Happy Friday

I had afternoon tea with a dear friend and there is, what should prove to be, a yummy dinner in the crock pot; this week is ending well.

The thing about making dinner is I rarely have the urge to do it. I really have no desire to cook. I would eat out every night if I could (that's not true. at some point I would get sick of it as was proven when we were up in Rhode Island for 10 weeks with no kitchen, but my memory does not serve well so go with me). I would get much larger to be sure as eating out is not the most healthy option there ever was.

But, really, that's the last thought on my mind when I think about the possibility of cooking dinner. However, I don't have a full-time job and I feel lazy if I get absolutely zero done during the day when Dan works 8-10 hours a day five days a week. So, sometimes that urges me to cook.

Like today. Also, I wanted to try out a drink recipe and I couldn't really justify going grocery shopping just for beverage ingredients so I picked out a recipe - a really delicious looking one, to be sure - and added those items to my list. Then I felt better about buying all the rum for the fruity drinks that are to be in my stomach this evening.

YES. Happy Friday, ya'll.

times they are a-changing

Thanks for the kind comments and encouragement in my last post. I needed that.

After church on Sunday the word "peace" kept coming to mind. I need to trust that even though I don't know where we're going God does. It might not be where I'm thinking but it's out there. We're going somewhere.

And we're prepping for it. Dan made the appointment for the movers to come get our stuff and take it away, and I am listing things on Craigslist because we're not taking that old hand-me-down couch with us anywhere.

We got that couch after much debate. We already had a futon and used that as the couch but I got tired of the angle that the couch put us in when we were spooning and watching Battlestar (yep, we're nerds). We needed a couch in my opinion. Dan disagreed. It would be heavy, and probably cost money, and just an all over hassle.

I won though. It was cheap and on craigslist and we bought it from this hipster couple that was moving back home to Virginia and they were selling stuff so they'd have gas to get home. Once we got the thing home we realized how stinking uncomfortable that thing was. So I guess I didn't win in all respects. We just started stuffing the couch with more pillows so that we wouldn't fall into the defunct pull out bed. It worked.

I guess we'll be back to the futon at our next place. Which is probably a more sanitary option anyway.

Well, here.

I've got stress zits all over my chin. That's how things are these days. I mean, let's face it, my face never really cleared up ever, but this bout has been ridiculous. I never realized how much my face reacts to my stress level until I was studying for the LSAT.

Now I know: stress makes me break out. It also makes me react to things irrationally.

Take last night: I got off work early because the restaurant was dead. I was excited to get home and hang out with Dan, but first I decided to stop by the grocery store to pick up my favorite caramel corn. I was in the mood and once it got in my head there was no stopping me.

Only, they were sold out. Guys, I almost cried in the "Popcorn and Pretzels" aisle of Harris Teeter. That's not a rational reaction. Stress is turning me into a crazy woman who has terrible acne and sobs when she can't have unreasonably priced caramel corn.

So that's why I've been MIA for a while. Mostly, I just want to stress and talk about the fact that we don't know where we're going next and I am trying to applying to law school (which isn't easy when you don't know where you're going next - also, it's expensive), and that isn't great blog fodder.

But here it is. We are stress eating over here in the Burkhart house. And carrots aren't on the menu. Carrot cake is, however. And pulled pork sandwiches. I made those the other night. Well done, me.

Now go run four miles.

recap

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The holidays happened. I took a lot of pictures and planned on doing a few posts because what better use of this blog is there than to photo dump pictures of my family having fun? The time has come and past for me to have made multiple posts out of events that happened two weeks ago (are we really almost halfway through the first month on 2013?!). So here, in a nutshell/blogpost, is what we did the last half of December:

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We went to California for Christmas! It was a last minute trip but boy was it wonderful. Cousin Jessica (who we really consider a sister so from here on out I'm going to refer to her as 'sister Jessica' but she is not a nun so don't get confused) requested that since all the sisters were in town - which really is a rarity for us - we have a baking/sleepover night. 

We hadn't all been in the same room in a year and a half so that night was pretty much the best of all possible worlds. Plus I got to see two of my beautiful friends and a junior - who did not cry when I held him; a feat that no one other than his mother could accomplish. Ha!

Really, you can't beat sisters, friends, and cookies. My trip could've ended right then and there and it would've been complete.

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But it didn't end there! I got donuts at the best donut shop in the world. How lucky that it is located in my home town. The Donut Wheel. The best donuts ever.

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And of course, Christmas day. (We had spent Christmas Eve with Dan's family. I really should've have taken some pictures but I haven't spent a whole lot of time with the extended family and it's tough to gauge if other people like pictures or if they are just going to find the constant sound of clicking and shuttering annoying. Just know that we spent Christmas eve with Dan's fam.)

Christmas morning we woke up early to open presents with Dan's family (and drink mimosas!). Then we spent the rest of the day with my family. We opened presents and ate so many good homemade things that Julia prepared for us. We ate Christmas dinner at Aunt Laurie's and then we played Cards Against Humanity.  

Cards Against Humanity is essentially dirty Apples to Apples (my friend Audrey explains it well here). Dad played under protest, Mom and Uncle Mike Loved it, Grandma couldn't believe what had become of her offspring, and the rest of us just laughed and laughed. Dan laughed so hard at some point that beer came out his nose. If you haven't played it, it's worth a shot. I do not necessarily recommend that you include your parents.

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New Years Eve we spent celebrating with friends here in Wilmington. We were also celebrating the birth of a dear friend of ours. We went to Hibachi (My first time! I caught a piece of vegetable in my mouth!) and I made those sparkly hats for everyone! We relocated to a local bar where a guy dressed as dracula DJ'd and Dan requested "Party in the USA." Yep, the Miley Cyrus song. 

Then we parted from the group. They went to a party and we excused ourselves to ring in the New Year on our own. We drank champagne and set off the poppers Dan bought at a nearby fireworks stand. 2013 started off perfectly.

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Now Dan and I are applying for jobs and law schools respectively. We're officially done with the Marine Corps mid-February and only God knows where we're headed next. I would really appreciate it if He would let us in on it, though. 

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