Cracking Down Before School Starts

This past week Dan and I ran a few errands in preparation for both of our classes starting. I start this week and he starts next week. For those of you that don't know Dan is teaching four freshman classes, one sophomore, and one advanced freshman course. To my surprise the freshman book sets available at Dan's school were written within the last 10-15 years. Here's some of what they have: The Kite Runner, Speak, The Uglies, and Fahrenheit 451. NONE of these books would have been available when I was in high school! They are too recent! What happened to Of Mice and Men, Pride and Prejudice, and The Grapes of Wrath? I was disappointed.

On Monday I went to drop off my server applications at the Olive Garden and Red Lobster. Just as I was about to head home I spotted another restaurant and was prompted to stop at this place:

Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon

I filled out an application and asked to speak with a manager. After glancing over my application the manager commented on my complete lack of serving experience. At that time the only response I could think of was "yes..." She must have felt good about me because she asked me to come back Wednesday to ask for the Chris.

Wednesday arrived and I went to Lone Star expecting to schedule an interview. I was wrong indeed! I shook hands with Chris, the hiring manager, who then led me to a table that had a folder, an apron, and a shirt. Apparently I was hired without knowing it! What an amazing blessing! I was so grateful and slightly shocked because the other new-hire sitting at the table had to go through two interviews.

My first two days have been hectic and slightly overwhelming. I owe that to starting on a Friday and Saturday night (the two busiest nights for restaurants). The other negative about working these two nights was that you don't get any breaks because you're too busy! By the time I got home last night at 10pm the last thing I wanted to do was cook something. I am ashamed to admit that Dan and I went to McYummy's aka McDonald's and ordered a large order of fries with this:

 
Please do not be alarmed! We did not finish it all in one sitting! AND this is not a usual habit of ours.

Back to working as a server: I never realized the amount of multi-tasking that is required for servers to have. This job will stretch me but I am ready for the challenge. I know it will help improve my ability to multi-task. Here's me on my second day:

Since I'm training right now I don't make any tips. The servers only get paid $3.50/hour with the expectation that tips will make up for the rest of the amount. Luckily, I only have three more days of training and then hopefully I will be on my own making good money!

Tuesday night Dan and I had dinner at Donald and Val's with the sister missionaries. We had YUMMY hot dogs with baked beans and chips. The baked beans were delicious! For dessert I brought a fruit pizza that was easy to make.

Fruit Pizza

I put grapes and canned peaches on one side for Dan so he could enjoy the pizza as well. The things I do for my sweet husband! Just kidding :-) I know he would do the same for me.

Dan and I both had such a great time that I completely forgot to take any pictures! We are planning on inviting Donald and Val to our place for dinner sometime next week. They enjoy video games so we might break out Rock Band!

We purchased a washer and dryer off of Craigslist this week. The washer works great but the dryer takes over an hour to dry one load of laundry. That's the risk you take with getting something off of Craigslist, I guess.

Dan and I both are enjoying the huge amount of space our duplex has. I have space to do yoga and Dan has space to build LEGO without being in the middle of any walkways. The second bedroom is definitely coming in handy:

Another thing we have been experiencing frequently that does not occur as much in Oregon.... THUNDERSTORMS!!! Here's a clip of one I took. It's a little long sorry.

Today at church we had combined Relief Society and Priesthood. The lesson was from the Spring 2010 General Conference. We watched Elder Uchtdorf's talk, "You Are My Hands." If you have not read or listened to it I highly recommend it. He explains the importance of reaching out to others and that as members we should welcome and love all of God's children despite the way they act, dress, look, and speak. If we choose to be compassionate, charitable, and loving to everyone, just as the Savior was, we will touch the hearts of others and strengthen our spirits.

A priesthood  leader told a story of when he was on his mission in Romania he and his companion passed a shepherd herding sheep. They stopped and spoke with him about herding sheep. He explained that he knows each and every one of his sheep and they know him. He even has names for each of them. When one elder asked him to prove it, the shepherd made out a distinctive call and one single sheep walked out of the line and stood next to the shepherd. The shepherd then patted the sheep on the head. That same elder then asked the shepherd to prove it again and the elder picked out a black sheep that was far up in the herd. The shepherd then made another distinctive call. The black sheep that the elder had pointed to then walk out of the line and stood next to the shepherd. The shepherd patted the black sheep's head. The priesthood leader then reminded us that just like the shepherd he met on his mission, the Savior knows each and every one of us by name and he loves us. What a blessing that is!

To know that there's always someone who cares about you when you feel like no one else does. He knows when you are happy, sad, angry, and frustrated. When you experience challenges in life He sees them and wants so badly to help you get through them so that you can be happy again. But often times we forget that we can always call upon the Lord to take our troubles into His hands. Just as we pray to Lord for help, we also need to be available to help and be a support to others.

I hope you are having a good Sunday :-)

How to Cut an Onion Like Chef Ramsay

For now, I have decided to update this blog just once a week (since Dan and I aren't up to much right now). When we get busier things might change. Also, Dan has added some comments in green. So, the recap from this past week:

Sunday: Dan and I went to church. The ward is pretty big with 200 active members and 800 members total! That is a lot. I also got my visit teaching (VT) route and met my VT companion, Shari. Later that day we visited 2 out of our 5 sisters. Shari and I clicked instantly. She's very organized and on-time (something I need a little improvement in - Yes, that is true!) so I'm looking forward to serving with her. We also share a hobby: SHOPPING!! We're planning on going to the nearby malls sometime soon - as in 20 years from now when we have money.

Monday: I woke up early which for us right now is 8:45am he he... (more like 8:45 Mountain daylight time) Dan and I use the excuse that we're still "adjusting" to East Coast time, but really, we stay up too late every night. Anyway, I woke up early because I had much to do at this place:

The campus is smaller than OSU and it's right in the middle of downtown, but you can drive right through the campus (something technically not allowed at my former college - but, something technically allowed for the English). After getting my student ID card, getting an override on a communications course, and figuring out financial aid I went to the Food and Nutrition department to meet my program director, Dr. Sue Leson. I've been nervous about starting this internship, but as soon as I met her I felt reassured that this was a good fit for me. She was extremely nice and very helpful regarding information about Youngstown and the surrounding area. She showed me around the department and made sure I was all set for my classes. One of my classes involves doing rotations at a hospital. So twice a week I will work in a hospital for 2 hours.

When I returned from campus Dan showed me a card that was on our door step this morning:

 Later, Alicia, our mystery note-deliverer, came over and we played:

Guess who won? Alicia beat Dan and I by a few hundred thousand dollars! Later Dan came up with the sweetest idea to make Alicia a card and give her a coupon for one free movie night at our place...This is what we came up with:

 Tuesday: Alicia received the card and we watched Flushed Away. If you haven't seen it yet, it's a must. Tuesday night was also Enrichment WHOOPS I mean "Tuesday night Relief Society monthly meeting...." My new bff Shari picked me up and we had dinner, learned how to do CPR, and cut hair. The turn out that night was sad compared to the numbers I saw Sunday, but I was happy to be there. 

Wednesday: Went to get the brakes done on my (Mom's) car. Fortunately Donald, the husband of Val who I visit taught on Sunday, works here as a mechanic. $300 and one hour later I was leaving! Oh to have connections in the right places :-)

This is the day that relates to the title of today's blog. Sometimes I like to be a creeper and browse other people's blogs and I came upon a video of Chef Ramsay giving a tutorial on how to cut an onion. Since I'm into food and nutrition I was naturally interested in perfecting it. Luckily, our dinner of Chicken Parmesan included an onion. Unfortunately, mine didn't turn out as nice and pretty. He only has a few more years experience than me anyway (yes, he's old - at least in his late 20's).

 Here's the end result:

Sorry about the mediocre lighting (and grotesque misshapen foot). I'm still practicing with my new camera!

Thursday: Dan and I went to see the movie Inception. It was AMAZING! I highly recommend seeing it in theaters. Do not wait! (Obey me or be annihilated!) It's a thinker and I love movies that make you think. JUST DO IT (insert Nike swoosh here).

Friday: Job searched. Applied to Sears and got applications as a server for Olive Garden and Red Lobster. Tomorrow (Monday), I'm turning in the applications and also going to a few other restaurants. I also worked on some Medical Terminology for my online course. It's pretty boring and sometimes hard. For instance, there's several variations of the suffix "pertaining to." The three I remember are -al, -acal, -iac. It was pretty confusing trying to put the correct suffix to certain prefixes. 
Almost every night Dan and I watch a movie and tonight our pick was The Dark Knight.

Saturday: We are currently without a washer and dryer so we (Queen's English for Dan and some quarters) went to a nearby laundromat. My VT companion had surgery Wednesday so I made some lasagna and took it to her place. Dan and I watched The DaVinci Code. We then had a good conversation about some of the themes of the movie and how they related to the gospel.

Sunday: Went to church. Got my church calling: Compassionate Service Committee. I don't have the details on the responsibilities. Dan and I both felt it was fitting. Quick jump back to Wednesday night  Dan and I met with our Bishop just to get acquainted. He was very blunt and straight forward in describing the Girard Ward. He said that this ward will challenge and stretch us. We will be asked to serve in callings that will put us out of our comfort zone and require us to be on our knees daily. At first, I was scared, but after today I felt that this is what Dan and I need. I know that if we do what is right we will grow closer to each other and closer to God.

I am happy to report that we are still alive and we've even made friends in the ward! Tuesday we're going to Val and Donald's for dinner. Expect pictures! I'm in charge of dessert. I was thinking something with fruit that's in season. Any ideas? (Clay Aiken).

 

Goodbye Oregon...Hello Ohio! (for the next 5+ years)

After 4.5 days of driving we finally made it to Girard, OH last Monday. During our trip we stayed in Meridian, ID, Rawlins, WY, Lincoln, NE, and Kokomo, IN. We are happy and blessed that no accidents or car troubles occurred during our 4.5 day travel. Here are a few pics of our road trip:

 Wyoming

 Sketch hotel from a scary movie in Rawlins, WY

Nebraska (very flat with corn fields)

Illinois. This could pass for Iowa and Illinois both of which have rolling hills and corn fields.

Indiana (notice the layer of fog?)

Pictures of the duplex:

Front

Back

Front Entry

Some handsome guy that came with the duplex ;-)

Living room

Kitchen (with new self-cleaning oven!)

Second bedroom (upstairs)

Bathroom (upstairs)

Laundry room (next to the kitchen

  Living in Girard has been a roller coaster ride this past week. Let me tell you! For starters we arrived Monday. Based on the company's ETA of 5 business days our trailer was supposed to arrive Wednesday. It finally showed up yesterday. We also had our gas turned on this week. Unfortunately our water heater and furnace were red tagged due to a minor gas leak and lack of ventilation to both sources. After talking with our landlord we got it all worked out and we now have hot water! We love the space of our new duplex/townhome and while it wasn't what we were expecting we're happy here and have started to make it ours.

  On a better note: Tuesday Dan had a job interview with the principal for 1-year substitute contract at a nearby high school. The interview lasted about 10 minutes and then Dan was hired as an English teacher! He has 4 freshman classes, a sophomore class, and an AP class. Since we have no washer and dryer the principal let us do our laundry at the high school which was a great blessing! I picked up my lab coat yesterday, what do you think? (Excuse the greasy forehead, we live in humid times!)

 So far we really enjoy Girard. Everything you need is within a 10 minute drive. We also have a lovely store  that does not exist in Corvallis or Beaverton....... WALMART! This store has just about everything you need and at unbeatable prices! Along with the necessities, we also purchased an early birthday present for me:

 We got the chance to meet our Elder's Quorum President yesterday and were officially welcomed to the ward. We've been told there are several other young couples our age so we are looking forward to meeting them. We've also made great friends with our neighbors. The duplex next to us houses Tina, her two daughters, Andrea and Alicia, and Andrea's baby, Markessa. Last night Tina and Alicia treated us to an amazing Japanese restaurant! Alicia (who is 9 years old) has deemed me her new best friend and thinks Dan is weird.

 On describing Ohio: When telling natives that we've come from Oregon they ask "Why in the world would you move from Oregon to a place like this?" That can give you an idea of what it's like here. It's like viewing things through foggy lenses. Due to the humidity the sky has a low and thick fog. In the 70's this area was brand new and hip and since the 80's a lot of big plants have closed leaving the area run down. I've told natives that Oregon is fresh, crisper, and a lot less diverse.

So, overall, we're still alive and adjusting fairly well in Ohio!