's house two days prior to it all, so hopefully someone will get caught in the neighborhood soon... although the likelihood of getting our stuff back is pretty slim. Now we're just trying to move on. Unfortunately, while I love our house and neighborhood, I don't think I'll ever feel 100% safe here again. We'll just have to be careful and do the best we can to keep ourselves and our belongings safe... starting with letting The Munchkin loose in the entire house while we're gone. Our things may have a few more bite marks in them, but at least they'll still be in our possession to throw away. We'll let you know if anything ever comes from our case.
Anyway, I walked inside and let the dog out.... that's when I saw the knife. One of our carving knives was sitting on one of Annabelle's beds in the second bedroom/office/cave. I thought it seemed weird, but we had just gotten back from Shelley's wedding and hadn't unpacked yet, so things didn't really click yet. You can tell I'd had a rough day at work. Anyway, I walked out to the front of the house, and then I noticed our branch cutters sitting on another of Annabelle's beds... and the front door was wide open.
Seriously, chills went up my spine as I typed that, and I'm almost in tears again thinking about how I felt in that one moment. My mind instantly shot back to how my friend, Paul, had been killed. I grabbed the knife and went tearing back through the house screaming Emily's name. I almost passed out as I walked into the bedroom, almost expecting to see the worst. Thankfully, Emily was not home. I noticed the back window screen was missing and the window was slid open.
The first thing I did was call Emily to make sure she was ok. She was only a few minutes away from getting home. I then called the non-emergency police number, and they said they'd send a car to the house. The next most chilling moment of this whole ordeal came when the lady on the phone asked me if I was sure I was alone in the house. I'd been in all the rooms except the front bathroom and our guest house. I decided that I was going to wait for Emily in one place with the dog, and not touch anything else. I was never so glad to see Emily walk through that front door.
Eventually, the cop showed up, and he really put our minds at ease for the time being. He was even a little funny, and his professional way of talking to us and looking over the house made the whole situation much more frustrating, instead of scary. Unfortunately, our thief was wearing gloves, and he wasn't able to get any fingerprints off the door handles or the knife, which I had grabbed anyway. We took inventory, and here is a list of the damages:
Emily's iBook computer (including several thousand songs and pictures she had on it)
My Dell PDA
Our new digital camcorder (complete with all of our film from Tucson and the Inauguration)
My old camcorder (with a tape in it... I hope it wasn't my last Vandy tape)
Emily's makeup bag from the trip
Emily's jewelry bag from the trip (including the Tiffany necklace I got her)
My Xbox (but not the Wii, which was sitting right next to it)
Our Bose iPod docking station stereo from our wedding registry
Looking at the list, things could have been much worse. Emily was wearing her wedding/engagement ring at the time, which she hadn't been earlier this month because it had cracked. Annabelle, who had been locked in the bedroom, had successfully prevented anyone from entering that room. And most importantly, all three of us were safe. We'll miss all of those memories lost on the computer and the camera, but some of it is on this blog, so we haven't lost it all.
Anyway, as it stands now, nobody has been caught. It seems someone had tried to break into our neighbor's house two days prior to it all, so hopefully someone will get caught in the neighborhood soon... although the likelihood of getting our stuff back is pretty slim. Now we're just trying to move on. Unfortunately, while I love our house and neighborhood, I don't think I'll ever feel 100% safe here again. We'll just have to be careful and do the best we can to keep ourselves and our belongings safe... starting with letting The Munchkin loose in the entire house while we're gone. Our things may have a few more bite marks in them, but at least they'll still be in our possession to throw away. We'll let you know if anything ever comes from our case.
Highlights Spring/Early Summer 2009
Unfortunately I don't have photos to go with everything (see Break-In), but here is what we have been up to the past few months (some photos were snagged from others' albums...)!
Annual Resident/Attending Charity Basketball Game
In early March, Drew participated in the annual Pediatric Resident v. Attending basketball game. I wish I could say it turned out well, but unfortunately the residents just weren't that good. They tried to blame their out-of-shapeness on the long hours and lack of free time...excuses, excuses. One of the funniest moments of the evening was Drew's overthrown pass to a teammate followed by a very loud expletive (many families with children were in attendance). Even funnier than his foul language though was the look of shock on his face when he realized what he had done. The entire resident team was rolling on the floor in laughter. Classic Drew.
Attendings Green, Residents Orange
The Final Score Board
Drew after his first 5 minutes in the game...he was in ROUGH shape.
Matt and Kelly Visit Tucson
In the middle of March, we had the pleasure of hosting a couple friends from Nashville for a beautiful weekend in Tucson. Matt and Kelly came out west for a big conference for Kelly in Phoenix, and added a weekend in Tucson on to their trip. We did a great hike up to Seven Falls in Sabino Canyon, had a delicious dinner at a local Spanish restaurant that has live flamenco dancing every Saturday evening, and just enjoyed relaxing and hanging out.
Erik and Michelle's Wedding in Houston
At the end of March, I left Drew behind for a quick trip to Houston for a wedding. My good friend Erik (from my high school days) was marrying a wonderful woman, Michelle. They had a beautiful wedding and reception. The weekend was a great reunion of old friends from high school, and a chance to catch up with everyone about what has been going on.
The Bride and Groom
At the Reception: Me, Courtney, Elijah, and Robbie
Spring Break Comes to Tucson
Unfortunately, one of the downfalls to not teaching anymore is the lack of regularly scheduled breaks from work throughout the year. This year, though, this was remedied by a visit from my family! Spring-breakers Lucy and Jessie came down along with 2 of my aunts and uncles to see the great state of Arizona. They stayed at this awesome hotel down the street from our house, The Arizona Inn, and invited Drew and I to hang out by the pool with them. We love having visitors, and it was certainly a treat to have family in town!
Diane and Len's Wedding in Tucson
In mid-April, a co-worker of mine got married in a beautiful outdoor Tucson ceremony. It was a lot of fun to celebrate with her after helping her plan the wonderful occasion! Congrats to Diane and her new husband Len!
Emily's 10-Year High School Reunion
It is really hard to believe how quickly time goes, and also how much has happened in our lives. This May, I went back to Nashville for my 10-year high school reunion. That's right 10 YEARS! I can't believe that a decade ago, I was preparing to start college. Thinking back, I remember feeling so grown up and ready to be adult. I had no idea what was about to begin. Luckily, things have gone pretty well, and I am happy to say that I have made it a great place in my life. It was fun to see old classmates and catch up with good friends that have spread out across the country. My friends Cate and Sarah organized the whole weekend for our class and did a wonderful job getting a lot of our class to attend. The party was a lot of fun, but the best part of the trip back for me was having a week to be at home in Nashville hanging out with family and other friends. Here is a shot from a morning spent watching Cooper and Lily Catherine play while catching up with new mommies Ann and Cate. What fun to see my friends in such a wonderful role! (and their kids are pretty cute too (-: )
Cooper and Lily Catherine
Katie's Graduation from UGA (and Mary's)
Katie directing everyone somewhere (doesn't she just look so smart?!) She makes me proud to call her my little sister. I just can't believe she is so grown up!!
Dr. Mary Payne!! (5 years in the making)
New Bikes! :)
Drew and I have been saving up and planning to get bikes for ourselves for a long time. Tucson is an incredible bike-friendly city with great weather most of the year. Also, since both of us work within a few miles of home, we have a new mode of transportation! With some help from our parents (thanks Mom! thanks Sanders!), we were able to afford a great pair of hybrids for city riding (and light trail riding). Annabelle also loves the new bikes and Drew has taken her on a couple of rides/jogs around the neighborhood.
Shelley and Cason's Wedding in Tullahoma
A couple weeks ago, we headed back to Tennessee for Drew's sister Shelley's wedding. We had a great time being on the other side of the craziness this year and actually having a chance to hang out with family. I had a good time getting to know Drew's sisters a little more while we did brides-maidy things (and while Drew was off doing who knows what with the boys). Shelley and Cason's friends sure know how to party and the newlywed Roberson's can throw a great fiesta. Congratulations Shelley and Cason!!
The Bride and Groom
Me and Jenny enjoying some chamagne in our fabulous seer-sucker dresses :)
I just loved the flowers on the tables!! Gerberas in mason jars with lemon slices...so cute!!
Makin' the Big Bucks
Well bigger bucks than now, anyway...
As of September 1st, I will be completing my term as an AmeriCorps member, and moving on to new things...or not so new things. I have been offered a position at Make Way For Books, the organization where I am completing my term of service. As part of my term, I helped writed a grant for a large sum of money from a state tobacco tax initiative that funds early childhood programs. We found out two weeks ago that we had been approved to receive funding, which means that I will have a salary!!
My "new" position title is Preschool Program Coordinator. This means that I will be overseeing all of the programming that we do in preschools and childcare centers. Right now, this program includes establishing libraries at these centers to be used by the teachers and families, conducting professional development for teachers and teacher assistants in the area of early literacy, providing on-site consultation services for teachers in early literacy, coordinating our summer reading buddies program every year, and distributing new paperbacks at centers through RIF throughout the year. As part of the grant, we will be expanding these services across Southern Arizona and adding a bunch of new preschools!
I am excited to have found this organization and to have the chance to keep working for them! It is going to be a great fit for the next couple of years, as Drew finishes his residency.
As of September 1st, I will be completing my term as an AmeriCorps member, and moving on to new things...or not so new things. I have been offered a position at Make Way For Books, the organization where I am completing my term of service. As part of my term, I helped writed a grant for a large sum of money from a state tobacco tax initiative that funds early childhood programs. We found out two weeks ago that we had been approved to receive funding, which means that I will have a salary!!
My "new" position title is Preschool Program Coordinator. This means that I will be overseeing all of the programming that we do in preschools and childcare centers. Right now, this program includes establishing libraries at these centers to be used by the teachers and families, conducting professional development for teachers and teacher assistants in the area of early literacy, providing on-site consultation services for teachers in early literacy, coordinating our summer reading buddies program every year, and distributing new paperbacks at centers through RIF throughout the year. As part of the grant, we will be expanding these services across Southern Arizona and adding a bunch of new preschools!
I am excited to have found this organization and to have the chance to keep working for them! It is going to be a great fit for the next couple of years, as Drew finishes his residency.
Disney World Vacation Planning :-D
Drew's vacation is coming up (not soon enough) at the end of August/beginning of September. For the last part of it, we will be headed to New Tazewell, Tennessee for the wedding of my bestest, Miss Mary, I mean, Dr. Mary Payne. Before we get there though, we have a couple weeks to play with. So, we have decided to head to Disney World! Since we are both such kiddos at heart, and neither of us has been in a few years, we thought it would be the perfect way to spend our summer vacation. We have the plane tickets, and have plans to stop in and visit the Childress Family (and hopefully have them join us at the parks for a bit--they are the Disney experts). We just have to pick our hotel. We have them narrowed down to 2, and would love any thoughts or insights about which is preferred by veteran Disney travelers. Let us know your thoughts. We will be booking by the end of the week!
Option #1: Wilderness Lodge
Option #2: Animal Kingdom Lodge
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Slacker Sanders Posting Soon
Stay Tuned for...
Spring/Summer 2009: Visitor/Wedding Extravaganza
1 year wedding anniversary...We did it!!
Break-in at the Sanders
Emily's Promotion
A Disney Vacation!!
Spring/Summer 2009: Visitor/Wedding Extravaganza
1 year wedding anniversary...We did it!!
Break-in at the Sanders
Emily's Promotion
A Disney Vacation!!
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