YES!!

Engaged! Marshall proposed on Friday evening to top off a perfect day. So thrilled and excited to marry my very best friend!

Here is a rundown on the best. day. ever.

Marshall came up to Longmont with me on Wednesday. On Thursday he and my dad went out to coffee...alone. I had a sneaky suspicion I was the topic of conversation :-) But, I didn't think the proposal would come for several more weeks.

On Friday afternoon we headed up to Boulder. We walked around Pearl Street and drove around town looking at the places I spent my time in college. Next was a fabulous dinner at Dushanbe Tearoom, a Tajikistan restaurant/tearoom (Hanlons, we loved it!) I was still completely oblivious to an impending proposal. We drove back to Longmont for a Christmas Concert at my church. My dad ran up to me at the concert and grabbed my hand thinking that Marshall had already popped the question during the day. Marshall stood in the background worried that my dad was going to accidently blow his cover. Good news, I was completely oblivious to this until I was informed of it later. I didn't think the proposal was coming that day so my dad didn't throw me off at all.

Next, we drove around town looking at Christmas lights. We made our way to the neighborhood I grew up in and to the lake that I love. Marshall asked to get out of the car and walk around. Not far into our walk he said all kinds of sweet things and asked if I would marry him. I said YES!

I am so blessed and thankful for such an incredible man that I get the privilege of spending the rest of my life with. It has been a blast celebrating this engagement with my family and friends. God is so good.

Child Hunger, Seen At Midnight

Grocery shopping in Lubbock comes down to two options: Walmart and Market Street. I would always choose Market Street over Walmart (for a miriad of reasons far beyond just their free samples), but the prices at Market Street are really through the roof. Although, I would prefer never to shop at Walmart, it is kind of my only option here.

So on Sept. 15th I made my usual bi-monthly grocery shop hull. I walked into what felt like a zoo. Cash registers ringing; hustling people with carts full of diapers and white bread. Although I am used to busy Walmart's, that day it was truly mania. I accidently rammed my cart into fruit displays and clothing racks. After waiting in a lengthy line I made small talk with the cashier. I was curious if there was some kind of 'Walmart Blue Light Special' I was unaware of. She told me; "Don't shop here on the 1st or the 15th of any month, people just got their paychecks and their hustling for groceries."

That statement got me thinking. I have never lived paycheck to paycheck. I have never gone hungry. Yet, so often I forget how many Americans live in a state of daily rationing and day counting. I ran across the article below that I found especially intriguing. It discusses how busy Walmart's are at midnight every month when food stamp cards are activated with cash. Pretty sobering article. I have entirely too much to be thankful for, including daily bread.

Check out the Article Here

America's Foodiest Town

I loved eating at resturants in Boulder. There was a delicious and unique resturant for every culture in the world. Lately I keep telling people that Boulder is the best food place in the nation. I used Top Chef to back up my claim (two of the last Top Chef winners were from Boulder. coincidence? I think not), now I can back up my claim with Bon Appetit. Check out this article that declares Boulder as the Foodiest place in America:

America's Foodiest Town

Some of my personal favorites in Boulder are; Pasta Jays, Salt (a new place: totally fantastic with all locally grown flavors), Shepra's (a Himalayan restaurant), BJ's, and The Original Pancake House.

Cheesecake Experiment

I have never made cheesecake before. Although I have thought about making cheesecake before, I quickly learned that just doesn't cut it. I know Marshall likes cheesecake; so I thought it was only fitting to cook him up a gooey cheesebirthdaycake. I combined two recipes and made a somewhat substantial, yet completly fixable, mistake along the way (I will point it out so your don't end up with a tasty yet totally 'cement' crust).

Crust
12 ounces, weight Storebought Gingersnaps
½ cups Chopped Pecans
6 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 dash Salt

Filling
4 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each; room temperature
1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs; room temperature
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

You also need a springfoam pan. It is a fancy pan that makes the cheesecake pretty in the end; totally worth it.

To Make Crust
-You gotta crush those gingersnaps into tiny pieces. This step always produces my imminent 'KitchenAid envy'. Yep, whenever I have to mix, chop or blend I covet those people with brightly colored KitchenAids complete with random attachments (ie., a sauerkraut slicer. If only I were lying). But instead of wallowing in my elbow grease and pity; I got out a giant zipperlock bag and had an instant arm workout. I broke up all the little gingersnaps into itty bitty pieces.
-Chop up pecans in little pieces too.
-Dump brown sugar into the mix.
-Melt that butter and pour it in too; mix it all around.
-Line your springfoam pan with this sweet mixture; placing it up the sides too.

My Critical Error
Whatever you do, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT put caramel all over the crust. While it sounds delicious in thought; it may or may not almost break the teeth of your guests. One of my classic 'good intentions & bad delivery' moments. But DO put caramel on top of the finished product. Superb.

To Make Filling
In a bowl, combine the sugar and cream cheese and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream and vanilla and mix until smooth. Take a taste and dump it into the crust. Smooth out the top.

Put it into a 350 degree oven for no less than 1 hour, 15 minutes.

Let it cool for 30 minutes; then do something creative for the topping. I poured on half a jar of Smucker's caramel sauce. You could chop up candy bars or sprinkle on some more pecans. Totally up to you. Enjoy!

One of My Favorite Questions:

Last year my Sunday school teacher asked me a question I found extremely intriguing. It was:

"Would you be mad if someone spit in your face?"

I didn't even need to process such an inquiry; I immediately stated, "of course I would be."

His reply; "No, you would be wet. You decide if you will be mad."

Ahhh....onset immediate conviction. Such a true statement about the power of my reactions to whatever is going on around me. I have a choice to be mad, irritated, or simply wet. I ponder this question frequently when I consider my man-made and seemingly silly entitlements that I create all around me.


Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

A Healthy Dose of Distraction

Turns out being back to school substantially increases my internet usage. Occasionally during Income Taxation and Immigration Law I find myself browsing fabulous websites in an effort to stay awake. Here is a compilation of some of my faves of this semester: (Just click on the word and it will send you to the link: just figured out hypertext; cool, I know)

FOR FOOD

FoodGawker

My Favorite Food Blogger

The Pioneer Woman

Paula Deen

The Food Network


FOR INSPIRATION


CraftGawker

Craft Ideas

Online Art Gallery

The Travel Channel

Design & Decor


FOR ABSURDITY


Awkward Family Photos

People of Walmart


FOR WHEN THEY ARE WINNING (call me fair-weathered)


The Colorado Rockies

University of Colorado- Buffs

Goodbye Summer, Hello 2L

Back in the LBK, preparing for my second year of law school. It is good to be back after a wonderful summer. Worked as an intern in the statewide Public Defender's office. So much great experience and exposure to the legal system. Also, the office was full of brilliant attorneys; so I just tried to glean some of their knowledge. The three months flew by because it was full with 9 weddings, bar-b-ques, family time, an LBK vacay, the great outdoors, crafting, and cooking. So good.

Here are just a few pics to summarize a very full summer: (I forgot to take a lot of pics, so this is a very limited summary)



Denver Museum Garden

B& P Wedding!

Heading to Marqui's wedding

Narnia (aka Grizzly Lake hike near Glenwood)

Delicious Zucchini is not an Oxymoron.

Too much zucchini in the garden. Seriously, it happens to appear in every consumable dish. I don't even really like the stuff. So I found a recipe to makes a seemingly low-tiered veggie really fantastic.

What You Need
1-2 zucchini's
2 egg whites
Bread Crumbs (I added all kinds of spices when I chopped the bread; dried onion, garlic salt, oregano)
Parmesan (optional)

What to Do
Preheat to 400. Chop zucchini into spears. Dip spears into egg whites. Roll spears in bread crumbs. Sprinkle some parmesan on top. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Sauce
These spears are delicious in a marinara sauce. I opened a can of tomato sauce, put in on low on the stove. Add in chopped onion, garlic, basil, and whatever spices spark your fancy. Let it simmer for a couple minute.

How to Eat
Eat right out of the oven, dip in sauce. Watch your whole mindset about this neglected veggie change.

Entirely Too Many Sour Cherries= Almond Cherry Crumble.

My mother has a fascination with farming/gardening. The older I get the more I do too. So when a farmer said he had too many sour cherries that needed picking, my mom jumped on the opportunity to glean. Now sour cherries are pouring out of our fridge. Sadly, plain ol' sour cherries are simply too sour for human consumption (in my opinion at least). So naturally I scanned all kinds of dessert recipes and mixed a couple ideas to formulate a sweet concoction.

However, it turns out cherries from a farm are full of pits (shocking, right?). So I got all Colonial and pit them myself. 45 minutes later I decided I qausi-love the Industrial Revolution and every kind of crop machinery in the world.


What You Need
Filling
4 cups of sour cherries
3/4 cups of sugar (if you have sweet cherry's cut this sugar amount in half)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cornstarch
Topping
1 cup flour
1/2cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup chilled butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp milk
3/4 tsp almond extract

What To Do
-Preheat that oven to 350
-In mixing bowl combine sour cherries, sugar, and cornstarch. Gently stir until cornstarch and sugar dissolve. Pour cherry mix into a 8X8 baking pan.
-In seperate bowl combine flour, sugar, and almonds. Cut butter in cubes and put in the mix. Should be all loose and crumbly.
-Add in milk and almond extract. Stir it all up.
-Toss crumbles all over the top of the mix. Spread it out so it covers all of the cherries. Some small holes are fine.
-Bake for 40-45 minutes. Cherries should be all bubbly and crust should be almost golden. Let cool. Enjoy!

My dad's new book. All kinds of awesome.

The picture above is the author's copy of my dad's new book! The book is due out in August. I have already started reading through it this morning and I love it so far. He discusses the religiously pluralistic culture that Jesus lived in & the many ways it resembles the culture we live in today. Then he points out the different ways Jesus loved, interacted with, and taught people from all different backgrounds and religious viewpoints. All throughout he examines our modern culture and the way that Jesus would interact with each one of us. He challenges us to love and interact with people in real and unique ways. So far super practical and incredibly enlightening.

My dad just so happens to live it. He loves people in ways that are unique to their values and background. He talks about deer & elk with the hunters (even though he has only shot one deer ever, and it was in the leg). He performs weddings and funerals (at no cost) for people that have never stepped into a church. He spends time with the Boy Scout dad's, the talented & gifted, the societal "odd-balls", the socially awkward, the CEO's, the churched, the unchurched. He listens really well; so well that it is hard to get him to leave any get-together. He asks excellent questions that get to the core. He is genuinely intrigued by every single person that he encounters. And he knows how to love people well. I am an incredibly lucky lady to have such a father.