white flag

well, i was waiting to post until i had high speed internet (or access to it), but i am losing hope on that, so here i am. i am the french in the war - i give up.

so we made it to wisconsin safe and sound. the drive took me about 13 hours total. it really wasn't bad at all, nice and steady going. the dogs were well behaved and napped in the back. the only bad part was chicago - whose bright idea was it to close down the entire highway through the entire city to one and two lanes? did they not know 12 million people live there? driving through that was pretty ungodly, and the experience managed to strip away what little respect i had left for the speed limit. once i got through that, i blasted it to my parents' house.

have been going on interviews, and may have some options. waiting to hear back on some stuff this week; should be having some follow up interviews, so waiting on times for that. i am hoping against reason that i'll have something lined up by the end of the week. i'd really like a job [paycheck].

we've been house hunting as well. that is slow going. there aren't a lot of house rentals, and with 2 larger dogs, our options are further limited. we've got some places in a trendy area downtown to check out this week, so keep your fingers crossed for us.

other than the general job/housing stress, things are going pretty well. we were finally able to tell my parents that we're pregnant, and they are so very happy and excited. they can't wait! also got to tell my good friend maggie, who is super excited as well, and start spreading the news to the family.

bryan and i visited the milwaukee public market this past saturday. how freaking cool is that place! it's small, but has a good variety of vendors with lots of fun items. i saw a whole salmon that couldn't have been more perfect, and i found myself trying to find an excuse to serve a whole salmon to 4 people (i couldn't come up with one that would satisfy bryan). we're excited to go back, and are hoping to find a home close by so we can have saturday morning adventures there.

we've been having fun cooking for my parents as well. this past week, we made:

- lenora's chicken tostadas: on isla mujeres in mexico, there is a woman named leonora who runs a loncheria. she has the most outstanding tostadas for lunch. while she makes her corn tortillas by hand, i admit i cheated and bought ours. :) we fry those up, slather on sour cream, and layer on sliced avocado, shredded lettuce, roasted chicken, sliced tomato, mexican cheese, and pickled red onions. it's the onions that do the trick. so simple, and so knock out delicious.

- pork chops milanese with spinach and rice: milanese is an old stand by for us. just something a little extra.

- mousakka and greek salad: since bryan lived in greece, we really enjoy recreating dishes from there. mousakka is a good standard.

- shrimp and grits: my parents had never had this, so we had so introuduce them. our recipe includes bacon and onions, and bryan also added some left over garlic sausage. my mom was unsure about the grits, but dad loved it (2 healthy helpings worth).

- cashew chicken and rice: simple meal after a busy day.

- charcoal grilled burgers with pepper jelly: the addition of pepper jelly just about negates the need for much else on a burger. expect some monterray jack cheese. there's few better burgers that than.

i just did the grocery shopping today at sendik's, an upscale grocery store. suffice to say i had fun. our menu for this week:

- greek rubbed pork chops with lemon parsley rice and toasted pine nuts, and green beans: another easy meal.

- mediterranean roast chicken with roast vegetable pearl couscous: bryan's roast veggie couscous with golden raisins and toasted almonds is almost a meal by itself. with some roast chicken it's perfect.

- risotto with peas and prawns: what more can i say? yum.

- cedar planked salmon with pink peppercorns, cucumbers, and balsamic vinegar: a favorite of ours. the weather is just nice enough to use the grill.

- center cut beef tenderloin with baked potatoes and honey parsley carrots: everyone loves a baked potato + beef.

- red beans and rice: another southern favorite to introuduce my parents too. i found a lovely smoked ham hock for that extra oopmh.

if it wasn't for the love of a paycheck, i could stay home and cook all the time. speaking of, i need to start soaking some cedar planks.

year of the ram

i found out today my zodiac year is the RAM. it's pretty dead on:

People born in the Year of Ram are elegant and highly accomplished in the arts. They seem to be, at first glance, better off than those born in the zodiac's other years. But ram year people are often shy, pessimistic, and puzzled about life. They are usually deeply religious, yet timid by nature. Sometimes clumsy in speech, they are always passionate about what they do and what they believe in. Ram people never have to worry about having the best in life for their abilities make money for them, and they are able to enjoy the creature comforts that they like. Ram people are wise, gentle, and compassionate. They are compatible with Rabbits, Pigs, and Horses.

i can handle that.

in other news...

while we had already made reservations to move using a cube type option, upon further review, we determined that it just wasn't going to be enough space. bryan called to find out more details on getting additional cubes, though we weren't very happy about having to deal with a bunch of cubes. in the end, we found out that getting an entire semi truck to ourselves would be more cost effective. i am much, much happier with this solution. it's what we wanted in the first place, but the labor costs on the loading/unloading made it prohibitive. we load the truck ourselves on this one, so it works out very well for us. in the end, storage at the destination works out cheaper space wise as well. that's all settled and i'm quite comfortable with it, so i'm pretty happy. we're heading to a package supply store this weekend to get boxes, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, etc. and make a serious go at packing up our lives.

i spoke to multiple banks this week, and i think i've got my plan squared away for all that as well. check that off the list!

slowly but surely we're getting it together. it's still a big move and we have lots to do but i'm feeling confident. just need to find a JOB now!

boxes, boxes, boxes

started packing this weekend. still pretty unorganized about it. packed up all our books and cookbooks - 16 boxes in total. also packed up extra bed linens, and summer clothes. :( not sure where to start next. i think i need to get some more packing supplies so i can pack up extra dishes and glassware, and other decorative porcelain items. i'm so scared of any of it breaking, so i need a large roll of bubble wrap. i guess i can probably start packing up pictures and that kind of thing too. which reminds me, i need to call the moving company today and make reservations!

still trying to find a job. stress.

exhale

so the good news is that i've had multiple hits on my job applications so far. i have a phone interview with my #1 pick on monday, so i'm pretty excited about that. talked to a staffer at one of the consulting firms wednesday, and i should have some interviews lined up for their clients soon. it's definitely heartening to be moving forward with that. much less stressful to know i should have a job lined up before the move! that will make it much easier to find a house! ;)

in other news...

valentine's day was lovely, even if we did spend an hour and a half waiting for photos to print at a walgreens. i had ordered a massive amount of pictures (to create a scrapbook for hannah), and they had lost the 2 5x7s i had ordered. they offered to reprint them, but managed to reprint all ~200 photos as 5x7s... twice. the good news is i got about $600 worth of 5x7s for free. the bad news? i have about 300 5x7s. bryan made me dinner (as i had cooked last year). we had rack of lamb with greek spices; rice with lemon, parsley, and toasted pine nuts; and sauteed zucchini. i made tiramisu for dessert, and it turned out splendidly. i believe i've uncovered the trick to perfect tiramisu (as bryan always says, there's *always* a trick to making it better). all in all it was heavenly. no pictures as it wasn't until the tiramisu was swimming happily in my tummy before i thought about using the camera. i'll get the hang of this yet.

this weekend we're heading up to chattanooga with brent and jess to eat at this fantastic restaurant we found while vacationing there this past summer - southside grill. the food is perfectly magnificent. brent, jess, and bryan are very excited to hang out in the city, but i've mostly planned this trip to eat. shock me, shock me, shock me, right?

finding a job

so i started applying for jobs today. kind of nerve wracking. i think i have my resume as refined as it can be for the time being, so i'm confident about that. now i just need to find someone to take interest in it! :) i've applied to a few companies i would really like to work for, and one in particular. this one, which shall currently remain unnamed, is a milwaukee institution. it would be really rewarding, i think, to work for a place so ingrained in milwaukee history, and with a tradition of its own. we shall see. now comes the hard part - waiting. being patient without having some sort of indication of when the waiting will end is hard for me.