Texas Caviar

Some friends asked about this recipe, so I figured this was as good of a place as any to share it! :)

Texas Caviar (aka Tart Black Bean Salsa)

16 oz package of frozen yellow corn

1 tablespoon olive oil

4- 15 oz cans black beans (rinsed)

1 red bell pepper (stem and seeds removed) chopped into a medium dice

1 large granny smith apple (cored) chopped into a small dice

3 small jalapenos, chopped into a small dice (or 2 medium, one large)

½ red onion, diced

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1 large tomato (or 2 small tomatoes), diced

1 bunch cilantro leaves, stems removed and minced

Juice of 2 limes

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground chile powder

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp white vinegar

Preheat oven to 450°F and place frozen corn on a baking sheet or baking dish. Coat corn with olive oil and roast in oven for 15-20 minutes, turning to roast evenly. Remove from oven and cool.

Combine all ingredients, cover, and set aside for 30 minutes prior to eating. Refrigerate leftovers.

Enjoy!

March of Emotions

We closed on our home yesterday! So it is officially ours and we are officially owned by the bank for the next 30 years! :) All joking aside, we are so excited for this next step in North Carolina!

I don't have a job lined up yet and I've been praying really hard about where God wants me to work. I feel drawn to a Cardiac setting. I've decided my dream job is in Pinehurst, NC (35 mins from home) in the Cardiothoracic ICU. However, there is not currently an opening there so God may have other plans. I have decided that I am not going to apply for any jobs until we get moved-in, which is semi-scary but working out well so far. Recently, I became aware of awesome job opportunities an hour North in both Chapel Hill at the UNC hospital and in Raleigh at the Duke hospital. I would LOVE (L-O-V-E)  to work at a university hospital. I want to teach nursing some day and to be able to work in a teaching environment would be AWESOME! However, it is an additional 25 minutes in both directions added onto my commute. I can't decide if that is worth it. Please pray for me as I try to discern God's will from my own desires. This could be my job for the next three years and I would love to get it right on the first shot! :)

I leave for Swaziland in 126 days! Whoa... Maybe I should get my passport updated? How illegal is it to travel outside of the country with a passport that doesn't have your updated name on it? Yeah, that is what I thought. In my defense, I didn't want to order it when we were moving in fear that it would somehow get shipped to the wrong place and then lost. I think it is safe to say I am pretty close to being out of the woods on that fear.

That looks like a serious trip...

I have four days of work left before I am done with my current job. I love my friends that I have made at this job. I wish I could just take them with me. Maybe that is why I insisted that we buy a house that had additional rooms. This is our first military move from a place that we don't belong (we belong in Texas, so I don't count that one). We will only be back to Fort Rucker one more time and that will only be for six months. I hope that my friendships that I have made here will not wilt away. I treasure them all deeply. Moving is hard.

Eleven days until we move out of this house and 14 days until we move into our new house! This month is a little too exciting/scary/sad/emotional for me.

2013 Update

I promise one day to be better at updating my blog. Maybe that should have been a New Years Resolution. Oh well..

Today is February 1st. Wow! This is especially crazy because we are moving to Fort Bragg, NC in March (even though it is the end of March). Therefore, we move next month. Meet our new house.

We went to Fort Bragg in November and, after touring many homes, we found ourselves at one house that I had found online and asked our Realtor to show us. It was in an area he doesn't usually show homes in and he didn't know much about it. I saw the floor plan online and knew I would love this home. It is way more room than we need right now, but we are hoping to start a family in this home and, given that we live far from them, want our families to always feel welcome in our home. 

We close on the house on March 5th and then it will officially be ours. It has two big pine trees in the front yard and I was insistent that they stay put and not be taken out in the building of the house. Seth says that this means that they will one day fall on our house. We shall see.

Most of our military friends who we started with here at Fort Rucker have since moved away and have started the next chapter of their lives and we are excited to do the same. Seth will soon officially be an Apache pilot (I know, how cool!) and I will hopefully be able to become a cardiac nurse in North Carolina (hopefully the Cardiothoracic ICU at Moore Regional Hospital, but I'm leaving that to God).

Also, I am going to Swaziland in July with Heart for Africa and my dear friend Kirstin. If you want to join me or learn more about my trip, go here. 

So much excitement coming up! We could really use prayers during this time of change! :)

My Ideal President

Before you read this, realize that I am not going to blog about my political view. I made that mistake in a conversation at work several days ago and I really wish I had not. I should have listened harder to my elders when I was taught to not talk about politics.

I have heard many people verbalize how dissatisfied they are with election years. I am too. How could you keep from being dissatisfied? It is like sitting in a high school cafeteria. Every time you turn on the television there is a commercial from one-side-or-the-other either putting their candidate up on a pedestal or beating the other guy down. It is quite exhausting. Seth and I had a conversation a couple of nights ago that really got me thinking about what I would want in a Presidential candidate and President. Let's be honest, I don't believe there is one person in this great United States of America who can say that they completely agree with one of the candidates on every single issue and every stance (not even those candidates spouses).

My ideal president would campaign solely through youtube.com videos and radio speeches. They would completely decline any campaign funding. They would rely on media coverage alone to broadcast their views. It would take a while. But just like recent pop discovery, Karmin, youtube.com would pull through. They would get their media and sun. They would not use any excessive spending to be elected. And it would work. I have faith in the American people. I believe that someone could get into office without spending millions of dollars. Have you seen the numbers? They make me sick.

They would vow to hold a voting period one week out of each month. The issues would be up for voting by the American people. Issues would be presented at the beginning of the month along with the possible options for solutions. The last week of each month, voters would stream to voting booths and vote on these issues. Individually. This president would base his/her policies on what the majority of Americans say. Period. That is the way our country was intended to work, right? A country by the people, for the people?

He/She and his/her spouse would refuse any money from the American people except what they need to live. And live meagerly. No expensive wardrobes. Who really cares if the President has on a thousand dollar suit or a hundred dollar one. Who cares is the First Lady is in a dress from JCPenney's or from Designer X for thousands more. Those aren't the things that really matter. It is completely unnecessary.

The Presidential office should be a place and job of service; not of status. People should want to be in office to serve our country, not to steal from it.

I think it is quite clear that I think money is a big reason why our country is in so much turmoil today.

Drive home statement: I think we should support our President, regardless of who it is/becomes in November. Regardless of whether or not you agree with him, I think it is important for Americans to remember that he/she (probably he this year) is the leader for our country and that hate for him/her only weakens our country.

Guest Room

I realized that I kind of left y'all hanging on our guest bedroom updates. I finally decided what I wanted (with the help of a Kirkland's sale email) and pieced it together until I finished it a couple of weeks ago. Here is what you see when you walk through the door. I used the bedspread that was already in the room, got some pillow shams from Walmart for $10. Bought some wall art & a huge mirror from Kirkland's for $70 and made a DIY flower for the wall. I'm very happy to have guests stay in this room now!

Here is the view of the opposite side of the room. Here is the giant mirror which I love. Also, that flower arrangement was made by a dear friend, Jody Fergason, for our wedding shower. And there is my DIY project! It is paper towel rolls/ toilet paper rolls flattened, then cut into 1/2" strips, and hot glue gunned together. The final step is spray painting it the color of your choice! I'm about to make another one for our master bathroom.

And here is the view from the corner you were just looking at of the other wall art! I'm very pleased! :) This is my way of decorating like a child and making it look a little grown up! :) I LOVE bright colors in a room! Now you all have to come stay so you can see it for yourself!

Oh, how I love Spring!

Our Garden :)

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned to you guys that Spring is my favorite season. Actually it has a hard tie between Spring & Fall; but as it is currently Spring, then Spring wins. There have been several reminders of why lately so I thought I would share them. 

Tomatoes!!! My favorite fruit/vegetable

Peppers! I'm reasonably excited about this, but Seth is  VERY excited!

And, lastly, baby mockingbirds who recently hatched in  our  grill vent thingy.

Yes, friends. Spring is officially here and I couldn't be any more excited about it! I hope you all are having wonderful reminders of regeneration, creation, and God's love wherever you are!

Italian Cream Cake

I recently baked my first cake from scratch for my friend Dia's birthday. It was an italian cream cake and it was DELICIOUS! I used this recipe from allrecipes.com and used some of the suggestions offered up by the user HJONES999 in the review section.

P.S. Don't look at the caloric content on the recipe site... ;)

Italian Cream Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups white sugar
5 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flaked coconut
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour

8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons light cream (I only had half & half so I used that instead)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place parchment paper in three 9" round cake pans.
2. In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup shortening, and 2 cups white sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs yokes and 1 tsp vanilla.
4. Mix 2 cups flour and 1 tsp baking powder. Alternate adding small amounts of the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture into the butter & sugar mixture.
5. Add 1 cup flaked coconut. (you can also add in additional walnuts here if you like nuts in your cake)
6. Peak 5 egg whites in separate bowl until a stiff peak forms. Fold egg whites into cake mixture. 
7. Pour cake mixture into three 9" round cake pans. 
8. Bake at 325 for 25 minutes. Allow to cool before icing.

For Icing:
Mix together 8 ounces cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 4 cups confectioners' sugar until creamy. Add in cream until desired texture is reached. mix in walnuts and coconut. Ice cake between layers and on outside of cake.

Enjoy!