Longhorn Lovin'

Dan was not in the greatest of moods on Saturday. I was.

What a good game, though. I wish I had done a Chuck Klosterman-esqu commentary through the game to document all my ranging emotions. OURUF has totally messed me up. I found myself simultaneously cheering and sighing when Texas made a good play. I would snap my fingers with me right hand and high-five Dan with my left when OU completed a pass. It was very schizophrenic. But of course I really do love my alma mater the best and I'm glad we won. I love my husband more, but that doesn't change anything.

The Good, the Bad, and ChaCha

The Good

Today I had an interview to work at a church here in STL part-time starting in December. I won’t say exactly which church it is, since the position isn’t officially open yet for some reason. Tomorrow morning I am going to call them and tell them I will take the job (if they’ll have me, which I think they will). This job sounds really awesome. It will be a little bit of tedious stuff like record-keeping, but also some creative things like putting together flyers or calendars and things. It’s also the front desk position for the church office. And they are flexible around whatever class schedule I would have at Covenant (the girl I am replacing is about to be a Covenant graduate). So, I’ll let you know how it goes.

The Bad

Since Saturday, I have been having several symptoms which clearly indicated to me that I probably have a urinary tract infection. Today Dan and I decided to get me to a doctor to get some antibiotics. After my interview at the church, we were directed to a clinic at a hospital which was supposedly an urgent care clinic that took walk-ins. There was a clinic, but it didn’t take walk-ins. We called some doctors offices that took our insurance. They couldn’t see me until December. They told us to go to another hospital that also supposedly had an urgent care clinic. It didn’t have a clinic. Instead we spent 3 hours at the emergency room waiting to see someone. THEN they have the gall to tell me I DON’T EVEN HAVE AN INFECTION. Apparently my urine is just fine, thank you (can I say urine on the internet?). The PA says I am just having bladder spasms. So we go to leave. To top all of this off, we don’t even know if or how our insurance will cover this possibly exorbitantly expensive bout of bladder spasms because we haven’t received my insurance card in the mail yet. So, I’ll let you know how it goes.


I am working (?) as a ChaCha guide. If you don’t know what ChaCha is, you should go to the website here. Using ChaCha is free except normal text messaging rates from your carrier. So you can use it and not only get useful information with your cell phone but also make me money. So far I have made a little over $7. But I haven’t worked very much, and your pay rate doubles once you start answering above a certain threshold amount of queries in a given time span. If you are interested in becoming a ChaCha guide like me, talk to me about it. (If I refer you I can get a bonus.) So, I'll let you know how it goes.

Discovered: Quality Espresso in St. Louis

I admit it, I have become a snob when it comes to certain beverages- especially beer and coffee. Regarding coffee, I have been ruined. After being trained and having the freedom to pull espresso shots at my leisure on a very quality commercial machine, it takes a lot for me to enjoy espresso from most coffee shops. By no means am I an incredible barista, but if I know that I have pulled better espresso than the baristas at the shop, I won't bother ordering it. I'd rather drink subpar drip brew than par espresso.

Since leaving Norman, Second Wind, and the Lundgaard Coffeehouse, I haven't had a quality cup of espresso. But, now I hope. I have found it at 4251 Laclede Ave in the Central West End of St. Louis. They roast their own beans, they use a very quality espresso machine, and their staff knows coffee. Well done Northwest Coffee Roasting, you just gained another customer.

[For those of you who care, they pull Northern Italian style of espresso that is lighter in color, lighter in body, a little fruity, with some flora notes.]

Banking in the Midwest

"This is gonna sound weird but..."

Dan and I had just finished up some banking at our local Bank of America. Our very nice personal banker associate, David had helped us consolidate some credit cards and change my name on our new accounts, etc. The last time we had come to the bank, David had offered us some Cardinals tickets. Unfortunately, they were for the Friday night my parents are coming to town to visit us, and we had to refuse. This time, David had no cardinals tickets for us. Instead:

"This is gonna sound weird but... do you guys like cucumbers?"

"Sure," said the Smiths.

It was nearing 6 o'clock closing time, and apparently someone had brought home-grown cucumbers to work that day and one really huge one had gone untaken. David returned with not only the cucumber, but some dog treats wrapped in a money envelope for our dog, Lucy.

Is this weird to anyone else? I have NEVER gone to the bank and left with anything but cash in my pocket. But here in Missouri they apparently give gifts to you when you come to the bank. Cucumbers, dog treats and cardinals tickets.

Upon handing us the dog treats, David said, "Here ya go, a late wedding present, if you will."

One other thing to note is that I am applying to work at this Bank of America location. They really are ridiculously nice there. Both David and his boss Richard said they would call the Bank of America recruiters and recommend me for the teller job that is posted. And I had already seen a notification of their referral when I got home tonight. So maybe I will get to work there and 1. get lots of free dog treats/produce 2. Get the scoop on why they give away fun free stuff so much...

Comin Right Up

I haven't blogged in a week or so because, well because I'm BUSY THANK YOU VERY MUCH. That and I've been cooking. A lot. I've realized that when you cook a meal everyday for not jut yourself you are little more conscious of providing a complete meal that has a variety of foods and seems somewhat balanced. No just eating mac and cheese for your whole dinner. (3 nights in a row)

I'm also a lot more excited about meals. They are challenging and I want to impress Dan with something good (I'm sure this will fade). And when the plates are on the table, I end up making him wait so I can take pictures to show you people.

First we have tonight's meal:
Ribeye steaks marinated in soy sauce, EVOO and steak seasoning
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Corn
Blood Orange Juice and Tequila (for me)



September 16:
Salmon with Tequila Cream Sauce
Blanched Asparagus
Rice
Sliced Avocado
Chardonnay


September 12
Ceviche with Shrimp, Tilapia, Sweet Potatoes, and Avocado
Modelo Especial


I think this was by far the worst meal we've had. The raw fish just didn't taste good. And I like sushi. So I'm not really sure what went wrong.


Finally, on another topic, Lucy is really excited about Halloween. She tried on a cotume possibility recently:

Some Wedding Photos

We got our wedding photos in the mail! Here are a few of my favorites:


Getting ready. The AC was only just starting to work properly when we arrived at the church.


My wonderful bridesmaids!


Us.


Feeding.


Dancing.


Clint.


Doug.


Colin.


Aaron.


Everyone.

This video goes out to my brother the day after his birthday

Last night our friends the Lathans came over to grill some yummy chicken and corn and bratwursts. Sara and I were messing around on the computer for awhile, checking out sites like Fail Blog and Engrish and Cute Overload. We found the above video and laughed so hard we cried.

Dan is back at school today. I am taking a class with him on Monday nights, Spiritual Ministry Formations. That starts next week. Other than that I'm just at home getting house-type stuff done. And avoiding the huge task of writing thank-you notes. I will probably start some of that this afternoon.