deblog

After looking at over 8 houses today we found our new home in Clarksville. It is absolutely beautiful and we love everything about it!

So by now I think most people have gathered the hints and  facts through my Twitter and Facebook page… But I thought I could make it all official.

Jason got offered a tenure track professor position in Clarksville, TN. So we started making plans to move down to Tennessee come August 1st, and he started making plans to quickly finish his dissertation. Well yesterday he defended his dissertation, so now besides a little bit of paperwork and an official commencement day of July 31st he is essentially a PhD!

During this time I started to figure out how to get my teacher’s license down there and apply for jobs… This past week I had four phone interviews… I got a call yesterday for an offer for a 2nd grade position. I am so excited and scared…. The first day of school is August 6th and we weren’t even planning on living in Clarksville until August 1st…  Ahhhhh

I feel like our grown up life is finally beginning now… we both got REAL jobs for the first time. I am excited about all the possibilities, scared about getting it all accomplished and sad to leave my friends here in Iowa….

We are taking the “Last Train to Clarksville” see you all later!

Today is the day… 2 hours until the start of the Boston Marathon. As of 5am Jason left his phone. So now I wait nervously to get that first text message that says he crossed the start… Hopefully they send one at the start, not all do… You all can track him or others, like Ryan Hall (who I am hoping wins it!!!), on BAA.org! This is will be the first marathon Jason is running that I’m not there for… I hope everything goes ok…  Besides getting text messages about him I will be getting updates on some of our dailymile friends who are running… All told I am following 6 different people!  Can’t wait!

Went to see Alice in Wonderland with Jason and Rachel. My expectations weren’t very high. I recently read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I wasn’t very impressed with either. I also am not a fan of Tim Burton movies and I had heard some mixed reviews. So, after going in with those expectations I left surprisingly pleased. It was entertaining and well done. I think it is important for people to realize that this is in no way a retelling of the old Disney movie nor is it a retelling of the books. It is, however, more closely related to the books. It is also not for children… I would definitely say a child should be over 10yrs old and then only at a parent’s discretion. Nothing overly graphic but definitely enough moments to cause some nightmares… So overall I say, go… see it. It is good. You won’t miss much if you choose to see it in 2d as opposed to 3d so don’t worry too much about that.

Other happenings. Jason has talked me into trying the 100 Push-up Program and I am also doing the 200 Squat Program… Today was day one and I feel like I can’t walk. It is going to be a long 6 weeks. I am in the lowest category for push ups and the second category for squats, but by the last round of squats I was wishing I was in the lower category!

Jason also started a fun tournament on Dailymile. It is called March Mile Madness, check it out. If you run, give it a try. It seems like to will be fun to watch everyone progress.

With my departure from the “business” of scrapbooking (AKA the store I worked at closing) I was looking for a way to keep up on industry news. I originally found Paperclipping Newsbreak, which has now morphed into Paperclipping Roundtable. On this last episode they asked for viewers to give their opinions as if they were a panelist on the show, and I actually felt I had something to contribute. So here it is:

Noell, Nancy, Renee and Lain were discussing the I-Top brad making tool by Imaginisce.  They pointed out that economically it didn’t make much sense since a pack of brads pre-made to match paper is often cheaper and provides you with more brads. My immediate thought was that if I buy a some paper and the matching brads, lets say the brads came in a set of 8… I will probably make one or maybe two layouts with that line of product. What are the odds I will use all 8 brads?? So realistically about 4-6 of those brads will be wasted, either given away or thrown away. Which means the $5.99 I spent originally for 8 brads was now $5.99 for 2-4 brads. With the I-Top, you can just make the brads you are going to use, therefore eliminating the waste and in the end making it more cost effective.

Jason and I have finally perfected our Schnecken recipe, Jason has translated it so you all can enjoy it. There are ways to translate the grams to cups and teaspoons but the only way we could get it to turn out properly was to use a digital scale and weigh the ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 625g flour
• 150g sugar
• 16g  powdered vanilla
• salt
• 165g butter
• 1/4 liter milk
• 42g yeast
• 25g ground almonds
• 250g sour cream
• 2 packets of vanilla pudding
• the appropriate milk amount based on pudding packages
• powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Mix 500g flour, 75g sugar, 8g powdered vanilla, and a pinch of salt.
2. Add 75g butter. Cut in with pastry blender.
3. Heat milk and dissolve yeast. (follow directions on yeast for the proper temperature, do not overheat)
4. Knead into flour mixture.
5. Let rise 30 minutes.
6. Make the dough into 10-12 patties. (hamburger like)
7. Let rise 20 minutes
8. Work 125g flour, 75g sugar, 8g powdered vanilla, pinch of salt, almonds, and 90g of butter into streusel.
9. Sprinkle on dough patties.
10. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes. (bake times vary, start checking after 20 minutes to be sure bottom isn’t burning)
11. Let cool and cut in half. (cut horizontally to form something like a hamburger bun)
12. Make pudding according to package directions then beat in sour cream.
13. Spread pudding mixture on the lower half of the schnecken replace top and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
14. Enjoy!