Happenings...

There isn't much going on in the life of Nate and Katie right now. We are just living life until Nate is done with school.

Thanks to a sale from Southwest Airlines, about a month ago I had the privileged of going to visit one of my very best friends in the whole world, the lovely Rachel McCall. Rachel is a music director at a church in Fredricksburg, TX. I flew into San Antonio. Rachel picked me up and we went to the Alamo and the Riverwalk. Both of those were very cool. The rest of the weekend we spent time exploring the small town of Fredricksburg, going to all the little shops and taking pictures with everything hysterical we could find. We also took a trip to Luckenbach, TX. We heard some serious guitar picking there. Rachel's brother is the pastor of her church, so we had a good time hanging out with her brother, his wife and their four kids. We had so much fun cooking and staying in one room with bunk beds. It was like a weekend long slumber party. You are never too old for those, in my opinion. We even fed the ducks. We laughed until we cried. The weekend was simply amazing.

Some pics from the weekend...


This is where they shot a scene from Miss Congeniality!


Rachel's Church


Hanging out with Hondo!


Rachel...the Duck Whisperer!



Feeding the Ducks...

I tried a new recipe this month.

Like most women, I have been addicted to Pinterest for a while now. One of the things I love is the recipes. The Ranch Pulls from my last post were also discovered on Pinterest. I have an intolerance for tomatoes therefore, when it comes to Mexican food I am kind of limited. When I find a recipe that looks delicious and doesn't contain a great deal of tomatoes or tomato sauce I am totally in. Nate and I both really liked this recipe. I liked it because it was easy, quick and will be easy to freeze in the future when I finally get a house with a deep freeze someday. I cut the recipe in half when I made it.

Here is the source: http://www.budgetsavvydiva.com/2012/02/chicken-enchiladas/

The Best Chicken Enchiladas

Entree: 5 mins : 35 mins : 40 mins : 10

Simply the Best Enchiladas
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
3 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. Corn Starch
2 cups chicken broth
1 Clove of Minced Garlic
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt and Pepper
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 Finely Chopped Jalapenos seeded
1 Teaspoon of lime juice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 pan.
In a medium size bowl mix – chicken, 1 cup of cheese, garlic – roll mixture into tortillas and place into pan.
In a sauce pan – melt the butter and stir in corn starch and cook for one minute. Add broth and whisk until smooth. Keep over heat until it bubbles and becomes thick. Stir in sour cream, chopped Jalapenos, lime, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Do not let it boil.
Pour mixture over enchiladas and top with the last cup of cheese.
Bake for 25 min – You will want to make sure the cheese has browned.

If any of you were wondering about our status in the call process, here is a little update. We have had four interviews in Indiana, Wisconsin and Texas. Call day is May 1st.

In five days, Nate and I will be celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary. Here is a pic from the big day. :)

It's been a while...oops

Hi everyone! I dropped the ball a little bit on the blog over the holidays. As everyone always says the holidays are a busy time. They were busy for us but that shouldn't be an excuse. A lot has happened since the last time I posted.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving in St. Louis with my family. My birthday was right after Thanksgiving and we had a great get together with family and friends. We went Fitz's in The Loop for dinner with the family. If you are in St. Louis, go to Fitz's, it's excellent. They make their own root beer, creme soda and orange soda. They also have great burgers! Then we headed over to Blueberry Hill to play darts and hang out with friends. Nate's birthday is 2 weeks after mine. We went out to dinner again with the family to Hodaks. Also a great place. It has probably the best fried chicken I have ever tasted. You should really check out the place if you are in the Lou sometime.

Christmas Eve we went out to dinner with Steve and his family. For those of you who don't know Steve, he is one of my dad's best friends. He and his family are part of our family. We then went to Christmas Eve church. On Christmas Day we went to church, opened presents and then went to Wiesehan Christmas (Steve's family). It was a lovely Christmas!

On Christmas Eve before church I decided to try a new recipe. I love chicken wings, a lot. I also have a deep passion for cream cheese. I decided to try a recipe that merged my two food loves. Buffalo chicken dip. mmmmmm. My sister and I were quite happy with this. I then took it to a night with some friends after Christmas. It has gotten some great reviews. The recipe is below. Here is the link to the website I got it from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buffalo-chicken-dip/



Ingredients

2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch dressing (I didn't use quite as much Ranch...depends on how tangy you want it)
3/4 cup pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot®)...I used Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Wing Dip...It's a little milder.
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 bunch celery, cleaned and cut into 4 inch pieces
1 (8 ounce) box chicken-flavored crackers
Directions

Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in half of the shredded cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on Low setting until hot and bubbly. Serve with celery sticks and crackers. I put mine in a little crock pot to keep it warm. MMMM.

The day after Christmas we flew to Connecticut to see Nate's family. We saw a lot of people there. It was actually a good year for us to go out for Christmas because a lot of Nate's family who doesn't live in Connecticut was visiting as well. They were very kind and waited until we got there to have Wollenberg Christmas. We saw his mom's family as well. Nate's grandma on his mom's side is having some health problems. Please keep her in your prayers. We had a chance to visit with Nate's friends from high school. Great trip overall.

I tried another recipe for one of the family gatherings in CT. It is called Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pulls. I know...you're hungry already. Here is the link for the website I got it from http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/07/cheddar-bacon-ranch-pulls.html.



Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pulls

1 unsliced loaf of (round is preferable) sourdough bread
8-12 oz cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
3 oz bag Oscar Mayer Real Bacon bits (I used the real deal)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp Ranch dressing mix

Using a sharp bread knife cut the bread going both directions. Do not cut through the bottom crust. Place slices of cheese in between cuts. Sprinkle bacon bits on bread, making sure to get in between cuts. Mix together butter and Ranch dressing mix. Pour over bread. Wrap in foil the entire loaf in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

On the day that we flew back, since we were flying out of NYC, we decided to go into the City. I don't know about you but ever since I saw Home Alone: Lost in New York, I have wanted to see the tree in Rockefeller Center. It was very cool. I think it would be even more awesome at night but this was still quite lovely. We also visited the M&M's store, Hershey Store, Times Square, Benton Park and the Nintendo Store. It was a nice little trip to the city.





We are now back in St. Louis, back to normal. Nate has been working hard with his Handbell group on some excellent pieces for the seminary talent show. It is going to be great. I will be traveling to Texas in a week to see my very wonderful friend Rachel McCall. I will try to keep the blog more updated as 2012 progresses.

That's all for now.

God is good!

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!