Jesse’s first Apple purchase was an iPod. Jesse bought the original iPod even though his parents didn’t even know what an mp3 was. His next Apple purchase was the hotly contested Mac mini (hotly contested by me because I wanted him to be saving for something shiny instead of buying a second computer). Since being married, we have bought a new iPod (with more space for Jesse’s impressive music collection), Jesse’s MacBook Pro, and my MacBook Pro. I have realized the need for a technology line item in our budget. On a side note, my husband has saved for months and sometimes even years for some of these purchases. For Christmas from Jesse’s company (www.morsekode.com), we got an iPad.
Our Apple hearts were very content…but then Jesse’s dreams finally came true. Jesse has ALWAYS wanted an iPhone…ALWAYS. Since January 9, 2007, Jesse has followed all of the news about the iPhone, developed apps for the iPhone, and watched as friend after friend purchased iPhones. He and I always teased about the iPhone, but we never wanted to switch over to AT&T when both of our families use Verizon. On January 11 Verizon announced the coming of the iPhone and on February 7, 2011 Jesse’s iPhone arrived.
At 4:30 am on Tuesday morning, Jesse woke me up with a start, “Do you smell smoke?” I did as Jesse hopped out of bed to investigate. He immediately ran downstairs to check on the furnace. From our bedroom, I heard a strange sound coming from the office. I ran into the office to find smoke billowing out of our fish tank. I quickly pulled the electrical plug to all parts of the tank.
Jesse looked at the tank and thought it was probably our filter. He carried it downstairs, and we tried to go back to sleep. It was difficult as our adrenaline was pumping, and our whole house smelled like smoke. Upon further investigation, we realized the smoke was actually coming from the fish tank heater. We are still working on contacting the company to alert them to the malfunction.
The next day I felt extremely tired, but I mostly felt grateful. We quickly realized that we had just had a close encounter with a dangerous situation. Our smoke detector never went off, but we were able to recognize the danger and take care of it before our home was damaged. Thank you, Lord, for protecting our home and both of us!
I enjoy cooking and also enjoy cooking magazines. I often find recipes that I want to try. For the longest time, I didn’t know how to organize my recipes. I began a binder entitled “Andrea’s Recipes”. In this binder, I typed in all of my favorite recipes, printed them, and divided them by section (Breakfast, Dinner, Sides, Desserts, etc.).
When I found a new recipe from a magazine, I would tear it out and stick it in the front of my binder. Pretty soon, the front of the binder was full. Then I decided to begin file folders for new recipes (using the same sections as my binder). Only once I have tried a recipe and like it, do I stick it in the front of the binder to be entered onto the computer, printed, and added to the correct section.
Usually, I try new recipes and don’t like them. I am a relatively picky eater. Today, though, I tried a new recipe and liked it. The recipe is Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meal of Red and Green Pesto with Pasta and Lemon Shrimp. I was so proud that my meal even looked like the picture! The meal was the perfect blend of flavors with just a bit of a kick, plus I learned how to char red peppers and scrape off the skin.
Just like the recipe photo!Our beautiful centerpiece courtesy of Jesse delivered to school on Friday.
One of the frequent conversations in marriage is money. Both spouses come into a marriage with their own saving and spending habits. For the two of us, we began marriage with Jesse’s first job and added the income of my first job. We felt rich!
Then we bought a house…we love our house, but it was the first hurdle in our financial decision-making. We tightened our budget and continued on.
Then I began graduate school…when we took on paying for my Master’s degree, Jesse and I decided to move to an envelope system. At the beginning of each month, we take enough cash out of the bank to pay for our daily expenses. This system helps us better track our spending in different areas and truly stick to a budget.
Then we started thinking about a family. We have always valued saving for the future, but this year our goal is to live as much as possible off of one income in order to save the other income. This conversation involves sacrifice and saving money in small ways: energy efficiency, the most effective insurance plan, and cutting back in ALL areas even the fun ones!
Then whatever comes our way, Jesse and I are able to have the important conversations about how we save and spend money.
Proverbs 24:3-4 “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”
To complete our tri-state trip, we flew to Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday, December 28th. Many people asked, “Why Phoenix?” My aunt Brook (my dad’s sister) and her husband Chris live in Arizona, and my grandparents (my dad’s parents) are living in Phoenix for the winter. Sadly, we were unable to get the whole Lashbrook family together (we missed you GE and Janet, Travis and Shannon, Michael, Kristi, and Karina)!
The first morning it was cool and cloudy, but we decided to go for a hike in the North mountain range. The North mountains are within walking distance of my aunt’s house. We started out with 3 dogs, my aunt, uncle, mom, dad, Jesse and I. When it started to sprinkle, my dad, Jesse, and I remained on the hike with one of the dogs.
It felt amazing to be outside without a coat. I also loved the smell of grass and earth. It is amazing the smells that get covered by snow. My dad “thought” he knew the hike he went on with my aunt the day before. It turns out he was a little uncertain. We should have been circling back around one of the mountains, but we weren’t. Jesse had the bright idea to head up, so we could see our surroundings. He continued to go up and up until we determined we were on a trail to the top of the peak. A few times, the dog looked at us like we were crazy when we asked him to go through rocks and over the landscape. We called my aunt for guidance. She didn’t know where we were.
Determined not to go back the way we came, we charted a course between two mountains. We eventually found the trail again and made it home. Using Google Map we were able to determine we were trying to go “around” the wrong mountain.
"Let's go up...it's an adventure, Andrea, right?"
Our first evening we celebrated Christmas.
The Boys (Jesse, Chris, Eric, Grandpa, Glen, and Barossa)The Girls (Alaina, Brook, me, Grandma, and Janet)Eric doing his job as Santa
One thing the Lashbrooks always like to do when we are together is eat. During this trip, I set out to learn two of our famous family recipes. Brook and I made her homemade crescent rolls, and I finally wrote down the recipe for my grandma’s chicken and dumplings.
Rolling out the dough (her's were prettier than mine...I guess what I tell my students is true about practice)Christmas Dinner (yes, this is #3 if you are counting)I recorded the recipe but it is really about the taste and feel...will I ever be able to replicate this?Making Mashed Potatoes (We don't look alike, do we?)
The rest of the week was chilly for Phoenix, so we played lots of games and talked with our other family members over Skype.
Favorite games: Monopoly Deal, Loaded Questions, Bananagrams, Aquire, and Ticket to RideHello, France! I have become a huge fan of Skype.
My sister-in-law, Alaina, was in the middle of the Hunger Games book series. We didn’t see much of her!
Every year over New Year’s, my aunt and uncle’s neighborhood throws a potluck block party. This year there was a live DJ. We danced, ate, remembered the old year and celebrated the New Year.
On Saturday, December 25th we awoke in Chicago to find that Santa had arrived!
Cyndee has a new bike! Way to go Santa!
Jesse was also excited by what Santa left for him.
A Blu-ray player!
In typical Sutherland style, we jumped in the car and headed Up North. We met Josh, Katie, Cody, and Aubrie for a delicious Christmas dinner. Then we opened more gifts. It is always more fun to share Christmas with children!
Aubrie's new booksCody's digital camera taking a picture of his new African knife (Katie is cringing in the background)Big hugs for the GREAT gifts!
We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, resting, and…
...playing ANGRY BIRDS!
Not to mention hitting the trails for some great snowmobile rides (we missed you Larry).
Sutherland Team #1Cody is ready-great snowsuit Katie!
Do you notice a lack of pictures of any adults Up North??? Our nephew and niece are SO cute! Thank you Sutherland family for a great Christmas!
I thought I could fit all of our Christmas adventure into one post. After all, it was one trip. As I looked through all of the pictures and fun memories, though, I realized that for your sake I will split our crazy travels into a few posts. It will encourage you to stay tuned!
We began our adventure Thursday, December 23rd. We loaded up the Camry (and I mean LOADED) and drove to Chicago with Christmas tunes playing in the background.
Friday, December 24th we followed the Smith family traditions. We began the day on Skype with the missing Smith family (Rick, Ann, Katie, Rachel, Julia, and Caleb are in Kenya).
Merry Christmas in Africa!
We then admired Bev’s beautiful table (Ann this picture is just for you!).
Followed by eating beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, the Smith salad, broccoli and cheese, corn, and resurrection rolls (these deserve their own blog post at another time…maybe Easter). The Smith Christmas Eve dinner is a tradition-it is the SAME every year…we love it!
Dinner is always followed by the Christmas play. With four missing actors and actresses, this year’s play was a bit unorthodox, but still meaningful in its basic story. I must say it included the most graphic birth of Christ I have ever seen (way to go Hannah).
Michele and I watched in warmth!
We ended the evening opening gifts from one to another. The highlight this year was a foosball table for Matthew, Mitch, and Mason. Thankfully, our choice of sweatshirts for our nieces were a hit.
Thank you to the Smiths for a family fun Christmas Eve!
I came out of this fall tired and weary. As my mom will quickly inform you, I have struggled my whole life with overcommitment. I always think I can do it all and do it all well. Plus, it it all sounds like so much fun!
Jesse and I have had many conversations about sharing our household load (he is so helpful!) and cutting back on our commitments. Even with these changes, I was still feeling overwhelmed with life. It may seem silly, but my New Year’s Resolution is actually to accomplish less…or better stated, to plan to accomplish only a few tasks each day.
In the past, I always tried to do as much as I could every minute of every day. I was feeling like all I did was work with no breaks and no downtime. My mind was constantly spinning.
Now I begin each day thinking about one to three things I want to accomplish and what fun thing I am going to do when I am done. I can always accomplish more things if I want, but I don’t feel the pressure of having to do everything all in one day. I have started a to do list to keep track of the big things that need done, so I can free my mind to relax when I have finished my daily tasks.
So far, I feel much better…and I have even finished a book…just for fun!
When I lived at home, my mom and I started watching Survivor. I have continued watching Survivor for the last 11 years. It has gone as far as having Survivor friends…a group of people getting together the evening of Survivor to share dinner and watch the show. Sadly, CBS changed the day of the week of Survivor and Jesse and I had a previous commitment on that night. I continued to watch the show the next evening. I also read Jeff Probst’s blog and the Ponderosa clips from the jury.
I enjoy the challenges, but the most interesting part to me is watching the social game. When you put people at the minimum of their basic needs, it is crazy what they will do for a million dollars.
I am of the opinion that Survivor is a game and the way people act on the show is not what they are like in real life, but I know others disagree with me.
I’m already excited for Season 22: Redemption Island!
In marriage one of the greatest blessings is joining two pasts into one…including two sets of holiday traditions. Jesse’s family celebrated Christmas Eve with the whole family and opened presents and then stockings. My family traveled to Indiana each year and ate specific Christmas cookies.
Together we have begun a new set of Christmas traditions. It all begins by cutting down the largest Christmas tree we can find. We go Christmas tree hunting the day after a snowstorm and when it is well below zero degrees.
Christmas Tree 2007Christmas Tree 2009Christmas Tree 2010
Another tradition is taking a day off of work for Christmas shopping. When you live in a big city, you are always trying to shop when everyone else is not shopping.
Lastly, we always spend Christmas with crazy travel plans.
Christmas 2007 (Chicago, Indiana, Neenah)Christmas 2008 (Chicago and Neenah)
This year we will drive to Chicago for Christmas Eve with the Smiths. We will then drive up to Northern Wisconsin for the Sutherland family Christmas. On Tuesday we will return to Minneapolis to fly to Phoenix, AZ for Christmas with the Lashbrooks. We love our crazy plans and our amazing families.
