I received my credit card today! Another step on the long journey towards buying a house -- building up credit. That way our saving some 20% to put down on a house won't be wasted if we can't manage to get a loan for the other $200,000. Keegan and I also opened a joint mutual fund so we're even more on our way to making big purchases like houses and cars :-) It feels so grown up to have accounts in both of our names! Not like a marriage license isn't a binding and official document, but now we have finances entwined together too. At least now when I see my friends taking expensive trips and buying homes at least I can think to myself, "we may not be taking long, exotic vacations or moving into homes right away, but when we do buy a house, it won't be a starter home!" I like the cute little houses that some of my friends live in, but the first house we move to isn't going to be a "starter home" really. We don't want anything smaller than 2200-2500 square feet or so, something that will comfortably hold us and 2 or 3 young kids.
I consider myself very fortunate to have learned the value of saving growing up; I think it has really translated well into my planning for the future. Keegan has also become more thrifty. He was not always a big saver, but now he's learned a lot about what it means to actually work for what you get rather than mooching off the labors of others.
So anyway, I think there's a lot to be said for financial peace of mind :-)
Saturday, February 27, 2010
#8: Cranberry Orange Cookies
This week my new recipe is cranberry orange cookies -- I decided to make them for the potluck my ASB Ecuador team is having tonight. Yuuuuuum! I got to use my amazing mixer, which always makes me happy :-)
These cookies are made with cranberries and orange juice and then topped with orange icing. I can't wait to eat them! It will also be nice to catch up with all the members of the Habitat team. I know not everyone will be there, but a lot of the people in the group were freshmen or sophomores when we went on the trip, so they're still at NCSU finishing up.
These cookies are made with cranberries and orange juice and then topped with orange icing. I can't wait to eat them! It will also be nice to catch up with all the members of the Habitat team. I know not everyone will be there, but a lot of the people in the group were freshmen or sophomores when we went on the trip, so they're still at NCSU finishing up.
Finely chopped cranberries! I <3 my Magic Bullet!
Orange icing :-D
The tasty finished product!
I hope everyone enjoys them as much as Keegan did!
I hope everyone enjoys them as much as Keegan did!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
#7: Pizza Casserole
Yesterday two of Keegan's physics buddies came over for dinner before they went to see Shutter Island so we picked a semi-manly recipe for this week. The pizza casserole was made with beef, onion, garlic, pepperoni, pizza sauce, and egg noodles. Mix all that together, top it with mozzarella and bake. Add a caesar salad and that makes for one tasty dinner!
Since there were four of us eating this we didn't have a lot left over, enough for one of Keegan's lunches this week. But that works out well for us :-)
Since there were four of us eating this we didn't have a lot left over, enough for one of Keegan's lunches this week. But that works out well for us :-)
Friday, February 19, 2010
I'm officially going to Washington and Minnesota this year! Flights booked :-)
Also, Keegan and I applied for a credit cards today, wahoo! Working towards building up a credit line to buy our first house. I feel so grown up!
We've also been talking about taking a trip for our one year anniversary, now we just need to plan it!
Also, Keegan and I applied for a credit cards today, wahoo! Working towards building up a credit line to buy our first house. I feel so grown up!
We've also been talking about taking a trip for our one year anniversary, now we just need to plan it!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Valentine's Day #4
This weekend was nice and relaxing (aside from all the grading I had to do). On Saturday I was able to go with my friend Emily to look at wedding dresses, which was even more fun when I wasn't the one trying them on. :-) Then Keegan and I went to Franklin Street to celebrate our friend Cindy's birthday! It was really nice to see people outside of the lab/school; I'm not generally invited to stuff/don't know about things until after they happen, which sometimes makes me feel left out/a loser. I don't want people to think I'm antisocial! I would come to parties if I knew about them! I guess I'm not really one of the "cool" grad students that is included in those sorts of things.
Sunday we got up and exchanged gifts with each other and Keegan gave me a beautiful flower arrangement -- such a loving husband! He also gave me the movies Love Happens, Julie and Julia, and Whip It. I gave him a book about the MI5, some fancy specialty trail mix, and the movies Enemy of the State, Rocky Balboa, and The Man Who Knew Too Much. Then we went to Wilmington to visit with Keegan's aunt and uncle. We hadn't seen their house since they first bought it and it was completely empty. Now they have ripped up all the carpet and put in hardwood floors, painted, brought in furniture, and hung a few pictures. Their house was still full of boxes, but they're getting there! We were also able to pick some of their furniture for ourselves since they're getting ready to put a lot of it in storage. We're getting a really nice bookshelf, a trashcan, and a corner cabinet that we're going to use in our kitchen so we no longer need to use our downstairs bathroom as a pantry. I'm not sure when all of that stuff will make it here, but sometime in the near future so that his aunt and uncle can actually park in their garage!
We're also planning to go to the Azalea Festival in April; I've always wanted to go, but now we have somewhere to stay! I really like Keegan's aunt and uncle so it will be nice to spend time with them and also see some of the festival. We'll be in Hilton Head for Easter so April will be a busy month! First weekend in Hilton Head, second weekend in Wilmington, and forth weekend in Seattle! Whew!
Labwork is going well, finally getting going! Review paper is also still going, but TAing is taking up all of my time. About 25 hours per week, that is. I'm excited because one of the companies I contacted with questions just sent me some of their samples for free without my asking for them! Having a Duke email address/research position has its perks I guess -- I wonder if people would talk to me/answer my questions if I were from a no-name university?
Sunday we got up and exchanged gifts with each other and Keegan gave me a beautiful flower arrangement -- such a loving husband! He also gave me the movies Love Happens, Julie and Julia, and Whip It. I gave him a book about the MI5, some fancy specialty trail mix, and the movies Enemy of the State, Rocky Balboa, and The Man Who Knew Too Much. Then we went to Wilmington to visit with Keegan's aunt and uncle. We hadn't seen their house since they first bought it and it was completely empty. Now they have ripped up all the carpet and put in hardwood floors, painted, brought in furniture, and hung a few pictures. Their house was still full of boxes, but they're getting there! We were also able to pick some of their furniture for ourselves since they're getting ready to put a lot of it in storage. We're getting a really nice bookshelf, a trashcan, and a corner cabinet that we're going to use in our kitchen so we no longer need to use our downstairs bathroom as a pantry. I'm not sure when all of that stuff will make it here, but sometime in the near future so that his aunt and uncle can actually park in their garage!
We're also planning to go to the Azalea Festival in April; I've always wanted to go, but now we have somewhere to stay! I really like Keegan's aunt and uncle so it will be nice to spend time with them and also see some of the festival. We'll be in Hilton Head for Easter so April will be a busy month! First weekend in Hilton Head, second weekend in Wilmington, and forth weekend in Seattle! Whew!
Labwork is going well, finally getting going! Review paper is also still going, but TAing is taking up all of my time. About 25 hours per week, that is. I'm excited because one of the companies I contacted with questions just sent me some of their samples for free without my asking for them! Having a Duke email address/research position has its perks I guess -- I wonder if people would talk to me/answer my questions if I were from a no-name university?
#6:Spinach-Feta Mediterranean Burritos
This week Keegan picked these Mediterranean burritos as the recipe he wanted me to try out. They were very tasty and really easy to make - a great combination. The only problem with the recipe making too much food this time is that you can't really reheat scrambled eggs. Oh well, next time I'll know to halve the recipe!
These burritos were made with spinach, sun dried tomatoes, eggs, and feta cheese. You start out by heating olive oil and then adding the spinach and sun dried tomatoes. Then you mix in the eggs and scramble them all together. Once they reach the consistency you like for scrambled eggs, you top the egg/spinach mixture with feta cheese and wrap it into tortillas. Yum! But again, way too much food for just the two of us. :-)
And yes, I took this picture in the family room. We both had long days and just wanted to hang around and watch TV. So we did. It's nice to be grown up :-D
These burritos were made with spinach, sun dried tomatoes, eggs, and feta cheese. You start out by heating olive oil and then adding the spinach and sun dried tomatoes. Then you mix in the eggs and scramble them all together. Once they reach the consistency you like for scrambled eggs, you top the egg/spinach mixture with feta cheese and wrap it into tortillas. Yum! But again, way too much food for just the two of us. :-)
And yes, I took this picture in the family room. We both had long days and just wanted to hang around and watch TV. So we did. It's nice to be grown up :-D
Monday, February 8, 2010
February pleasure reading
I just have to say that The Fountainhead is one of, if not the best book I've ever read. Perhaps only Atlas Shrugged ranks higher. Wahoo, Ayn Rand!! It's a must-read, especially for all Libertarians and Republicans out there. It's hard to describe exactly what about the book is so amazing, it's just something you have to experience.
Ayn Rand's works advocate individual rights and constitutionally-limited government, which is most likely why I love her books so much. Her style is (generally) very subtle, like in Atlas Shrugged she essentially shows what will happen when the government takes over everything, redistributing wealth, taking from those who work and giving to those who don't/won't but it's so eloquently done that it could just be a story to those who don't actually read in to what she's writing.
One of my favorite sections from The Fountainhead, however, is extremely straightforward but describes how I feel so well... it just speaks to me :-D
"'You said yesterday: 'What architect isn't interested in housing?' I hate the whole blasted idea of it. I think it's a worthy undertaking -- to provide a decent apartment for a man who earns fifteen dollars a week. But not at the expense of other men. Not if it raises the taxes, raises all the other rents and makes the man who earns forty live in a rat hole. That's what's happening in New York. Nobody can afford a modern apartment -- except the very rich and the paupers. Have you seen the converted brownstones in which the average self-supporting couple has to live? Have you seen their closet kitchens and their plumbing? They're forced to live like that -- because they're not incompetent enough. They make forty dollars a week and wouldn't be allowed into a housing project. But they're the ones who provide the money for the damn project. They pay the taxes. And the taxes raise their own rent. And they have to move from a converted brownstone into an unconverted one and from that into a railroad flat. I'd have no desire to penalize a man because he's worth only fifteen dollars a week. But I'll be damned if I can see why a man worth forty must be penalized -- and must be penalized in favor of the one who's less competent.'"
Amazing. I wish I could put my thoughts into words so well!
All possible thumbs up! :-D
Ayn Rand's works advocate individual rights and constitutionally-limited government, which is most likely why I love her books so much. Her style is (generally) very subtle, like in Atlas Shrugged she essentially shows what will happen when the government takes over everything, redistributing wealth, taking from those who work and giving to those who don't/won't but it's so eloquently done that it could just be a story to those who don't actually read in to what she's writing.
One of my favorite sections from The Fountainhead, however, is extremely straightforward but describes how I feel so well... it just speaks to me :-D
"'You said yesterday: 'What architect isn't interested in housing?' I hate the whole blasted idea of it. I think it's a worthy undertaking -- to provide a decent apartment for a man who earns fifteen dollars a week. But not at the expense of other men. Not if it raises the taxes, raises all the other rents and makes the man who earns forty live in a rat hole. That's what's happening in New York. Nobody can afford a modern apartment -- except the very rich and the paupers. Have you seen the converted brownstones in which the average self-supporting couple has to live? Have you seen their closet kitchens and their plumbing? They're forced to live like that -- because they're not incompetent enough. They make forty dollars a week and wouldn't be allowed into a housing project. But they're the ones who provide the money for the damn project. They pay the taxes. And the taxes raise their own rent. And they have to move from a converted brownstone into an unconverted one and from that into a railroad flat. I'd have no desire to penalize a man because he's worth only fifteen dollars a week. But I'll be damned if I can see why a man worth forty must be penalized -- and must be penalized in favor of the one who's less competent.'"
Amazing. I wish I could put my thoughts into words so well!
All possible thumbs up! :-D
#5: Cheese dip
I made a new dip this week as my recipe. We have had this dip at Keegan's family's house but I have never made any myself. It was really simple and it's soooo tasty. I don't really like onions or mayo, but this recipe is really simple and uses both of those things. I don't have an "after" picture because we baked it at Keegan's friend's house where we were watching the Superbowl. Just stir everything together, bake it, and serve with chips! We elected to use pita chips as our dipping utensils. Mmmm. :-D
#4: Manicotti
Last week's recipe was manicotti! YUM! A special thanks to Cait for her mom's recipes :-D She gave me recipes for a cheese filling and for a spinach and sausage filling. This time I made the cheese filling but I also bought some sausage that I put in Keegan's manicotti, so he had cheese and sausage.
I would change absolutely nothing about this recipe -- it was amazing! But I knew we loved manicotti, I had just never made it on my own. I bought a box of manicotti noodles and made them all but I only had enough filling to make 12. I was so impressed I didn't destroy any of the rolls while I was stuffing them - score one for me! Keegan now has 2 lunches of manicotti for this week as well, which I'm sure is a welcome change from peanut butter and jelly!
I would change absolutely nothing about this recipe -- it was amazing! But I knew we loved manicotti, I had just never made it on my own. I bought a box of manicotti noodles and made them all but I only had enough filling to make 12. I was so impressed I didn't destroy any of the rolls while I was stuffing them - score one for me! Keegan now has 2 lunches of manicotti for this week as well, which I'm sure is a welcome change from peanut butter and jelly!
Mint hot chocolate
I mentioned this hot chocolate to one of my friends, so now I'm posting the recipe!
32 oz 2% (or whole) milk
1 cup cocoa mix (Ovaltine, Nestle, Hershey's, etc)
6 York Peppermint Patties
Pour milk into Crockpot, set Crockpot on low and stir in the cocoa mix. After about 30 minutes, add the peppermint patties and stir frequently until the patties are melted. You can also add more patties if you like a mintier drink.
Yuuuummmmmm.
32 oz 2% (or whole) milk
1 cup cocoa mix (Ovaltine, Nestle, Hershey's, etc)
6 York Peppermint Patties
Pour milk into Crockpot, set Crockpot on low and stir in the cocoa mix. After about 30 minutes, add the peppermint patties and stir frequently until the patties are melted. You can also add more patties if you like a mintier drink.
Yuuuummmmmm.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Grad student first?
This semester is going well -- keeping much busier than expected mainly due to the course I'm TAing. For the most part I'm enjoying the course material because it is useful for me to review all the engineering fundamentals but the responsibilities for the TA are really time-consuming. The professor expects all the TAs to put in at least 20 hours of work for this class per week, which I'm definitely doing, but it is a bit excessive. I mean, I should be a grad student first, right? That's 40-50 hours of work every week, so is being a TA really supposed to be half of the grad student experience? Just doing the homework, grading the homework, and holding office hours takes about 20 hours per week, but now we are also to teach recitations before tests, hold extra office hours before tests, and the most time-consuming of all -- find additional lab times. The scheduled lab times for the class are from 2:50-4:05 and then 4:25-5:40, yet we are teaching the labs in groups of 5 students, in 45-minute time slots. However, there are 65 kids in the class, meaning 13 groups in 45 minute slots; notice only 4 time slots will fit into the allotted lab times. We're also holding 15 lab times in case there are scheduling conflicts with students. This week has been devoted almost entirely to TAing stuff -- doing the homework and writing it up nicely to post the solutions on Blackboard after the due date, holding office hours, grading their first assignment, going to the lab to learn the protocol for the first lab session, and teaching a recitation. I do enjoy it, surprisingly, but I'm concerned with the amount of time consumed doing stuff not remotely important to my research and getting my project off the ground (which is of even greater importance now that I have a conference to present at and a hard deadline to meet).
I now also have an undergraduate student working for me; as Monty joked in lab meeting today, we're becoming Alice, Inc. :-) Our lab is not that large, only 5 grad students, but one grad student has 2 undergrads working with him and then there's me, now also with two people working with me. Crazy!
Draft 14 of my paper is underway and will be finished today so I suppose that is something research-related I accomplished this week (although I guess I could be working now... but this will just be my lunch break).
I'm also absolutely loving The Fountainhead. It's like when I read Atlas Shrugged -- I can't fully explain why it is so amazing, it just is. (I will elaborate more in my post on The Fountainhead once I finish it!) And it took me awhile to really dive in to the reading, but I started where I left off over a year ago, around page 100 of the book, on Saturday and since then I've read almost 500 pages and I'm going to be finished with the book before I know it! I'm almost a little sad about that... but then I guess I can go on to read the rest of Ayn Rand's books. :-D March pleasure reading! I know she has many books, but I'll probably start with Anthem and We the Living. I can't wait!
I now also have an undergraduate student working for me; as Monty joked in lab meeting today, we're becoming Alice, Inc. :-) Our lab is not that large, only 5 grad students, but one grad student has 2 undergrads working with him and then there's me, now also with two people working with me. Crazy!
Draft 14 of my paper is underway and will be finished today so I suppose that is something research-related I accomplished this week (although I guess I could be working now... but this will just be my lunch break).
I'm also absolutely loving The Fountainhead. It's like when I read Atlas Shrugged -- I can't fully explain why it is so amazing, it just is. (I will elaborate more in my post on The Fountainhead once I finish it!) And it took me awhile to really dive in to the reading, but I started where I left off over a year ago, around page 100 of the book, on Saturday and since then I've read almost 500 pages and I'm going to be finished with the book before I know it! I'm almost a little sad about that... but then I guess I can go on to read the rest of Ayn Rand's books. :-D March pleasure reading! I know she has many books, but I'll probably start with Anthem and We the Living. I can't wait!
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