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It's official! Yesterday Kevin received his acceptance to Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena California. I am so proud of him, and we are both excited to be moving and starting a very new adventure. Kevin will be studying for a Masters Degree in Theology.

We are moving from Portland to Pasadena in the second week of March. Talk about a climate difference. Here our weather alerts include snow and ice storms. The weather alerts in Pasadena are for pollen.

As soon as we found out we put a deposit on our new studio apartment. It is only one block from the campus. Here are a couple of pics from our new complex.





We will be living on the first floor with other married couples. One floor above are single guys, and on the third floor are single girls. The cool thing is that our complex has an underground parking garage below it. And we have a little patio, which we haven't had at our current place. So please pray for Kevin and I as we look for jobs, and leave behind the city that has been our home- Kevin has lived here for 5 years.

Echo

I hate/love this commercial. It makes me cry pretty much every time. I also love it because pet adoption is such a great thing. I definitely want to adopt a dog when Kevin and I live somewhere more accommodating.

I hope you find a home Echo.

Shopping Locally

Kevin and I enjoy Craigslist and we have had some luck with it. We enjoy looking through items posted and the other day we found some real gems. Ok, so maybe they just really made us laugh.

example 1
Can you find the item for sale in this post?

example 2
The "Round Couch," MTV Cribs huh? Right.

I had an example 3 that has been removed from the site. But it was a couch for sale. Sitting on the couch was a man whose identity was kept anonymous with a black square over his face.

Dishes!

Ever since we got married Kevin and I have been on an (unofficial) hunt for dishes. We were lucky enough that my mom loaned us a set of dishes that we have been using for the last year. We like them, but always looked for dishes anyway.

I am very very picky. And Kevin is kind of picky. We both love modern design, ethnic prints and patterns, and classic colors. Which is pretty much a lot to ask for. Yesterday I finally found my perfect dishes. We bought them for a ridiculous steal at one-fifth the retail price. I am happy happy happy. Here they are:

Annie's Annie's mmmmm

Every time I eat Annie's mac n' cheese I think of you- Whitney. And I just want to say "it's ok, I do it too." yum.

Outage

Yesterday Kevin and I ran around town doing a little shopping and some errands. We were so excited to get home and relax, after all Kevin starts work at 7 a.m. and it was now nearly 6 p.m. and I began to make dinner when our power went out. I lit a candle and peeked outside- our block was out but we could see lights in the distance. We grabbed our hand crank flashlight and radio and looked for the phone number for our power company. Finally I got the word that 1300 customers were without power, the customer service guy couldn't tell me why, and the outage was expected to continue until 11 p.m. We were so bummed.

So we headed out to grab some dinner. I drove through a very busy intersection that had no stop light due to the outage. Apparently a common method for getting through such a situation is to lay on your horn as you speed through and narrowly miss on-coming traffic. (I don't actually recommend this moronic move.) We ate at McMenamins and both agreed that we thought the power would be back on at home. I mean it was 8:15.

The power was not on. We lit a bunch of candles and brushed our teeth. Kevin found an interesting sermon on the radio and we sat in bed listening. At about 9:15 our power jumped on. We turned the lights off, and finished listening to the sermon. It made me wonder why we don't spend more evenings in the dark, listening to radio programs.

I think I drooled a little.

Watch this- you'll understand

Staying In?

I wanted to share a quick and easy recipe for a fun night in. For some reason the mood struck me mid-week and I made this meal on Thursday night. I wish I had waited until Friday night because it turned out to be pretty special. Kevin LOVES Indian food, specifically chicken curry. I picked up a small can of curry sauce at Whole Foods:

It has actually been sitting in my cupboard waiting for me to make it. I am sure you can find similar products, but I have to recommend this because it was so tasty. Start with chicken breasts- I used two small chicken breasts and sliced them into bite size cubes before cooking. Then I simply cooked them quickly in a frying pan . Once the chicken was cooked through I drained the excess olive oil and set my chicken on a back burner that was off.

The best rice to cook with curry is Basmati. A long grain rice grown in India. You can find brown or white Basmati for as little as $2 a bag if you can shop at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. I have found that Basmati or Thai Jasmine Rice tend to cost MORE at places like Albertson's or other chain groceries. The rice should have directions on it, but you cook it the same way you would your regular white or brown rice. My rice needed to cook for almost the exact same amount of time as my curry so once I got the rice and water boiling I turned the heat down, threw on the lid and worked on the curry.

Simply cover your cooked chicken pieces with the curry sauce, cover and simmer at a medium-low heat for about 20 minutes. Be sure to stir your sauce and chicken every five minutes or so. The sauce will thicken as it cooks You know it is done when you lift your cooking utensil and the sauce slowly slides off, or stays in place.

If you have TJ's you can buy fresh naan, white, wheat, or garlic seasoned white. Warm the naan in the microwave for 1 minute. I have also found frozen naan at Indian groceries (while I was in CA, I haven't seen an Indian grocery here). Serve the curry over a layer of hot basmati. Serve the curry right away. It tastes best HOT.

Fresh sliced mango, or mango sorbet, or mango mochi are the perfect desserts with this meal.

Note: Curry STAINS be careful with the sauce, and make sure you soak your pans and plates with hot soap and water. I let them soak over night, and rinse completely before washing up.

K-k-k-krazy Kitties

Dad asked in my last post to write an update. But truly, my life is in such transition right now that I am not sure what to say. One funny thing is that I received my diploma in the mail. That in itself is not particularly funny, but it appears as though they have given me a degree for things I did not study. My diploma reads "Bachelor of Science in Biblical Studies- Educational Ministries" I studied Bible and Theology, and Journalism. So... I am waiting to hear back on why I have been credited for the wrong work.

Anyway, all seriousness aside, and to the real reason I am blogging today. I have found a website that warms my heart and I will just let you enjoy it for yourself. After you read about the package you will want to click on "the wigs." And if you are still interested, or especially if your name is Stephanie click on "about us" and click on the link to Yoshi's 2008 Calendar.