Just a day/night.

I love the times that you have no clue what to make for dinner so you just start throwing random things together.

In to the crock pot I threw:

a pork loin

all of the leftover honey I had in a little bottle

the rest of my brown sugar

hot pepper sauce

Worcestershire sauce

ketchup

apple cider vinegar

a can of tomato sauce

fresh garlic

chopped onions

salt 

pepper

and

chili powder

for 4 hours on high.

Who would have thought I would have gotten this reaction...

And I quote, "Babe, babe, whoa, this is the best thing that you have ever made! Like, ever."

"RealllllyyyY?  I didn't even have a recipe."

"You are lying. What?! You better be able to get this exact combination again!"

Uh oh.  I didn't measure a thing.  Shucks.  I served this Pork concoction over brown long grain rice.  I'll have to try it again and write it down.  I have to admit, there is no feeling in the world like making something for my John and watching him enjoy it.  He makes me feel like the best wife in the world.

After dinner John and I had much studying and paper writing to do.  This is what the table of two married college students writing papers look like...

(John arranged these in the special spiral shape...so artistic.)

Before we really got going on our studies we went to Maggie Moo's Ice Cream Shoppe.

(those look like huge old people scary hands)

I had Fresh Banana Ice Cream with fudge, graham cracker crust, and cookie dough.  Glad we got the small, that stuff was so rich!

Then we came home and wrote our papers til the wee hours of the morning.   We don't remember the last time we went to bed on the same day that we woke up.  Our normal bedtime is anywhere between 1 and 3am.  We can't take it anymore.

Must.

have.

rest.

I guess we are just practicing weird and horrible sleep schedules so we will be better prepared when we have our little babies.

Growing up...

I have never seen anyone so excited.

Yesterday was John's first day of college...EVER.

He was so excited the night before he said it felt like Christmas. He couldn't sleep and was smiling so big all night. He hasn't been in school for 4 years because right after high school he served his two year mission in Mexico, and he's has been working for his uncle for the past year and a half. He has been talking about how much having that break made him appreciate the chance to get an education.

He woke up before his alarm went off at 7 AM, and jumped out of bed and showered and had breakfast all before 7:30! (We are 15 minutes away from campus and his first class is at 10) I was so excited for him too that I got up with him.

He had been talking about getting school supplies all week. I picked up a school supplies list from Kroger for the local elementary school and gave it to him...he was worried because he didn't have safe scissors, a glue stick, or a box of tissues.

The night before school he wanted to pick out his "first day of school outfit". It was all a quite precious scene. I love that boy more than life.

So, this whole experience has got me thinking about how quickly this life moves. It seems like just yesterday I was standing in the check out line with my mother holding some good ole Elmer's glue and a Lisa Frank notebook. I can't believe how fast the time is passing. It makes me wonder,

are we doing things of purpose with the small amount of time we have here?

I sure hope so.

So, yesterday when he was away learning I made him a first day of school banner and put it over our fireplace.

When he came home we had Chicken Milanese from the "California Pizza Kitchen" Cookbook. Yum. I didn't have a meat pounder thingy so I just used our hammer.

I cut this recipe in a quarter since it was only the two of us eating but I still needed the entire egg.

8 chicken breasts

1 egg

1 cup Dry bread crumbs (plain)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

3/4 cups olive oil

8 cups arugula

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 cups checca (recipe to follow)

2 lemons

1. Place the chicken breasts between sheets of waxed paper and pound them to thickness of 1/4 inch.

2. Crack the egg into a shallow dish and beat it lightly with a fork or a whisk. Combine the bread crumbs, salt, and pepper in another shallow dish. Dip both sides of each chicken in the egg, shake off excess, and then dip into the breading mixture, coating evenly. Stack the breaded chicken pieces on a plate.

3. Heat half of the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Cook half of the chicken breasts on one side until golden brown. Turn and cook the other side. Remove the chicken to a large serving platter covered with paper towels. Repeat with remaining chicken.

4. Distribute the arugula over the chicken and drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil. Spoon the checca over the arugula, sprinkle with Parmesan shavings, and serve immediately with lemon halves on the side.

(I cooked the checca in the pan with the chicken and added red wine vinegar, it made the flavors pop so much more!)

Checca:

Combine 4 roma tomatoes cut into quarters, 1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 2 large fresh basil leaves chopped, and 1/4 cup olive oil.

*Add a little red wine vinegar to this!