Our One Day Mini-Vacation

Lately we've been pretty busy working and doing other activities.  Drew has been recently promoted to "Shift Leader" at work and will be getting a raise!  Since Drew works so much at the theater and with the theater's hired cleaning business, we don't get very many opportunities to spend the day out doing something new.

About 3 weeks ago, Drew and I had the chance to take a trip to the Barron's in Skaneateles, New York (that would be Drew's parents).  It's not too far away from our home but we don't get to see them nearly as often as we'd like.  We had a nice dinner with the family and spent some time chatting and laughing together: the usual.  I really enjoy seeing Drew with his family; it's fun to see how his sense of humor matches his dad's and how he and Erik bounce off each other!

The next day, neither os us had to work (thanks to Lisa at the theater, Drew now gets Mondays off--she asked him what days I usually have off and she made it happen), so we planned a day in the town of Skaneateles!

Drew said there wouldn't be anywhere to park so we parked at the grocery store and walked into town.  It was a beautiful day and we had a great time!  We walked into the small shops, browsed a bit, and found some good bargains at the thrift store!

Sitting by the lake and talking with Drew was my favorite part of the day.  We talked about where we are in our lives and realized that we need to be doing better to stay close to the Lord.  So we committed ourselves to reading the scriptures together every day and making sure we keep our lives centered on the Gospel... instead of all our other worries and plans.

After having our little chat, we walked by the lake, went into a few more shops, and had some lunch at Valentino's (a local pizza and sub shop that Drew used to go to in high school)!

I don't know why something so small as visiting my husband's home town can make me so happy, but we had a really great time together!

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!