A Family Weekend: Enjoying Hidden KC Gems

You may remember that these two cuties got married in June:

Bro-in-law and seester!!!

Even better than getting married, they CAME TO VISIT US!!! (Okay, so that probably wasn't better than getting married. Not better at all. But still pretty awesome to have your little sister and NEW hubs visit for the weekend!)

While they were here, we discovered a few hidden gems in KC that we'd never experienced before!

The Orchid Cave
This is literally what it is. A man owns an orchid shop, in a cave. It's pretty freaking awesome. I took a billion pictures, but just so you can get the effect, here's a collage:

Yes, there seriously were that many orchids. Here's the $1000 one. Not kidding.

Christopher Elbow Chocolate on Friday Fridays
So, if you're not from KC, Christopher Elbow Chocolates don't mean anything to you...but they're awesome. And expensive. Christopher Elbow creates artisan chocolates right here in KC. And they're expensive, did I mention that? $1.75 for one piece of chocolate. BUT. On First Fridays, chocolates are $1 each! You can bet that we spoiled ourselves with a few. (And you can bet that it's on my calendar and in the budget until infinity to continue spoiling myself each month.)

Me with our chocolates. Pretty excited.

Close-up of these "works of art"...guess I could have taken them out of the bag for a better picture...but whatever.

Tasty Thai Friday Night Seafood Special
Kay and Luke wanted to try some type of food they'd never had before, so Thai it was! We have a great little hole-in-the-wall Thai place 5mins from our apartment that we've enjoyed, so we went there...only to learn that they have a Friday night special of no $5 up-charge for seafood...what?! That was pretty fantastic. And delicious. If you haven't tried Tasty Thai, go immediately.

City Market
While we've definitely already enjoyed this time and again in KC, we're sure to always bring our visitors here b/c it's really something to see. Kay and Luke got a great haul for $12!

West Bottoms Antiquing 
How I haven't enjoyed this until now is beyond me. Kay and I went for 3hrs and then we only stopped b/c our bodies said no more! We went in store after store and floor after floor that were jam-packed and filled to the rafters with antiques. We were so enthralled we didn't take any pictures. It was pretty awesome though. If you're into antiques, this is the place to be. This is also on my calendar until kingdom come.

Swope Park Frisbee Golfing 
While us girls enjoyed antiques, the men headed over to Swope Park for some excellent frisbee golfing, or so we were told. Then they also enjoyed bbq, which is a must if you're in KC.

All too quickly it was Sunday morning and Kay and Luke had to head back to SF for their jobs. We loooooved having them and are SO SAD that they're moving to Rapid City...which makes them 12hrs away from us now. They'll be moving again in December/January after Luke graduates and gets a job. We've been letting them know that there's lots of positions for mechanical engineers here, so if you all could do the same, that'd be great. There's nothing I'd like more than having my sis in the same city as me!

Mini KC-Area Winery/Brewery Tour

Since my boss decided to give us the day after the 4th off (woohoo!), Jordan and I decided to spend it doing our own little winery/brewery tour. Here's our route:

A - we spent the night at aunt Kathy's and uncle Pat's on base in Fort Leavenworth.
Thanks for the delicious food, letting us spend the night, and for entertaining my husband with Empire Builder, Dominion,  and Power Plant. We had a wonderful mini-vacation with you guys!

B - High Noon Saloon and Brewery
Jordan enjoyed a 6-sample flight here for $7.50:

• Oregon Trail Raspberry Wheat (for me, which I actually thought was okay...given that I don't like beer)
• Stampede Stout
• Black Gold Lager
• Lewis & Clark Light Gold
• Rough Rider Pale Ale
• Deorganizer IPA

He said he's gotten snooty about beer, and wasn't all that impressed with any of these. He thought the flavor was off in all of them. 

C - Riverwood Winery (and a surprise scotch tasting!)
When we drove up to this winery, I said to Jordan, "It looks like a schoolhouse!" and, sure enough, their website tells us, "Riverwood Winery's Tasting Room and Giftshop is based in a 1950's era renovated school building located along the east bank of the Missouri River." I did the Try 3 for Free, and Jordan did the full $5 tasting. 

They had nice options for red, white and port-style wines, and we enjoyed them all. I also noticed that they had options for olive plates, bread and cheese plates and a few other varieties ($15 each), in case you wanted to purchase a bottle of wine and enjoy a plate of munchies with it in their outdoor or indoor seating area. A nice touch. 

As we were sampling our wines, I noticed the chalkboard behind Jordan listed SCOTCH TASTING. With a hubby who loves scotch, I knew he'd enjoy it. Sure enough, when I suggested it his eyes lit up like it was Christmas. Here he is with his $9 Scotch Tasting: 

1. Triple Distilled Auchentoshan Three Wood - he thought this was really excellent. 
2. Aberlour 16 Year - Having tried the Aberlour 10 Year before, he can vouch that this one is even better.
3. Bruichladdich Rocks - I tried a little sample of this and dubbed it "Earth on Fire". 

If you're into Scotch, this is a great option. For $9, the pours were very generous! 

D - Weston Brewing Company / Pirtle Winery
We've been to both Weston Brewing Company and Pirtle Winery before, but if you're doing this same wine tour, these are both right on the way. Jordan loves Weston brews and Pirtle has some delicious, unique Mead (honey) wines that other wineries in this area don't have.

We did stop at Weston Brewing to pick up four 6-packs for $20 though (a great deal!). Jordan also got to sample their new IPA: Jack the RIPA. He said it was fantastic and is hoping they'll decide to bottle that soon.

E - Jowler Creek Winery
I'm almost ashamed to admit that we almost didn't stop here! They do fantastic marketing, which lead me to believe that they must be bigger than they actually are. We were expecting expensive wine tasting (due to the $15 groupon I'd seen) and high prices. We were VERY wrong. This is a husband- and wife-owned winery and it sits right next to their home. They both "retired" from the ag communications industry in KC last year, which explains why their marketing is so great!

We got to try all their wines for free, and with the exception of the two drier red wines (which Jordan loved), I really liked them all! (which doesn't happen very often) We basically did an "eeny, meeny, miny, moe"to choose which one we wanted to buy and ended up with Butterfly Blush. Jordan also decided to splurge and get their port-style wine, aptly named "Nort".

I was impressed with their label - a fun, sketched animal adorns each bottle and is also sometimes reflected in the name. Like their delicious Muskrato de Missouri, which is reminiscent of my favorite Moscato d'Asti.

F - Ladoga Ridge Winery
The final stop on our tour was at Ladoga Ridge Winery. This is a little larger operation and they have a very nice, welcoming tasting room with warm bread ($2) and plates of cheese and meat ($6) to purchase to enjoy out on their patio that overlooks their grape vines or at one of the seating areas inside. They also have $5 glasses of wine slushies available. We had a sample of that and it was so, so good.

We each did the Try 5 for Free, which meant (with sharing) we were able to try all of their wines. Being from South Dakota, we've sampled our share of Strawberry Rhubarb wine, and weren't expecting to be wowed by Ladoga's. We stand corrected! Their Strawberry Rhubarb was strong and fiesty, a nice change from the softer, lighter Strawberry Rhubarb wine we've experienced in the Dakotas! 

G - Finally home after a 6-hour tour!
Our take-home wine!

Ladoga's Blackberry Wine, a sweet, fruit table wine - $11.95

Jowler's Nort, described on their website as, "This one-of-a-kind dessert style blend of Norton grapes will keep you warm and toasty as you curl up by the fire in your cave on a cool fall night or mid-winter day. Scents of blackberries, plums, and chocolate will fill your nose. It begs to be sipped with chocolate desserts, nuts, or cheese with a little bite." - $15 (guessing, we seemed to have lost that receipt)

Jowler's Butterfly Blush, described on their website as, "This premium rosé is bursting with bold, fruit flavor and finishes with a flutter of sweetness. Sit back, relax and enjoy it today with baby Swiss cheese, barbequed or roasted chicken, or a lighter dessert like angel food cake." - $13

What's your favorite local winery/brewery? We really enjoy visiting wineries/breweries and would love to have suggestions! (We're not just looking for MO wines...we also love traveling!)

Kansas City Girls' Weekend

My mother-in-law came to visit this weekend, and, despite having known my husband for (almost) half my life...this day and a half was the most time I'd ever spent with her! Guess I just like spending time with her son too much!

Jordan's midterm is tomorrow, so he basically spent the weekend studying (with the exception of a couple meals), which meant lots of time for girl activities!

Friday evening, we went to Gram and Dun for Lisa's birthday dinner. This GastoPub (neither-a-restaurant-or-bar, they told us) is holy-smokes amazing. First, we shared the French Onion Dumplings (Gruyère cheese, sweet onion broth & brioche croutons $9) - six to a plate, wonderful little bites of deliciousness. For an entree, I had the Loaded Baked Potato Gnocchi (house-smoked bacon, cheddar curds, sour cream, chive $17) and it was comfort-food-to-die-for. So delicious. Lisa enjoyed the Blackened Shrimp & Grits (served with jalapeño avocado gravy $19 - super spicy) and halfway through the meal, Jordan traded meals with her and she had the rest of his Cioppino (mussels, shrimp, scallops, tomato, white wine, roasted garlic, served with grilled bread $23). As you can see from the prices, this isn't your everyday restaurant choice. It's fantastic for a special evening or with out-of-town guests. I'm putting this on my visit-again list.

Saturday morning we definitely had to visit City Market. It was a bit of a drizzly morning, so the crowds weren't bad at all. For $7, I snagged a 5lb bag of potatoes, 1 pineapple, 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 1 cup chili powder, 1 cup cayenne powder (the spice scoops are huge, people!), 1lb blueberries. A great deal. Lisa got quite a few things, too, and couldn't get over the ultra-affordable prices. I hadn't been in a few months, and remembered why: when I go, I want to buy everything. I really do. It's pseudo-chef's dream (and probably real chefs, too). I also had to hold back from buying the adorable, pre-planted flower arrangements. I thought it would look perfect on the deck. And herbs. And succulents. And more flowers. And then I had to leave to protect my bank account.

After a quick sandwich lunch at the apartment, we headed out to Belvoir Winery. Set in the Odd Fellows Historic District, it was like driving up to an old plantation ... it made me think of Gone With the Wind, but I'm sure the imagery isn't right at all. The grounds were beautiful, and with the little gazebo set up with white chairs all around, I could just imagine spring and summer weddings happening outside. Lisa and I have similar tastes in wine: we love anything sweet. We enjoyed our wine tasting, and Lisa bought the two dessert wines ($13/bottle): 

• Lucky Pierre - Sweet red dessert wine.  Concord is the base grape used for the blend, also a blend of raspberries and cranberries.
• Sorelle Dolci - Sweet white dessert wine.  Symphony and Cayuga grapes are used for this delicious blend.

We finished out our day at The Elms Spa. Every spa service comes with free access to the Grotto (normally $55/person!), which is a steal when you get a $30 basic manicure (like me!) or a $40 basic pedicure (like Lisa!). We arrived 2.5hrs early for our appointments to enjoy the Grotto. Upon arrival, you're given a plush robe and directed to the women's locker room area. After donning your swimsuit, you're led to the Grotto. The room was smaller than I imaged it would be, and I was worried we'd be bored with 2.5hrs to "kill" - I was mistaken though. It was wonderful to lounge, sit in the hot tub, cool down in the Cold Plunge Shower, then make our way to the Steam Shower to use our sea salt exfoliation. Then it was back to the Cold Plunge Shower (they told us to be sure to keep ourselves cooled down between use of the heated stations) and then into the Steam Sauna or the Dry Sauna. While lounging, there was also a large bowl of damp, peppermint-scented washcloths covered with ice.  Just drape over your face, lounge, and drift off for a nap. This is a perfect girls' escape (or a romantic date!), and I'm thinking it would be fun to get a small group together and go for the afternoon. 

Saturday night, we tried a Marty's bbq - a new bbq place within 5mins of our apartment. Jordan was hoping to find a gem in the city, but the food was nothing special (in fact, the meat was pretty tough and everything else was just ordinary). We wouldn't recommend it. (And the website made the advertiser in me cringe.)

It was a lovely, relaxing weekend. (Lisa and I even squeezed in time for some successful shoe shopping!) 

What are your Girls' Night/Weekend recommendations?

Making Time for Friends

A few weeks ago, I was sharing with one of my med student wife friends how, first semester, I felt like I had a lot of friends that were fellow med student wives, but that now I didn't really feel like I was friends with many of them at all - I hadn't seen anyone, I hadn't heard from anyone, etc etc. God has given her the gift of tact, and she lovingly questioned if I had made an effort to see anyone. Hm. Good point. I had, 2 times....in about so many months. Not exactly a great track record. And, I'm one of those type A introverts that likes a routine, and likes to plan in advance, and doesn't mind going home in the evenings and on the weekends and having time to myself...and it won't bother me for months that I haven't really seen anyone, and then suddenly something will trigger a harsh light that shines on my reclusive relationship tendencies...and being a recluse never looks pretty in harsh light.

So. I made an effort.

And, lo and behold, I HAVE FRIENDS.

(I know. What a shocker.)

Here's what I've been up to in the past week:

Weston, MO
Jordan and I visited Weston the weekend after his GI final with 2 other couples. We had a great time poking around the shops, having $0.25 shots (limit 2) at the McCormick Distillery Country Store, sampling fondue and chocolate (from the same company that does Scentsy), sampling scotch at the Irish store (that was hubby, not me), dining at O'Malley's Pub, and playing up and down the river (a card game) in the underground pub. An all around good evening.

LuLu's Thai Noodles
I enjoyed the Yellow Curry lunch special with a med student wife this past week. This restaurant is now directly out the back door of my office, and their lunch special is $8 - a great deal (when it comes to going out for lunch, at any rate!). We had a great time catching up and made plans to get together again in May.

KCKS
I've talked about Emily, Rachel and Jenny before - we try to get together every other Monday, just to be intentional with our friendship. It's always refreshing to see these girls, and now half of us are pregnant! (I'm not in the pregnant half, fyi. Don't spread that rumor around.) It's fun to celebrate with each other and be honest with each other about our lives. So thankful for these girls.

Cosentino's Market
Another friend and I made plans to meet up and use a groupon that was expiring soon for The Drunken Fish, but when we were told the wait was 3hrs, we walked around and decided to get a hummus tray from Cosentino's Market. This is the grocery store for the people that live downtown...and it's priced like you can afford to live downtown. We had a great time discussing frugality and our frugal habits...it's nice to know that there are others out there as crazy as me!

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
I joined a friend for spaghetti and movie night at her apartment and we watched the cutest movie. I'm not going to spoil any of it because you really should go watch it yourself. It was darling. And worth seeing.

Swagger
Jordan and I split a groupon with another couple and checked this place out last night - it had to be good: it was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. The groupon included 2 appetizers, 4 drinks, and 4 entrees. Bring on the grease. Beer-battered onion rings, loaded baked potato fries, deep-friend burgers (for the hubs, not me), a mound of fries with your burger...so delicious. (And so unhealthy.) Another great evening out with friends.

The Croods
I am a sucker for animated movies. So when another med student wife suggested we go to a movie, and that this would be her 3-yr-old's first movie, we naturally had to pick the only kids' movie in theaters. It was very cute, and I'm still amazed at how far animated movies have come just in my lifetime. It's pretty impressive. Afterwards, we went over to Zona Rosa for ColdStone Ice Cream. That place will also be fantastic to me...mostly from working there all through college. Great ice cream.

Yogurtini
Tonight, while Jordan grabs coffee with our biblestudy leader, I'm meeting up with the biblestudy leader's wife for frozen yogurt! She's a wonderful woman, and I'm certainly thankful for friendships outside of the med student wife circle.

It's been a busy week full of the blessing of friendship. And I'm so very thankful for that.

I think this introvert has her friendship tank filled to the brim - and that's not a bad thing.

How do you stay intentional with your friendships?

KC Restaurant Week!

I'm going to try a different format ("theme" posts) and see if I like that better than my weekly recaps. Could just be a mood I'm in...we'll see.

We ate an embarrassing amount of delicious food this week. I'm [trying to...] justify it by telling myself it was Kansas City's Restaurant Week and that we normally wouldn't eat out three times in one week. And, normally, we wouldn't. So maybe that's okay? Either way. It was delicious. And for a good cause - 10% of sales went to support Harvesters - The Community Food Network, to fight hunger in the Kansas City Area. (Yes, it does seem slightly wrong to me that to "fight hunger" we're going out and eating at delicious restaurants....)

Lidia's
This is a fantastic little Italian restaurant about 2 blocks from where I work. On Friday afternoon, I went with the 4 other ladies I work with to lunch. For Restaurant Week, there is a set lunch menu for $15/person. You can choose one appetizer (soup of the day, caesar salad, or arancine lobster [risotto balls with lobster cream and lobster) - the girls got the salad and I got the arancine lobster, which were yum. For our main dish, we each did Lidia's Pasta Trio Tasting Menu - all you can eat pasta that they serve tableside. On Friday, the 3 kinds were meat-filled ravioli, rigatoni with marinara and fresh basil, and angel hair pasta with shrimp, broccoli and pesto. Delicious. Dessert was lemon cheesecake with a slice of blood orange. Lunch also came with a bread basket with 3 spreads: pesto hummus, black olive hummus, and roasted red pepper hummus.

Jordan and I went today for brunch. This time, the bread basket was sweet breads and came with 3 types of butter: orange, strawberry and cinnamon-sugar. We each ordered the caesar salad and Jordan enjoyed the Tasting Trio (today's was cheese-filled ravioli in a parmesan-peppercorn sauce, fettuccine with shrimp, broccoli and pesto, and rigatoni with a meat sauce) and I ordered the Scampi alla Felidia (Creamy Lemon-Garlic Shrimp with Roasted Spaghetti Squash and Pinenuts), which was soooo delicious. We took our cheesecake to go.

Cool decor/wine racks at Lidia's.

Huge, amazing blown-glass chandeliers. 

Hubby enjoying his Tasting Trio.

Scampi alla Felidia. Yum.

Bristol Seafood Grill
We splurged here. Three-course Restaurant Week dinner in Power & Light District downtown. We parked a few blocks away (I think it's ridiculous to pay for parking when you can just park a little further away and walk. God gave me legs for a reason.) and walked to the restaurant. We didn't have reservations, so they told us the wait was an hour and a half BUT if we watched for the tall tables to be empty, they are first-come, first-serve...so Jordan watched them like a hawk (or maybe that was me) and when one opened he jumped up and snagged it for us. We only waited about 10 minutes. Go hubby.

For our first course, Jordan enjoyed a delicious Spinach and Watercress Salad (roasted beets, poached pears, candied walnuts, gorgonzola, walnut vinaigrette) and I had the lobster bisque. I have a hard time saying no to lobster bisque, despite the fact that it was probably a billion calories all on its own. It was certainly delicious. For our main dish, we both got the Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes. And they were really jumbo - 2 cakes and probably 1/4-1/3 cup each. They were served with creole remoulade, mango tartar sauce, whipped yukon gold potatoes and grilled asparagus. So rich. For dessert, I had the Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee and Jordan had the Chocolate Lava Cake with hazelnut ice cream. As dad would say, we were "fat and sassy" by the end of the meal. Good thing we had a few blocks to walk back to the car.

We're already looking forward to next year's restaurant week...but I'm sure we'll be trying lots of new restaurants before that comes around again. If you've been following my blog for any amount of time, you've probably noticed that we love trying new types of food and new restaurants!

The Daily Grind

Well, life is definitely back to "normal" in the Larson household. Classes have started up again for Jordan, so it's been late nights and lots of studying for him. His CP2 (cardiopulmonary) midterm is next week Monday. He's also been spending time in the lab, working on Parkinson's research. (That's about all I know about that, so if you want more info, that's a question you'd have to ask the hubs!)

Like most all of you, work started back up on the 2nd for me and I'm still making the hour drive each way to work at the client's office on Wednesday. I've even managed to prioritize some time for the gym; my "excuse" since moving here: it was a heck of a lot easier when my commute was only 10-15mins, I got off work at 5pm, and employee benefits included a membership to a gym with complimentary fitness classes (love/miss the Avera Fitness Center!). At any rate, I was pretty sore last week, so I guess that meant I did something right.

We did manage to do a few fun things:

I ate Chick-fil-A  for the first time. I can't remember which sandwich I ate, but I know it was chicken. (har har) People always say it's outstanding; I thought it was alright, but maybe that's b/c I don't eat much fast food (aka, next to never), so I didn't have anything to compare it to. Either way, here's a pic commemorating my experience:

"Eat Mor Chikin"

Game Night. No, not board game night, like you might expect. Our friends Zach and Kody (okay, just Zach, his wife just indulges him) love football, so we went over to their apartment one evening for a bit of football-watching.

Date Night. You guessed it. Another Groupon night. We also went to Crossroads Art District First Fridays, which is FREE. You all know how much I like free. We got to wander through 5-10 different artist galleries and see their work. Some of them were amazing - like the guy that had super-intricate pencil drawings of landscapes like Chicago and KC and New York...and included the hours he spent on them, 20+, 30+, 40+...pretty cool.

These are not the pencil sketches...these were like...engravings.
Jordan loved them.

Trivia Night. We joined Steve and Allison for The Flying Saucer's Trivia Night again. We didn't win like the last time, but we did enjoy chips and cheesy salsa and some beers. I even found one I like! I think it was the St. Louis Framboise...but I can't remember for sure. Whatever it was, it was sweet and deliciously non-beer-like. My one claim to fame at this trivia night (I'm not very good at trivia...you probably don't want me on your team) was that I knew what book this opening line was from: "When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen." (Answer posted at the bottom of this blog post.)

Heroes. I'm ashamed to admit it, b/c this normally happens to Jordan and not to me...I'm hooked on a TV show. Any Heroes watchers out there? I know, I'm about 6 years behind. I'm almost done with the first season, which means I'm watching far too much of it. Little did I know, but I'm a sci-fi lover. Must have been all that Star Wars growing up. 

Pampered Chef. I went to a free PC training that the PC Home Office was putting on for Kansas City consultants. My business hasn't exactly been "rocking" since I moved out here, which is pretty much my fault (since I'm the only one that can get myself business, haha). I've had a difficult time finding contacts, and the people I do know don't want to do shows. I keep trying, though. My biggest take-away was this quote, "If you get overwhelmed and do nothing, you'll fail." - Alison Levine (the 1st woman to climb Mt. Everest). 

Domesticated. I've had a productive "homemaker" weekend of multiple loads of laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, washing the kitchen floor, cooking spaghetti and getting a roast w/ veggies in the crockpot for meals this week, doing lots of dishes, and making a "big" grocery run (including my fave: lots and lots of veggies...carrots, onions, potatoes, celery, zucchini, yellow squash, buttercup squash, garlic, green pepper, red pepper...I may have gotten carried away). 

That about does it for us. We've got another busy week coming up, especially with Jordan's midterm happening on the 21st. We miss you all and hope your life is filled with blessings and that you're blessing others!

***Trivia Answer: The Secret Garden. Thanks, mom, for all the Feature Films for Families we watched growing up!

32 Degrees Is Warmer in MO Than in SD

Not kidding. I've said that multiple times this week. 32 (or 35 or whatever) is warmer in MO than SD. I don't know why. Windchill, I guess. But even yesterday, at 35 degrees, I was outside without my coat on. Weird.

I'm packing all sorts of activities in before our 10-day Christmas holiday in South Dakota. We're getting pretty darn excited.

Girls' Night
As always, I had another fun evening with Rachel, Emily and Jenny. And, as always, super thankful for these girls and their friendship. This time, Rachel got the materials for a cute Pinterest craft - my first one ever!

Affordable Christmas
Our church puts on a fabulous Affordable Christmas for families in the church's neighborhood. I spent one evening this past week at a volunteer training and spent Saturday morning in the church kitchen helping prepare for the breakfast portion of the event. Take a look at the video and read more about Affordable Christmas - families are so blessed by this, and I was so glad to be a part of it.

Tea Time
On my way home from Affordable Christmas, I stopped at my friend Liane's apartment and had breakfast and tea with her (while our hubbies saw The Hobbit). I think us girls may have gotten the better end of the deal. I was thankful for some one-on-one girl time and felt very blessed by the fellowship we had.

Lunch Date
After hubby's tests, we met for lunch and enjoyed Haus on a Groupon. We've got to be some of Groupon's best customers. Seriously.

Here's hubby enjoying his buffalo & beef kielbasa sausage wurst  on pretzel bread with caramelized onions, homestyle 'kraut and honey dijon mustard ($7.99). And a beer. De-lish.

Because I made a ridiculously unflattering face when J took a pic of me, here's my food: Smoked Chicken & Apple sausage wurst with caramelized onions, sweet peppers and honey dijon mustard ($6.99). Surprisingly delicious. And, it's hard to see, but that's a pink beer on the right - Lindeman Framboise...a beer I actually really liked!

Cookie Exchange
Emily hosted a cookie exchange at her house and I came home with bunch of delicious goodies: oreo balls, peanut butter balls, rice krispies, peppermint white chocolate cookies, puppy chow, ginger and molasses cookies...my hubby was a happy man.

KC Symphony
Once again, Uncle Pat and Aunt Kathy brought me in as one of their very own - this time to a fabulous Christmas concert at the Kaufman Center. What a beautiful building. And what talented musicians. The KC Symphony is up for a Grammy this year!

Ugly Sweater Party
Last but not least (mostly last b/c this one has "a bunch" of pictures), we went over to Chad and Chandra's for an ugly sweater party and time with all of our med school friends. Food and fun was had by all. And I was introduced to boiled custard by Preston from Tennessee...it's fabulous! Like eggnog, but not...it's like melted ice cream in a cup. YUM!

Here's our ugly sweater finds...thanks, Goodwill!

Eating Is a Hobby of Mine

When Jordan and I first started dating in 2005/2006, his idea of eating out was getting McDonald's or Taco John's or Burger King etc.... every day. At the time, I tried valiantly to convince him of the value of saving up those $5 daily purchases for a "fancy" $15 at the end of the week. Like, a sit-down place.

Six years down the road, I'll tell you this: I've created a monster. Now, I'm spoiled regularly with fancy dinners (thankfully, using groupons). But. There are certainly worse things. (Like fast food every day. Ick.)

Piropos Grille
This was a groupon where we got more than we bargained for. Enter med student in scrubs and wife in tow. White linens and wine glasses. Cloth napkins. A view of the sunset over the city. The waiter referred to us as "The Lady" and "The Gentleman". And delicious food. So delicious. The fact that we paid $15 for a groupon that took $53 off our bill was pretty sweet, too.

The complimentary warm bread with garlic and olive oil sauce or basil something-or-other sauce. Yum.
We also enjoyed a beef empanada (beef tenderloin, onions, olive, raisins and spices), but we devoured it before taking a pic. Oops.

Seafood Ravioli ($20.99) served with a
poblano cream sauce.

Grilled Seafood Platter: Shrimp, scallops,
mahi mahi with jasmine rice, asparagus
and a butter garlic sauce. ($29.99)

Fancy restaurant view.

We ate it ALL.

Dessert splurge: Tres Leche Cake
I told Jordan I'd rather have a $7 dessert in a restaurant once a month than a box of cookies from the grocery store every week.

Obligatory cute couple pic. And bonus great sky.

Gospel Community Group
We were in ladies/guys groups again this week. We're both doing Philippians, a letter from Paul (while he's in prison) to encourage the Philippians. It reminded me again to rejoice in all circumstances - even when things are really, really bad (and, I'm fortunate that I've never personally been in a really, really bad situation up to this point). Despite being in prison, Paul was so joyful. I've seen that same joy evident in others' lives when they're going through tough things like cancer or the death of a spouse or constant pain. I hope when I'm in a tough situation, that I'm able to keep my joyful spirit, too.

Chez Elle
The girls I work with and I decided to get lunch at Cheze Elle, a little french creperie. Also mucho delicious.

I had the Le Jardin crepe (spinach, artichokes, sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, provolone cheese) ($7.95) and a cup of lobster bisque ($5.25), because I simply couldn't resist it. Both were amazing. I'd definitely go back here.

More

• We had Chad & Chandra over on Friday evening; it was fun to just relax and catch up. 
• Saturday evening, Jordan and I helped a couple in our community group who were hosting a freshman girls' dorm bonfire. Jordan set up tables, hay bales, tended the fire and more, and I enjoyed helping in the kitchen, prepping food, washing dishes...the sort of things that I enjoy. 

Jordan and I cooked Vegetable Beef soup on Saturday (aka, soup from the parents: stew meat from mom and dad, carrots and potatoes from mom's garden, plus onions, garlic, celery) - that's lunch for the week!

For over two and a half years, I've been wanting a green bedskirt to match the quilt mom made us as a wedding gift. I finally splurged. And, I don't like to iron...I'm just planning that the wrinkles will release after hanging there long enough.

That's the week! I want to blog about our sermon this AM, but a friend is coming over in a bit (like 5 mins) to talk about Pampered Chef - she's a new consultant and her first show is Friday, so excited for her!) so I need to wrap this up and get it posted.

In the sermon this AM, the pastor said that South Dakota is "sexy" this time of year. hehe. Missing you all back "home"!

The Weekly Recap

I guess that's sort of what this blog has turned into: a recap of the past week of our life. Maybe that's boring? (or maybe it's not) Either way, I guess that's where I'm at right now. Recapping the week.

Jordan had his MusculoSkeletal midterm on Monday. He passed (yay!), and was able to take it a bit easier this week than the two weeks previous, but he's still been studying like it's his job (which it is). To celebrate, we had a few friends over that evening and ended up watching The Princess Bride. Don't ask me why, but it was the first time I'd ever seen this movie. Ridiculous, I know. Some of you are probably wondering how this could have happened. (After all, it came out in 1987.) The conclusion that I've come to is that we didn't watch that type of humor at our house growing up. We were more of the John Wayne/Star Wars/Indiana Jones/Sound of Music type of family. (and, yes, I know, those don't go together at all) At any rate, we watched it. It was hilarious and wonderful. (But, not as wonderful as the book, which I read in 3 days the week prior to watching the movie. To be honest, the movie was a let-down compared to the book - but, like it always is, the book was just better.) (So if you haven't read it, you probably should read it immediately.)

On Tuesday, we met up with Jordan's KCUMB Big Brother (each 1st year is matched up with a 2nd year who can answer questions, give advice, etc) and his fiance at the The Flying Saucer for Trivia night where each team is to "Test your knowledge of useless information and win some kick-ass prizes!" (as said by The Flying Saucer's website) (and you can't use your phone to find answers - that's cheating!) And win we did. Our team took 2nd place for the evening and got a $30 gift card (to share). Steve and Allison have been coming for over a year and it's the first time they've won - Jordan told them it was because I win everything. (which isn't exactly true, but I do win. A lot.)

Wednesday meant a lunch date with my aunt Kathy. She brought a fabulous Kono Grill Avocado & Chicken Club with lettuce, tomato, applewood bacon, havarti and chipotle mayo served on a ciabatta bun with taro chips. So delicious. And we had a wonderful conversation as well. So blessed to be living near to this aunt...who I used to only see a few times a year!

Taro Chips pic courtesy of TinyUrbanKitchen.com, which has a wonderful post on what Taro Chips are and how to make them yourself. Yum.

My gift! Cake-in-a-mug and a
little pumpkin carved into a
tealight candle holder. 

Wednesday evening, my new friend Emily invited me to a quarterly birthday club where I even received a gift for my September birthday. I'll let Emily tell you about our evening - be sure to check out the cake our host made! Such talent.

Thursday was just spent at home catching up, since I'd been running around for the rest of the week!

Friday went back to being busy. After work I went to Josh & Audrey's and Audrey and I carpooled to The Melting Pot at the Plaza to enjoy cheese fondue and chocolate fondue with the KCUMB spouse group, The Other Half. Fondue is $5/person during happy hour, if you eat in the bar area. Otherwise it's $8/person. I'd like to go again so Jordan can experience it, too! (Don't worry, he doesn't ONLY study...on Friday he went out with a few other guys for burgers and beers.)

We had 3 types of cheese fondue to share:

Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue (my fav)

Rich Fontina and Butterkäse cheeses blend perfectly with spinach, artichoke hearts and garlic.

Fiesta Cheese Fondue (pictured)

Aged cheddar cheese pairs with lager beer, jalapeño peppers and salsa, made as spicy as you like.

Cheddar Cheese Fondue

Aged medium-sharp cheddar and Emmenthaler Swiss cheeses melt beautifully with lager beer, garlic and seasonings.

Dippers...

Cheese fondue selections include rustic artisan breads, fresh vegetables and crisp Granny Smith apples.

And three types of chocolate fondue to share:
Yin & Yang
This fondue satisfies dark and white chocolate cravings in an artfully balanced fondue dessert.
Flaming Turtle
We consider it Fondue Candy. It’s an irresistible combination of milk chocolate, caramel and candied pecans flambéed tableside.
Pure Chocolate (we opted for dark - pictured)
For the fondue purist, we offer milk, dark or white chocolate melted to decadent perfection.
Dippers...
Enjoy fresh strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, Rice Krispies Treats®, marshmallows, pound cake and brownies with your chocolate fondues.

The Other Half

Saturday I babysat again for the same couple whose kids I watched a few weeks ago. Such cute boys. Afterwards I ran a Pampered Chef booth at Gladfest for 3 (very chilly!) hours. I got a couple good leads and hope maybe one of them turns into a show. Jordan got back from the school around 8pm and we enjoyed frozen pizza while watching Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, a great redbox pick made by yours truly. (It seems like I always pick terrible redbox movies, so the fact that it was really good this time was a big win.)

After church today, I made up a pot of soup for lunches this week. And, for the first time, we turned on the heat for a bit...it got down to 29 outside and the apartment was at 60. I thought that was maybe a little extreme. (For those that know me, it's my choice to keep the heat off for as long as possible to save some $$...ridiculous, yes. Last year, in Sioux Falls, we made it into the first week of December before we turned on the heat!) I would have held out a bit more, but our lease said something about pipes freezing and bursting and having to pay for that and that sounded more expensive than turning on the heat. Ha!

Fostering Friendships

This week was (slightly) more low-key than other weeks, which was a nice turn of events. Jordan's midterm is tomorrow, so he's been studying, studying, studying. I see lots of him, but it's mostly seeing him looking at slides and other study materials. It's nice to have him studying at home.

5:30 Tuesdays and Thursdays mean calling two of my very best friends from college on my drive home. It's so wonderful to have 30-45mins of conversation with Aubrey (my roommate from freshman and senior year) and Amanda (my next-door neighbor practically every year of college). These ladies are such a blessing in my life and it's almost hard to believe that we've known each other EIGHT years.

I went out for coffee (Chai Tea Latte, my fav) with Amber, my gospel community group leader. We had great conversation and it was so fun hearing her story and the different ways God has worked in her life.

Friday evening I went over to Liane's for delicious pumpkin bread and cider, and refreshing punch, courtesy of Audrey. We had a couple hours of great girl talk and I'm so thankful for all these new friends that I have here in KC.

Yesterday, I went to Fall Festival in Liberty, MO with (part of) my church gospel community group and Kody and her little 2-year-old Leah came too (they are the med student wife and daughter that I met last week at church). We walked around enjoying the beautiful weather and taking a peek at the various booths of jams and jellies, jewelry, paintings, and much more. I even treated myself to a fresh-squeezed lemonaide...my fav. (I have lots of favs, lol.)

For dinner, we were treated to home-cooked brisket, green beans, macaroni and cheese, and pumpkin pie at Patrick and Claudia's home (empty-nesters in our community group - they love to host and have groups over, and their home is set up perfectly for it). I felt right at home with 12 adults and 5 kids at a big table. After doing the dishes, we had a bonfire and made s'mores. Really made me look forward to the next time I go home and dinners and bonfires at mom and dad's. Even more reminiscent of home, Claudia sent a meal for both Jordan and Zach, Kody's hubby, who were busy studying while we were out having fun:

So blessed - thanks, Claudia and Patrick!

Church was cancelled today because of planned city utility outages, so Jordan and I took the opportunity to sleep in a bit (mostly me) and Jordan used the extra time to study. I helped quiz him on muscle functions, blood supply and innervation (what nerve they're connected to). I did a bit of cleaning and went to the grocery store. Then, we enjoyed pork chops, rice and brussel sprouts for dinner. A nice day at home.

If you think of Jordan tomorrow AM, send up a prayer that his midterm at 9am goes smoothly and that he's able to remember everything that he's been studying so hard.