Lawyerboysbakergirl

It is nearing the end of October and I am busy teaching and working at Target. It is what I wanted… to be busy. I should be happy, or at least content. That was what my head was telling me. However, that is not how I was feeling. I was in a constant battle with myself knowing how I should feel and how I actually felt. I was not used to being lonely. I like alone time, but choosing to do a couple of things alone and being lonely are two different things. I learned at a young age to be internally tough. As I mentioned early on, I am a private person and keep a lot of my life and my feelings to myself, but I was not used to not having a lot of friends and family around me and at least talking to me about their lives.

Lawyerboy was becoming busier and busier. His Civil Procedures professor gave them an ungraded mid-term and he said, “I did terrible.” Thankfully it was ungraded, but that added more pressure to study harder and wonder how this whole law school thing was going to work out! He was also preparing to write his memo in a couple of weeks. He was feeling bad that I was working non-stop and I was feeling bad that he felt bad, so I really tried to just go through the motions and be okay with feeling lonely.

I got the most uplifting card in the mail at just the right time. My friend, who I have known since I was in the fourth grade and she was in the second, sent me a ‘Life can be tough, but you can be tougher’ card. It was from Erica. She and I went to the same elementary school for a couple of years. When it closed down, she went to another school, but her and her family continued to come to the same church that we went to. Erica, along with her mom, dad, and two brothers, sat in the pew in front of us for years and years. We lost touch a little when they decided to go to church in the same town they went to school in. One of her best friends in her later years of high school and college was Melissa. Erica went to college in Bismarck, but would come back to see Melissa in Minot and her family in rural North Dakota. When Melissa and I lived together, Erica and I started seeing more of each other and became friends again.

She married her high school sweetheart, Burton. They got married three months after us and the four of us went to Jamaica at the same time for our honeymoons. We had a great time with them in Jamaica, and any time we are together, we have a nice time.

Erica and I have the best heart to hearts. She and I have a strong faith in God, cherish our family, and believe things happen for a reason. In fact, that is what she wrote in her card to me! She told me to trust God and that there is a plan. Her card absolutely made my week! I put it up on my dresser so I saw it every single morning.

We are alike in a lot of ways, but also very different. We definitely have different beliefs on certain issues. However, we respect each others opinions. She and I like dessert, but one difference is that she only eats a few bites and I eat the whole piece and more sometimes! On occasion, and when necessary, I have eaten my piece and the rest of hers! One of our favorites is Strawberry Pretzel Dessert. It is salty and sweet, and oh so good!

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

Preheat oven to 325 degrees – Bake: 7 minutes – Prep Time: 30 to 45 minutes – Serves: 12 to 15 pieces

2 to 3 cups pretzels, crushed

1/2 cup butter, melted

3 tablespoons sugar

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (9 ounce) container Cool Whip

1 cup sugar

2 cups water

2 (3 ounce) boxes strawberry Jell-O

16 ounces frozen strawberries

1 (9 ounce) container Cool Whip, if desired for topping

This is a layered dessert. Start with the crust. I measure a heaping 2 cups of pretzels and put them in a Ziploc bag. Then, I roll over them with a rolling-pin. Next, I melt a stick of butter. You can melt the butter in a saucepan or in a microwavable safe bowl. I melt the butter in the microwave. It takes about 33 seconds if the butter is already softened. I add the 3 tablespoons of sugar to the butter and mix them together. Then, I add the crushed pretzels and coat them well. Place this mixture on the bottom of a 9 X 13 cake pan. Bake for 7 minutes in a 325 degree oven. Let cool.

Next, put one package of softened cream cheese in a mixing bowl. I give it a really good stir before I add anything to it. I do the same with the Cool Whip before I add it to the cream cheese. I mix it well in its container with a spatula and then add it to the cream cheese. I mix that until smooth. Last, add one cup of sugar and mix very, very well. Once the pretzel crust is cool, add the cream cheese mixture on top and spread smoothly. I plop dots of the mixture all over and then use a spatula to spread it evenly to make the second layer.

Heat two cups of water in a saucepan until it boils. In a small glass bowl, empty two packages of strawberry Jell-O. Once the water boils, slowly pour over the Jell-O and mix until it is dissolved. Then, add the frozen strawberries. Put this bowl in the fridge to let it semi-set. You don’t want it runny because it will seep down the sides and make your dessert soggy. You also don’t want it completely set, because then it is harder to spread evenly across the cream cheese layer. My fridge is set on a pretty cold setting. It took 15 minutes to set. In other fridges I’ve used, it has taken over an hour. Continue to check on it by giving it a little stir. When it is the right consistency, give it a good mix so some of the strawberries mix to the bottom. Then, scoop it on top of the cream cheese layer and spread evenly across. Lastly, I add a layer of Cool Whip to the top. Once again, I give it a good stir in the container and spread it across the top.

I love dessert. If I could only have one for the rest of my life, it would be tough for me to choose, but I would probably choose this. I can and have eaten it for breakfast and later on in the same day for dessert.

The following week I started my three-day training at Target and then was put on the schedule five days a week. My availability was from 6:00 pm to close, so I could substitute teach during the day. For the rest of October, I was headed to St. Paul Conservatory, Achieve Language Academy, or Hope Community Academy. I was struggling with not knowing if I would be teaching, where, and for what grade. It quickly became just wondering where and for what grade because I was getting substitute jobs every day.

I also experienced two other schools the last week of October. One was called New Spirit and it was only five minutes from our place. It was a middle school. It was alright. The other school was Hmong Academy which is right off of Snelling Avenue close to the Minnesota State Fair grounds and two minutes from our place. I had to go through a metal detector there. That gave me a funny feeling! It made me realize I definitely wasn’t in Newburg anymore! I did have a nice first-day experience at that school!

I was getting home from school anywhere between 3:30 and 5:00, depending on the school I was at. I would come home and usually find Lawyerboy in the guest room/office studying. I would usually make him an afternoon cappuccino. Then, I would watch “Live with Regis and Kelly”. After that, I would make us supper. Now, I was short on time since I needed to change into “red and khaki” and leave for Target around 5:40 to make it there before I started work at 6:00. So, I didn’t get to always make Lawyerboy a drink and we were eating at 5:00 or shortly after. Before, we would eat between 6:00 and 7:00. The time we had together was quick. We weren’t used to that. Lawyerboy’s and my life were school, work, repeat. He went to school to learn and came home to work on his school work. I went to a school to teach and then to Target to work.

There was allows a little highlight while at school and Target. At school, I would write a letter to the teacher  I was subbing for about the students and my day during prep hour and finish it at the end of the day before I left. But, during my 30 minute lunch, I would eat my turkey sandwich, crackers, and fruit while I read the current book I was reading. It was a great pick me up! I love to read and always carry a book in my purse! Both my parents enjoy reading. I remember my mom saying once that she rarely read to us as kids and that now a days that would be considered “bad parenting”. She did something equally as good in my eyes. My siblings and I saw her read. While she was waiting for the cookies or supper to come out of the oven, she’d stand in front of the oven and read. She almost always carried a book with her. My dad was a farmer and when she was hauling grain during harvest time, she would read in the truck while we sat with her and waited for him to fill the grain truck. We would sometimes bring books, too! We always saw my dad read, too. He usually only had time for the newspaper when we were younger. He read it daily though. At Target, when I worked five-hour shifts, I had a 15 minute break. I would bring my book and read in the corner. That time always went so fast!

I am not one to read and eat. When I eat, I like to really enjoy every bite of my food, so it gets all my attention! Once in a while though, it is nice to have a little snack for after reading. My favorite quick snack and the best treat to have at a party in my opinion, is Puppy Chow! I don’t make it very often because I can eat it all in no time flat! I ate so much at a party one time, that the next morning when I went to run, I sweated like I had never sweated before. I think the powdered sugar was seeping out of my skin!

Puppy Chow is easy. There are lots of different ways to make it out there. Many people use one of the many options of Chex cereal available. I like the flavor of Crispix cereal best for Puppy Chow. Here is how I do it:

Puppy Chow

Prep Time: 5 to 10 minutes – Makes: A large bowl for many, unless I am there!

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup milk chocolate chips

8 cups Crispix

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Measure out 8 cups of Crispix cereal and set aside. Put the peanut butter and chocolate chips in a large glass bowl. Microwave for 66 seconds. Stir them together with a spatula. Dump in half of the cereal and gently stir to coat the cereal. Then add the rest of the cereal and stir until all pieces are coated. Then add the powdered sugar. I start with 1 1/2 cups so it doesn’t get everywhere! Then I add the last cup of powdered sugar and mix gently. I transfer it into a Tupperware bowl and cover it with a lid. The key is to put it in the refrigerator for at least an hour. It is addictive. Enjoy!

I only know a few phone numbers by heart. One of them being my BBF. Most people say they have a BFF, also known as a best friend forever. We prefer best buds forever. And by we, I mean Melissa, my BBF, and me.

We both grew up in small towns not too far apart from on another. We always knew of each other, but became friends in junior college, where I also met Lawyerboy and a lot of other amazing people. I think going to junior college has to be one of the best decisions I ever made for myself!

When we moved on to a four-year school, Melissa and I were roommates for a while. This is when I was introduced to the fabulous Kelly Ripa, by none other than Melissa! Melissa watched “All My Children” and when Kelly got the hosting job on the syndicated talk show “Live! with Regis and Kelly“, she tuned in to watch that, too. She would tape, yes tape!, both shows and would save parts for me to watch. We would laugh and laugh at the adorable Mrs. Ripa.

After she moved out, we still worked together at our part-time jobs we had while in school, so we saw each other all the time. Plus, we spent a lot of our free time together. We were neighbors at one point and then she moved across town.  In a town of 35 thousand, across town was a ten minute drive! We still saw each other all the time and I don’t think either of us has a person in our lives we’ve spent more time on the phone with than each other! We have always been able to talk for hours. It is usually about nothing of relevance. We have and still make each other laugh and laugh. She tells me I’m the funniest person she knows. I tell her she is the funnest person I know. Seriously.  She is a good time and doesn’t let others get in her way! While Lawyerboy and I were still living with my cousin Steph and her husband Mike, Melissa and her husband TJ went to NYC and they of course went and saw a taping of “Live! with Regis and Kelly”. She said she was the only one that stood when Regis and Kelly walked out and she didn’t give into peer pressure! She stood and clapped until they sat down! That’s my girl!

After my brother and I had packed up the last of the items I was taking with me to the Twin Cities and we had hugged goodbye, I made a stop before leaving Minot. That stop was Melissa’s place. I had never dreaded seeing her so much in my life. I did not want to say goodbye to her or her family. Her and her husband have three boys who I spent as much time with as possible. There ages were almost five, almost two, and six months. Isaac, the almost two-year old, is Lawyerboy’s and my godson.

I wasn’t there long. She gave me a present and we talked about nothing. Usually that was fun. Not today. There were tears and hugs and I needed to leave. I had an eight-hour drive ahead and Lawyerboy was expecting me.

Even though I am here now, we still talk a lot on the phone. It is just like when I lived ten minutes away, except now I can’t just drive over to her house. Shortly after we moved, I saw a T-shirt that said, ‘Friends Don’t Let Friends Move to Minnesota’! I called her and told her I blame her for not stopping me! 🙂

Melissa and I have had a handful of fights over our 15 year friendship. We can both be stubborn and saying sorry is very hard for both of us, especially for her to say it to me! I am not sure why. But best friends, or best buds in our case, are the ones you can only be mad at for so long because you have important things that happen and you need to tell them. She has told me that she can never be as good of friend to me as I am to her. “Uh?” She tried explaining what she meant to me. I guess it is a compliment. I however think that when you have someone in your life that makes life fun and helps you forget about your troubles, she is being just as good of a friend. Friendship is like a marriage in that sometimes you give more and take less, but the next day or week, you take more than you give. I definitely needed a friend when we moved here and she was and has been that for me.

Melissa prefers salty to sweet. She does like some baked goodies, but not as much as me! One of her favorite desserts are crisps. I love a crisp, too. This is one of the best ones ever for my best bud.

Rhubarb Crisp

Preheat oven – 350 degrees – Bake Time: 60 minutes – Prep Time: 30 minutes – Makes: 8 to 12 pieces; I get 8!

1 cup flour

3/4 cup oatmeal

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 cups rhubarb, chopped

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

Wash and cut up rhubarb into same sized pieces. Mix flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, softened butter, and cinnamon together until it has a crumbly appearance. Grease a 9 x 9-inch pan with butter. Place half of the crumble mixture into the bottom of the greased pan. Cover with all of the rhubarb. In a saucepan, boil sugar, cornstarch, water, and vanilla until it thickens and is clear. Pour over the rhubarb. Then, top with the remaining crumb mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. If you let it cool just a little until it can be cut, it is super yummy warm. Serve it plain, with whipped cream, or  ice cream. It is the right amount of sweet. The smell while it is baking makes you think of things and people who make you happy. For me, that would be books, food, teaching, exercise, Kelly Ripa, my family, Lawyerboy, and of course, my BBF, Melissa.

I finally got a call from Super Target! It was crazy how excited I was! Yes. I love shopping at Target and I worked there the summer after I graduated from high school and really enjoyed it, but I didn’t think after I began teaching five years ago that I would be back to punching a time clock and getting an hourly rate. Yet, I was going for an interview for just that and was elated! Lawyerboy and I made this decision for him to go to law school and I was to be the primary income, so it was time for me to earn more money. Therefore, I was excited for the potential of more income.

I thought the first part of the interview with a team lead went fine. I waited while the executive on duty came to interview me. He and I had a great conversation. He said that they expect all their new employees to be available every weekend in November and December with the busy holiday season. I told him I couldn’t be here at Christmas because I had a wedding. That made him hesitate, but he said I could have that off if I worked every weekend leading up to it. Um okay. I needed a job so, “Yes!” He told me his mom was a teacher and that he made way more money than a teacher and that he could see me becoming an executive for Target. I knew I wanted to be a teacher since first grade! I told him, “I love teaching and can’t imagine doing anything else!” He replied, “We’ll see.”

I had to get a drug test within 24 hours, so I drove to another Super Target that had a clinic. If you throw a dart on a map, you have a 75 percent chance of hitting a Target so it wasn’t too far away! I didn’t tell Lawyerboy until I got home that I got the job. He was thrilled. Probably for me, himself, and us!

At the interview, they had sugar and peanut butter cookies that come in the plastic container set out. I know some people love store-bought cookies, but I, however, think that homemade anything are the best! I have a few peanut butter cookie recipes. These are crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. If you love peanut butter, I dare you to eat only one!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Preheat oven to 325 degrees – Bake: 11 minutes – Prep Time: 15 minutes

 – Serves: 18 large cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup peanut butter

Stir butter, sugar, and brown sugar together. Add the two eggs and mix together well. Add the flour and baking soda. Last, add the peanut butter and stir until well mixed. Roll into round balls. I make mine large. Place them on a cookie sheet. Dip a fork into sugar and press down until the cookie is round and flat with pretty fork marks in both directions and sprinkles of sugar. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 11 minutes. They will look like they have risen a bit. Leave them on the pan for two minutes. They will flatten in these two minutes and be cool enough to take off and place on a cooling rack or a clean dish towel with wax paper. These cookies make me happy. Who am I kidding? Cookies make the world happy.

Lawyerboy and I love October! He too is a fan of birthdays. We were both born in October. His birthdate is exactly one year and one week after mine. In Minot, our birthdays usually consisted of a movie and going out to eat or me making a favorite meal of ours. Beings we ate out twice for my birthday, we were being cautious on Lawyerboy’s birthday, and only went to one place! 🙂

We met up with Bethany and Jameson, sister and brother from my hometown, who were in the cities for the weekend with their significant others. I used to babysit them and their younger sister, Jasmine! Their whole family is very special to me and Lawyerboy fits right in! We got together with them in the early afternoon at Café Latte, a neat place, on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul. Lawyerboy can get his favorite latte there, the Turtle Latte. (You should check it out!)

Bethany’s husband, Justin, is in his first year at law school at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Lawyerboy and Justin went back and forth about the cases they had studied and their classroom experiences in the first couple of months in law school. It was fun to listen to them share stories! Turns out, it really doesn’t matter where you go to law school. The structure and cases in law school are the same, just like Scott Turow said in his book about the first year of law school that I read! Scott Turow, the author of “One L“, says the following in the preface of his book: “The course of study has changed little in the past century. Almost every first-year student is required to take what are generally thought of as the basic subjects-the law of Contracts, Torts, and Property, the Criminal Law, Civil Procedure. Nor does the manner of instruction vary much from place to place.” Many of Scott Turow emotions in his book were the same that I was seeing second-hand with Lawyerboy.

Lawyerboy and I had a great day together on his first birthday as a law student and in a new place. It is Fall, and Lawyerboy loves Fall because almost everyone with this season goes pumpkin crazy! Yep! You guessed it. Lawyerboy loves pumpkin. Here is a Fall classic:

Pumpkin Bars:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees – Bake Time: 25 minutes – Prep Time: 25 minutes – Serves: 15 to 24 (You choose your size preference!)

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 can pumpkin, 15 ounces

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 cups flour

Beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil in a mixer until blended. Add the vanilla and mix together. Next add baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and flour. Blend together. Pour into an ungreased 10×15 jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool and Frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 package cream cheese, 8 ounces, softened

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

Mix softened cream cheese and butter together well. Add the milk and vanilla and blend together. Last, stir in the powdered sugar. Use a butter knife or off-set spatula to frost. Spread evenly across the top. Store in the refrigerator. They are light, moist, and tasty!

I love birthdays. Not just mine. Everybody’s! I think it is important to make people feel extra special for no reason a few times a year, but a birthday, is a given. It is the one day a year friends and family celebrate you, whether that is spending the day with the person whose day is being celebrated or by picking up the phone and talking about this and that. Some people think texts and emails are okay. Not me. No one is that busy. Show you care. (I have come to realize I am one of the few people who think this way. Especially now in 2013. In 2008, more people were still calling, but now, its text, Facebook, and Twitter! UGH!)

Micky and Kathryn were leaving the day after my birthday for a two-week trip to the East Coast. I was delighted they would both be here for my first birthday in the Twin Cities. We spent some of the time painting one wall in our living room! Jeff, who we now live in the same building as, had told Lawyerboy in law school one day that they had painted, so we thought, why not! I only wanted to do a little painting, but thought it’d be nice to add a little color.

We were going out for supper at Tavern on Grand with Mike and Steph. We hadn’t seen our old roomies since we’d moved out two weeks prior! We were all looking forward to seeing them. Mike and Steph are always fun to spend time with!

When it came time for lunch, we weren’t sure where we should eat. Since it was my birthday, everyone wanted me to pick. I am terrible at decisions like this… I’m a Libra! Kathryn suggested Nelson Cheese and Deli. It was a two-minute drive from our apartment. It is a small place on the corner of Como Avenue where you can stop and pick up a hot or cold sandwich to go. I liked the idea of coming back to our place to eat, paint, and get ready to meet Mike and Steph.

There was a display of bars at the checkout counter that I kept staring at while we waited for them to make our sandwiches. Kathryn offered to buy me one for my birthday. I declined. What I really wanted was to bake some myself! There were brownies, lemon bars, and one of my favorites, seven layer bars!

Seven Layer Bars:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees – Prep Time: 15 minutes – Bake Time: 25 minutes   – Makes: 8 to 12 to 15 bars depending on the size you cut them!

1/2 cup butter

2 cups graham cracker crumbs, (12 crackers)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

1/3 cup nuts, chopped (Most recipes use walnuts. I use peanuts or pistachios.)

1 (14 ounces) can of sweetened condensed milk

1 1/3 cups coconut, shredded

Place 12 graham crackers in a Ziploc bag. Roll over them with a rolling-pin until you get crumbs. In a small bowl, melt one stick of butter. Add the two cups of graham cracker crumbs. Stir together. Pour into the bottom of a 9×13 pan and spread evenly. Layer with one cup of chocolate chips and then one cup of butterscotch chips. Give nuts of your choice a rough chop on a cutting board. I used pistachios this time. Sprinkle them over the chips. Open a can of sweetened condensed milk and pour evenly over the bars. Lastly, sprinkle the coconut over the top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. The coconut will get golden-brown. These are gooey and chewy!

After my dad and Micky helped move us in to our apartment the last weekend of September, we felt more at “Home”. It was so great to see them both. Not only did I need my own space and our things, but I needed to see family. They weren’t here long, but Micky would be back for my birthday in two weeks!

Lawyerboy started his week off like always, going to class and coming home and studying. I applied for a job at Super Target. I wasn’t getting called to sub and I was beginning to panic. We needed an income. Wouldn’t you know it, the first week of October, I got a call to teach. It was Inver Grove Heights. I had never even heard of this suburb! Lawyerboy turned on the computer and got the directions from Google maps for me. He wrote them down while I showered and got ready. He tried to explain to me how to get there before I left. The school started at 8:30 so I had plenty of time to get ready and get lost. I had to call Lawyerboy on the way because I wasn’t sure if I was going the right way. I had my directions in my lap, but hated to take my eyes off the road in case I missed a sign! I eventually got there. It was a third grade classroom. She had an aid named Rasha. The teacher had done her lesson plans, but they weren’t real specific. Most of the students were Somalian. They didn’t have name tags, and they had names that were unique to me. They were in uniforms, so that made them look-alike. The girls wore hijabs which made them look even more alike than the boys because I couldn’t even decipher them by their hair. I had a hard time telling them apart. It was interesting for me to see such diversity and I enjoyed learning a bit about their culture.

However, these children were not well-behaved. The principal came in the morning right when class was starting to tell me this was a tough class and he warned all of them to be good or that they would be sitting with him. Great. I introduced myself and set my guidelines. A lot of the girls kept telling me how pretty I was and that they liked my outfit. It was very sweet. Thank goodness Rasha was there because I would have had no idea how the routine of the room works. I have enough experience that I can teach the lessons without lesson plans, but the routine and schedule were not laid out. I made it through the day and then Rasha told me she has never seen them that well-behaved. What?!? I thought they were out of control!! Yes, they listened when I taught, but when they were to be doing independent work, there were a lot who were off task and needed constant reminders.

Lawyerboy got an earful when I got home! He told me not to take another job there if I didn’t like it. I knew I needed to be working and would make the most of whatever was sent my way.

I also wrote an e-mail about my day to my mom and all my teacher friends back home! Is this what substitute teaching is like? I also wrote to the lady who had called me to substitute. She wrote back and said that was a hard school for a lot of people and I didn’t have to go back. I said I would maybe give it another chance, but would prefer to try other schools first. Low and behold, I had a different school to try the next week! This school was a mix of cultures. The students at this school were Latino, African-American, Caucasian, and some students that I thought were Asian. I would soon find out that they weren’t Asian!

I taught 7th and 8th grade science. The teacher had left very well laid out lesson plans. I wrote in my journal that my morning was excellent, but after lunch, the students were not good. The next two periods were better. I was definitely willing to give this school another chance, which happened the next day. I was the physical education teacher. It went pretty well. I had the next day off. On Friday, the day before my birthday, I got called back to the same school to teach 7th and 8th grade social studies. They were chatty and needed a lot of reminders, but way better than my first experience!

So, I went from not subbing, to subbing one day my first week, to subbing three of five days the following week. I spent part of the day thinking about my old school back home. When it was someone’s birthday, one of the teachers or staff made something special to eat in the teacher’s lounge. My mom usually made something for my birthday. The year before I left, the business manager, Tammy, who is a dear friend and has three amazing children that I babysat for when I was in middle school and high school, made me a cheesecake. She used my mom’s recipe. My mom brought in her frozen peaches and strawberries to top the cheesecake with. It was scrumptious!

Baked Cheesecake Bars:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees – Prep Time: 20 minutes – Bake Time: 50 to 55 minutes – Makes: 12 to 16 pieces

1 1/4 cup crushed graham crackers ( I use close to 2 cups; I like graham cracker crust!)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 (8 ounce packages) cream cheese, softened

1 can sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs

1/4 cup lemon juice

I use one package of graham crackers. There are nine in a pack. Put them in a Ziploc bag and roll a rolling-pin over them until they are nice and crushed. Melt a 1/2 cup of butter, half of a stick, and add 1/4 cup of sugar. Mix together. Next add the crushed graham crackers. Dump into a 9×13 pan. Spread evenly and pat it down. Set aside while you mix the cheesecake together.

Place two packages of cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat until smooth. Add a can of sweetened condensed milk and beat together.  Next, add the three eggs and 1/4 cup of lemon juice. Blend until you get a smooth consistency. Pour on top of the graham cracker crust. Put in a 300 degree oven. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes. Test it after 50 minutes with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it is done.

Let it cool. It can be cut into 12 nice sized square pieces or 16 smaller pieces. It is great after it has cooled, but even better if you give it time to chill in the refrigerator. Enjoy it plain, or with any fruit topping you like!

You can use a cheesecake pan. This is just how my mom does it, so of course I follow suit!

Put one package, nine crackers, in a Ziploc bag.

Roll over the Ziploc bag with a rolling pin until crackers are fine.

Melt 1/2 cup of butter.

Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the butter.

Add graham crackers to butter and sugar.

Pour into a 9×13 pan.

Spread evenly and gently pat down with the back of a mixing spoon.

Place two 8 ounce packages of cream cheese in a mixer bowl and beat until smooth.

Add a can of sweetened condensed milk.

Blend until smooth.

Add three eggs.

Then, add 1/4 cup of lemon juice.

Blend together.

It will look smooth and liquid like.

Pour on top of the graham cracker crust. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes at 300 degrees.

Fresh out of the oven.

Enjoy with a fruit topping!

Or plain! Both are yummy!

Let’s rewind back to when we moved to the Twin Cities. Lawyerboy moved in with my cousin, Steph, and her husband, Mike, in the middle of August. Orientation started the week before actual classes started for One L‘s. I stayed back and finished working at my summer job and packed up our apartment. Lawyerboy was so nervous. He didn’t know what to expect. I was excited to hear how his first day of orientation went. He said it went well. I asked if he met anyone and he said, “Yeah. One guy and I talked.” I was happy to hear that and said, “That’s good. ” Lawyerboy said his name is Mike and he seemed really nice. (Another Mike in our life!)

The next day, Chad said he had another good day. He was really enjoying his seminars. Plus, he saw Mike reading the newspaper when he got there. Lawyerboy went over to him and initiated conversation again. They then sat by each other for the rest of orientation and pretty much all of law school.

Mike is normally a reserved guy and we found out later that he had told his wife that he knew he had to meet people to help him get through law school. He saw Lawyerboy and decided he looked like a good guy to start a conversation with. Mike jokes that he should get the credit for the friendship since he made the first step. Lawyerboy says that the follow-up, going over and talking to him while he was reading the paper the second day, was crucial in how their friendship was able to evolve throughout law school!

It was time for me to move to the Cities. My brother came early Saturday morning and helped me haul down all my clothes from my closet and load them in my mom’s Tahoe. We had decided I needed to take down as much as I could, so we traded vehicles. My brother and I went up and down and up and down the stairs. When the Tahoe was full, we hugged good-bye and of course I cried my eyes out. I remember him saying, “Oh” and squeezing me tight.

I stopped by my best buddy’s house to say good-bye to her and her three boys, her second, Isaac, is our godchild. I was dreading saying good-bye to them. (More on her and her family later!)

Then, I was off. The drive went quickly. I didn’t realize how anxious I was to see Lawyerboy, since I was so wrapped up with getting ready to move and missing all things home. I almost crushed a small car when I got to the cities. After passing by St. Cloud, Chad had given me instructions on how to get to my cousin’s house. I thought I knew where I was going and didn’t understand why I was taking the 35-E exit. I was looking for the exit that you take on I-94. For some reason, I wasn’t registering that I was on 694 and therefore had to take a different exit. I almost missed my exit and as I veered over I got my first honking at! It was actually more of a’ laying on the horn’ honk! It took me by complete surprise! It was a little red car and I had so much stuff in the Tahoe, I honestly didn’t see her! I felt bad if that helped… probably not though!

When I got to my cousins, Lawyerboy came out to greet me! It felt like it had been forever since we’d seen each other! After a hello hug and kiss, we got to work. We had a lot of items to unload. We were either putting it up in the room we were using or downstairs in their basement, so up and down we went until the Tahoe was empty.

When we finished, I saw the sign on the table Lawyerboy had made me. It said, “Welcome to the Cities!” and he had gotten me a Starbucks gift card. It was super thoughtful and sweet.

It was surreal to be here. It made it even more real. Lawyerboy asked what we should do. We ended up going to Target and getting a feel for the area. I don’t know why, but I felt really happy at Target. Even though we couldn’t afford to buy much, it felt good to see that Target was the same everywhere, probably even better in Minnesota! We had a relaxing evening with Mike and Steph when they got home from work. We spent the evening outside eating and drinking.

Lawyerboy and I decided to try another adventure beings it was our first weekend here in our ‘new home’. We saw the Twins were in town and thought it would be fun to go. They were playing the Yankees so of course the tickets were more expensive than usual! We’ve been to the Cities a lot, but this was the first time we were in charge of our activities and the driving! We usually got to my sister Kathryn’s, and she took over! We got down to the Metrodome smoothly. We saw parking for $20 and I was sure we could get cheaper. It only got more and more costly! We ended up getting lost and parking in a $25 parking ramp after driving around! Not off to a good start!

The game was entertaining, as was us leaving. We missed our turn and ended up driving and driving! We had no idea where we were or where we were going. We called my cousin, Mike, to see if he could help us. He wanted to know where we were and I didn’t know what to say! We finally came upon some signs and he was able to get us headed in the right direction back to their place! I didn’t know if the two of us should go out on our own again!

In a way it was a relief the weekend was over. Lawyerboy had his first full week of school and his first actual classes the following morning. Like most One L’s, in his first semester, Lawyerboy took Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Torts I, Contracts I, and Legal Research and Writing. Once again, he was nervous. I was nervous for him! I couldn’t wait for him to get home. I kept myself busy by watching my favorite show, ‘Live with Regis and Kelly’, studying for my Minnesota teacher’s license exam, and then getting lunch ready for us.

Lawyerboy told me all about his first day. Of course, he and his new friend, Mike, sat by each other. Mike had gotten there a half hour early to pick his seat and save Lawyerboy one, too. It is that kind of friendship. 🙂 They had to sign a sheet where they were sitting because this would be their assigned seat the professors could use to call on them. That was everyone’s biggest fear… getting called on! You got tons of reading material to read in order to be prepared for class. The professors would call on students to go through a case they had read. In a way, you wanted to get called on so it would just be over with! Once you were called on, you at least knew it won’t happen again for some time because the professor checked your name off the list.

Steph and Mike had some friends over on a Saturday for Mike’s birthday. One of their friends was a teacher and she gave me the number to a temp agency to be a substitute teacher. I called right away Monday morning and had an interview the next day. It was over by the Mall of America. It was more of ‘explain what you taught at your other school and when can you start’ discussion. I was put on their list of  people to call. Then and there started the days of sleeping with my phone.

Our month of September went something like this: I drove Lawyerboy to school in case I’d get called to sub beings we only had one vehicle at the time. I’d have the house to myself during the week while Steph and Mike worked. I’d go pick up Lawyerboy and he would then spend his time reading, reading, highlighting, and more reading. I would practice math problems and read science and social studies text books. We were having nice weather and sat outside a lot. That was pretty much it.

We went out one night in September with another guy Lawyerboy had met at school. His name is Jeff. He was from Iowa and just out of college and newly married. He and Lawyerboy made plans for us to meet up for Bar Review one night in early mid-September. Jeff and his wife, Amanda, were very nice. We offered to give them a ride home since they had taken the bus to meet us. As we left Sally’s Saloon on the University of Minnesota campus and were walking back to the vehicle, our lives got threatened. A guy walked by and asked us for money. Amanda and I were laughing about something and hadn’t even heard him. I guess he thought we were laughing at him and he said, “I could kill you, you know!” Welcome to the city!

We dropped them off at their apartment. Little did we know that in a couple of weeks we’d be moving in!

I took my Minnesota teacher test on a Saturday in September and we also made the decision to move into an apartment. Since we had been here, it was all a whirlwind. Now that we finally had our own place, I thought I’d have time to bake. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. I didn’t even have time to bake banana bread which is simple and yummy!

Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 300 degrees – Prep Time: 10 minutes – Bake Time – 60 to 65 minutes – Makes 12 to 16 slices

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 to 3 bananas, ripened

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

1 cup walnuts, optional

In a medium-sized bowl, mix butter and sugar together. In a small bowl, beat the two eggs. In a small bowl or on a plate, mash the bananas. I use a fork. Add the bananas to the eggs and stir. Then, add them to the butter and sugar mixture. Add the flour and baking soda. Mix together, but don’t over mix. Add walnuts if desired. I prefer banana bread without nuts!

Pour the bread into a greased bread pan. Bake for one hour at 300 degrees. Check it with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it is done. It usually takes an extra five or six minutes. Let it cool in the bread pan for 15 minutes. Then, gently shake it out onto wax paper or cooling rack. It is really yummy fresh out of the oven! Let it cool for a little longer before slicing it and enjoying it warm. Lawyerboy likes it with butter. I like it just the way it is! I also love the ends!! It is still very good for two days following its baking date. After it has cooled, keep it in an airtight container.

The last immediate member of my family is my mom. I am told I am the most like her. Growing up, I didn’t take that so well. The older I get, the more I understand her and admire her. We didn’t get along the best in my teenage years, and she gave me “because” for a reason whenever I asked why about anything! All I wanted was an explanation to her “no.” Now I see that some things really didn’t have or need an explanation. It is just life and it makes sense the older you get. One thing we always could agree on though, was food. We get along best in the kitchen and while we are eating.

When I met Lawyerboy in college, I was most nervous to tell my mom. Not because I was worried she wouldn’t like him, but because I valued her opinion more than anyone elses. I wanted to tell my parents a couple of weeks after meeting him. I just knew he was the one and wanted to share him with my family. Lawyerboy was a little apprehensive about this. He was nervous to say the least. I told him not to worry, because I have the best family. I could tell everyone thought he was a good guy, including my mom when I brought him to the farm to meet my family members that were around. I called and asked my sister Kathryn what mother had said about him. Kathryn said mom wrote her an e-mail that said, “He was nice and had great manners.” My mom loves education and was a big fan of every degree Lawyerboy continued to pursue. She was a huge part of our wedding. Not just because she was the mother-of-the-bride, but because she made all the food, my wedding dress, and altered the bridesmaid dresses.

A book should be written about my mom on how truly remarkable she is and on all the things she does! Her work ethic and how she gets it all done in a day are just two things that should be documented. I am not just saying this because she is my mom. She is a great mom, but she also takes care of her community. Here is just a taste of her personality and her jobs: She is a marvelous cook and an even better baker. She has a strong faith in God and doesn’t like swearing. She doesn’t put up with nonsense. She rarely sits down. She is a clock watcher and pays close attention to the weather. She is an excellent seamstress and loves to quilt. She enjoys listening to local and professional sports on the radio when she sews and/or quilts. She is an elite multi-tasker and has multiple jobs. Besides a wife and mother of four, she drives school bus, cooks homemade meals for the school, organizes concessions at ball games, is the substitute rural mail carrier, a tailor, teaches confirmation, and sells her baked goodies. She also takes care of the farms huge yard during the nice weather months and tends to a garden full of fresh grown vegetables and some fruits. She strives to do all these things well.

My mom is a very generous person with her money, and even more so with her time, and time is so important to her. She has spent hours in kitchens. She shrugs her shoulders at cooking, even though she is good at it and gets rave reviews. It just isn’t her favorite thing. (If you’re lucky to be very good at one of your not so favorite things, good for you!) 🙂 She loves to bake though and you can taste her time and love in each bite.

Since I was a little girl, I loved to watch her in the kitchen. I have been intrigued with food since I was a toddler. There are more pictures of me with food than without! My mom and I not only love to eat, but we love the process of food starting from a garden or field and then adding this, and mixing that, and creating a masterpiece. Like I mentioned earlier, my mom’s favorite word to us growing up was ‘Because.’ It drove me crazy when I didn’t get an answer. She made us be members of 4-H. There were things I liked about it, but mostly I’d rather be at home. When I would ask why we had to be in it, she would usually say, “Because you learn how to do things.” I liked that I got an explanation and not just “Because.” Plus I got to bake a lot of goodies while in 4-H. I was a part of ‘Be A Better Baker’ and whenever I asked my mom baking questions, I always got an explanation and not just ‘because’.

In our community, my mom is known for ‘doing it all’. Sometimes my mom feels like she get too much recognition. I think most would agree she deserves every bit of it. She is most famous for her cookies. They are huge. They are tasty. We often have homemade bars, cake, bread, and pie in our house. But almost daily, you could find a cookie, actually a variety of cookies, but for sure a chocolate chip cookie. She has changed her recipe a bit since I was a child, but they still have the same great flavor and always remind me of my childhood. They are the first thing I baked all by myself as a kid.

So, stealing a bit of the lyrics and tune from the Wizard of OZ, “Because, because, because, because, because… Because of the wonderful things she does for her family, friends, and community, she is the most wonderful mother of all.”

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees – Prep Time: 10 minutes  – Bake Time: 14 minutes  – Makes: 24 cookies

3 sticks margarine, softened

1/2 cup oil

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 1/2 cups flour, not quite

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix butter, oil, and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the baking soda, salt, and four cups of flour. You may not need the whole last 1/2 cup. Sprinkle some in and stir. Keep adding a little more until you have a smooth, cookie dough consistency. Add the two cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

You may use an ice cream scoop. I don’t think my mom even owns one. She uses two spoons, as do I. Scoop up dough with one, and use the other to scrape the dough off onto the baking sheet. I get 8 cookies on a sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes. I turn the baking sheet after 7 minutes of baking. I let them rest on the pan for a couple of minutes before moving them with a spatula onto a cooling rack or wax paper on top of a dish towel. They are so good warm out of the oven. They are super good frozen, too. Just let them sit out a couple of minutes and you can bite right through! They will make you happy!

3 sticks of margarine, 1/2 cup of oil, 1 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1 1/2 cup of sugar. Mix.

Add the four eggs and one teaspoon of vanilla.

Ready for the dry ingredients.

Add two teaspoons of baking powder. 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and four cups of flour. Mix and add up to another 1/2 cup of flour.

This is perfection.

Add the two cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Mix them in well.

I get 8 on a baking sheet. I bake for 7 minutes and turn.

Up Close and Personal with Mom’s Chocolate Chip Cookies!

The oldest sibling in the family is my sister, Kathryn. She is two and a half years older than me. I used to think I was adopted because she and I were very different from each other growing up. She did as she was asked. I did the opposite. She got good grades easily. I had to work for them. She didn’t really care to play sports that had a ball in them. I loved them. She kept her room clean and tidy. Mine was a mess. She could read all day. I wanted to play. There were times I would knock and knock on her bedroom door begging her to come play. I had come up with what I thought was the best idea for an activity we could do! She usually wanted to stay and read the day away, but when I convinced her to come, it was so much fun!

We’d make up dances, have running and biking races, or have a Miss Zurcher pageant with a talent competition and all! She loves cats and when one of our farm mama cats would have babies, we all loved to go searching for where she hid them. Once we knew, Kathryn would spend a lot of time giving them her attention and was always so heartbroken when one passed away.

She is still to this day a lover of books, education, cats, going on walks, and she is the most organized person I know. Everything has a place.

She got her bachelors in broadcasting. After a couple of years of working in the TV field, she decided to continue her education. She went to the Luther Seminary in St. Paul and got her Masters of Divinity. Lawyerboy and I loved coming to the Twin Cities to visit her during this time. She is fantastic at planning activities and always showed us great places, great food, and great times.

When Lawyerboy and I got engaged, she was full of ideas. She also wrote a beautiful message that she gave at our wedding. She is a brilliant writer and will probably be one someday.

Her love of traveling came when she was in elementary school and her teacher had been on a trip to Europe. Kathryn’s teacher told her students about her experiences and brought in pictures. That inspired Kathryn to travel to all 50 states, and not just pass through them, but explore them. She has been to Europe twice, Africa, and The Holy Land. She has traveled to many places alone and many with others. She isn’t afraid to ask strangers to take her picture. All memories must be on film! I was never interested in traveling. After hearing countless stories of traveling and seeing pictures from Kathryn’s and Micky’s adventures, I became intrigued. I love traveling and should have started sooner!

When Lawyerboy and I got the news we were moving to her area in the Twin Cities, she wrote to one of our friends and fellow teacher of mine. My teacher friend called me into her room and told me what she wrote. “I am so excited to have two of my favorite people moving closer to me.” We too were looking forward to being in the same place as her.

Unfortunately when we moved here, we didn’t get to see as much of each other as we’d anticipated. Lawyerboy studied and I worked. Her job demanded a lot of traveling from her. I was always excited for Thanksgiving at my cousin’s place because we’d all be there. Due to some life happenings, she or ourselves, haven’t always made it. It is funny how sometimes you see people who live further away, more than the ones that live in the same vicinity. Though we have had great adventures trying to get home to the farm for Christmas in a snow storm, a birthday cruise, and we were with her and our other sister, Micky, on an unforgettable two-week trip to Europe!

I have been a people observer for as long as I can remember. Through observing and listening to Kathryn, I have quietly learned many things. A few of the most important are: To love my body for what it is, to appreciate all the many places in the world and a desire to experience them, and how having a place for everything and being super organized is such a great feeling! My bedroom is no longer messy.

Sour Cream Raisin Bars 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees – Prep Time: 30 minutes – Bake Time: 30 minutes – Makes a 15 to 20 bars, depending on size

2 cups raisins

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 3/4 cups quick oatmeal

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 3/4 cups flour

3 egg yolks

1 1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla

Place raisins in a small saucepan. Add water to cover. Cook for 10 minutes. Raisins will be plump. Drain and cool.

Meanwhile, cream butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the quick oatmeal, baking soda, and flour and blend together. Lightly grease a 9×13 pan. Put half of the oatmeal mixture in the bottom of the pan. Set the rest in the bowl aside.

In a saucepan, add egg yolks, sour cream, sugar, and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Add the plump raisins and vanilla. Pour over the oatmeal mixture in the pan. Sprinkle top with the remaining oatmeal mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Enjoy warm by themselves or add scoop or two of vanilla ice cream. Keep these bars covered and they stay good for a couple of days. Delicious!