Summer Reading List

Now that I'm graduated, I can finally read for pleasure.  This summer I am reading the following books:

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Let it Rot by Stu Campbell
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
Eat what you Love, Love what you Eat by Michelle May

Run Like a Girl: How Strong Women Make Happy Lives by Mina Samuels

Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health by Gene Stone


Some of these I started a while ago and just didn't have the time to finish them.  Yesterday I finished the first two books on this list.  I was relieved to be done with Pollan's book.  I don't much care for his writing style and I have this sense that I wouldn't like him in person for any length of time.  With that said, he did raise a few questions for me.
The second book on the list I borrowed from my neighbor the day I put my composter in the backyard.  This was a basic guide to composting and I think I learned a lot of valuable information.  It was a short and easy read.  
I am about halfway through both Eating Animals and the Michelle May self-improvement guide.  I think I will take the rest of these on my Alaska and Peru trips when I have time that needs filling.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay! I got the internship!! Yes!!! :D
I am so happy and relieved.
I will start in August and the program lasts 11 months.

In other news, Max and I bought plane tickets to go to Peru this summer. I am super excited to travel again.  I will definitely post when we return!

Futuriffic?

2 days until I find out if I get matched to a Dietetic Internship.  I'm stressed and excited, nervous and jittery.  If I get matched, then I can relax and ride the future plans.  If I don't get matched, I have to come up with an alternate course which will probably involve searching for a job--ugh.

On another note, I plan on beginning my vegetable garden soon--watch out gardening blog!

Stay tuned in...

Beef and ? Stew

Tonight is hearty beef stew night!

After Max got home, we went into the kitchen to get started.  I chopped the root vegetables while he seared the stew meat in the dutch oven.  After the meat was done, we added the vegetables to the pot--mmm!  The smells filled the room.  Max measured out the red wine and beef broth, I added them to the pot.  Now only 1 hour and 20 minutes until a yummy Fall dinner!

and then......

Max said, "what's this?" showing me the liquid measuring cup that had held the beef broth only moments ago.  What are the small round, pink spots you might ask?  Probably gram-negative bacteria anxiously awaiting intestinal infiltration! Ugh!!  There goes the entire pot of stew.  We order Chinese and life goes on.

How long was that beef broth in the fridge anyway? :(

The House is Now Warm!!!!

This past weekend was our Housewarming Party. Everything went really well!

Friday:

My uncle Pat, aunt Dawn, Jacque and Shaun, cousin Christine, and Amara, Rocky and Adelyn arrived. We spent much of the day running errands and getting ready for the party the next day--beer! cheese! The girls and guys split off and went on different errands. The girls (Christine, Jacque, Amara, Adelyn and me) went to Costco to pick up some of the bulk items for the party. The boys (Max, Rocky, Shaun, and Pat) picked up some award-winning cheese from the Dairy Store and some beer for the party. We ate pizzas and salad for dinner. It was really great to hang out with everyone. :)

Saturday:

We started the day with homemade waffles at our place. (Shaun: You're welcome; Jacque: you're such a lush) Then a few of us took a trip to the Farmer's Market on the Square. Jacque and I left early to go back to the house to start cooking . The menu: pulled pork sandwiches, Caribbean jerk chicken legs, fruit skewers, potato salad, deviled eggs, stuffed tomatoes, and peach cake.

The party people trickled in and soon we had over 30 people in our house (Good thing no one minded standing). I would say we had a successful first meeting of our families! We had plenty of food and conversation for everyone.

We finished the night by opening a few housewarming gifts (Thank you everyone!).

Sunday:

My mom, dad, sisters, aunt, uncle, jacque, shaun, etc... went out to brunch at the Great Dane. Really good food. Then we retired to the house where some of Max's family joined us (dad, brothers). Most everyone left us by the mid-afternoon. My uncle Pat stayed to hang out with us and we went to dinner at an Irish pub in town. They had live traditional music and we enjoyed ourselves for a bit. We drove my uncle to Milwaukee then came home and went to bed.

Phew! What a weekend!

Dear Smoke Alarm,

Don't take this the wrong way but you are overly sensitive! I feel like you go off at the slightest thing. Last night I really thought that you and your upstairs buddy were being a bit dramatic. There really wasn't any smoke. Your constant screaming made dinner the opposite of relaxing. I know you were just picking up on the smell of the string I used to tie up the chicken. It was really not a big deal. Maybe next time you will think of this and try to be a little more tolerant.

Thank you,

Andrea

So close to home!

We close one week from today.

We move into the house in 11 days.

I am so excited I can hardly sit still!!!! We are having a housewarming party for family and close friends in June. We will probably have another party for locals later too. :)

WEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!