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!