World Series Win and a Trip to Cape Girardeau

I'm sorry that it has been so long since my last post. There isn't too much to write about these days.

First of all, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series!!!!! Wooo!!!!!! As many of you know the Cardinals are my team. Being in St. Louis for this World Series was very exciting. Almost every business in St. Louis allowed their employees to wear Cardinals gear. I wore Cardinals shirts for like 2 weeks straight. When the Cards won it, there was a parade and celebration inside Busch Stadium. The tickets were $5 and the proceeds went to charity. Nate and I went to both. It was awesome! We had great seats. We enjoyed the Budweiser Clydesdales, the players and the managers. I love the Budweiser Clydesdales. Those horses embody St. Louis. My mom used to take me to see them when I was little at Grant's Farm. I was so happy share the celebration with the players and the thousands of Cardinal fans. Here are some pictures from that day.


Here is a shot of the crowds for the parade.


Here is a shot of the Clydesdales!


The players gathered around Tony LaRussa as he gives his speech.


One of us at the celebration!

Soon after the glorious triumph by the St. Louis Cardinals, we took a trip to Cape Girardeau. We were invited back to attend the Semi-Annual Sausage Supper. Some of you might remember this from last year. Nate had the experience of cutting up the hogs and making the sausage with the Men's Club guys. It was great to be able to go see everyone down there and to partake in some good cookin'. We dearly miss our friends in Cape and love it when we get to visit.

My dad and his best friend Steve take a trip every year that they call ManTrip. They just took their trip and returned today. They had a great time exploring caves in Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. They hit places like Nashville, Tn; Pigeon Forge, TN; Kentucky Lake, Murray State University and many more places. They blog about their travels and post pictures for every day. If you haven't checked out their travels, you really should. Visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/ManTripUSA. Become a fan!

In other news, Nate has had the past week off school and will be off until after Thanksgiving. This has been a nice break for him. He even cleaned our apartment and did a great job! What a guy! I like him being off school! :)

Well, that's all for now. I hope you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving!

God is good!

New Recipe and Sports

I'm sorry that it has been a while since my last post. We haven't had too much going on that is worth reporting. We are both working a great deal. Nate is getting into the busier part of the quarter. Our weeks fill up quick with work, homework, Nate doing things at his fieldwork church and I am leading a Bible study with some of my girlfriends from the seminary.

I have come across a new excellent recipe. When Nate and I were at Concordia Wisconsin we really enjoyed the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread from the BBC. I saw this recipe posted on one of my friends' (Karen Garkie) wall on facebook, I thought I would give it a try. It was sooooooooo good. It tasted pretty much the same as the bread from our past. So Good!




Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

■3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
■2 teaspoon cinnamon
■1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
■1/2 teaspoon allspice
■1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
■2 teaspoon baking soda
■2 teaspoon salt
■1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree (15 ounce can)
■1 cup vegetable oil
■3 cups sugar
■4 large eggs
■1 teaspoon vanilla extract
■2/3 cup water, room temperature
■1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9×5 inch loaf pans.
2.In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3.In another large bowl, whisk together the oil and pumpkin puree. Add the sugar and whisk to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract and water. Stir in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.
4.Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Do not over mix. Divide between the two prepared loaf pans and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking time. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack.

Source: Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

This weekend was Oktoberfest at the seminary. It is a night where they feed all the the seminarians and their families. There is a live German band and free beer flowing. We had a great time hanging out with our friends. The night ended with us sitting around a fire with our friends and the Cardinals winning their game that night.

Speaking of the Cardinals, this has been very exciting! Of course, as you all know, I am a very big fan of the Cardinals as a native of the most wonderful city of St. Louis. If there is one thing for certain, the city of St. Louis loves the Cardinals. President Obama was in town and regardless of how people thought about him, for or against, the Cardinals game that night had more publicity that day. The Cardinals have made it a long way this post season. Since our little friend the "rally squirrel" showed up he has caused a big commotion in the Lou. A great thing that has come from the rally squirrel is that Cardinal Glennon, one of our Children's hospitals, sold rally squirrel t-shirts raising over $150,000 for a playground in their hospital. This last series has been hard for me. I have a special place in my heart for Milwaukee but when the Cards are playing the Brewers, there is no contest in my book. Great job Brew Crew. I am so excited to be in my hometown with my home team going to the World Series!

WE'RE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!

Looking for 11 in '11!






That's all for now. God is good!

More LWML, Tower Tee, St. Louis Friends and Cape Friends

Hi Everyone,

It has been a little over a month since my last post but there hasn't been a ton of stuff to report since the last time I posted.

Right now is the busy season at LWML. LWML Sunday is October 1st. Since one of my responsibilities as the Office Assistant is to answer the phone and take orders, that is pretty much the only thing that I have been doing. The order form for LWML Sunday said to get orders in by September 1, you can imagine what it has been like lately. The phone has been ringing off the hook. Sometimes I don't even have a moment to take a bathroom break without leaving the phone while it is ringing. I think things will start to die down a little bit later this week. It has been a very pleasant working experience. I enjoy talking to people on the phone all day. You never know what interesting conversation may arise.

Nate has been working at Tower Tee a great deal lately. They are short-handed so he has been picking up shifts. He worked more hours than I did last week. He has been having a lot fun and playing free golf! He also just started school, it's going well. He has been asked to lead a small group Bible study and he will be directing the Seminary Handbell Choir again. So with classes, work and his extra curriculars, he has become quite a busy guy.

One of the nice things about being back in St. Louis is that a great deal of our college friends either live here because it is their permanent home or because they are also attending the seminary. It has been great to get back and reunite with these people.

Yesterday and today we had the opportunity to see some of our friends from our vicarage congregation. Yesterday we went to the Southeast Missouri District Fair aka. the SEMO Fair. It was wonderful we ran into many of our friends. We had lunch with our friends Jim and Vicki Frank. We hung out with Jonathan and Annie Micheal and their baby, Garret, who is precious! We saw a girl from the congregation, Danielle, compete in a karaoke contest. We watched a Horse Pull with the Schweer family minus Diane, she was busy. We had a GREAT time watching the Tractor/Truck/Hot Rod Pull with John and Charlotte Edwards. That event was super cool! I had never been to a tractor pull that wasn't for antique tractors.

Today we went to a Cardinals game with our friends Jeff and Sarah Heuer and Todd and Amy Roth. For the youth auction at Hanover when we were there we auctioned off tickets for a Cardinals game. We called it "Nosebleed Seats at the Cardinals Game with Vicar and Katie". Our friends that came with us were very generous and won the tickets. We had a great view in the shade from section 437 at Busch Stadium. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for a game. The Cardinals even won meaning that they swept the Braves this series. There was also some great commemoration for September 11th.


This is one of Nate, Todd and Jeff at the game.

As you can imagine we had an excellent time catching up with our friends at the Cards game and last night. We miss our friends from Cape dearly and we hope that we can see them off and on throughout the year. Cape Girardeau is a very wonderful place. It has some of the most wonderful people I have ever met; friendly, caring and God-fearing.

It is crazy to think that 10 years ago today was the day of the September 11th attacks. We remember the lives lost, families who lost their loved ones, the first responders and the people who are defending our country now. We pray for these people and our country. God has blessed America in even our toughest times.


Part of the commemoration at Busch Stadium was a massive American Flag hung from the ladders of two St. Louis Fire Department trucks.

That's all for now. God is good!

Connecticut, LWML and St. Louis!

Hello Everyone! Last time I wrote Nate and I were beginning our trip to Connecticut. We had a great time there visiting with his family and friends. We attempted to go to a Yankees game but we got all the way to New York City and had to turn around. The game was postponed due to rain. All in all we had an excellent visit.

Since we have returned, Nate has been busy helping my dad in Greek because he has started classes at the seminary. Nate also got a job working at a golf course called Tower Tee. His favorite time to work so far out of the 3 shifts he has worked is Thursday morning. There is a Women's Seniors League that plays at this time and they crack Nate up. He is really enjoying this job. He gets to work a Glow Ball tournament tonight (Glow in the dark golfing)! Nate also cooked his first meal. He did really well, the only thing that didn't go as planned was it was a tad spicy. That's an easy fix though. This recipe was not the easiest in the world, especially for his first try. I'm very proud him!

I am now a good 2 weeks into my job at LWML. I love talking to the ladies that call in, they are hilarious. I love having a routine again. I also love having a commute to decompress and listen to some music.

We are loving being back in St. Louis. We have many friends here so its great to hang out with people. We went to the Muny and saw Singing in the Rain. I went with some girls from CPH to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers this week and it was excellent. We even had tickets. I have never sat in the not free seats before...thanks CPH! Nate had never been before and he enjoyed it. The only downside was the blistering heat.

Speaking of the blistering heat, holy cow, it has been like living on the face of the sun. Okay, maybe that was an overstatement. I have to say that it has been quite hot for a St. Louis summer. The good news is that it is like the Alaskan Tundra at LWML. When I walk out of work, it doesn't feel like a wave of heat, I'm just thawing out.

I tried a new delicious recipe last week. I have been on a chicken fried rice kick; so, I decided to try and find a recipe for it. This is delicious. I do substitute Olive Oil to make is a tad healthier and that seems to work just fine.

Here is the link.: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robert-irvine/chicken-fried-rice-recipe/index.html


Ingredients
3 large eggs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil, for frying
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into thin strips
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
4 cups cold, cooked rice
6 green (spring) onions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish, optional
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Directions
Beat eggs with a whisk in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Heat very little oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat and make an omelette using half the beaten eggs. Turn out onto a plate to cool (do not fold omelette). Repeat process with remaining beaten eggs. Place 1 omelette on top of the other, fold and coarsely chop. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, toss chicken strips with the sesame oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil over high heat in large frying pan or wok and stir-fry the prepared chicken strips until lightly golden, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until onion has softened. Add 2 tablespoons more vegetable oil and when hot, stir in the cooked rice and green onions, tossing and mixing thoroughly until very hot. Sprinkle with soy sauce and mix evenly. Remove from heat and stir in chopped cooked egg. If desired, garnish with additional sliced green onions.

Delicious!!!!

Well, that's all for now! I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! God is good!

Move and Trip to Minnesota and South Dakota

On Tuesday, June 21st Nate and I moved from Cape Girardeau, MO back to St. Louis, MO for Nate's last year of seminary. It was very hard for us to leave Cape. The people of Cape were so nice to us in our time there. They sent us off with lots of love. We will miss them greatly.

We moved into an apartment about a mile from the seminary campus. It is a small apartment but it's not bad for two of us. The hard part about this move was the fact that we were moving from a three bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment that consists of 4 rooms. My clothes aren't getting the freedom of being spread out among 3 rooms. This is a good time to go through some, huh? The nice thing about moving into a small apartment is the fact that there isn't as much to clean. I am very happy about this.

Moving back to St. Louis also means being close to my parents again which is nice. Nate is busy working with my dad on his summer Greek since he has started Seminary classes. My sister Victoria is home most of the time for her summer break and my mom was a big help in our move.

Two days after we moved to St. Louis we left for a road trip to Minnesota and South Dakota. Our first stop was in Waconia, Minnesota to see the Lane family. Katie Lane is a good friend of mine from Concordia. Katie is a missionary in Peru and was home visiting the states in June. We are also friends with her brother, Marcus, and soon to be sister-in-law, Vanessa who were also visiting home that weekend. We had a great time catching up and seeing the sites of Waconia.

Our next stop was Lakefield, MN to see my friend Amanda. Amanda was one of my roommates my senior year at CUW. She showed us her small hometown where she grew up and her family farm which is really big. They farm corn and soy beans. We had a great time catching up and hanging out with her too!

Our last stop was the wedding of Chad and Jenna (Newman) Elfe. They are friends of Nate and mine from CUW and they are also at the seminary. They were married in Sioux Falls, SD in a very nice outdoor setting, under a tree by a river. There were even two people in a canoe who passed by on the river during the wedding. I did get a little sunburn but it was well worth it. We were able to see many of our friends from CUW at this wedding. Including our friends Andrew and Shayla Gerike. We are all pictured below. It was a very great trip overall and on Sunday we headed back to St. Louis to continue unpacking.



For the next 10 days Nate and I will be visiting his family in Connecticut. I'll fill everyone in our adventures there when we get back.

Well, that's all for now. God is good!