a brief update

We were doing so well at keeping this updated for a while. I'm not sure what happened. I have a whole list of things I want to write about, it's just a matter of taking the time to sit down and do it.

For now, I'll just say this...

Our holidays have been fun. We went to Michigan for Thanksgiving and Christmas. For Thanksgiving, we stayed with my parents for a few days. At Christmas, we stayed with the Wessmans (Brian's sister and her family) for a week. It was fun to play with the kids and get lots of time with the new baby. :) Brian's parents came to visit in mid-December. We were very happy to have them here.

Work and school are going well. Since Brian won't brag, I'll do it for him - he 4.0'd his first quarter in his Ph.D. program (though he doesn't think he deserved grades that high, haha)! He enjoys the research he's doing. I love my job and eat way too much frozen yogurt.

We continue to be nerdy.

There's a lot more going on, but I'll elaborate in another post (hopefully sooner than later). Right now I'm avoiding laundry and dishes, so I guess I'd better get back to the "important" stuff.

Good Food

So sometimes I get excited for competitions, like when we heard of our ward chili cook-off. I instantly decided to yearn for that first place chili ribbon, despite the fact that I had never before made chili from scratch. Regardless, I spent a good five hours last Saturday making what I call Casaday's Extreme Chunky Chili! Although I didn't pay much attention to the quantities I was using, and never looked at any recipe, the chili included each of the following.

mild Italian sausage
1 green bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
2 diced white onions, sauteed
about 20 garlic cloves, chopped by hand and slightly sauteed (only after did I learn the difference between cloves of garlic and bulbs of garlic)
pinto beans
chili hot beans
black beans
northern white beans
crushed tomatoes
crushed tomatoes mixed with green chiles
can of sweet corn
thinly sliced carrots
serrano peppers
chili powder
a generous amount of cumin
bay leaves (to make people think I know how to cook)
salsa
salt and pepper to taste

We took our approx 1 1/2 gallons of chili to the cook-off. Sadly, we arrived late and most everyone was on their second bowl when we got there . Needless to say, we brought home a lot of chili.

Also here's a beautiful picture of a beautiful pizza on a beautiful pizza peel taken by a beautiful Amy.

Happy Halloween from the Casadays

miscellaneous musings

1. Brian and I have been married for 6 months today. Wow! In some ways, it doesn't seem that long; in others, it seems longer (but only in good ways). I just love him. :)

2. I guess I never mentioned where I'm working. It's Yagööt, a frozen yogurt shop in the Easton mall. It's been fun so far. I trained for 3 days in Cincinnati and started at Easton last week. This week, I've been learning how to be a shift leader. I haven't done it on my own yet - tomorrow will be my first solo shift (as a shift leader). I'm nervous but excited to do the things that I've learned.

My uniform for work is khakis and a Yagööt shirt (plus apron, name tag, and close-toed shoes), but when I started I really only had one pair of khakis. They're nice ones too, and I didn't want to ruin them because we use a lot of bleach to clean around the store. Of course, my solution was to go to Goodwill (I miss DI) and get a couple pairs for work. I ended up with 3 pairs for $3.50 each - and they're good condition, name brand (one Old Navy, one Aeropostale, and one Gap)! I also got an OSU shirt for myself (I got Brian one for $5 a few weeks ago) for $2! I just love thrift stores. :) (I got a hideous dress there this week for my Halloween costume too.)

3. On Monday, Brian decided we would have a Halloween-y FHE, so we went to Halloween Express first to get stuff for our costumes. When we got home, we worked on carving the pumpkins we got last week at FHE (we went to a farm with a corn maze, hay ride, and other stuff - some people in the ward go every year and invited whoever wanted to come). Brian decided on a skull and did more of a 3-D carving than cutting it out. It looks pretty sweet. When I finally decided what to do, it was getting late, so I just drew it on the pumpkin and worked on it the next day. I wanted to do an OSU pumpkin (no one can accuse me of not being a Buckeye fan!), so I freehanded the official logo. It looked like this (the biggest one pictured):



Unfortunately, I didn't have the right tools when I was cutting it out on Tuesday, and I ended up breaking off pieces that were supposed to be attached. I gave up then but may go back today and start with a fresh design on the other side of the pumpkin.

5. We finally got callings! Last Tuesday, Bro. Boogard (ward exec sec) called to ask if we could meet with Bishop Nagle on Wednesday night. I was asleep on the couch while Brian was working, but I woke up a little when I heard him on the phone. Even in my half-awake state, I got excited about it. We were sustained on Sunday. Any last guesses? Drum roll please....we're ward missionaries! I must not have figured out this calling the first 2 or 3 times. ;) We're both happy about it though.

6. I made banana bread for the first time in my life this week. We had some very ripe bananas, and I figured that was a great way to use them. Brian approved too. :) It turned out quite well. I also made baked apples at the same time - we had a bunch of bruised apples that were going bad (because I didn't want to put bruised ones in Brian's lunch), and I didn't want them to go to waste. Mmm...I love baking (and its results). :)

I think that's enough randomness for now. We have a bunch of pictures to post (wedding, Disneyland, etc.) but I'm going to continue procrastinating that task.

24

It's funny how much your upbringing can change your perspective. I've been training in Cincinnati for my job the last two days. That means I've been meeting and getting to know some new people. I'm not exactly sure how old most of them are, but a few of them have asked how old I am when they've found out that I'm married (probably because I look a lot younger). All the reactions have been basically the same. I think my favorite one was "Aww, I've always wanted to get married young!" I guess because of the Mormon culture, I was starting to feel old when I wasn't married by my 24th birthday. Obviously, not everyone thinks that way. (And really, it's good for me to realize that I'm not that old.)

goodies

I'm not sure why, but last week I had this overwhelming need to bake. I was looking through some of our cook books for dinner ideas (meal planning is not my favorite) but ended up turning to desserts. Seeing Mom's recipe for lemon squares (her mom's recipe) set off my cravings. Then I noticed a peanut butter brownie recipe right above that on the page and couldn't resist. I also knew we had some apples that were pretty bruised, and I didn't want to give them to Brian in his lunch...so I decided on apple crisp too.

I made the lemon squares on Saturday, brownies on Sunday, and apple crisp on Monday. On Sunday, we decided to make friends by delivering some of the goodies to neighbors. We hadn't met the Stansburys and thought that was a good way to do it. We also made up "plates" - I had forgotten to get paper plates, so we improvised with tin foil - for the Beans and Patrick and BreAnne (they took us under their wings when we first rolled into town and had no place to stay and no food). It was so fun to see the Beans again! They had their baby a few weeks ago, and we just visited for a little while. The best part was that they had made cinnamon rolls for General Conference and told us it was perfect timing for us to stop by since they didn't have our address and wouldn't have been able to trade goodies with us otherwise. Not only that, but their neighbors knocked while we were there and handed them a plate of chocolate flan. Boy, was that good!

Needless to say, I should probably go running now. ;)

church game

We've loved our ward so far. We moved in right as the bishopric was changing, so we've been waiting on a few things during the transition (our records haven't been read in and we don't have callings yet). That doesn't really bother us though. We've made up a new game: let's see how many auxiliaries we can get to fight over us before we actually get callings.

~~~~~

The first Sunday in the ward, we filled out the paperwork to request our records. While in the office, I met the Relief Society President, who mentioned to the First Counselor that she needed some more Visiting Teaching Supervisors. I piped up, "I've had that calling before - I love it!"

The second Sunday, there wasn't a chorister in RS, so I volunteered to conduct. They asked me to do it again on our third Sunday.

At our recent RS meeting, I stayed a little late so I could help with clean-up. I'm not sure why, but that's usually my favorite part of activities. ;) The "Meeting Coordinator" (aka Enrichment Leader) thanked me afterward and told me it wasn't necessary, but it was definitely appreciated.

Relief Society - check

~~~~~

One of our main goals since moving in has been to make friends. We got to go to the ward camp-out a couple weeks ago, and Brian suggested that that was a great time to make friends - by bribing them with homemade root beer. It was definitely a hit (especially with the kids - one of the teenagers warned Brian that he'll probably be called into the Primary now), and the Activities Committee Chair mentioned that they had been wanting to make it for the ward Halloween party. They hadn't figured out how and asked Brian to be in charge of it instead. Without even letting him respond, I happily told her that he would love to do it.

Activities Committee - check

~~~~~

I went to a little craft night two weeks ago. It was put on by one of our neighbors, and she invited any interested sisters to come bring their crafts and work on them while chatting. I'm certainly not crafty, so I mostly went for the socializing. There weren't a lot of people there, but it was fun to make some new friends in a smaller group setting. One of those sisters came up to me on Sunday after Sacrament Meeting. She mentioned that they were one person short in the Nursery and asked if I might be willing to come help the other leader. Even though I had no idea what to do, I agreed. It turned out someone else had found a substitute, so I didn't need to after all. But during Sunday School, one of the sisters from the Primary Presidency came and asked if I could come sit in with a teacher in her Primary class during the third hour. I was happy to help and stayed the whole time even though it turned out there were only two little girls in the class that day. Brian told me not to enjoy it too much. ;)

Primary - check

~~~~~

On Sunday, I came to get Brian after church and found him talking with another brother and the Elders. It turned out the Elders needed a ride to and from a lesson. The other brother was going to but had a wife and baby, so Brian and I volunteered to go instead. I was so excited to go to a lesson again! (I was laughing inwardly throughout it because the investigator reminded me of some people I taught.) We gave some input and helped bear testimony, etc. I had almost forgotten how much I love teaching the gospel in smaller settings like that. The Elders were grateful for our help and told us that was their best lesson with that woman. I was probably a little over-excited, but they seemed happy about how eager we are to share the gospel. We had them over for dinner on Monday, and they alluded that they might have suggested us as ward missionaries.

Ward Mission - check

~~~~~

I think that covers most of our bases. We aren't sure about Elders' Quorum. Brian has said the prayer multiple times by now (once it was opening and closing for the same meeting!). He also went to an activity they had over the weekend. And the EQP lives one building over from us. Who knows if he has any plans for Brian.

I'm interested to see what our callings actually turn out to be. ;)

virtual tour

I finally got around to taking pictures of our place. Don't judge me on the less-than-clean rooms...we live here. ;)

This is our bedroom. It's slightly smaller than the office, but the closet has a lot more hanging space. It's also on the back of the townhouse, so there's not really road noise (I'm not sure there would be anyway). We got 2 of the dressers for free from Craig's List and the other for cheap at a garage sale. All of them are definitely used, but we like cheap. We'll get nicer furniture eventually. :) The white bookshelf came from my bedroom at my parents' house - I use it as a nightstand, just like Mom does. ;) And notice the hot air balloons on the box spring? What's even better is the dinosaurs on the actual mattress. (Don't worry, we got them brand new.) Maybe some day we'll get a bed skirt.

These are the bathrooms. The one on the left is upstairs in the hallway between the two bedrooms. I got really excited to decorate, and I especially wanted to have a cute shower curtain. (Everyone has their quirks, right?) I like how it turned out. We got pretty much everything at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I think. And yes, that is a shampoo/conditioner/soap dispenser. ;) Brian tried the one at my parents' house and decided he liked it enough to get one himself. (Thanks for deciding Mom needed one all those years ago, Scott.) The bathroom is plenty big, but there's not much storage space, so we also got that cabinet to go over the toilet. There's not much to say about the half bath downstairs (main floor - right picture). It's a bathroom.

This is what we originally called the guest room/library/study/office. I think we finally settled on "office" (or I did, anyway). But then Mom came to visit and graciously made curtains for us out of sheets. :) (Window treatments are expensive - the people we're renting from don't provide blinds - so we decided on homemade curtains. Mom did a great job!) When we realized the natural light coming in the window cast a red glow on the room, we jokingly began calling it "the red light district." Of course, as often happens, the name stuck.

Here's the front door and living room. The door is brand new because it was apparently dented, as if someone had tried to bust it down. (And since they were replacing our door, they decided to replace all the doors in this building.) It opens right onto the staircase, which is fine until you have to move a couch or washer or dryer into the house. We had some fun maneuvering. :) The living room is currently a little sparse, and it will probably stay that way for a while. We have a leather couch (courtesy of Craig's List), an end table, a tv stand (both from a garage sale we raided - we also got the computer desk, filing cabinet, and computer chair there...and fit it all in my Camry in one trip), and 2 Walmart lamps. We might get around to hanging pictures eventually. ;) (We haven't even printed wedding photos yet.) By the way, leather does pick up smells - I had convinced myself that it doesn't - so we're still working on getting the dog smell out of the couch. It's slightly better than it was. At least it wasn't smoke.

Here's the kitchen and hallway back to it. Plenty of counter and cupboard space, just the way I like it. :) We aren't even sure what to do with all the cupboards right now. I'm sure that will change once we start having little Casadays. You may or may not be able to see them, but the bar/hooks on the cupboards above the sinks came from Ben and Laura. I didn't know we had them but was ecstatic when I found them in a box of other stuff because I'd been coveting the ones that some of our friends have. Check out that brand new stove too! We were without one for the first week or so after moving in, but I think it was worth it to get a new one. I didn't take a picture of the dining area/table because there were papers all over and I was too lazy to move them. ;) The hallway has 2 nice big closets - one with all shelves and one huge coat closet. Oh yeah...did you notice the dishwasher? We haven't used it in the month we've been here, except as a glorified drying rack.

Last but not least, the basement. Neither room is finished, but we don't care - we're just happy to have the extra room. We got the shelves at a garage sale and the washer and dryer from Craig's List. Brian rigged up a hanging rack for me (he loves me!!) out of PVC so I can hang stuff as I'm pulling it out of the dryer. Not much else to say about the basement, other than that I love being able to do laundry at home, whenever I need to, instead of having to run to the laundromat. :)

So that was probably longer and more boring than it needed to be. Thanks for coming on the virtual tour of our house! And there's plenty of room here for friends/family who want to come take a real tour. :)

The Perfect Pizza

For the christening of our new rolling pin and pizza peel, and rechristening of our pizza stone, we made the perfect pepperoni pizza for dinner tonight. Complete with flour and cornmeal for non-stickyness, we had all the perfect ingredients, except for a few substitutions:
Instead of pepperoni, we used grilled chicken,
Instead of tomato-based pizza sauce, we used ranch,
and then supplemented our pizza with slightly sauteed onions, crumbled bacon, garlic, some herbs, and a delicious blend of cheese (approx 65% mozzarella, 34% mild cheddar, and some ground parmesan), and some BBQ sauce on the side for dipping.

We would show pictures, but we ate it.

Presents for Ourselves

We received a number of gift cards from our wedding (convenient due to our cross-country move) and we have now redeemed them ALL! We took a trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Target, and some other places, so allow us to gloat over our new stuff.

tent, sleeping bags, an air mattress, and camping chairs, which we have used the past two weekends
heated blanket
cordless drill
bathroom space saver
a new grill (for my birthday)
OSU paraphernalia
vacuum (OSU scarlet in color)
shower dispenser
shoe racks
lap desk

In forming this list we realized that most of the items were actually very practical, such as cleaning items, kitchenware, etc., so the list could be a lot longer, but more boring.

our first OSU game

On our way to get a kitchen table on Thursday, Brian and I decided to listen to the OSU football game on the radio. They lost the coin toss and didn't get to receive the ball. However, when they kicked it off, they managed to force a fumble and got possession after all. Soon after that, they were able to score their first touchdown.

I was driving, and Brian got really excited as they scored. The problem was that he forgot we were in the car. He threw up his arms in a "touchdown!!" sign and promptly smashed his hands against the roof of the car. After laughing hysterically for a minute, I checked to make sure he was ok and hadn't injured himself, then continued laughing for another 5 minutes.

We finished listening to the game when we got home, and it was pretty good (a little boring because they killed the other team). As it turns out, I really prefer watching football to listening to it. Maybe we'll have to make friends with people who have a tv. ;)

Two fun dialogs

Dialog I - Brian and Amy take Brian's niece out for ice cream

Brian: Abby, do you like it when Amy and I come to visit?

Abby: Yes.

Brian: Why?

Abby: Just because I love Amy!

Dialog II - Amy has fallen asleep before getting ready for bed, but appears to be waking up.

Brian: Amy, you have to brush your teeth and take your drugs.

Amy (appearing awake): Through a giant tube?

Brian (laughs): Are you conscious right now?

Amy: Part way. I thought they were talking about where the towns were.

Brian: Huh?!

Amy: In Ohio.

30 seconds later, Brian recites to Amy what she just told him (after writing it down), but she has no recollection of it

Provo to Columbus: 1703 miles, about 1 day 3 hours

Brian's words
Amy' words
Both

We left Provo in the early afternoon. It was a momentous occasion for me because I have never actually lived outside of Utah not counting the mission, was leaving the desert, and would be closer to farther from family.

My Amy's dad was a huge help. He drove one of the cars the entire way by himself, allowing us to share the other and discuss the mountainous monotonous scenery that is Wyoming.

Originally we had planned on stopping numerous times along the way to do some sightseeing. Then we did some research and learned there isn't anything to see along I-80. Occasionally we saw signs that read "Point of Interest" but we figured that if something actually was interesting, it wouldn't have to be introduced as "Point of Interest." There was a thing in Nebraska that looked like a tree growing out of a rock or something and it had its own interstate exit, but we saw enough of it as we drove by.

Needless to say, we were happy when we arrived in Columbus on Sunday morning.

We pulled into an LDS church parking lot (adjacent to the Columbus temple) around 11:00 AM. We went to sacrament meeting, then to sunday school without making much of a scene. (we were slightly late to both meetings) After Sunday school one guy pointed at me Brian and said "You're Brian Casaday aren't you." It was one of my Brian's mission buddies that I he didn't recognize at first. The guy was one of many med school students in the ward. We were told that that ward is a great place to have an emergency because so many members are doctors or studying to become doctors.

We talked to a number of people after church, and it wasn't long before we had a few invitations for dinner or were offered a place to stay before moving in to our new place. We were also asked to check out a number of complexes so that we could be somebody's neighbor.

Sadly, we didn't have much luck with housing options within the ward, and we may have to choose housing in a different ward (and stake). We're waiting on a couple calls before deciding. (I was going to write more on house hunting, but it may be obsolete by the time you read this)

Long story short- I really like love Ohio, and...

to be continued

fruit flies

We recently had an invasion of fruit flies. We weren't sure where it came from, since I had been buying bunches of produce all summer. As it turned out, there were some forgotten potatoes rotting in our pantry (yuck!).

Any idea how to get rid of the little pests? We have some brilliant ones:
1. Suck them up in a vacuum (thanks, Scott)
2. Set out traps for them and wait for them to die (did you know they'll crawl in the small holes you poke in plastic wrap but won't crawl out?)
3. Brian's personal favorite: light them on fire

They can't go very far once you singe their wings. Believe us, we know.

It's much better if you can just kill them right off though. Brian was trying to figure out how to get the flame close to them without them realizing what was happening (as it turns out, they can sense rapid movement). Several weeks ago, I had bought some bug spray and we never ended up using it. Brian put it to good use, effectively creating a flame-thrower. Sure, the cabinets and floor were a little sticky afterward, but those little guys had no idea what hit 'em.

P.S. Don't try this at home.

Moon and Star

This evening during a (romantic) stroll to our mailbox, Amy and I were admiring the beautiful scenery that occurs just after the sun has set.

I pointed to the thin crescent moon and single nearby star (actually a planet) and how they looked nice as the only visible objects in the clear blue sky.

Amy: Yeah, just like the Communist flag!

Anti-Climactic Graduation II

So I graduated today.

hiking

Brian convinced me to go on a couple hikes with him in the last few weeks. Two weeks ago, we went to Timp Caves. I'd been there once before...I was probably 10, and my cousin Autumn had to carry me most of the way up the mountain. Fortunately, I'm slightly more used to higher elevation and steep climbs now, so Brian did not have to do the same. We had lunch near a beautiful (and COLD!) stream by the visitors' center and then did the hike in about 45 minutes. (I'm a slow wimp.) We had about 30 minutes before our cave tour started, so we rested and looked at the trees and animal life. When our tour guide came to collect tickets, we realized ours was nowhere to be found. (We looked in the car when we got back, and it wasn't in there either. Who knows what happened to it.) Apparently we looked like honest enough people that she let us go on the tour anyway. It probably didn't hurt that someone else who was waiting vouched for us because he'd been in line behind us and saw us pay in cash.

The caves were amazing! We saw all sorts of cool formations, and the pictures don't do them any justice at all. It was pretty chilly and damp inside, but I had brought a jacket and didn't freeze to death. My main problem was that I had been drinking a lot of water. I went to the bathroom just before the tour, but I continued drinking and didn't realize how long the tour would be. Whoops. The last 20 minutes or so were a little painful (sorry if that's TMI), but we found the bathroom again and I was fine.

I'm still not sure how, but Brian convinced me to hike Timp the next week. Working the day after Timp Caves was a little rough because I was pretty sore. I guess I love him a lot, because it didn't take much arm twisting for me to agree to the longer hike. He assured me that it wasn't as steep as the path to the caves (mostly), and even though it would take several hours one way, it would be completely worth it.

We started at the trail head around 5:30 AM and got back to the car at about 4:45 PM. Again, I'm a slow wimp. But in my defense, we also took several extended breaks for food (lunch at 9:30 AM) and the bathroom. (Did I mention we were on a mountain? There are no bathrooms....) We also spent about an hour on the summit. The scenery on the mountain was breathtaking, and we decided God is an amazing landscape architect. On the hike down, I was enthralled with all the wildflowers (I was on the way up too, but I just wanted to keep going while I had energy) and took bunches of pictures. I like to call myself a nursery nerd. (As my co-worker, Chandalar, put it, "Welcome to the world of horticulture.") Brian thinks it's very attractive that I know the scientific names for many of the plants, not just the common names. ;)

Overall, I enjoyed the hike. There was only about an hour where I was angry that I had let Brian talk me into it. ;) Shortly after we started down the mountain, I slipped on a steep, rocky slope. I landed hard on my bum (there's a pretty bruise now, but I can't show anyone) and gouged my hand. I think it was the sight of blood that started me crying, but it was the pain in my rear that continued it. Parts of the hike down were more painful after that, but I made it out alive.

It was crazy to me that I started out in shorts and a t-shirt and eventually progressed to a long-sleeved shirt, jacket, and Brian's warm-up pants. I swear I'm wearing a slightly different outfit in every picture. We'd be sweating in one part of the hike and walking through snow 15 minutes later.

There will be more pictures later. Oh, yeah, we saw a herd of mountain goats, and we were practically close enough to touch them? Also, the peak of Timp was in a cloud for part of the time that we were up there. Way cool.

Blogs

So Amy and I have been contemplating the formation of a family blog for some time, and I've been trying to crystallize in my mind its ultimate purpose. Is it to...

• Serve as justification for not maintaining a consistent journal?
• Brag to others about our latest adventures?
• Affirm to my mother that I am still alive? (I admit, I should call more often)
• Disseminate cute pictures of our children, and until we have children, disseminate cute pictures of random peoples' children?
  

Granted, I'm not a religious follower of anybody else's blogs, nor am I an inherently gifted writer (for example, I have misspelled 14 words up to this point, including the word 'mispelled') but if you've read this far... well, I assume you'll finish this post, and then only return after we have posted baby pictures-

Check back in February-

Maybe-

Anyway, the point is, what do you, the reader, want out of this blog? I mean, really, honestly, was the time you spent reading this post worth the time, and what can we do to make it worth your while? Do you want updates, philosophizing, pictures, videos, incriminating information and evidence, games, jokes, or the random narrations of my head about the wonderful lives that are myself and Amy (Winder) Casaday? Anyone may respond, with the understood condition that anybody may be ignored.