Theme Night Dinner

It was our last night in the house by ourselves, so we took advantage of it in a yummy way!  We decided to have a Chinese (Hong Kong) night!  Since Drew served a mission in Hong Kong for 2 years, he got to know the food pretty well.  One of the things he cooked for me while we were dating was a Chinese dish (there are versions from other countries as well) called Chicken Curry.  I mentioned doing some sort of dessert, and Drew came up with the idea of doing Egg Tarts, something Drew loved to get from the bakery in Hong Kong and Macau.  So we multi-tasked and made our tarts while our curry melded together.

(Cooking, baking, having a great time!)

(Eating our delicious Curry creation)

(Our Egg Tarts turned out perfectly and Drew was so excited about them since he hadn't had them since he was halfway around the world!)

We had a really great time making food together - we make a great team!  While we were cooking, we listened to Hong Kong radio online.  Since theme night was so last minute, we didn't get a chance to get a Chinese movie, so we watch a documentary called "Young at Heart".  It was cute!  We were thinking we could do this Hong Kong theme night again once the movie "Push" is on DVD and watch that as our end-of-night movie (the whole movie takes place in Hong Kong and is a really awesome movie)!  We had the best experience doing this together, and we're definitely looking forward to more theme nights!

Our First Easter Together

Since the little boys have a week off of school for Spring Break, everyone (Mom, Dad, and boys) took a trip down to Ohio.  So we have had the house to ourselves, and it's been really fun!  Easter was unlike any Easter we've ever had:  we made baskets for each other and hid them, and Drew even did a mini Easter Egg Hunt for me.  It was sweet!

Ok, so I know I look yucky and we look like we just woke up (well... we did), but I wanted to share those "pre-Easter dinner" recipes:

Ravioli with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Crispy Parmesan Biscuits

(for the ravioli, I don't like to use parsley to sprinkle over top, I use chopped green onions instead - it ties in well with the green onions in the biscuits)

  

So after these festivites (where which I look ridiculous... now you all know what I look like in the morning-YIKES!), we got ready, went to church, and came home, when Drew took a nap to rid of his headache.  While Drew rested, I made brownies for my co-workers at Blockbuster that had to work on Easter.  I also made a pan of brownies for the Death by Chocolate I was making for dessert!  As soon as the brownies came out of the oven, I wanted to take them to my co-workers, so I cut them with a plastic knife (no crumbs and cuts through smoothly without picking up the knife from the pan) and took them out to Blockbuster.  When I got back, I threw the Death by Chocolate together (layered in a triffle bowl - brownies, chocolate pudding, Cool Whip - layered twice) then we headed out to Skaneateles to be with the Barrons for Easter dinner.

We had the most delicious dinner, provided by Drew's amazing mother, Sharon.  Honey glazed ham, scalloped potatoes, supreme macaroni and cheese, and corn really "hit the spot"!

I love spending time with the Barrons, and we're so glad that we can be so close to them to see them more often.

We hope everyone's Easter was wonderful and that Spring is treating them well.  As it is tax day, we also hope everyone is stress-free in that aspect.

Wedding/Reception/Family Photos!

To those who haven't seen them yet, our Wedding and Reception photos are up!  There is a link on the right hand side of the Blog cleverly named "Our Photos"!

Enjoy!

What's Up With Us Lately...

It's been almost 3 months since the wedding, the parties, and gatherings with family, but we're still staying busy!  Drew is working at the Carousel Center Regal Cinemas, where he worked before college and his mission (his dad was also manager there after Drew left-but has since become manager of another movie theater).  He was having a hard time finding a job here while I was still working at Blockbuster (yipee), then fell back on a job he knew was guaranteed: the theater.  So he's working about 40 hours per week in Syracuse while I idle away at home... I'm only getting, at MOST, 15 hours per week at Blockbuster.  I'm trying to find another job and have some applications from random spots here in Cicero to turn in.  Hopefully I'll be making a little more money soon.

A little fun thing for me this past month: I legally changed my name.  I have a new Social Security card and new Driver License with my new name on each!  Very cool!  As far as Driver Licenses go, Drew got his about 2 weeks ago and he is loving the new independence.  (He laughs and says it will be a fun little trivia fact in years to come that he actually got married before he got his license.)  Very exciting though!!

SO, the newest update is that about our moving status.  We were going to be headed back out west by the end of this month, if not in April, so Drew could continue on in school, but that will no longer be happening.  Drew has differed this Winter Semester (January-April) and is technically back on "track" in the Fall Semester.  We received his differment approval letter stating that he is differed for this Winter Semester but will be ineligible to take classes in his "off track" (a.k.a. Spring Semester starting at the end of April-July).  Our newly formed plan is to stay here in the Syracuse area (thanks to Rick and Julie Drogowski, my parents) and earn and save as much as we can before heading out to Idaho in the Summer.  We are tentatively planning to leave between July and August.

For those who don't have our address:

Drew and Carissa Barron

8532 Old Towne Path

Cicero, New York 13039

By the way... as for our families in Ohio, Kansas (and Missouri), and Utah, we are planning on making a fun road trip out of our drive out west, so we want to maybe stop to see our family!  Most of you haven't met Drew, so that will be fun!

That's about it for now!

Carissa's 21st Birthday!!!

Drew is so great at treating me like a queen!

Here's how our day went...

February 19, 2009, Carissa's 21st Birthday:

Woke up without an alarm (always more soothing).  First thing first, though (said Drew)... present number 2:  a much wanted robe!  (Present number one was given at midnight--something silly I had been joking that I wanted:  a PedEgg to take care of my dry and cracked feet--yuck!)  Drew cooked breakfast, anything I wanted; I asked for a scrambled egg sandwich.  It was delicious!

After getting showered and ready for our day out, we headed to the movie theater.  Now that Drew is working there, he got us passes to see one of the movies that Dirk and Stefanie (my brother and his adorable French-Canadian wife) had been telling us about since they first showed previews for it:  Coraline (in 3-D)!  I really wanted to see it!  While the previews were on, and I was sporting my mighty fine 3-D glasses, Drew got us buttered-up popcorn, a KitKat bar, and oh-so-delicious fruit punch (a medium combo--it's a good sale for the workers there, so we hit it up).  We sat through the supposed children's movie and enjoyed it a lot, even through the creepy-crawly, very Nightmare Before Christmas-esque scenes.  It was PG but there were some questionable parts in there.  Overall, we thought it was pretty good!

Next part of the special day: shopping!!!  I usually really dislike shopping, but I was optimistic; it was my birthday, there had to be something I could buy with my $50.  So we walked through the humongous mall, hitting up all the stores I thought would have a dress that would fit me just right (I don't know why I'm so determined to get a new dress).  I also thought I could find the perfect brown heels.  Not gonna happen.  I don't know why.  Finally, after searching store after store, we went into Old Navy and went into the Clearance section (this was where I usually had good luck).  Well, lady luck visited me again, and I found some clothes that I wanted, and they were ON SALE!  It couldn't get better than that!

We were on our way out of the mall to head to dinner, when I remembered that I wanted to ride the "famous" carousel before leaving.  So we felt a little silly, like children, waiting for our turn to ride.  I even pre-picked my horse.  It was actually pretty fun while we were riding.  We got to see all the happy parents watching their children go up and down on their own pre-picked horses, and we even picked up speed a little.  Something I realized is that they should not have Elvis or the Beach Boys' songs as carousel songs.  And they should tune those poor instruments inside the carousel.

So on to our next exciting part of our day: dinner out!  We decided on Spaghetti Warehouse since Drew had never been there, it was nearby, and I had been referred there for a good virgin daquiri for my 21st birthday!  So after going too far into downtown Syracuse, turning around about 3 or 4... or 5 times, and still getting lost, we finally found the restaurant.  We're not really that terrible at navigating, honest!  There were detours that confused us and led us where we didn't want to go, and we didn't have the full map of Syracuse's streets.  We figured it out though.

FINALLY, we sat down to eat.  We went all out: real drinks instead of water and an appetizer.  I got a mango daquiri, non-alcoholic, and we ordered fried calamari as an appetizer.  I have had really great calamari before, but never like this.  We got some salads and bread while we waited for our dinner, and had some good conversation (you can always count on Drew for that).  Once dinner got to us, we were starting to get full, but we ate just about all our food, and took nothing home!  We'd go back there, oh yeah.

On our way home, we talked about going to the pet store to play with the puppies and kittens.  A few days earlier Drew had a hankering to watch The Adventures of Milo and Otis.  SO CUTE.  Then some of my co-workers brought their new pug puppies into work and I just couldn't stand it!  They are adorably ugly!!  I love their little noses and their little paws, and they are just so irresistable!  So we were actually quite determined to go to PetLand.  When we got there, we walked up to the door at 7:54pm, and they were closing at 8pm.  What rotten luck.  Feeling defeated, we went next door and wandered in the Dollar General.  I got a coloring book and Drew got a book by some sports writer, Jayson Somebody; he couldn't believe he could buy a brand new book for only $1!  Good deal.

So we went home, to The Drogowski's, for cake and ice cream, and to wind down for the night.  My mom made a really great Texas sheet cake, chocolate, just how I like it.  After the party (with my parents, my 10-year-old brothers, and Drew and me) died down, we sat and finished watching a movie on TV- "Coach Carter".  We finished our night with our typical "pillow talk"; reading scriptures and chatting.  Then Drew gave me a really great back massage.  Then I fell asleep while he read for a bit.

An amazing day should never go undocumented.  Especially when you can prove to a spouse later-on that he (or she) really CAN be that sweet.  : )