On Performing

You there in the back row
Watch me, watch me, sing my song for you
Touch me with sunshine
Need me! Cant you see how I need you?
Dreaming's what I do.
Show me dreams come true.
You there in the back row
Watch me, watch me, sing my song, for you!

-Liz Callaway

My Favorite Little People

These are my three favorite little people.

Laney



Ty



Og


They are amazing. I'm the most blessed auntie ever.

This is the Sound of My Favorite Voice

This man has unending talent. I've seen him perform several times...his voice never fails to make me cry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kOy43qVzMQ

Just thought I'd share.

I'm So Unimaginative

The bad thing about repeatedly forgetting to blog is that when I finally DO blog, I have a zillion things to blog about. In fact, this particular blog could be several hours worth of reading. To avoid this conundrum, I will try to condense things into short blurbs about all the recent changes.

First off, the house. The remodel is well underway...we could be done with it by the end of this month. Unfortunately, our stupid cabinet makers decided that the soonest they can deliver our cabinets is June 18th. The bad thing about that is that is drags the whole process out a little. The good part is that we can relax a little, because we are very, very busy right now, and our neighbors probably would NOT like it if we worked late into the night in an effort to get things done.

We are both so ready to have our kitchen and living room, though. Right now, between our upstairs and our basement, we are basically living in the same square footage as we had in our apartment. So while the space is decent, we would appreciate also having the use of our main floor.


Nathan and I both recently (sort of recently) started working new jobs. He is working at Historic Fort Snelling as a reenactor (he loves it), and I am working at The Limited in Rosedale Mall. It's not a career, but it keeps us solvent.

We also were both recently cast in The Music Man, as Marian and Harold, so nightly rehearsals will add a new layer of craziness to our summer. I am ecstatic to be back on stage again, and playing opposite of Nathan will just make it more fun.

The last major change is that we are both transferring schools in the fall. I've realized (finally) that I cannot be a theatre major. I'm bored. While I love the performance classes, the academic side of it is not terribly challenging. I love school, always have, but I haven't truly enjoyed college since my first semester when I took Latin.

So, after much research, I am transferring to the University of Phoenix in the fall. No, we are not moving to Arizona (I'd kill myself). I am finishing my degree online as an English major. I did my senior year of high school PSEO online, and I loved it. I've spent a good deal of time with an admissions counselor on the phone, and I think the program suites me well. It is the number one online English degree in the country, and according to him, will challenge me plenty. I can also get my Masters through the same program if, when the time comes, I choose to do so.

Nathan is transferring to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts as a graphic design major. He has toured the school and loves the program. The fringe benefit to all this transferring is that both programs are significantly less expensive that NWC.

So there you are. A lengthy blog about my life. Now I can wait several months before I bore you with another one.

Love to you all,
Lissa

Update from Starbucks

This blog, I'm sorry to say, will be sans pictures. We still don't have wifi in our new place (Nathan is calling about that right now!) so we are in Starbucks, using theirs.

The move this weekend was a little insane, but it went well. We had a ton of help (thank you, my amazing family!!!) especially in the morning. We were able to get pretty much everything moved on Saturday. We didn't really unpack anything other than our bedroom furniture on Saturday night, because we were exhausted.

Sunday morning, we woke up to a disaster of a house. Somehow, when you move, you never expect to wake up the next day to a house full of boxes...but alas, alack, the Unpacking Fairies did not visit us in the night, and we spent the morning comically digging through things to try to find food and clothing.

Around 11:30 we headed up to Forest Lake for my mom's 50th birthday party. It was so much fun! I got to see my brother Matt who came in from Chicago for the party, and several other people I hadn't seen in a while. It's rare that we get all 5 kids and significant others together...unfortunately, Emily couldn't make it. I guess we'll just have to go to Chicago soon to visit them!

After the party, all of the siblings headed over to Pops' and Grams' house for pizza and, in Cody's case, copious amounts of wine. Nathan and I had planned to do some serious housework on Sunday after the party, but of course, by the time we got home, we didn't really want to do much. We did manage to unpack most of our clothes, and I got a good start on organizing my amazingly gigantic closet.

Monday we got an early start. I had class, and chapel, and then we headed over to our old apartment for the last time. We spent about 2 hours scouring the place (it's never been so clean) and then loaded up the last few little things that we had left there on Saturday. Then we locked up, turned in the keys, and left. After lunch, we began to unpack the plethora of boxes that basically made it impossible to walk through our house.

By Monday evening, our upstairs was pretty much done. The study (with all of our books), our bedroom, and our bathroom were unpacked and completely set up. Tuesday was another long (but very productive) day of unpacking. We hauled all of the things for our kitchen and living room down into the basement, because we are renovating those rooms. Then we set up a temporary living space and kitchen area (with a toaster oven and microwave) and packed everything that wasn't completely necessary away for the next two months. I will post pictures of all of this soon. Promise!!

So today is the little things...calling about wifi, contacting our association with some questions, grocery shopping (we've eaten so much Subway in the last week...) and basically tying up loose ends.

Then the renovations begin! Oh joy.

Love to all,
Lissa

We Bought A House

Yes, that is right. We bought a house. And we are moving this Saturday.

It's kind of crazy, actually. We were semi-casually looking, and this place kept coming up. It was too good of a place, at too good of a price to pass up.

It's a town house in New Brighton...not my ideal location, but everything in the cities is either crap, or out of our price range. And since we will only be here for 3 or 4 years (enough time to finish school, do some theatre, and move to Manhattan) I can deal with the fact that I live in a suburb.

Things I love about my house.

1) It is 500 square feet bigger than our current place, NOT including the basement.

2) The basement. While it is technically "unfinished" it is clean, painted, and completely usable for a work room for Nathan.

3) The laundry room. It's in the basement, and the washer and dryer do not require me to feed it quarters before I can wash my clothes.

4) Three bedrooms. And because Nathan has the basement as a workspace, we will be able to have a guest room, and a library/study.

5) Walk in closet. Huge. Mine. Need I say more?

Things I Hate:
The kitchen. That's it. But since we got an INCREDIBLE price on the townhouse (so good...you have no idea) and because we paid way less than we expected to pay for a house, we are redoing the entire ground level floor. Reflooring, new appliances, new cabinets, etc. Nathan's dad is an architect, so he helped us with the design, and because Nathan is great with house work (he a lot of the same kind of work on his sister's house when they lived in St Paul) we won't have to pay for most of the labor.

We;ll be eating Chinese food and microwave dinners for about a month, but it will be so worth it!!

So all in all, we are both very excited to be moving. It's not our dream house, but it't will be a good place for the next few years.

And anyone who wants to is welcome to help us move this Saturday...just saying.

Love to you all,
Lissa

Favorite Recipes

I tried to insert the links into this post, but they wouldn't show up one I posted the blog...they just left big empty spaces. So you'll have to copy paste into your browser. Sorry.


As per Sheryl's request, I am posting the links to some of my new favorite recipes.

There are the old standbys, of course. Some of the regular dishes at our house (and by regular, I mean bi-weekly, or even weekly. We love a few of these) are Kimbap (a Korean Seaweed wrap), Thai Peanut Curry, Parmesan Chicken with marinara sauce on pasta, and breakfast (we both love breakfast for dinner...eggs, pancakes, bacon, etc)

Most of these recipes aren't really recipes...the Peanut Curry recipe is Nathan's, and Kimbap is a little different every time. Breakfast is self explanatory.

For the Parmesan Chicken, I don't use a recipe. I just throw some whole wheat bread, parmesan cheese, and a clove or 2 of fresh garlic in the food processor. If we have fresh basil, I use that as well. Otherwise, I will sometimes use an italian seasoning blend. I dip the thawed chicken breast in olive oil, then, then coat it thoroughly in the crumb mixture. I bake at 425 for about 20 minutes in a glass dish (or until it's done...be careful it doesn't dry out!!). Sometimes I flip it halfway through so both sides are nice and crispy. Then I throw it on a bed of pasta (usually angel hair or fettuccine), and cover with marinara sauce. I prefer Hunts, when I'm too lazy to buy the canned tomatoes and make my own. (Which is almost always.)

So...besides all of that, here are some links to a few recipes I've tried recently and LOVED. They are all pretty simple (proven by the fact that I can make them). Have fun!


Baked Spaghetti Squash: I love pasta, and so does Nathan. Lately we've been substituting Spaghetti squash for most of our pasta dishes (including parmesan chicken, and plain old spaghetti with a meat sauce). It's a little bit of a different texture than pasta, but I love it! It goes especially well with a spicier marinara sauce, like we prefer. (I usually doctor up Hunts sauce with red pepper powder and herbs). One thing I will warn you of though...most spaghetti squash recipes will not tell you to drain the squash, but DO IT!!! It has a lot of water in it, and while it doesn't change the flavor, it's a little annoying when it's runny. I usually squeeze it out between paper towels after cooking it.

I also skip the bell peppers and olives in this recipe, and usually the onion. Because in my world, raw bell peppers are great. Cooked, they are disgusting. The parsley is unnecessary, but it's cheap, so we usually have it on hand.

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/recipes/baked-spaghetti-squash-540269/;_ylt=And29FamDJ48blo6Ucj_ZL3kgKU5

And spaghetti squash recipe 2. Once again, I exclude the olives.
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/spaghetti-squash-i/Detail.aspx

I hate making pancakes from scratch...so messy and time consuming! But the "just add water" pancakes are gross. I found this and I love it. It basically adds a couple of things to boxed pancake mix, and they are delicious. Light, fluffy, and perfectly golden brown.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4451505_better-pancakes-commercial-mix.html

Soup!! This soup tastes fresh, delicious, and creamy. Also, it's outrageously easy to make. I like to cut back on the alfredo sauce just a little, to make it less rich. Just add or subtract to taste.

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/recipes/tortellini-florentine-soup-540215/;_ylt=AlPYg7R9cwCh3n8yQ00LqzfkgKU5

As you can see, we mostly like Asian and Italian food. Sorry about that. But this recipe is so easy, and looks pretty impressive.

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/pasta/ravioli-vegetable-stacks/

And this is the dessert I've been making for pretty much every meal lately. Don't bash it before you try it...I was skeptical too. But it is WAY better than traditional pudding recipes, and way easier. I will never stand over a stove and stir milk for 20 minutes ever again. Just watch the boiling, or you will have a microwave full of chocolate. And add a pat of butter with the vanilla.

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/hasty-chocolate-pudding/Detail.aspx

Here are some things on my "to try" list.

http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/margherita-pizza-clv0108

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/beef/herb-garlic-beef-roast/

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/turkey/turkey-burgers-home-fries/

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/mushroom-spring-rolls-with-creamy-ginger-sauce

And the scariest...


http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2005/10/french-chocolat/

Enjoy!!

Love to you all,
Lissa

Right Now I am Loving...

- Coffee. With Coffee Mate French Vanilla creamer. I refill before every class, because most of my classes require a good amount of caffeine to survive.










- Books. I received so many awesome books for Christmas (thank you, Sheryl) and it's been amazing to have an array of new, unread literature on my shelves. I still have a few left before I have to start skulking around Barnes and Noble again.












- Gilmore Girls. I love this all the time. It is my background noise for all of my studying.













- Volleyball. Have I mentioned lately that my Junior Olympics team is awesome? I love these girls so much!!





- Cooking. That's right, I have discovered a new love for cooking. It's been several weeks of me making 2 or 3 meals a day, and LOVING it. Usually Nathan does the majority of the cooking, but I've become obsessed with searching through cookbooks and online recipes. I've bookmarked about a zillion online recipes that I have to try. I'm still not certain if this is a phase or a new hobby. We'll see.












- And most of all, I love my incredible husband. Every day I am reminded of how blessed I am. He is an awesome, loving, guy who makes me smile a hundred times a day.

The Subjunctive Mood Exemplified

If I were a month, I'd be September, with it's colorful leaves and brisk air.
If I were a day of the week, I'd be Friday.
If I were a time of day, I'd be late at night.
If I were a sea animal, I'd be a Shark. Rawr.
If I were a direction, I’d be East.
If I were a piece of furniture, I’d be a window seat.
If I were a liquid, I’d be espresso.
If I were a gemstone, I’d an emerald.
If I were a tree, I’d be a weeping willow.
If I were a flower, I'd be the very reddest rose.
If I were a kind of weather, I’d be rain.
If I were a musical instrument, I’d be a cello.
If I were a color, I’d be a shimmering gold.
If I were an emotion, I’d be joy.
If I were a fruit, I’d be a raspberry.
If I were one of the four elements, I'd be water.
If I were a food, I'd be a souffle.
If I were a place, I’d be Manhattan.
If I were a material, I’d be cashmere.
If I were a scent, I’d be vanilla.
If I were an animal, I'd be an affectionate cat.
If I were a facial expression, I'd be a smile.
If I were a pair of shoes, I’d be intricate. Like these.

The Search Is On...

A week or so ago, Nathan and I woke up to a lovely little letter under our door that informed us of some housing changes at NWC. Because of the economy and the resulting drop in enrollment number, our school is dropping on of their main off campus housing facilities. And where will they put all of those homeless students? In married housing, of course.

That's right. We are being kicked off campus; the move out deadline is July 1st.

Granted, I'm not too disappointed. I've been wanting to move for quite some time, and I've spent a good amount of time searching for houses and condos online.

But now, it's for real. And I've discovered that searching is a little less fun when you have five months to find a place to live. Nathan seems to be really enjoying himself, though. We are looking to buy, because what we are paying in rent now is several hundred dollars more than the house payments will be on any of the condos or houses we are looking at. There are so many good deals right now, we feel that it would be silly to continue to throw money down the drain every month, which is basically what renting feels like after a while.

We are going to actually look at our first home this morning, after the class I am currently sitting in finishes up. Please pray for wisdom, guidance, and sanity during the next few months as we look for a new place to call home

Love to you all,
Lissa

Classes and Other Such Exciting Things.

School has officially started! And I am officially back in the "I Love School" mode. Here is my usual, ranting breakdown of my classes.

So quick class breakdown...

New Testament History and Literature: I took this class LAST spring for about 2 weeks, and then promptly gave up. I am not a morning person (shocking, I know) and the class was at 7:55 AM. Now, I've had other classes that early, but not with a professor who spoke in monotone about things I've known since 6th grade. I'm not being cocky or anything...the fact is, when you grow up at CLBS, general Bible courses in college are a breeze. I decided to try again this semester, with a different professor. The class is at 8:35, which is only slightly better, but the professor is great. He's dynamic, funny, and he asks a lot of open ended questions...you know, the kind that actually leave some room for the students' opinions and get discussions going. I hate it when teachers only ask questions with one word answers, and avoid answering any questions that might lead them the tiniest bit away from their notes. We even had a bit of an argument about whether or not Genesis 3:15 was intended as a prophecy or not. It was refreshing.

Intro to Theatre Technology: This is the class I am either going to drop, or fail. I need to decide quickly, because I'm nearing the end of the drop period. The class is supposed to be exactly what the title says...a basic introduction to the technical side of theatre. Now, the technical side of theatre is not my forte...I prefer to be on stage in a ridiculous costume and too much makeup. But I've done a fair amount of technical work also, mostly relating to set building. I've done work in some major Minneapolis professional theatres. But this class will be the death of me.

For starters, we have to do 35 hours of tech work OUTSIDE of class. That would be fine...if we didn't all have upwards of 18 credits, work part-time, and weren't involved in various other aspects of the theatre program at NWC. But the hours I can deal with. It's a few hours a day at the scene shop. However, piled on top of that are about a zillion projects that have to be handed in, such as complex set designs, drawings, models, etc. Besides the fact that I CANNOT DRAW, and besides the fact that I spent two hours today staring at a blueprint of a set and listening to my prof talk about it, and didn't understand a word, this class is stellar.

The more I write, the more I think I might have to drop it.

Biblical Worldview: Community and Culture: This class is interesting, but I don't have much to blog about it. It's your basic interesting-but-easy theology class at NWC. The professor is brilliant, with about a hundred degrees in various fields from public and private universities. The best part about his brilliance is that he has that rare talent to take it and translate it to students who may not be quite as brilliant. And he manages to not sound condescending. It's a morning class, but worth getting up for.

Introduction to Communications: So much I could say about this class. So much. But I'll stick to the basics. This class is supposed to cover the basic types of communication, how we use them, why we use them, etc. All of that boring, basic, easy stuff. And it is an easy class, but mostly because we spend about 30 of ever 65 minute class watching youtube videos. None of them have anything to do with what we are talking about. There are two themes for the youtube videos. A) The love of Jesus, portrayed as cheesily as possible. B) Conservative politics are bad. Liberal Christians are very persecuted. Conservative media is biased, and liberal media is neutral, and balanced.

That's right. My communications professor is one of the very few politically liberal professors at NWC, and I think it has made him bitter. He manages to bring up his personal views in every single class. I wouldn't mind...in fact, I would probably enjoy it, if it weren't for the fact that none of it EVER ties in to the syllabus, or the notes, or anything else relevant in that class.

Still, at least it's entertaining.

Love to you all,
Lissa

My Favorite Things

Once a year, sometimes in December, Oprah does her famous "Favorite Things" episode. She walks on stage, and announces the episode, and everyone in the audience screams and jumps up and down (even though most of them are NOT wearing sports bras...decorum, people!) and cry, because Oprah's favorite things are fabulous, and once she talks about them, everyone in the audience gets one. For instance, this December, everyone got an Ipad, very expensive cookware, sparkly Uggs, Coach purses, a Kindle, thousands of dollars worth of gift cards, and various other expensive items.

Well, this is my very own "favorite things" blog. The difference is, I'm not going to give any of you anything. I'm just going to make recommendations, which you may take or leave at your leisure. And yes, this is another "list" blog. I'm sorry if they are getting redundant.



1) Taylor Swift. I know, I know, she's not exactly quality. But the farther she gets from country music (and her latest album, Speak Now, is about 95% pop music) the more I like her. I also respect the fact that, although she cannot sing live very well, she writes all of her own songs. And they are catchy, fun, likable songs.




2) Elizabeth and the Catapult. This is a truly talented band made up of a trio from Brooklyn, NYC. They are a bit quirky, but she writes great, catchy, original music. They don't remind me of anything...they are uniquely them.





3) The Hunger Games. This trilogy of books by Suzanne Collins is one of the best things I have read in a long, long time. The best comparison I can make is that they are like a mix of The Giver and Lord of the Flies, with just a tiny bit of romance thrown in. (Thank you, Liana, for that succinct observation.) They are written for teens, but I cannot imagine anyone NOT liking them. I've been feeling lately that the young adult fiction section of the book store was a little weak. It's been a mix of Twilight knock-offs and Harry Potter wanna-bes, with a few dozen Gossip Girl spinoffs. It was refreshing to see something NEW and of substance on the shelves. Seriously, read them!


4) Decision Points by George W Bush. I don't care what you think of the man's politics, it's a good read. It gives a lot of insight into his Presidency, and it's an interesting book. He focuses on the highlights and lowlights of his eight years in office, talks about the major decisions he had to make, why he made them, which ones were right, and which ones he regrets. One of the things I appreciated about his autobiography as compared to others that I've read is that I didn't feel that he was trying to persuade me of anything. There was no agenda, no intense political jargon. It was simply his story, what he did, and why.


5) Black Swan. I can't delve too much into this without giving a lot away, but this is an excellent movie. From one of my favorite directors, Darren Aronofsky, (Pi, and Requiem for Dream), this film is intense from the very first moments of the film. It's a psychological thriller, not a "bad guy in the shadows" kind of movie. It messed with my mind, and had a fantastic ending. Natalie Portman was truly incredible. See it!


6) My new favorite website, budgetbytes.blogspot.com. For those of you on a tight grocery budget, you know that it is difficult to be a gourmet chef when you have to be cheap. I have a zillion recipes in my cookbooks that I would love to try, but the ingredients are just too much to buy for one meal. Budgetbytes is written by a young woman who loves to cook, and is also poor. I love this blog. Most of the recipes are simple, but very, very tasty! She puts the overall price for the meal, and what it costs per serving. Plus, she lists the price for each ingredient. She uses a lot of basic ingredients that I already have in the house, or can buy in bulk. That way, I don't buy something for one meal and then the rest of it goes bad. Her recipes also tend to be pretty healthy, which is a plus. Eating a healthful, delicious diet can be very expensive. Some of her recipes she creates herself, and some she finds online or gets from friends. Anyway, this week I planned out my meals from her blog, got enough food for FIVE DINNERS (counting on leftovers twice...many of her meals make 4 or 6 servings) and I was 20 dollars under budget. The first meal tonight was a big hit.



So there you have it. Six of my favorite things. Wish I could give you all a free car, but you'll have to go see Oprah for that.

Love to you all,
Lissa

New Year, New Adventures

Happy 2011 to you all!! I hope everyone's New Year celebrations were as fabulously fun as mine were. Nathan and I made the longish drive to Zimmerman to spend the New Year with Nathan's best friend, and several other people. It was a fun, food-filled evening, and included several rounds of Texas Hold-em. I kicked butt. I am a fabulous liar. Must be all that theatre.

I'm really not of the belief that life starts anew just because it's January again. For me, the new year mostly means that I have to go buy a new calendar, which is simply annoying. I never make resolutions. If I want to accomplish something, I will do it when the time is right, not when the ball in Times Square drops. January 1st is one of the few times during the year when I feel cynical compared to everyone around me.

This year, however, I will admit to some growing excitement about 2011.

First off, I am officially starting school again on January 10th! I'm taking 6 classes, and 18 credits. Taking a break was definitely the right choice, but I can't wait to get back into the swing of things. The very thought of sitting in an early morning class with a giant mug of coffee and a three-ring binder full of notes makes me giddy with excitement. And homework, and writing papers, and arguing with stupid professors...gosh I'm such a freak. And I love it!

Next, the new year brings the beginning of the volleyball Junior Olympic season. I am coaching on of North St Paul's 16's teams. We've only had 3 practices, but I can tell that I have a real team on my hands. The girls are hardworking, fun, competitive, and they have a really good chemistry with each other. Also, I only have one team of nine girls to coach, as opposed to 2 teams with 16 girls. Practices are so low maintenance when you don't have to constantly keep 16 ninth graders occupied. The practice schedule is much more relaxed, too. Just two 1 1/2 hour practices a week, and tournaments every other weekend, as opposed to several hours every day, plus travel for game days. Also, I get some flexibility with my practice schedule, so I can make sure it doesn't interfere with school or theatre.

Which brings me to the next item...theatre! It's been far too long since I've been on stage, and I'm aching to get back to it. Unfortunately, NWC is not doing a show that I have much interest in this spring, but I may end up auditioning anyway. And there are several community theatres in the area that are doing shows that I have been wanting to do for quite a while now. I don't know where or when exactly, but I WILL be back on stage very, very soon.

And finally, yoga. Now, I know it is very cliche of me to add a health-resolution to my list, but yoga is something I've been wanting to do for a long time. One of my major weaknesses in a theatre audition is dance. Also, I have frequent, extreme headaches. I've been told that yoga will make me more flexible, balanced, coordinated, and help with the headaches. Basically, it's magical. So I thought I'd give it a try. One of my friends (who is a yoga instructor in Hawaii...yes, I am jealous also) sent me a link to a website she likes. They email you daily for a month with different instructional videos, that teach you the basics. By the time the month is up, you have enough experience to continue on your own. And it's free, which is good, since yoga classes can be very spendy. Also, this way, I don't have to embarass myself in front of a bunch of skinny, blonde girls who have years of experience doing downward dog and the pretzel. I'll keep you all updated on my yoga progress. I'm sure you can't wait.

So that's what my 2011 looks like. Thanks for reading!

Love to you all,
Lissa