Adventures in Omelet Making

Tyson and I ventured out this morning to the Madison Farmer's Market...lots and lots of stands of delicious locally-produced food (particularly cheese...these crazy Wisconsinites), flowers, plants, and other things. Tyson and I specifically went to buy ingredients for fresh, homemade omelets! (I actually went because I wanted coffee and flowers, but he can think I went for the omelets...)

Confession: I have never made an omelet before.

Neither has Tyson. (Yeah, big surprise there.)

Well, let's see how this works...

Attempt #1: Not bad, but half of the "egg pancake" ripped when I tried to flip it. Some emergency cheese melting over the top was necessary to glue the whole thing back together.

At least Tyson thinks it tastes good! (And it did.)

Attempt #2 (note the smallest stove ever)...

...Tyson, in all his manliness, decided that he needed to figure out how to flip an omelet after my first "failed" attempt. Instead, he ended up folding the egg pancake over on itself three or four times, fusing the whole thing together in one egg-y lump. Rescue attempt for this batch? No longer an omelet, but scrambled eggs. And darn it, that was supposed to be MY omelet, too...

Attempt #3: A perfect flip! By none other than yours truly. Perfectly browned and delicious.

Conclusion: Omelets: 1, Shannon: 1, Tyson: -1.

Toronto + Tyson's Birthday

Got back yesterday from a 5-day trip to Toronto for an interior design field trip. The trip was ok, but since we had just finished a group project and had a critique last Monday, leaving on Wednesday was bad timing since A.) we were all already sick of being around each other 24/7 from working on our projects and B.) nobody had yet caught up on sleep from working on said project. Combine the above two things with the fact that there were 18 of us girls on the trip, and I will leave the drama that ensued up to your imagination. Toronto was not really all that different from America. Two good things are that they are die-hard hockey fans and say "a-boat" (for about), so it was kind of just like being back in Minnesota. Below: my favorite picture from the trip, from when we went to the Contemporary Canadian Art Museum and their feature exhibit was about hockey. :)

So that is the first part of my post. The second part is that it is my honey's 23rd birthday today. While I unfortunately can't be with him today (the second birthday I have missed in two years. Last year was my fault because I was on a field trip in Chicago, but I say that this year is his own darn fault since he felt the need to go to Wisconsin of all places), I will be heading out there this weekend to finally be able to see him again. I still miss him a lot-3 weeks is much much much too long in between seeing each other!-and every day presents a new situation where I just don't know what to do without him. (Today's: I could not finish my lunch and had no one to eat my leftovers. Sad day.) He is now my 23-year old bug killing, dish washing, food eating, good listening boy, and I can't wait to give him a big birthday hug and a kiss. Love you bear!

What I Didn't Know

In church today, there were some freshman girls sitting behind me, talking about what they thought of the church and other things. It made me think of my freshman year in college; what I thought I knew then, and what I definitely know now...but mostly, it made me think of what I DIDN'T know four years ago...

• I didn't know that I would not get into the interior design program the first year I applied
• Related to the above, I didn't know that I would be in the middle of some Iowa cornfields for five whole years of school
• I didn't know just how difficult DSN 131 and DSN 102 would be
• I didn't know squat about interior design
• I didn't know how much I would miss Minnesota lakes
• I didn't know that I would not be studying abroad in Rome my senior (or in this case, super-senior) year like I had planned since high school
• I didn't know that I would ever find a boy so perfect for me
• I definitely didn't know that my final year of school I would be much more concerned and preoccupied with planned a wedding (MY wedding, of all things!) than with any schoolwork I might be given
• I didn't know that life would be so filled with ups and downs during these college years; almost nothing has been static during this time

Basically, everything that I ever wanted and planned for in college has been completely twisted around and turned upside-down. I was supposed to be done in four years, fully graduated with a degree in interior design, fresh from a semester studying abroad in Rome, before jetting out to the East Coast to work for a few years, and I definitely thought I was going to be single for quite some time (not by my own choice, but I just assumed). Instead, I had my dream of interior design taken away from me for one of the hardest years of my life, and then given back again; had my dream of studying abroad in Rome completely taken away, (that one is not going to be given back), and met my wonderful boy right after I became 100% fully content and happy with being single. God definitely has his own plans, and I have to say, they tend to be at least a little bit better than anything I could ever dream up for myself. :)

Oh how I miss my boy...

These are the things that my boy should have been around for today to help me move, but instead he is off gallivanting in Madison, thinking he is so smart and cool going to grad school (and I know that he will read this, so maybe he will feel just a little bit guilty... ;)):

• Greeting me at the Freddy community center with a big hug and kiss when I came to check in and pick up my keys
• Opening doors for me
• Carrying heavy things from my car up 3 flights of stairs to my apartment
• Putting my futon together
• Hooking the TV up and figuring out how to connect to get the cable channels
• Putting the shelf in the kitchen area together
• Organizing all of the technical (phone cord, computer stuff, etc.) items in my room
• Moving the furniture (desk, wardrobe, and bed) around in my room as I desired
• Protecting me from all of the spider webs in the entryway of my apartment building
• Going to dinner to enjoy some tasty food from The Cafe
• Paying for and carrying my groceries
• Putting things on the top of my wardrobe, because I am just a little too short to reach that high
• Cuddling with me; as comfy as my body pillow is, it just doesn't quite cut it compared to him

So, basically, what I am really trying to say is that I miss him a ton. I never knew how much I relied on him for so much stuff. It is a lot different being here at school without him than it is to be without him back home, and a lot harder since I am so used to him being around here. I honestly have just about forgotten how to open a door all by myself. He is my heavy lifting, spider-killing, bill paying, reach-up-high-for-me, computer geeky, handsome, wonderful, cuddly, bear of a boy, and this year is not going to be quite the same without him.

Love you Bear!

ESP

I am pretty sure that Tyson and I can read each other's minds...

you know your shopping trip has been successful when you have saved more than you have spent...

Chipotle: $12 Free (with a gift card)

One cashmere-blend scarf: $98 $25

One pair of khakis for my boy: $48 $9

One sweater: $39.50 $15

Another sweater: $59.50 $47

One soft sweater for my boy: 29.50 $12.50

Hand soap: $10 $3

One track jacket for my boy: $50  $40

Dinner (including one delicious pomegranate margarita): $49.53

One full day of bonding with my boy: priceless 

Above: my favorite deal of the day, which actually turned out to be $25 when I brought it up to the register