Piette Dinner Party: Potato Salad

Here is the making of the potato salad.

First we boiled the potatoes and eggs.

Next we chopped up the celery and whisked in the other ingredients. As you can see, I'm still making good use out of the TV I got more than 10 years ago.

Then my potato salad dance began. It's hard to tell, but it involves great circular arm motions.

Then we finished up the potato salad. It's delicious! We added some habanero Tabasco sauce. Tancred got a sniff, but not a taste!

Piette Dinner Party: Asparagus Soup

We hosted a dinner party a couple weeks back, it was a lot of fun! It was the first time since Thanksgiving that we cooked for other people. We made asparagus soup, potato salad, beer can chicken, and poppy seed cake with an orange glaze. It was a lot of fun, I hope we host more often!

Here is the making of the asparagus soup.

First we added asparagus and onions.

Then we added the chicken brother and simmered to soften up the asparagus.

Then we pureed the entire soup in batches.

So now all we have to do is re-heat it, and add some butter and asparagus tips!

A new bookshelf

Our office is still quite a mess. I will post some house pictures this coming week. We bought a bookshelf so Jared could work on organizing the room during his two weeks off before his ExxonMobil Chemical internship.

This is what I did the entire time he worked on this. Bad Ernie!

Here is the bookshelf in a box, and Kirsche stretching.

The parts are out of the box.

Jared screwing stuff.

It's starting to look like a bookshelf!

Yay, we have another bookshelf! Now hopefully our last cluttered room will be clean!

Tonight's Dinner

We made spaghetti tonight. It was the first time in a long time we made pasta. Every time we make it we wonder why we don't to it more often. It's quick and easy and so much better than pasta from a box!

Here is the meat. Jared used ground beef, bacon, spicy italian sausage, and jalapeno cheddar sausage.

Here are the veggies. Jared used mushrooms, and onions.

Here is the sauce simmering away.

Here is the hanging pasta. So good!

Dinner and drinks are served!

Steak and Corn

We had a lot to celebrate this weekend. Jared completing his first year at Rice, and me getting unexpected praise at work. I got a $500 recognition prize for the work I did on my very first project. That inspires me to work harder!

We bought steaks and corn at Costco, and Jared cooked them up on Saturday. I forgot to take pictures until we were about done with the meal. He stuffed them with mushrooms and blue cheese, and wrapped them in bacon. Delicious!!

Here are Jared's last couple bites of steak.

The oh so delicious corn.

The bubbly

And here are the nachos we had later that night.

Rice Softball

Jared is done with his first year at Rice! Whoopie! They had a softball tournament. I caught the end of the game against the 2nd year students, and Jared and his first years won! He was pretty worn out, and didn't wear enough sunscreen so is now two distinct colors. He hit a homerun where he slid into home. Good times!

Here are the winning first years.

One of the second years brought her dog, Korbel. I should have brought my pups, but they are a bit more obnoxious that Korbel.

Here is Jared after sliding into home.

New Camera

We finally got a new digital camera. My old Olympus was almost 10 years old, and the dogs ate the piece that holds the battery in. Jared's old camera was a bit nicer, but I don't even know where it is. We got an Olympus Stylus 1050 SW, the blue one. It's a great little camera, and it's shockproof and waterproof. Perfect for us!

The camera has a image stabilization feature. Jared was waving his hand quickly, and I took the first picture in auto, and the second picture with the stabilization feature on. It works!
I also tried out the portrait feature with Kirsche. Jared folder her ears back for fun. The first picture was in auto, the second picture is in portrait mode. It works for those close ups!

Domi and the Nates

Domi, her boyfriend Nate, and their friend Nate spent a week with us in January. They were here for my birthday, it was such a great time! I can't wait for their next visit.

Domi gets a kiss from Kirsche.














Nate finds a friend in Sundog.























Sundog finds a friend in Domi.















Kirsche and Tancred go at it.














We have waffles for breakfast. The waffle maker was a wedding gift from Jared's uncle.














Domi sits with Tancred.
























Sundog yawns while hanging with Nate.
























I get the special plate for my birthday. The pork chops were delicious!














Kirsche and Sundog take a nap.

Day 1: Bangkok

The Trip Out

This is Mount McKinley in Alaska. We had one heck of a view from our airplane!














This valley is cut by the flow of a glacier.














This video is before the plane took off from Chicago to Tokyo. This is a 12 hour flight.


This video was taken when we landed in Bangkok. I look pretty different! I really didn't mind flying that long, but it did take its toll.


These are our airport snacks.

Getting Ready for the Big Day

Guests arrive while we get ready. You can see the entire set-up from this view. We had 85 people attend the wedding.












Mom helps lace me up.

















I put some blush on Domi.














I look into the mirror of the future.





















Mom continues to lace the dress.






















Still lacing up the dress.


























Mom helps me put on my veil.















I put on Mom's neckalce. It is my "something borrowed".













Perfume!















We do a sparkling water toast.







I pose at the window right before the ceremony.