A Curry Dinner and Other Interesting Things from the Kitchen

Tonight I made my first curry dish -- at least I think that's what it was. I don't think Americans really understand exactly what makes a "curry" dish (although if the recipe calls for curry that's probably a good indication) so please friends who are Indian (or living in India, ahem, Amanda Lehman) please correct me if I am incorrectly labeling my dish.

Anyways, I went on a quest this week to find some new recipes, so I whipped out my trusty Simply in Season cookbook and flipped to Autumn because it clearly is that season now. (If you're living in Indiana right now it feels like Seattle with all this dreariness). Last night I tried Pumpkin Sausage Pasta and tonight was Red Lentil Coconut Curry. Neither one I was a fan of, but of course, my husband with a sweet tooth adored. He loves anything with curry I've been informed. The Pumpkin Sausage was pretty much what it sounds like - a thick sauce with pumpkin and sausage (and a bunch of other stuff) poured over pasta. I thought it would be more a contrast of sweet and salty from the sausage, but it wasn't. It was a little too sweet for me. The Red Lentil Curry had tons of spices - the usual suspects in Indian type dishes - red lentils, sweet potatoes, peas, onions, and I substituted broccoli for the called for cauliflower. Again, a bit on the sweet side for me. I think this is a good time to admit my addiction to salty foods, or maybe another less severe way of saying it is, I prefer my dinners to be more salty than sweet. I'm just saying -- if a hamburger and a lentil curry were staring me in the face...well, the choice is obvious for me.

The joys of cooking in the Bedinghaus home. Who knows what next week will bring? Stay tuned....

Rob says, "Yum!"

Clearly there will be leftovers....

A Pennsylvania Visit

There are not many perks to being unemployed, but I have discovered some. One of those perks is having a flexible schedule that allowed me to fly to Pennsylvania this past weekend and spend some time with my family. Rob had to stay in Indiana and be our breadwinner (ie. he went to class), but I flew to PA on Friday morning and stayed until Wednesday morning.

Part of the reason I went was because it was Sister's Beach Weekend. As some of you know, my mom is the youngest of five children - three sisters and a brother - so years ago the sisters started a tradition of going to the beach in New Jersey together for a weekend every fall. As their children grew up they expanded the weekend to allow any of my female cousins to come along as soon as they turned 40. Since there is such an age range among the siblings I have a handful of cousins who fit those requirements. Clearly, I am not one of them.

Considering that I am only 25 and also considering that my aunts will potentially be "ancient" by the time I'm 40 my mom asked if the 40 rule could be renegotiated. They decided that it could be, allowed me to come this year, and then next year the sisters will open it up to the rest of my female cousins who aren't 40 yet. Sweet! This rule also includes all the in-laws from my guy cousins so we're talking about 14 or 15 people here. This year there were nine of us and boy, did we have fun! My aunts and my mom are great people all around, but when we get everyone together it is hilarious. Particularly when the Loaded Questions game comes out... :)

On Friday mom took a half day off school and picked me up from the Philadelphia airport and we drove down to Cape May where everyone else was already together. The rest of the weekend was spent laughing, reading, sitting by the pool (when the sun shone!), shopping, playing games, talking, and going out to dinner. It was so fun for me to be included into the Sisters Beach Weekend "club" and I felt so welcomed and loved.

Mom and I outside the restaurant on Friday evening

Everyone sitting by the pool on Saturday afternoon. For October, it was a nice day. This is a very typical scene from when my family gets together - everyone reading by the pool or the ocean!

We ate dinner Saturday night at a restaurant where someone my Aunt Millie knows knows the owner. (That's how we got the wine Aunt Mill is holding - we're a little too Mennonite to buy it ourselves!)

Pictured from left to right: Carol Jean (married to my mom's brother Bud), Joan (my mom's next oldest sister), Tut (that's her nickname, my mom's oldest sister), my mom, Kristal (Tut's oldest daughter), Heather (married to Tut's youngest son Kendall), me, Mill (my mom's middle sister), and Lynda (married to Tut's oldest son Kyle). What a great looking group!

Sunset over Cape May, located at the very end of New Jersey

Mom, Mill, Heather, and I walked the beach Sunday morning. It was so foggy you can barely see the fishermen on the point behind us

By lunchtime the fog was gone so we sat by the pool again until it was time to go

Mom planned the trip so after we left the beach on Sunday I could still spend some time at their house in PA until Wednesday. Even though I missed Rob terribly, it was good to be in my childhood home. There is something so special about going back to the place that holds the most memories from my life. It is such a peaceful place for me to be and I really love it there. I spent some time with my dad running errands (hooray for Wawa coffee!) and talking with him, making dinner one evening, and shopping with my mom. Mom also asked if I could come into her 4th grade classroom on Tuesday and teach a writing lesson. She said since I was a "real" writer her kids would really like to hear from me. Thankfully she told me what to teach - how to vary the way sentences start when writing a personal narrative so they don't all start with "I" - and gave me the material. I had a great time being in her classroom with her and meeting all her sweet kids. I don't think teaching 4th grade is in my future, but it was fun to visit and do one lesson.

Me with two of the boys from mom's class. They were working hard on an assignment I gave them :)

Mom helping out some of the kiddos with the assignment. She is such a great teacher -- it was so neat to see her in action

It was really wonderful to fly into Indy this morning and have Rob there waiting for me, but it was also wonderful to be in my other home for a few days and be spoiled by my family. My cousin Heather wrote us all an email after the beach weekend saying how she mentioned to the woman next to her on the plane that she had just spent the weekend with her in-laws at the beach. The woman was incredulous that a family could do that and actually enjoy themselves. To us it's normal, but when I hear something like that I'm reminded that a family who gets along, respects each other, and loves so deeply is more of an abnormality in this day and age. Sadly so. I am truly thankful for my family near and far!

5 @ 5 (+2!) Reunion

When I was a freshman at Taylor there was a group of five upperclassmen girls who had dinner together the same day every week at 5 pm. They called themselves the "5 @ 5". Four of these girls lived on my wing so I got to know them really well and I missed them when they moved off-campus the next year and then graduated. All five have since gotten married and moved to different parts of the country, so twice a year they have a reunion where they travel to one of their houses and spend the weekend together.

A few weeks ago I received an invitation from one of the girls, Ashley, inviting me and some of my other former wingmates to a surprise baby shower in Indianapolis for another one of the girls, Sarah. I decided to attend and my friend Amy came down from Grand Rapids to join the party too. We all met in Indy yesterday and had a great time hanging out, eating Mexican food and amazing cheesecake Ashley made, celebrating Sarah, and really catching up with one another. We shared a lot of funny Taylor memories and even brought out some old photographs that produced a lot of laughs. It's so neat to have history with people and shared memories to connect with even if it has been awhile since we were all together.

Before the shower Amy & I hung out with our dear friend Jessie in Indy. She took us to her school (she's a 4th grade teacher) and to a yummy frozen yogurt place. We had a great time connecting with each other and celebrating Amy who got engaged in July. :)

Amy & I surprised Sarah by showing up at the restaurant. From left to right: Amy, Ashley, Sarah, Jannell, Linda, Kristi, and me

We all went in together and got Sarah the carseat she registered for. Here she is showing us the carseat and holding up a little winter hat her Chicago baby will definitely need!

The yummy mini cheesecakes Ashley made. Each one had its own springform pan! Very cool.

Thanks for a great time girls! I'm already looking forward to the next time I get to see you all.

Happy Birthday to Me!

For as long as I can remember I've loved my birthday. It's probably a pride thing -- I like being the center of attention at least once a year -- but really, I think bottom line, birthdays are great. I have fond memories of so many birthdays - the one from third grade where I invited all the girls from my elementary school class (even the ones I didn't want to), the one where I was really into watercolor so my mom attempted to "paint" a watercolor sky onto my cake with runny icing (it worked out pretty well), the one my freshman year of college where Ashley's Nana made me a little raspberry swirl birthday cake (the BEST cake!), the one when I was in Colorado when about 20 people went out to celebrate at a restaurant with me, and many more. This birthday definitely falls into the ones to remember category too.

One of the things I love about my husband is that he appreciates how much I love my birthday and really tries to make it special. Usually he tries to surprise me with something and usually I accidentally find out (truly, it is an accident!). Poor guy.

This year we'd already planned to go away for the weekend to a cabin in Brown County (the county next to us that is really beautiful) owned by Rob's former boss at AHC, Roger and his wife Mary. So I knew about that part, but the happenings for my actual birthday were still a surprise. He woke up early on Wednesday, my birthday day, and made me baked oatmeal for breakfast and bought me a beautiful pot of orchids.

Post devouring the oatmeal

Hopefully these will live for a while!

The rest of the day was fairly normal, but it was a good day. Later in the evening he whipped up a pan of brownies complete with more chocolate icing. I suppose the part he skipped in home ec class was that you really should let the brownies cool before putting icing on them. However, he did make a good point that no one really likes to eat cold brownies. So the icing melted everywhere and so did the candles. I've honestly never seen this happen -- the cake was so hot that when we put the candles in the cake the bottoms of the candles completely melted and the whole candle fell over. We were concerned there would be pink wax in the brownies, but there wasn't which remains a mystery. Did we really ingest those toxins or did they just vanish into themselves? Who knows, but we're still alive today.

The aftermath of candles in warm cake. Do not try this at home.

On Thursday evening we left for the cabin. Rob planned a surprise dinner at this adorable little farmhouse cafe and tea room which was amazingly yummy. Unfortunately since I didn't know where we were going I forgot the camera and don't have any photos of that dinner. It was great though.

We spent Friday outdoors most of the day. The cabin is near a small lake and Roger and Mary have a canoe so we went out on the canoe and drifted around for a while.

Front view of the cabin. It's very tiny inside! Basically one large room, a partition for a bedroom, and a small bathroom. Very sweet though.

Across the lake from the canoe

The mighty paddler

The pretend paddler

Later, Rob decided to try fishing without much success even though we were using yummy bits of "hotchy doggie" (apparently how people who speak Portuguese say "hot dog" Rob informed me). The wind was blowing and the fish were not biting. It was still really nice to be outside. Later, after dinner, we went across the street to the neighbor's pond and Rob caught three blue gill. Even though I attempted mightly with the hotchy doggie and singing songs to the fish they did not bite for me. Probably just as well, Rob would have made me take it off the hook - yuck!

How I relaxed while Rob fished.

Rob's first fish from the pond!

My attempts at fishing. I couldn't get the flick of the wrist right in my casting & I think the fish knew I was new at this deal.

Rob serenading me by the fire pit. We made up some pretty unique and funny songs together. I don't think that we will ever make it big though.

Rob looks so tired because he pulled off another great birthday. :)

So here's to being a quarter of a century old. It feels great and I'm excited for this year ahead and starting out on my way to half a century old!

Breaking News: Herb Thief on the Loose

Today, we're here in apartment H-6 investigating a report of an alleged herb thief. The missing herbs include a small pot of basil and a small pot of cilantro allegedly taken from the back patio of Rob and Kate Bedinghaus.

"It is honestly the strangest thing," said herb owner Mrs. Bedinghaus. "I watered them yesterday morning and then this afternoon when I was taking out the recycling I noticed they were gone." Two other plants, a heavy pot of cherry tomatoes and another large colorful plant, were not disturbed.

"Of course I'm upset," said Mrs. Bedinghaus. "I was planning to use some of the basil in my dinner this evening!"

There is no evidence of who the thief could be.

"My husband suggested it was an animal, but there is no way an animal could have carried away those herbs," said Mrs. Bedinghaus. "And even if an animal could have carried them away, why would it? I am very disturbed by this incident."

Mr. & Mrs. Bedinghaus are offering a reward for the return of their herbs. If you have any information of who the alleged herb thief could be, please contact them immediately.

Adjusting

It really hit me today that this new season of our lives is a big adjustment. I think I've been caught up in the "newness" of it all -- the settling in, finding my way around, taking care of Rob, cooking, looking for a job, etc. But in the midst of all of that I still need to remind myself that this life is very different from the life we came from. Rob is busy, and when he is home he's studying or working on lesson plans for his class. He comes home preoccupied; his mind divided. And honestly, I don't blame him for one second. He loves this stuff and when you are really passionate about something you should think about it a lot. I said to him tonight that I am comparing his program to a new baby - we've been preparing for its arrival for months, but now it's here and wow, it's thrown the life we knew before for a total loop. (Ok, minus the whole diaper and up all night thing. And the labor. Thankfully this is his program and not mine so maybe that means we skipped the labor part? I think that's how it works. :)

Like new parents we also realized tonight how much we took the life we had in Upland for granted, particularly when it came to how much time we spent together. We were so spoiled! And you know, as much as I'm enjoying this new life I really miss that part of our old life. I don't even think we were so much "doing" things together as just "being" together.

But here's the conclusion I've come to. I have to accept that that season has passed and it was a true gift -- one many newly married couples do not have. And while it has passed, I see that time as a foundation for this new season. True, I miss it, but there is a lot of potential in this season and I think I'm learning to appreciate the time we do have together so much more. I appreciate Rob more when he really makes an effort to make our time together intentional and quality because suddenly it's not an everyday thing. We're taking all this one day at a time, one challenge at a time. That doesn't mean it will be easy, but it may mean we're learning and making our marriage a lot stronger in the process.

And since I got out of bed to write this blog post I may as well add other things I really miss about our old life (and these are in no particular order, but there is a reason I put Meijer first...sorry Kroger fans out there, it just doesn't compare!)

-- Meijer

-- Listening to NPR on the way home from work (I no longer have a commute!)

-- Tim bringing me Starbucks chai tea every morning to work

-- Guy's preaching at MAC

-- Walking in the mornings with Miriam and Lisa

-- Ivanhoe's

-- Working out for free at Taylor

-- the WBCL radio station (except I still don't miss the morning show, just the music)

-- the apple tree in our front yard that should have apples by now

-- playing Settlers on a weekly basis with Lauren at our house

-- a paycheck

-- cooking with Rob

-- the flowers at the farm you can pick yourself

-- my morning glories that are probably dying by now... :(

There are really great things about Bloomington too just fyi, but I'll save that for another post.

p.s. And just so you all don't call me and freak out that my marriage and my life is falling apart because of this post it's not, seriously. It's just a process I'm thinking through and realizing where Rob and I need to adjust to this. And it helps me to write it out, that's all. Goodnight.

A Bloomington Weekend

Sunday was initally intended to be a day of rest, and boy, am I glad for that today! Rob and I have been making a point to preserve Sunday as a day of rest and so far, so good -- I just woke up from a long nap.

The reason we are both so tired today is because we had a full weekend! It started Friday night when we decided to invite some people over and have a game night. I made some pumpkin bars, (my philosophy is if Starbucks has their Pumpkin Spice Latte out then it's fall enough for me to make pumpkin bars) and we called some people from Rob's programs and our friends Conor & Kerri Angell, people we've been getting to re-know from our Taylor days. The people from Rob's program ended up coming a lot later, but Conor & Kerri came early and we had a fun game of Cranium first. Four of Rob's friends showed up later and we all played Catchphrase together and talked. I'm trying to learn the balance now of how much time I spend with Rob's friends getting to know them versus how much time he spends with them by himself. Obviously, I would much rather have everyone in our home instead of out in a bar somewhere, but on the other hand I get lost in their conversations about their classes and Spanish stuff. I think as everyone gets to know each other better our conversations will expand to things beyond Spanish and I'm glad for that. It's natural for them to all connect on the thing they know best.

Anyways, that was Friday. Saturday morning I got up and went to the Farmers Market as has become my tradition. The photo below shows how much produce I got for $26! I was pretty pleased about that.

Most things are a better deal at the market than in the grocery store, plus they are organic and by buying directly from the farmers we're able to put money right into their pockets. I feel good about that. The market is definitely a highlight of my week.

After I got back I made a big tabuleh salad to take to Rob's Spanish department picnic. I didn't really want to go, but we ended up meeting a really nice couple and hanging out with them for a while. As usual, I ended up having a good time once I was there. After the picnic we picked up Kerri & Conor and went downtown for the 4th Street Art Show. It was a typical outdoor art fair; it reminded me a lot of going to one of my dad's shows when I was younger. We didn't buy anything, but enjoyed looking at all the different art. We came home again and made a peach & blueberry cobbler because we invited some new friends over, Philip & Amy Moyer and their baby Levi. Philip's mom and my mom teach at the same school so they connected us. Philip is in Bloomington getting his PhD in choir conducting. We had a great evening getting to know them and will hopefully be visiting their church next Sunday.

This morning we visited the same church we went to last weekend, but went to the earlier, more traditional service with Kerri & Conor. We didn't like it as well & are more anxious to check out Philip & Amy's church than anything.

The weekends here are definitely different than the ones we had before in Upland, but we're glad for that. We made it an intentional goal to have more people in our home while we're here and so far we're succeeding with that! It's really nice to have new friends too.

Back to resting.... :)