What a week

I can't believe it's already Saturday night...

On Tuesday after work I headed down to Houston with the consultant I work with. We went to a 3 day conference over the VB-MAPP. It's a new assessment that can be used on children with autism. The cool thing about it that it has been normed on typical children. The research that was done to make this assessment stresses that it is so important not to introduce and try to teach skills out of sequence with kids. We tend to work with kids who are 4-7 years old but may have language and social skills at 1-2 year old levels. It is so important that we teach them at that level so they have a solid foundation before you start teaching new skills. Anyway it was great. I learned so much. I feel like I go to school and they teach about things I already know about, it gets really boring...this conference was so great because I actually learned something new.

We got back late last night and I had to be up at 5:45 this morning in order to pick up donuts and be up at the Dell Diamond for the Greater Autism Autism Walk. We had a booth set up and it was so fun to see all the kids as well as the other booths. I got home around 1, took Hiro to Auditorium Shores so he would sleep the rest of the day. This afternoon I ran some errands which included going to Barnes and Noble to pick up Twilight. I read all 4 books in the series over the summer (more like in 2 weeks). I absolutely love all 4 books, and the movie is coming out next weekend. My plan is to read the book this week and then go see the movie next Saturday!

So as I was writing this Jon came home (he wasn't supposed to fly in until tomorrow morning so it was a nice surprise). We just made a trip to our favorite store Target and picked up some miscellaneous things. We are home now and about to watch a movie...I love cold weather nights at home.

A day to mark in the calendar

I, yes me, cooked dinner tonight. For many of you this may not seem like a big deal at all, but my this house it is a rare thing. Jon does 99% of the cooking here...something that my great aunt Tia finds hilarious. Every time I talk to her she say "Lauren, tell me again who cooks dinner at your house", and I reply "sigh, you know that Jon cooks dinner almost every night", then she laughs. I'm not totally worthless in the kitchen, I make great chocolate chips cookies (from scratch of course), zucchini bread muffins, french toast, and chicken salad, all of which I get lots of complements on. However when it comes to dinner I tend to stick with easy things like spaghetti, Tyson chicken strips, baked potato...any thing else that basically requires no skills to make.

But tonight I made dinner. Jon has been out of town all week and was driving in from Houston this evening. I decided that last thing he would want was more restaurant food, or to have to come home and have to decide what to make for dinner. I came across a recipe for black bean soup with corn bread. Jon loves black beans and a cold front came through tonight so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to try it. Wow, it was so delicious and so easy. I figured I would pass the recipe on:

Ingredients
2 cans of black beans; drained and rinsed
2 cups of chicken broth
1 cup of mild hot sauce
1 tablespoon of cumin

Directions
In a blender mix 1 can of the beans, chicken broth, hot sauce, and cumin until well blended. Add the remaining can of beans and heat through. Serve hot with a tablespoon of sour cream (I also added some grated cheese).

I made this with a box of Jiffy corn bread and it was perfect. This is one that I will make again for sure. Enjoy!

the promised longer post

I can't believe it is already November! This semester has flown by. I have about a month left of school and then I get a break from December 8th to January 20th! Before that happens I have 3 huge projects to finish up before that. One project is a group project (yuck). I was in charge of part 1 which is done, but the girl that has been in charge of part 2 has really been slacking. She has had about 3 weeks to get her stuff done and she has put it off until the last minute. Now we have a meeting with our professor on Monday and she doesn't have all the information we need...ugh. I have made pretty good progress on my 2 other projects so I am trying not to stress out about them.

Jon had to go to New Mexico last night, but he is on his way back right now, yay! Too bad he has to leave for Houston on Monday (he will be gone all week). He has a job next weekend in Dallas so I am going to go with him and hang out with my sister and parents! Hopefully I will have a chance to get some shopping in...the shopping in Dallas is SO much better than Austin.

I am going to an assessment conference in Houston in 2 weeks...I think it's going to be really interesting. As soon as I get back from that I am going to be helping out at the Autism Walk Now. It should be interesting, the consultant/mentor I work with will have a booth up and I know the company I used to work for will have a booth up as well. You would think that it wouldn't be such a big deal, but this company makes the employees feel like they can't

I am getting excited to be done with school...forever...well unless I feel the need to get a PhD (not likely). Once this semester is over I will only have 4 classes left! I am going to take 2 next semester and then in the Fall I will take the last 2...graduation data: December 2009! Once I get my BCBA I will be ready to take on some cases on my own. I am so thankful that I am in a position where I have a mentor who is great and is totally on board for me to start working with her once I graduate! I really could see myself doing this long term...I am going to be able to control how many hours I work, which will be nice once Jon and I start a family.

In the middle of writing this Jon came home and we went to dinner at our favorite Mexican place, Curras. I am now totally stuffed and we are about to watch a movie...which I will no doubt fall asleep during (its my favorite thing to do and it drives Jon crazy). :)

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! I am about to head to a team meeting...we are ending early to have pizza a beer while my little kiddo gets ready to go trick-or-treating...how awesome is my job!?!? Once that is over I am heading home to take Hiro to our block party (Jon's going out of town tonight so he will miss the festivities, but he gets to come home tomorrow).

*a longer post will come this weekend, it has been too long again!

What's for Supper?

I get a Southern Living magazine every month (I'm not sure why since I never signed up for a subscription) and I found a recipe for grilled cheese and chili...yum! I have been wanted to make it all week and today I finally had the time.

After getting some low-lights put in my hair (I was so ready for a change and I love it) and meeting a good friend for lunch at Central Market (the tortilla soup is amazing) I was able to pick up everything I needed. Jon had to go to Fort Worth for a job so when I got home I cleaned up the house and took Hiro to play at Auditorium Shores since he tends to freak out when Jon goes out of town (last time he destroyed our 4 couch throw pillows). I even washed my car and did a load of landary.

Once everything was done I got to work on dinner (see recipe below). All and all it took me about an hour to make and it is delicious! Since Jon does 99.9% of the cooking around here, I am pretty proud of myself. It will definitely be something I will make again in the future...especially once it gets really cold (well as cold as it gets here in Austin).

I enjoyed a great dinner in a clean house and now I am watching Bring It On All or Nothing. I know...a little embarrassing but a girl's got to get her cheesy movies in when her hubby's gone right? ;)


Here's the recipe

For the chili:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1lb. ground turkey (I used ground beef because I already had it)
• 2 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 (28oz.) can dices tomatoes
• 1 (16oz.) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup beer
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• Garnish with sour cream

Saute chopped onion in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat 5 min or until tender; add garlic, and saute for 1 min.
Add turkey, chili powder, and cumin, and cook, stirring for 8 min or until meat is no longer pink. Stir in tomato paste, and cook for 2 min. Add tomatoes and next 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer and stir occasionally for 30 min.

For the grilled cheese

• butter
• grated Parmesan cheese
• Italian bread (sliced)
• provolone cheese
• mozzarella cheese

Stir together butter and Parmesan cheese and spread over bread slices. Add provolone and mozzarella cheese and cook on a hot skillet/pan until each side is golden brown (about 4 min).

Enjoy!

Goals for the week...month...you name it

This weekend I did some soul searching and came up with some new goals for myself.

• I am going to commit to working out for at least 20 min 3-4 times during the week and at least 1 hour once on either Saturday or Sunday.
  
• I am going to commit to doing 60/60 experiment at Gateway Community. This means that for 60 days every 60 minutes I am going to think about God.
• I am going to commit to going to church 3 out of 4 Sundays a month. Since Jon's soccer games are on Sundays we tend to get in the habit of skipping church in the mornings and just listening online. I don't think I am getting as much out of the lessons by just listening, I need to get up and go to church!
• Jon and I decided to give up cable (for me) and the Xbox (for him) and spend more quality time with each other
  

I am looking forward to making these things reality...I really think they will have a huge impact on how I feel day to day.

In other news...the mini 9 comes tomorrow! I can't wait to take it to class with me Wednesday night. Jon and I also booked a ski trip for December. We haven't taken a vacation since our honeymoon and we are both really looking forward to spending quality time the beautiful area of Lake Tahoe!

a whirl wind of weekend

We have been so busy over the last few weeks.
Last weekend was ACL and it was great! Amanda came in for the weekend and we had a blast seeing some great bands play. Some of my favorites were Iron and Wine, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, The Swell Season, Beck, Band of Horses, Gnarls Barkley, and the Foo Fighters. This year the festival was two weeks later in September and the weather was so much better. While it was still hot it was definetly more bareable than previous years. They have just released the dates for next year and it going to be the first weekend in October! How amazing is that! The weather should be great.

This weekend I helped throw a baby shower for a girl in my small group. It was at our house so it was fun to show off my painted kitchen and living room. I feel like both rooms are officially done decorating wise. We still want to put down wood floors but that will have to wait until next year. The shower was really fun and I think we did a great job. The only annoying thing was that 15 people RSVPed and over 24 showed up! Seriously...don't people RSVP anymore. I mean its not like it takes much time to call and say "yes I am coming or no I can't make it"! Annoying!

This weekend I also finished up my portion of a project. I was stressed out all week trying to get all the observation hours in and paper work done. I feel so much better now that it is done.

My grandparents were finally able to head back to Galveston this week. They drove back on Wednesday with my aunt. The good news is their house did not have any major damage. Unfortunately they had only been there 1 night when my grandfather got really sick and ended up having to go to the ER. Since Galveston is still limited in medical personnel they sent him to Clear Lake. On the drive over they got stuck in a 2-hour traffic jam! Luckily they made it and he is doing much better...they think it was just a stomach virus. No sooner had they made it back home when my grandmother started to get sick...luckily she has not gotten it so bad. My aunt has been amazing through all of this! She opened her home and let them stay with her when they had to leave Galveston. She cooked and cared for them during their 2 week stay in Austin. She has extended her stay in Galveston twice now due to the virus. I am not sure what they would have done without her help!

I am looking forward to an easy week. My classes got canceled 1 day this week, which means only driving down to San Marcos once! I also have slower week for work...hopefully I will be able to be productive!