Crawfish Reunited

 I had the blessing of being able to eat some crawfish while Michael and I were in Louisiana a couple weekends ago. Boy, did it taste good after not having any for just short of 7 years!

We were also able to stay with my dearest best friend from high school, Heather. She has a cute little apartment in downtown Alexandria and I loved being able to spend time catching up with her as usual. She tried her first crawfish that night. I know, she grew up in LA, but has never had the desire...until now ;) She actually liked it!

See that happy face? I love me some crawfish!

More pictures and info about our trip to come soon.

A Day in Thomasville, GA

We spent a wonderful Saturday perusing the cute downtown shops and sights of Thomasville, GA today! This time was spent with our dear friends the Jacksons from church here in Tallahassee. They have been telling us all the fun that it is to spend a Saturday in Thomasville, and finally, we made the trip with them. It was so much fun as we window shopped, looked at art galleries, doted over antiques, and even bought a little something special for the gals in the group!

We started off the day by going to fabulous Bread Wagon Bakery just north of Thomasville. We loaded up on tomato herb bread, cinnamon rolls, pumpkin cream cheese muffins, and sampled some other goodies from this local place that specializes in Amish and Mennonite products. So good!

After lots of shopping, discovering that a local shop carried DownEast clothing (the girls bought a couple 60% off pieces for themselves) and having people dote on the Jackson's cute little boy (seriously, it was like every 10 minutes...someone would stop and talk to him, complement him and his parents, etc.) we finished our day with a late lunch at Moonspin Pizza.

 Like my new jacket for just $20.00??? Score.

Our brilliant, stylish, talented, sweet, and ever so indulgent tour guides. We think they're kinda cool. Especially because they are the parents of the cute kid below. 

Yep, we used to call him "The Chunk". But now he's growing a lot and not as chunky anymore. He's so much fun to sing with, and make giggle. Michael and this little one are seriously good pals.

And let's not forget the amazing food we partook of. Michael and I are determined to revamp our pizza crust to make it like this place had perfected it. Crispy and light, but just the right amount of chewiness.

Cheesy Breadsticks. They speak for themselves. 

 

 Lucky Moon Pizza with arugula, feta, sliced chicken, and sweet onion. Sad story though, the restaurant was out of arugula because apparently some customer came in just before us and asked for many many salads with JUST arugula. Crazy! So, we opted for roasted red peppers instead. Pretty great, still!

Even though I got some pretty crappy sleep last night as a result of a most inconsiderate neighbor (who was up all night speaking loudly, playing video games, smoking, and I do believe drinking) and I was in a not so happy/peppy mood this morning, the rest of the day made up for it. Lovely day with lovely people.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies

 You know it's going to be a wonderful Valentine's Day when these beauties show up at the front desk of your internship. The ladies in reception called and left me a message on my work cell phone and told me that I had a package and it "needed to be picked up today, if at all possible". I knew something was fishy, because I hadn't given any of my work information to people who'd be shipping something to me. So, I was wondering if I might be getting something special. And I was right!

A dozen beautiful roses, in a beautiful mix of colors. I was pretty happy and I got so many jealous looks and comments from others in the office. I love that my man keeps me on toes with all sorts of surprises and ways to show me that he loves me. He sure knows how to make a gal feel like a million bucks!

So, we spent a nice Valentine's evening snuggled up on the couch with an assortment of French cheeses and a baguette, while watching Real Steel. Perfect little night for us. And I've been watching my roses bloom bigger and fuller each day this week. I love it. 

So what other special thing did I do to celebrate Valentine's day/week? I made some scrumptious Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies. It was a bit of a laborious process, but well worth every second as these are what I believe the BEST cookies I've ever had. I'm not kidding. I love me some red velvet and I love me some cheesecake, so naturally these are my dream cookies. I'm confident you will love them too. Make them as soon as possible, you haven't a moment to lose!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies
(adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod)

Ingredients:
For the cookies:
1 box red velvet cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)

2 tbs. all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the cheesecake filling:

4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the white chocolate drizzle:

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips, melted
1 tsp. canola oil

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together cake mix, flour, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. The dough will be oily. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
2. To make the cheesecake filling, using a mixer, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Using a teaspoon, scoop out cheesecake filling and place on a wax paper lined sheet pan. Continue scooping out cheesecake filling into teaspoon balls until you have 12. Place pan in the freezer and freeze for at least two hours (overnight if you can).
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. To assemble the cookies, take about 1/4 cup of red velvet cookie dough and flatten in your hands. Place a teaspoon of cheesecake filling in the center and wrap the cookie dough around the filling. Gently roll into a ball and place on greased baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies begin to crackle. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove from baking sheet to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.
4. Melt the white chocolate chips and oil in a microwave safe bowl or over a double-boiler. Drizzle the white chocolate over the cooled cookies. Let the cookies set until the chocolate hardens. Serve and enjoy!

Notes:
- These cookies are large and will spread, so make sure to give them plenty of space to do so on your baking sheets (I put about 4 cookies on each pan). 
-Depending on the humidity of where you live (thank you Florida) you may have to add a bit more flour to the cookie dough mixture so the dough is not too soft. I'd say a tbs. or more should do the trick.
-As these cookies are super soft, it's best to store them in the refrigerator.

Hello, Hello

Guess I better give another update seeing as it's almost been a month since my last one. What have we been doing? Well, if that picture gives you any clue, we are pretty much obsessed with Gnomeo and Juliet and either watch it, quote it, or joke about it at least once a week. Thank you Netflix Instant Streaming!

Our time as of late has been filled with getting to know more friends in our ward, playing with babies, sampling the food at local restaurants, attempting to run on a semi-regular basis, and playing with local "frienterns" (as we are so called at our internship).

We had a French night recently, filled with crepes, quiche, baguette and cheese, and a watching of the amazing Le Roi Soleil. 

We've been missing our family and friends in Utah and have pretty much decided that we'd like to move back there after my internship is over. First off, the weather here is hot and humid and we haven't even gotten in to Spring or Summer yet! Seriously, there were a couple nights last week that neither Michael nor I could sleep very well because everything was wet in our apartment. We'd experience wet cold, then wet hot. Yuck! Also, we just can't imagine starting the new "grown up" phase of our lives without family nearby. That really is the most important thing. 

We've been dreaming/scheming about buying our first home! I check for updates on homes for sale at least once a week. We're hopeful to find something during this year of 2012. 

Internship is going well and is super busy as usual. I'm just a week or so away from the halfway mark. My caseload increased a lot a couple weeks ago and I kinda almost had a major freakout, but then things leveled off and I'm really feeling like I know what I'm doing here. It's nice to just get in a normal rhythm and really enjoy and focus on patient visits, which is the most important thing. I'm not so worried about documentation as it comes more naturally now. My biggest task ahead is prepping for my midterm evaluation which requires 25 memorized songs, 2 books read with reports, a clinical report for Utah State, and a plan for the 2 major projects that I have due at the end of internship. Lots of work, but goodness nonetheless.

Other than that, we're just putting along as usual. Enjoying life and coming upon our 3rd anniversary. Has it really been that long? I can honestly say that we are just as silly and happy as we were the first day of marriage. It's a good life we have!

Easy Shrimp Etouffee

It's officially 2012! And what better dinner to make on New Year's Night than Shrimp Etouffee? I've been wanting to make etouffee for quite some time now, but have been putting it off mostly because I didn't know of a good recipe that was also simple, fast, and easy. This recipe is most definitely all of those qualities.

I'm amazed how authentic this tastes. I'm hoping in the near future to actually make an etouffee recipe from scratch with a roux, more butter, and maybe even a shrimp stock, but for now this will most definitely do! I might just have to go out and buy some crawfish, seeing as we are in the South and all, and make some Crawfish Etouffee!

Apart from waiting for the rice to cook, this takes all of 10 minutes to make. Talk about a fast weeknight dinner. I love it. And I'm sure you'll love it too. Especially if you're up for a little Cajun flavorful goodness. And who isn't?

Easy Shrimp Etouffee
(adapted from Food.com)

Ingredients:
2 tbs. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup medium Pace Picante Sauce
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
parsley, for taste and color
1 lb. medium raw shrimp (peeled, deveined)


Directions:

1. Melt butter in large skillet and saute garlic until fragrant. 
2. Add cream of mushroom soup, Picante sauce, and milk.
 Mix well until hot, about 5 minutes. 
3. Add crushed red pepper, parsley, and stir until well combined.
4. Add raw shimp and cook until shrimp are white, about 2-3 minutes. (Do not overcook shrimp).

5. Serve over hot rice.

Makes about 4 servings

Happy New Year!

Here's the original ball that drops every year in Times Square in New York. Pretty cool. 

Michael and I had a really fun celebration with some friends from my internship, and others. We played Kinect, drank some Butterbeer (yay for Harry Potter non-alcoholic beverages), ate good party food, and rang in the New Year with silly (but authentically New York) 2012 sunglasses. And Michael and I, of course, shared a kiss or two. 

I love the New Year and what it symbolizes. I actually gave a talk in church today on the topic of Hope. How perfect of a topic for the New Year. It gave me time to think back on last year and what has changed, what was unexpected, what was accomplished, and to look forward to 2012 with a "perfect brightness of hope". 

I referenced to one of my all-time favorite messages from General Conference history. This particular talk was by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin in October of 2006, titled "Sunday Will Come". I'm going to share my favorite quote from it, as I used to have this printed out and stuck up on my wall in my bedroom as a reminder to keep my head up, and always remember that there is hope. It's long, but SO good.

"I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross... On that Friday the Savior of mankind was humiliated and bruised, abused and reviled. It was a Friday filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored the Son of God. I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world’s history, that Friday was the darkest.

But the doom of that day did not endure.

The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind. And in an instant the eyes that had been filled with ever-flowing tears dried. The lips that had whispered prayers of distress and grief now filled the air with wondrous praise, for Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, stood before them as the firstfruits of the Resurrection, the proof that death is merely the beginning of a new and wondrous existence."

FAVORITE PART
"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.

But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.

No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come."

Post about the Black Family's Hopes and Dreams/Resolutions for the New Year to come soon!

A Merry "Little" Christmas

I can't believe it's taken me so long to post on our happy little blog here. I figured I ought to update everyone on what we've been doing and tell about our "little" Christmas we are having, seeing as we aren't going home to see family this year. But we are a family just the two of us, so it's pretty great! First off, you like our Christmas card? Many of you have probably seen this already, but I'm sharing it here with those we weren't able to send it to so everyone can be wished a Joyeux Noel from the Black family! We were hoping to take a nice picture in front of a palm tree, to be true to the Floridian landscape, but instead we took a picture in front of our pretty live Red Cedar Christmas tree!

Here's a list of a few more things that have been going on with us:

1. Michael and I have been getting even more settled in here in Tallahassee. We both now have callings in church, which makes us feel more like a part of the ward. Michael is the Assistant Scout Leader for the 11 year old boys. I'm the Assistant Leader for Activity Days (8-11 year old girls). Both groups meet on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month. It's kinda like we're back in the Young Men and Young Women organizations. We're pretty used to leaving mid week for activities with kids at church. This should be fun!
2. Everybody keeps asking us about the weather here in Tally, so I'll fill you in. We've decided that it's weird to not have snow surrounding Christmas. Even though I grew up in Louisiana, I think I got spoiled with the magic of the white stuff around the Holidays. And not only do we not have snow, but we have rain, humidity, and quite a bit of warm weather. It's actually been cooling down a bit the past week, so we've been appreciating that. Generally, we've been able to walk around in a light jacket or even without this whole time we've lived here. Which, I do have to admit is kinda nice. When I'm out and about for my internship, it's nice to not have to worry about bundling up and stepping in slushiness.
3. What can I say, this internship thing makes me really BUSY! I spend 40 plus hours each week practicing, learning music, making home visits, documenting (the real time consumer), going to meetings, and driving all across the county to my visits. It's a lot of hard work, and I'm really enjoying it. I sang at my first funeral this week for a patient and I was honored to have been asked to participate even when I'd only met the patient once. I sang 4 hymns and accompanied myself on the guitar. It was a special occasion. People keep asking me how I can do work in Hospice and I have to tell you, it's really an amazing experience. I don't feel like I'm a "special" person or have superpowers that allow me to work with people who are dying, it's just what I do. There is a need for Music Therapy in Hospice, and I am able to provide it. The comfort that I see music give to people and their families is astonishing. I'm the facilitator, which I think is a pretty sweet job!
4. Michael and I have made some good friends with a couple girls from my internship. Their families are from Pennsylvania and Connecticut, so we're all here in Tally for the holidays. It's just too far for us to go home, so we're having a little "Intern Dunch (Dinner/Lunch)" on Christmas Day. We're also making some good friends at church with 2 couples who both have babies that are about 1 year old. We're excited to spend more time with them as they are both fun. And one of the couples has a baby named Roman who is HUGE. Like 24 lbs. huge! He's the cutest thing ever and Michael and I call him "The Chunk". Michael is super good buddies with him while his father and I are in ward choir practice and Michael gives his mom a little break. 

Other than that, things are going well here and we're looking forward to waking up Christmas morning, opening presents, and having some fun video chats with loved ones. Thank goodness for technology being what it is so we can stay in touch with those we most cherish and miss!

I hope you are all having a Merry Christmas and that you have a Happy New Year! I've tried out many new recipes that I hope to share with all of you soon. Let's hope 2012 allows me a bit more time to devote to this blog and keep everyone updated on our lives and good times.

Love you and Joyeux Noel!