Happy two year anniversary to US!!!

Tuesday was our two year anniversary. We woke up at 4:45 ambitious to start work at 5:45, but at about 5:15 we decided to take total rewards, or unpaid time off. It was a good move on our part. We then decided to make a spontaneous action and we headed for Salt Lake. Our first stop was in Park City where we ran into some snow. Yes, some snow. It wasn't very fun shopping in an outdoor mall running around in the snow so we drove from store to store. Then we went to our favorite movie theater in Salt Lake City and saw STAR WARS. As the credits were starting I told Cory that I couldn't believe I agreed to see Star Wars on our anniversary. I was pleasantly suprised. It was actually a pretty good movie. It took me about 10-15 minutes to actually admit that I liked the film. It had some rather touching moments also. Maybe I was a little teary eyed because I'm pregnant, who knows. It was good though. Cory will post on his views of Star Wars at a later date. After the movie we went to Bountiful where we went to one of our favorite restauraunts. Its called the Mandarin. It's a cute little Chinese restaurant in the middle of nowhere. We like to call it our hidden treasure. The meals are delicious. We ended up sharing the lettuce wrap appetizer and then sharing a meal. We even had leftovers. The meals are huge. Apparantly, the owner hires specialty chefs and imports them in from all over the world. Again, it's delicious. We highly recommend you to eat there. After dinner we came home and enjoyed sleeping in until 7:00. Yes, 7:00 is sleeping in to us. I never thought it was possible for Cory and I to wake up before 9:00, but we've managed......somehow. I can't believe Cory and I have already been married for two years. Time sure does fly when you're in love.

Our Summer Projects Have Begun!

A few weeks before the end of this past semester, Angie made up a rather lengthy list of projects for the summer, ranging from things as simple as a thorough dusting to as intensive as finishing our basement. I’m happy to announce that things are officially underway – this past week, Dan and I dug out and leveled a spot for a concrete pad for our new shed, with some help from David, and then Dad, Dan, David, and I poured the concrete on Wednesday. I hope to get the shed itself up this coming Wednesday.

Dan and I were amazed to find that we hauled almost 1.5 tons of dirt, sod, and rock to the dump (2060 pounds in one load, which turned out to be way too much for my little pickup). Due to a lucky turn of events involving a late cement truck and some extra mud they needed to get rid of, we ended up not paying for the cement itself, saving about $100.

Many thanks to all who helped, especially Dan, who put in a full day of back-breaking work with me on Tuesday!

REGGIE RETIRES!!!

The NBA finals ended tonight and Reggie Miller unfortunately will not receive the winning title he deserves. With 15 seconds left of the game Carlisle, coach of the Detroit Pistons, called a time out so fans could honor Reggie Miller with a standing ovation. It was an amazing moment. I don’t know if I got a tear in my eye just because I’m pregnant, or just because I know Reggie is an amazing player who deserved to win tonight. Although I didn’t get to see the whole game, I’m glad I was able to see Reggie Miller’s last moments on the court.

SCHOOL'S OVER!!!

Well, I just finished up my last final. It feels good to be done with another semester. Now, Cory and I have the rest of the summer to prepare for the baby to come. All in all, I think that this semester went pretty well. It was hard though, with being pregnant and having to go to school and work. But I managed. I have a whole paper full of things Cory and I have to do around the house this summer. So, we're going to keep ourselves pretty busy. I can' t wait until September comes around so that we'll have a new addition to our family.

Ultrasound Results

Editor's Note: We had previously included images of the ultrasound, but they are no longer available online since our webhosting was provided by ISU and we don't keep our computer account active over the summer. Should family and friends have missed the pictures we had posted, send us and email and we'll send them to you directly.

We've already told our immediate families, so this won't be anything new to most of our readers, but Angie had her first ultrasound Monday, 25 April 2005, and we found out that our baby boy is developing well and everything looks good.

We're having a BOY!

Angie will probably want to say more than I have, but I wanted to get the good word up on our blog!

Doctor's appt. and the ULTRASOUND!!!

Well, I had another appointment today. Everything went well, as usual. We were able to hear the baby's heart beat again which sounded a little bit deeper. It was awesome. The shots I'm taking are going well. The nurse said that just because I get bruises doesn't mean I'm doing it wrong. It's expected. So I'm looking all black and blue from the waist down. I'll have to start letting Cory put the shots in my arms again. ARGH! I was even starting to get the hang of it with only a few times not bruising. The Doctor did verify that I'll have to take these shots for all my pregnancies. So, I guess we have something to look forward too later on. We scheduled an appointment for the ultrasound. It's going to be on May 12. So everyone should be expecting a phone call from me later that day. We're really excited to find out what it is. I can start buying baby clothes again. YEAH!! We don't really have a preference to what we want. We just can't wait to find out what it is. We do have a busy and hot summer ahead of us. But, at least we won't have to worry about school.

Sheibenkleister Defined

Editor's Note: In order to conserve space on our webserver, I've removed the link to the audio file and adjusted the post text accordingly. (4/27/05 1:56 am)

Scheibenkleister doesn't really mean anything at all. If you break it down into the two words it's composed of, you get "sheets of glue." Of course, it sounds close enough to something else in German that the person hearing it generally gets the idea.

Cory's Spot: Recipe: Crispy Potato Wedges

Editor's Note: There's really no graceful way to return from such a lengthy hiatus, so I'm simply going to continue on as if there were no break.

The other day I was craving French fries, but was too lazy to go out and get some, so I thought I'd try making my mom's cheesy potato logs. I couldn't find her recipe among those she's given me, though, and I couldn't get ahold of her, so I decided to turn to Google for help. Turns out there are lots of different recipes involving potato wedges and Parmesan cheese available online, so I printed a couple out and decided to improvise. When it came time to actually throw everything together, one recipe looked best, so I ended up following it almost exactly.

Here it is:

Crispy Potato Wedges

¼ c. olive oil
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. each dried basil, thyme, and oregano
¼ tsp. paprika

4-6 med. potatoes

¼-½ c. grated Parmesan cheese

• Combine olive oil and seasonings in a bowl. Scrub unpeeled potatoes well. Cut each potato in half lengthwise, then in thirds.
• Coat each slice in the seasoned oil. Spread in a single layer on a greased baking sheet.
• Bake at 450° for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake 15 minutes longer.

Since then, I haven't used the recipe at all and just throw in what looks to be a goodly amount of the same ingredients (with the occasional addition of garlic powder), but this is a good starting point. As always, I prefer to use fresh-ground pepper. Although I’ve found that it’s usually best to use actual grated Parmesan instead of the powdery stuff, the powdery stuff works best here. Go figure. I’ve also found it works best to make sure each piece of potato gets the seasonings on it and then to tap it on the edge of the mixing bowl to get rid of excess oil. There’s also no need to use a greased baking sheet – the oil provides plenty of grease! Finally, I like to blot the potatoes off on paper towels before serving with ketchup. Believe it or not, I’m also something of a ketchup snob – Hunt’s is the best, in case you were wondering.

Baby Speaks!

Here's an .mp3 of the baby's heartbeat. We took a digital voice recorder to the doctor's office and recorded the sounds of the heartbeat from the doppler. I have to say, it was really exciting to hear that! Angie's been feeling the effects of the baby for a couple of months now, but this was the first time I got some evidence of it (other than Angie's hormone swings)!

Angie wants everybody to know, she's now 16 weeks along!

The Cutest Couple. Ever.

Since we can't post pictures of our cute kids yet, we decided to post one of ourselves.