Pioneer Woman

Pretty sure I want to be the Pioneer Woman when I grow up! While I have not found myself a handsome rancher, I have found an adorable engineer and he loves to eat too!

 My friend Hannah told me about her cookbooks and I've bought both of them (in print form as well as Kindle version because sometimes I want to plan meals from my iPad or work computer.) BONUS: the iPad version comes with added videos!

 We planted a garden and while it was the hottest summer Iowa has experienced in years, it was a wonderful experience. We already have an 1800 sq. ft garden planned for next spring and my asparagus should arrive in the next couple of weeks.

 The recipes: favorites so far - BBQ Jalapeno Poppers - from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl  and Mushroom Swiss Sliders with Spicy Fry Sauce from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier.  We're also VERY fond of the Thai Chicken Pizza also found in the Frontier book.

I've come a long way from living on lean cuisines and a big chunk of that success goes to Ree Drummond. Thank you for teaching me how to cook. :-)

This winter I'm teaching a class for our community college called Cooking with Pinterest and Evernote. This is how I have organized my personal recipe book and many great recipes can be found on Pinterest - or favorite cooking websites. This class will show students how to find recipes and organize them in an easy to find and edit format. I'm thrilled to have a work reason to work on this!

Time to go catch up on my recorded Pioneer Woman cooks episodes and get started on cobbler for family dinner tonight.

School | Lifestyle | Happiness

Back at school. Everyone is posting adorable pictures of their kids back in school. Since I have yet to enroll Finn in school, I guess it's just Dustin and me this semester. - No we didn't take pictures with our new backpacks, in fact we didn't even get new backpacks.  (- Making a note to put together new backpacks and back-to-school supplies!) It's times like these that I get a little twinge of regret that I'm not a parent - c'est la vie.

So I'm back in school, working full-time for Kirkwood and .75% for Aventa. So much for moving back home to slow things down a bit. And there's the rub. How does lifestyle intersect with happiness? I pictured working 40 hrs a week, learning to cook, gardening, taking long walks with my dog and overall taking time to smell the Quaker oats factory in town. If you're from here you know what I'm talking about, if your not...well you should definitely come visit, but please don't judge us by our factory smells.

Here's what I know for sure. I'm happy. I'm busy. I don't always get to do all of the things that I want to do. I'm enjoying time with my family. I'm enjoying time with Dustin. I miss my California friends and family.

Perhaps this is what happiness is? If so, it ain't bad. ;-)

The Next Step

I've never been good with contentment. I'm usually working on plans A, B and C at all times. I believe I am in control of my life/happiness....so what's next?

Here's the current debate - I've contacted an academic adviser at the University of Iowa in the Educational Psychology department. I'm considering the PhD in Educational Psychology. It's 72 hours. I already have 2 jobs and little time for much outside of my garden however, fall/winter is right around the corner.

I want to teach college again. I want to be in public education. I want to learn how to cook and have time for my friends and family. I want money and time to travel.  - See the dilemma?

Figuring It Out

I cannot believe that it has been almost a year since I have updated my blog. I had such high hopes. Maybe if I get it on a calendar I'll do better.



Current life facts:

1. Still working for Kirkwood Community College as a Program Developer for computer and technology courses.
2. Teaching high school English credit recovery classes for K12 Aventa for California students.
3. Living with Dena in Cedar Rapids - renewed lease through November
4. Dating Dustin 
5. Gardening a 1000 sq. ft community garden plot
6. Still cooking - a little 

 I lost my grandfather this last July. It brought all of the family together - both before he passed away and after. It was a peaceful passing and we are all happy to know he is finally back with Grandma.