Housing!

As mentioned in the previous entry, we are trying to sell our contract for College Park. But in the mean time, we have found housing in the Chicago area! I found it on the housing message board for the Podiatry school and contacted the poster right away.

Our new home has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a laundry room with washer & dryer, a dishwasher (YES!!!!!!!!!!), vaulted ceilings, a den/office area, a fireplace, a gas stove, and a garage. Basically way more than we even need, but we're getting it at a great price for the area. We were really blessed to find it. We will move in on August 1st. At any rate, here are pictures for all to enjoy.

Shafty Business

Last Monday, Devin found out some shafty news. Devin works at 2 part-time jobs on BYU campus: the Central Chemistry Stockroom and research. As BYU is on a hiring freeze, undergraduates can only keep their on campus jobs for 2 weeks after graduation. We already knew he would almost assuredly be losing his stockroom job, but we thought he would be able to keep his research job as it pays through a grant not through the University. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Devin will not have a job after May 7th.

Last Tuesday, I emailed my project manager to find out how long my temporary job was going to be lasting so that Devin and I could make our Summer plans. Turns out, I will more than likely be out of a job after May 7th as well.

So now we are trying to sell our contract for the beginning of May through August (with the option to renew in the Fall) and planning on getting a moving pod, storing our stuff for a couple of months, and staying with family. We will be in Utah at least through the first week of June, as we have a U2 concert to go to; but after that, who knows? Might got to Washington for a month then off to Reno for a family reunion. Hang out there for like 3 weeks or so, and then drive cross country to Chicago.

Brazilian Food

As many of you know, Devin served two years in Rio de Janiero, Brazil as a missionary for our Church. And as many of you know, Devin likes to cook (hooray for me for finding an awesome man who cooks). What many of you may not know is that Devin can, and likes to, cook Brazilian food. He actually made me Brazilian food for our first date. Unfortunately, he doesn't get to make Brazilian food very often. However, this week he made it two days in a row!

On Tuesday, Chris and Shaunna Burley came over for dinner. Devin and Chris have known each other basically since birth (a weird concept for someone like me who moved so much), and both of them served missions in Brazil. As a result, they like to use getting together as an excuse to have Brazilian food. Devin made Brazilian stroganoff (the dish he made for our first date). It's a tomato and cream based sauce that you put chicken into, then served over black beans and rice. Typically, it has potato chip strip type things but they are hard to find. At any rate, its' yummy!

Yesterday, we had Karly over for dinner and Devin made more Brazilian food! We had potatoes and ground beef. If it has another name, I don't know what it is. This is also served over rice and black beans (as is pretty much everything in Brazilian cuisine from what I can tell). Fortunately, I was quick enough to think to take a picture of it. So here it is! (Devin put hot sauce on his.)

Stick Shift

When Devin and I got married, I could not drive a stick shift. My dad tried to teach me clear back in 2004, but that was before I knew what to do with a car once it was in gear. Over the next couple of years, my dad took me out at least twice more, and Devin took me out a few times as well. For whatever reason(s), it didn't stick. Once I finally decided I had to learn (got sick of not being able to drive myself places) Devin took me to the big parking lot by the football stadium to practice. Several times while I had the car bucking, and people were laughing at me, I thought I would never be able to do it. Thankfully, I did learn. Since then I have seen a number of other girls practicing with their guy in the same parking lot and I smile to myself and think "You can do it."

Lame Sauce

Reading other people's blogs makes me feel like this is one of those times where I wish I had something cool to update the world on. But, unfortunately, I don't. We are not buying a house, we are not expecting a baby, we haven't had graduation, we haven't moved, no new jobs, no new car, no new gadgets, no new recipes, no new pizzas, no concert yet, nothing. My only excitement to report is ordering a new swimsuit, since my one of 7 years decided to finally give out, and some new headphones for work. Oh, and today, I discovered how awesome Pandora (the internet radio) is. However, fortunately, we will soon have things to write about.

St. Patrick's Day

So sad day. I kept reminding people days before St. Patrick's day to wear green, and the night before I even asked Devin to remind me. Alas, I was not reminded and I did not remember. Luckily, no one pinched me (except Devin jokingly).

In other news, my mom will soon be having a doctor's appointment to evaluate if she can have a knee replacement surgery next month (her left knee cap is split in 3 pieces and has been for about 13 years). Even though this prospect scares me, I know that she needs the surgery and it will be better for her afterward. So if anyone would like to, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers for the 26th of this month and the next.

Craft Project

I have a secret. I wish I was super crafty. In my attempts to enhance my craft skills, I decided to make a blanket for a friend. This is not too far out of my comfort zone because I made 14 fleece blankets for my friends my sophomore year of high school. However this time, I did something I had never done before; I tied together TWO pieces of fleece. I know, I know. Not that difficult. But it's a start and it was something I could do, do well, and not take forever to make. At any rate, I think it turned out well. Although, my thumb is still recovering from the numbness of cutting so many little strips in the fabric and it's been about 3 weeks...

Pizza and an Anniversary

Hello all! So lest you all forget about our awesome pizzas, we have made 2 new ones and taken pictures. First is Devin's version of a deep dish pizza. This was a little tricky as we don't have a deep dish pizza pan. Basically it has thicker crust, higher edges, and no sauce. Instead, it has diced canned tomatoes. Then we have our Chicken Cordon Bleu pizza. We substituted Canadian bacon for ham and did not use tomato sauce but something else instead. It was quite good. Last but not least, we have been blogging now for just over a year! Happy blog anniversary to us! Hope everything is going well for all of you!