Why the hell not: A brief intro to me

Oh, hi. I see you've decided to read this thing. Cool. I'm not sure how this will go, or if I'll get annoyed with it for some reason. So, we'll see.

SO, I've had a lot of time on my hands lately...and by lately, I mean the better part of a year-and-a-half.

Here's a short-ish version of this time:

• Ended internship for grad program,

• Wedding shower in Louisiana (baked brie with caramel sauce is amazing… and kind of tastes like pancakes when cold)
• Back for graduation (Yay! Master degree!)
• Northern Louisiana for a friend's wedding
• Back home for a different friend's wedding
• New Orleans for own wedding prep
• Own wedding (super awesome, by the way, and I still day dream about the food)           
• prep and wedding turned into several days of partying with most of our favorite people
• Honeymoon (The Mermaid and the Alligator, they are AMAZING; there were even dogs that acted as our surrogate puppies while we were there)
• Back home to start the job search/ prep for license exam/ find an apartment
• Find apartment
• Take and pass exam (Yay! apparently no one wanted to even talk to me without one)
• Finally get an interview, get offered an amazing job with great benefits--oh, wait, they have to rewrite the job posting so I'm qualified

• ...two months, my cousin's wedding, and many conversations and rewritten job postings later... sorry, that solid first job, (with pay and benefits good enough to make me wait around for two months), is not going to happen
• Many more resumes sent and applications submitted
• Three-month stint at an elementary school = fabulous
• Start supervision
• Several great interviews, no offers
• Two more friends get married
• I start nannying and I learn that I can potentially start a private practice

Obviously, there are things that I’ve forgotten/blocked out and many things in between.  Also, there are various details regarding decisions that I’m leaving out because it’d take way longer.  I’m too impatient for that right now.

 

During, and in between all these events, I delved into food.  No, I wasn’t drowning my sorrows in pasta, pizza, and ice-cream…okay, maybe a little…but I was figuring out how to stretch a dollar and make what we have in the pantry/fridge work while keeping it interesting.

I half-jokingly say that I watched WAY too many cooking shows and call myself a stay-at-home-puppy-parent.  I married an wonderful person who afforded me the amazing opportunity  to concentrate on finding a job that I actually want.  Many, many hours were devoted to this endeavor, but during the down time, I watched cooking shows.

It made me realize that there were far more possibilities in the pantry and fridge than I originally thought.  I learned techniques and tricks that were pretty nifty and helped us save money.  This helped to make me feel like I was contributing to the home…and stay sane.

I’m embracing my heritage’s culture surrounding food and the bonding had while making, eating, and contemplating the next meal.  Along the way, I've learned many things and eaten many things... mostly good, and I'm thankful for these experiences.  It’s helped me, my marriage, and I hope you might find it helpful as well…or at least amusing at times.