Phantom of the Opera

Ben and I went up to Omaha to spend the weekend with our good friends Matt and Megan. Josh and Wendy came along too, so that they could do some house shopping. We started out our weekend by going out to eat at a Japanese Steakhouse--one of those places where they cook for you right at your table. We had a great time and the food was delicious!

The highlight of the weekend was definitely going to the theater on Saturday night, because we have been planning to go to see Phantom of the Opera since November and we were so excited that it was finally here! It was a little bit of a splurge for Benj and I, but we thought that it was so worth it!

Here we are all dressed up and ready to go!

They don't let you take pictures during the show, so I took some of the actual theater, which was beautiful!

The show did not disappoint, either. It was fabulous! The singing was amazing and the stage props and costumes were wonderful. Ben and I have never been to anything like this before and we absolutely loved it! If you are familiar with the story, the opening scene was really cool where they raised the chandelier. My favorite, though, I think was the scene where the phantom takes Christine on the boat in the water. They filled the stage with the theater fog and candles moved in and out of the floor and it looked so real. The fog swirled as the boat moved to make it look just like water. It was truly an amazing experience.

The weekend was just perfect! We spent time with great friends and loved every minute!

PS...I hope you enjoy the Phantom music! It's special to us. Ben and I had "All I Ask of You" sang at our wedding, and the priest even sang "Music of the Night" during his message. What he didn't know was that it is one of my favorite songs and the one that Ben had playing when he proposed to me!

Cold Weather Car Trouble

I seem to have all the luck when it comes to weird car trouble in the winter.

Yesterday evening, Ben and I got in the car to go somewhere and my passenger side door opened fine, but then I couldn't get it closed. It wasn't frozen or anything, it just wouldn't latch. Great...so it's snowing, freezing cold (was that redundant?), and of course, too dark to figure out what was going on. So, what do we do? We decide that we should drive to a friend's house who has a garage. I have to hold the door shut, but every bump we hit our dome light comes on and the car beeps at us for having the door open. Plus around every corner I had to get a death grip on the door just to keep it from flying open. Really, I think we must have looked completely ridiculous. Thankfully, our friends, Todd and Lisa, have a nice big garage so we could get out of the cold and snow and look at the door in the light. Todd just played around with the latch for us and it seems to be working now! Yay! I was starting to wonder what the heck we were going to do with a car whose door wouldn't close.

After we got our little problem fixed yesterday I started thinking about other things that have happened to my car in the winter.
I remember in high school my front windshield was frosted over one morning and I got the bright idea to use some of that de-icer that comes in a can. I sprayed it all over my front windshield and got in my car to drive to school. Well, turns out that it had fogged up the glass so badly that I couldn't see a thing. So, I got to drive the mile or so to school that morning with my head hanging out my window! Boy, was I ever cold when I got there. I thought my face would freeze off!
The other story I can recall also happened during my high school years. We had a big snowstorm and school was canceled for the day. I don't remember why I felt the need to go somewhere that day, but I did. As my luck would have it, I got my car stuck in the alley behind our house in all the snow. My Dad tells me that we just need a little weight in the back end to give the car more traction. And, what do you think his idea for more weight was? That's right....ME--I'm the extra weight! He had me crawl into the trunk and lay in there holding the trunk lid open. Fortunately, it worked and we did get out of the alley, but instead of going straight back home, he decides we might as well warm up the car while we are out. So, I'm laying in the trunk with snowing falling while my Dad drives around the neighborhood. The next day one of my classmates finds me and asks what I was doing in the trunk of my car! Seriously....how embarrassing!

So, it seems to me like I have an unusual amount of strange car trouble in the cold weather. Do these things happen to anyone else??

Baby, it's cold outside!

Wow, is it ever cold today! It was -2 this morning when I came into work, with a windchill of -20 and they say tomorrow morning is supposed to be worse....Worse?!? Really? How much colder can it possibly get? Spring can't come fast enough for me this year. I am ready to be outside again. I haven't run outside in such a long time. I was thinking of doing the St. Louis half marathon, but I just don't think I can get ready in enough time. It's in early April and I haven't run more than 6 miles since before Christmas sometime. It is just not as much fun to run on the treadmill. But, the Osteopathic Fun Run is a little later that month, so I'll probably try to do the 10K again. That's not nearly as hard to prepare for!

Ben is on ENT this month and has pretty good hours. In fact, he has gotten home early enough the past two days to cook dinner for me. It's been great! He made some California rolls on Monday. He has made sushi a couple of times before, but this was definitely his best effort. We took a picture of some of the leftovers since he did such a good job.

Also, someone asked for the recipe for the Triple Layer Lemon Cake that I made for Ben's birthday. Here's the recipe and a picture of what the cake should look like ;-)

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1/2 recipe Lemon Curd (see recipe below) or 1 cup purchased lemon curd
1 recipe Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (see recipe below)
Lemon peel curls (optional)

Directions:
1. Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and lightly flour three 9 x 1-1/2-inch round cake pans. Combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, lemon peel, and lemon juice; beat until well combined. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Add flour mixture and buttermilk or sour milk alternately to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Pour into prepared pans.
Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans. Cool thoroughly on wire racks.
3. To assemble, place a cake layer on a cake plate. Spread with half of the Lemon Curd. Top with second layer; spread with the remaining Lemon Curd. Top with third layer. Frost top and sides with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting. Cover and store cake in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. If desired, garnish with lemon peel curls.
Makes 12 servings.

Lemon Curd:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
6 tablespoons lemon juice
6 tablespoons water
6 beaten egg yolks
1/2 cup butter or margarine, cut up
Directions
1. In a medium saucepan stir together sugar and cornstarch. Stir in lemon peel, lemon juice, and water. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.
2. Stir half of the lemon mixture into the egg yolks. Return egg mixture to the saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Add butter pieces, stirring until melted. Cover surface of the curd with plastic wrap. Chill at least 1 hour or for up to 48 hours. Store covered in refrigerator up to 1 week or transfer to a freezer container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in refrigerator before serving. Makes 2 cups (sixteen 2-tablespoon servings).

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
Finely shred 1 teaspoon lemon peel; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl combine two 3-ounce packages cream cheese, softened; 1/2 cup butter, softened; and 1 teaspoon lemon juice; beat with electric mixer on low to medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, beating well. Gradually beat in 2-1/2 to 2-3/4 cups additional powdered sugar until spreading consistency. Stir in the lemon peel.

Happy Birthday Ben!

It was Ben's 26th birthday on Saturday. His whole family was able to come up to visit and spend the weekend celebrating with us. It was so much fun to see them all! Despite bad weather conditions and a bank robbery stand-off that closed I-70, they all made it. Thanks for coming! We played games, went out to eat, and had cake and ice cream.

As I said in the last post, I decided to make Ben the triple layer lemon cake. Well, turns out it was really yummy....but I think I made the biggest frosting disaster ever! The cake has homemade lemon curd in between the cake layers and then lemon cream cheese frosting on the top and sides. Evidently, I didn't let the lemon curd cool enough and as I was trying to frost the cake the layers started shifting, which caused much of the lemon curd to come out the sides and mix in to the frosting. So, I now have a leaning cake with curd/frosting mixture all over me and the kitchen. Really, it was one huge mess! But, the good news is that it tasted great and in the end, it didn't look sooo bad.



Here's Ben playing video games on the morning of his birthday! I'm glad he likes his birthday present!



Here is Danny and Tyler looking really happy to be photographed and Mom and Dad Schrant at El Vaquero for Ben's birthday dinner.




The best part of eating at the 'Vaq for your birthday is that they bring out a big sombrero and sing a Spanish song while hitting you on the head. It's probably much more fun if it's someone else's birthday, actually. We all loved seeing Ben in the hat, though and he was a good sport about it. And hey, they give you free dessert, so you can't complain too much! Happy Birthday Benji, I hope you had a good one!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This holiday is always hard for me because it falls so close to Ben's birthday (which is on the 16th). I never know what to do to make both days special. This year as our gift to each other Ben and I decided to get tickets to go to Phantom of the Opera in Omaha with our friends Megan and Matt. It is not until next weekend, and we are so excited about it. We had a couple of Phantom songs at our wedding because I love it so much! I'll have to tell you all how great it was in a week.
Ben and I went out to eat last night with Lauren and Erick at the Pear Tree. We both had gift certificates and decided it would be a good time to use them up. Plus it was a little bit of a celebration for Ben getting his residency spot and as an early Valentine's day dinner. Our meal was so wonderful and Lauren introduced me to their peppermint ice cream. It was so yummy; the best I've ever had, for sure!


I made Ben a card and then covered a Godiva chocolate bar and chocolate covered raspberries in a fun paper project as a little gift that I will give him later today (I know the picture isn't the best, but you get the idea). Oh, and Benj and I have a little Valentine's Day tradition. The first year we were married, we tried to go out to eat at a local restaurant, but it was sooo busy and we waited for over half an hour with no end in sight. So, we just gave up, went home, and made pizza and drank a glass of wine as a little picnic on our living room floor. We've done it every year since. It is fun, casual, and a little romantic, I think! So....that's what we will be doing tonight. If you have any fun traditions to share with me, I'd love to hear them!


We are also looking forward to seeing Ben's parents. They are coming up this weekend for his birthday. I am going to attempt to make a triple layer lemon birthday cake tomorrow. I'll have to let you all know how it turns out. Ben loves lemon flavored anything, and this was the cake he requested, so I'll give it a try. I hope it turns out. Maybe, if I remember to take a picture, I'll post one for you to see.

Hope you all have a wonderful day filled with all of your favorite things!

It's Official!

Well, it's official now. The Osteopathic match came out today and (even though many of you already knew this) we will be staying in Kirksville for four more years. Ben got this email today:

This message provides you with your Match result for the AOA Intern/Resident Registration Program for positions beginning in 2008.

Congratulations!

You have been matched to:Institution: NORTHEAST REGIONAL MEDICAL CTR

Program: ANESTHESIOLOGY

Yay! So now we know for sure and I know Ben is so relieved and excited to be able to do the specialty that he wants. He loves all of the anesthesiologists and residents here, so he will be very happy.

We also got his graduation gown in the mail over the weekend. Graduation is almost here!! I wanted Ben to put on his gown to take a picture, but he absolutely refused.....even though I begged. So here's the best I could do. Doesn't he look thrilled? He did promise me that I could take as many pictures as I wanted on graduation day and that he would smile.....so.....I'm holding you to that, Benj!

Weekend in Kansas City

Benj and I went to Kansas City for the weekend to see Danny and Vicki (Ben's brother and our soon-to-be sister-in-law) and Matt and Laura (our good friends). We had a great time!

We went ice skating at Crown Center and it was lots of fun! I am not a good skater and was pretty unsteady, but I was really proud of myself when I didn't fall! I am a little sore now, though. Danny is a pro and made us all look bad! Afterwards we went to the Plaza and ate at P.F. Changs. Wow...it was sooo yummy! Then we went to the City Market and even checked out an Asian store. It was really interesting to see all the different products they sell, but boy did that store smell bad. I almost passed out just walking in! They had a whole room of fish...I've never smelled something that overwhelming before. It was awful.



Later that afternoon, while Danny and Ben bonded over the playstation, Vicki and I worked on wedding invitations and then went shopping for awhile. The boys were even able to BBQ for us since it was so nice. We also went bowling Saturday night. Again, Danny showed us up--this time with his mad bowling skills. Sunday we were able to just hang out, relax, and play a few games before we had to head home.

Ben and I love coming to the city to see you guys! Thanks for the fun weekend!