Do I Have a Great Husband or What?

Ok, here's another one where I have to give you the background before I tell you the actual story.
So, here at our house, we have a tiny basement that is big enough to hold a washer, dryer, and a bit of storage space. The basement is damp and dark, and not very, well, friendly. So, lately, there have been a bunch of these guys hopping around down there:
This, my friends, is a camel cricket. They particularly like damp, dark places...just like our basement! Lucky us! When I first saw one of these yucky creatures, I nearly jumped out of my skin. I sprayed it with bug spray and it jumped right at me! So, needless to say, I am a bit apprehensive about going down in the basement for fear that I might encounter a dreaded camel cricket.
The only reason I need to go down in the basement is to do laundry, which is the one chore that I despise. It takes me for-e-ver to do a load of laundry. First of all, I hate going in the basement. Second of all, once I actually get down there and start the wash, I forget about it and it sits in there for a day or two. Then once I finally get everything dry and folded, it takes me at least another day or two to get it put away. Then, by the time that's all over, it's time to do laundry again. Sigh.
So, I told you all that to tell you this. I came home today feeling worn out and tired, knowing that I had a huge load of laundry to do, and Evan would be at school so there would be no one to kill the bugs in the basement for me. Well, I go to the fridge to get a drink, and what do I see? This:
Evan is so sweet. He knows I hate going down to the basement, and he also knows I hate doing laundry. What a great guy I have!

Things I love to come home to...

Wow, it has been a WHILE!! You must understand, I am so swamped right now with the food blog (or as Evan's Uncle Brian calls it, my "Recipe Ministry" - I LOVE that!), that I have not had time to do any normal blogging. But there are just some things that are so perfectly blog-worthy, that I just cannot help myself.
First, a preface:
Every morning, either myself or Evan will take food out of the freezer to thaw it out in time for dinner. You know, chicken, steak, shrimp, fish, etc. Whatever it is, it gets left on the kitchen counter to thaw out. If Evan is the food-taker-outer, I usually don't know what he has taken out until I get home from work. So then I must quickly concoct a meal to make that relates to whatever meat he has chosen for that day.
So, today Evan was the food-taker-outer and I was anxious to see what he had taken out so I could make something delicious. I came home to find no meat on the kitchen counter. "Hmm," I thought, "did he forget to take something out?" Then I turn to the fridge to get myself an after-work snack, and I see this note on the whiteboard hanging on our fridge:

And sure enough, I open the fridge and there were the shrimp...right where the board said they would be! Evan knows me well, because he knows I would have thought that he forgot to take something out if I didn't see anything on the counter. So, being the thoughtful man that he is, he wrote me this note on the whiteboard assuring me that he DID take something out, and it was waiting for me approximately right there in the fridge.
I have such a sweet husband, and I look forward to cooking up that shrimp for him. Maybe a shrimp scampi pasta? Yummmm.....

Ode to a Fat Cat

Our family cat Sylvester is sadly being put down this week. He is the last remaining cat that our family had after my parents moved out to Pennsylvania. Before they moved, we had four cats: Molly, Simon, Cindy and Sylvester. Molly and Simon were given away to other homes, and Cindy came to live with me at Oma's house while I finished up my college career. She died within a year simply of old age. Sylvester, however, survived the move and went to live in PA with my mom, Frank and Oma. Since then, he has enjoyed a lavish lifestyle of being the only cat (and a very spoiled one at that), and generally being the "king of the house."
Sylvester, in his prime, weighed close to 20 pounds. I used to call him our little cow, because of his black and white coat. The vet used to scold my mom for letting him get so "overweight." But we knew he was happy and he was definitely spoiled!
Sylvester had the wimpiest meow you'll ever hear. Here's this 20 pound cat and you would expect a deep, booming MEOW to come out, but all that came out was this faint "ow" whenever he spoke. It was just funny.
Recently, Sylvester started to get sick. He couldn't keep any of his food down, and was constantly running to the litter box. My mom took him to several different vets, and none of them could really help him. He was on meds and special food, but nothing was helping. He was losing so much weight, he didn't even look the same anymore. So, last week, my parents made the tough decision to end his suffering.
This week, we say goodbye to our beloved family cat. It's never easy to let go of a pet, especially one that has been through so much with you and your family. We will miss Sylvester for sure, but the fond memories we have of him will live on in our hearts. Rest in peace sweet kitty.

Remembering September 11th

Today I said to someone, "I don't think anyone will ever forget where they were and what they were doing on September 11th."
Eight years later, I haven't forgotten. The images I witnessed are scarred on my mind forever. Though I did not lose anyone close to me in the tragedy, that day was not any less sad and horrific. My heart genuinely goes out to those who did lose a loved one in the towers, and those that have lost loved ones in the war resulting from that day, and have been suffering ever since.

I had a rough start to my day. I had an 8:00am class, and my car was not running very well. I managed to get it started and drive to my Oma's house to ask if I could borrow her car for the day, just so I knew I would be safe getting to and from school. She graciously allowed me to borrow the car, and I left mine in front of her house. Off to school I went.
I arrived right on time for my morning class. Groggy and tired, I sat down at my desk and awaited the boring lecture that was to come. Thankfully, class let out early, so I had enough time to go home and come back for my afternoon class. I hurried out to the parking lot to find Oma's car. Now, Oma's car does not have a CD player, so I was listening to the radio. 95.5 PLJ to be exact. I NEVER listen to the radio, but this day, I was forced. When I turned on the car, the announcers had a very somber tone in their voices, and they were talking about "something terrible" that just happened. I think they were trying to get a look from outside their studio window. They mentioned something about planes, I couldn't really make it out. Then they said it..."A plane has just flown into the World Trade Center."
WHAT??? I said outloud. Kean University is quite close to New York City, and on my way home, I get a quick glimpse on the skyline before turning around on Rt. 22. And there it was, I saw black smoke billowing from the skyline. And, suddenly, I saw what looked like a raven coming out of the sky and into the 2nd tower.

It was so brief, but so memorable. The smoke, the 2nd plane, the horror. I couldn't believe it. I could barely drive, but I turned the radio up and listened very intently. They talked about another plane, which I had just seen. I raced home.
My brother Brad was home. I screamed, "Turn on the TV, something terrible has happened!" He was confused, but did so. It didn't matter what channel you turned to, it was on. The terrifying images of NYC, and the faces of people who were actually there - we saw it all. Brad and I were in shock. We watched together for a few more minutes, not saying a word to each other.
Suddenly, I felt the need to go to the video store where I worked at the time. Evan, who is now my husband, had been in the city the night before with his cousin Linda. My heart sank. "What if he's stuck in the city? What if he's hurt? What if something happened?" We weren't even dating at the time, but I prayed and prayed that he was ok, and I had to get to the video store to find out. When I pulled up, I saw his car there. I breathed a sigh of relief. All of our other colleagues were there as well, exchanging short sentences about how awful this was. We decided to head up to Washington Rock, where we might be able to get a good view of what was going on. We were able to get up, but only shortly because they closed the park soon after we got there.
I went back home soon after that to exchange cars with Oma again, and talked briefly with her about the tragedy. We cried together, and I thanked her and gave her the keys back.
I wasn't scheduled to work that night, but I knew that Evan was. I knew that he would be there alone, and I wanted to keep him company because I knew he was extremely upset. So, he and I worked together, almost in total silence. Out of boredom, I had made a paper airplane and threw it at Evan to kind of break the silence. Bad idea. "What are you trying to do, reenact it?" he snapped at me. "Sorry," I sheepishly replied. We decided to close early, mainly because of what had just happened, and virtually no one was coming in. I was planning to go to KFC for dinner, and asked Evan if he would like to join me. He declined, saying that he just wanted to be alone. So, I headed to KFC, he headed to the diner, and that was that.
Later that night, I was hanging out with my then boyfriend John and all of our friends. We were all talking about what had happened, and what we had been doing when it happened. There was a sad overtone to the group that was usually upbeat and cheery. We were trying to make predictions for what might happen next. Would we go to war? Would we fight back? Would any other buildings get flown into? How many lives were lost? Everything was a big question mark.

Our lives have never been the same since that fateful day. September 11th, an otherwise normal Tuesday is now immortalized as one of the greatest American tragedies. It is hard to believe that eight years have passed since that day.
God's love and grace be with all those who were affected in some way by that event.

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Just realized that today is my 1 year anniversary of being a blogger! Yay!!

What The....?

As a youth leader, I am exposed to many many things that quite frankly, I would rather not be exposed to. But it comes with the territory, and I love my job as a youth leader, so I grin and bear it.
But recently, a new "phrase" has come on the scene in the form of an abbreviation known as "FML."
FML stands for F*** My Life. Students use this phrase when they are frustrated, angry, upset, or generally ticked off at something. You will mostly find it posted on their Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter pages. Something perhaps to the effect of: "Had to walk to school in the rain today. FML." "My boyfriend broke up with me. FML." "Mom made me clean up my room. FML." You get the idea.
Now, as a youth leader and as a Christian, I don't like the idea of my students using such words and phrases to describe how they're feeling. It's ok that they are upset or angry about something, but to sum it all up with "FML," to me, is a bit extreme and rather silly.
What I see is that students will use this phrase when things generally don't go their way. This seems to be the norm amongst students these days. What I am also seeing is that when things don't go their way, they quit or run away. Something got too hard? I quit. Getting too frustrated with something? I don't want to do it anymore. Things didn't work out as you planned? FML.
And there you have it. All of life's frustrations summed up in three little letters.

What really upsets me about the usage of this phrase is that it is being used by students who regularly attend either church or our youth group program. At church and at youth group, they are taught solid biblical principles that can be applied to their everyday lives. We try really hard as leaders to drill the points home and to challenge them to step up their faith at home, at school, wherever they are. We try to remind them that God is there for them no matter what, and even when they don't know where to turn, they can turn to God.
When we see things like FML being used by these students, it kind of deflates us because it feels like our words are falling on deaf ears. Rather than saying, "Had a bad day today, but God is good!" they resort to FML as though their life were falling apart at the seams just because something didn't go their way.
Do they even get it? Do they even realize that there is a gracious and loving God just waiting for them to come running to His arms? Do they realize that even if their life really is falling apart, that God is right there to put them back together? Do they just see it as the latest "cool" thing to do on Facebook?
Maybe I should just wait it out, because sooner or later, something else will come along, and FML will be DOA. Haha.

The End of an Era

I haven't done any "normal" blogging in a while because I have been so busy with New Jersey Fresh, but there was something that I just needed to blog about. And here it is.
Tomorrow (Friday), a student and good friend of mine is moving due to her father's job transfer. "What's so bad about that?" you may ask. Well, for starters, she is moving clear across the country to California, so there's slim chances of her coming back often for a visit. Secondly, I feel like a little part of myself if leaving with her. Her name is Alexandra, or to many of us, Alge (yep, like the stuff that grows on ponds). Alge reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age. She is a free spirit, friends with many, and always has her man, Steve, by her side. I've only known Alge for about 2 years when I first met her at youth group at our church. At first, I was just an observer, noticing that a lot of the students gravitated toward her. Not only is she pretty, but she is a fun person to be around and is generally just a likeable girl. Once I started to get to know her a little better, I realized how much I liked her as well.
It really started last year after we had taken the youth group paintballing. On the way home, we passed by Hot Dog Johnny's in Buttzville and another student, Becky, and I wanted to stop there. Well, we were out voted and were forced to go to McDonald's instead. So I said, "Becky, I will take you on a special trip to Hot Dog Johnny's someday soon, and we can make up for this." Becky enthusiastically agreed, and asked if her friends Erin and Alge could come along as well. "Of course!" I replied, and thus the Aubrey Adventure was born.
Since then, the Aubrey Adventures have included more people, like our friend Charlie, Alge's boyfriend Steve, the twins - Charlie and Joshua, our friend Jenn, and some others. They are always a good time, and all the while, we are building relationships with each other.
I am really going to miss Alge when she moves. I feel so privileged to have gotten to know her over these past 2 years. Thanks to things like Facebook and e-mail and cell phones, it is really hard to stay out of touch with someone, so I know that we will continue to keep in tough with Alge and look forward to the next time we see her.
I wish Alge the best of luck out in California, and I hope she knows that we all love her and care about her and I hope that God blesses her life the same way she has blessed ours.
Bye Alge!!!

New Blog!

Hey family, friends and devoted readers! I have been inspired to start a new blog. This one is all about one of my favorite things...FOOD.
Each post will feature a recipe of something that I have decided to make, a picture of the food, a little story to go with it, and a bible verse for inspiration!
Please check it out, and let me know what you think! I have also set the blog to automatically feed to Facebook, so you can check it out there too - although the pictures don't load, so you will have to check out the blog to see the pictures.
The new blog is called "Jersey Fresh - Downhome Jersey Cookin'" See it here.
Stop on by, and I hope you enjoy it!

Adventures at Drew University

It has been a while since we had an official "Aubrey Adventure," and so we had to make sure this one was a good one.
I got a text yesterday afternoon from Becky asking if I wanted to go see her friend Charlie at Shakespeare camp. Charlie was doing his final performance in a play they had been rehearsing all summer. Excited for the opportunity, I jumped on it and told Becky to rally up the troops, and we would head up there. This Shakespeare camp was being held at Drew University up in Madison, NJ. I had never been there before, so this was going to be an adventure all right! I quickly printed out the directions, and it seemed fairly easy to get to - right off of Rt. 287 North.
An hour later, I picked up Becky, Alge and her boyfriend Steve to head up to Shakespeare camp. It took us about 30 minutes to get there - Mapquest predicted 45 - and we pulled into the parking lot near the theater. Or, so we thought. We walked up to the Kirby Theater at the University and saw all these elderly people milling around the entrance. We weren't sure if we needed to buy tickets, so we went up to the window to find out. We thought maybe all the elderly people were the grandparents of the students in the play. We overheard someone saying that tickets were $10 for the performance. I was stunned. It was only to be a 45 minute play...$10 seemed outlandish! But we found out that the play was going on at another theater across campus, and it was free....phew! So we trekked over there and were immediately greeted by a smiling woman handing out programs. She somehow knew we were there to see Charlie, and another girl named Rachel who they were also friends with. So, we walked in and took a seat in the top row.
The play was called "Troilus & Cressida," a little known Shakespeare play, and the team was doing a 45 minute version of it. Charlie and Rachel were Troilus and Cressida, respectively. This was basically a play about the Trojans and the Greeks, and the battle between their two camps. The love story is interwoven between Troilus and Cressida, and she ends up betraying his love by running off with someone from "the other side." The acting was very good. You could tell the students worked really hard to get the play to what it was. I was very impressed by how well they interpreted the words of Shakespeare. Charlie had the last line in the play, and he did an exceptional job, as did Rachel. We went down afterwards to hug Charlie and he was so happy we came! We pretty much had to scoot out of there because they were doing reenactments of some of their scenes so the parents could take flash photos.
After the play, we took a slight detour because we found this AWESOME tree on the University campus. It was one of those trees where the branches hang down like a weeping willow, but it wasn't a weeping willow. So we poked through the leaves, and Steve, Alge and Becky tried climbing it. Steve got really high, and then had a hard time getting down. It was a really cool tree. Unfortunately, I couldn't take any pictures because my camera battery was dead :(
After the tree, we stopped at Friendly's for lunch - even though it was practically dinner because it was already 3:30. I forgot how good Friendly's was. I got my old standby - a chicken quesadilla. And then for dessert, another old standby - the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Sundae. We had lots of fun hanging out and talking. Sadly, Alge is moving away in August, so any time we get to spend with her is valuable and sweet.
We headed home, and Becky mentioned that she still had not seen our new house, so I took them all over to the house. The last time Alge and Steve were in the house, it was completely empty, so they were remarking how different everything looked now that we have stuff inside. We hung out on the front porch for a little while after they "sampled" all of my herbs. They said the basil numbed their tongues, the rosemary tasted "piney," the parsley tasted like breath freshener, and the thyme tasted a little lemony. What possessed them to eat raw herbs, I will never know. But it was still fun!
This certainly was an Aubrey Adventure for the history books. I am so glad these students are part of my life. We have so much fun together! Who knows what's in store for next time...

25 Burgers

So a few weeks ago, Evan and I received a circular in the mail for this new place in Bound Book, NJ called "25 Burgers." Hmm, I thought, sounds interesting. The circular included a copy of their menu, so Evan and I curiously perused it. Sure enough, this restaurant had 25 burgers to choose from, ranging from the spicy 5 Alarm Burger, to the Crab Burger, and everywhere in between. Not only did they have 25 burgers, but they had cheesesteak, chicken sandwiches, salads, fries, onion rings, milkshakes....the list goes on.
"We've gotta check this place out!" I shrieked with excitement. Evan agreed. Today, we finally went to check it out. And boy am I glad we did. I went with the not-as-spicy "El Paso Burger," which came topped with pepper jack cheese, sauteed onions, bacon, tomato, lettuce, poblano peppers, and chipotle mayo. Evan went with a classic bacon cheeseburger - hold the tomato. We also got an order of cheese fries.
They give you one of those buzzer things you get when you're waiting for a table at a restaurant, and it buzzes when your food is ready. We waited in anticipation at the (possible) burger goodness that awaited us. The buzzer went off, and Evan went to get the food. It looked amazing - I almost didn't want to take a bite. They wrap the burgers halfway in that butcher's paper stuff. I don't know why, but I love that! My burger smelled fantastic, and Evan's looked equally delish.
We tried the fries first, and when we took a bite, we gave each other that look that said, "Whoa, those are some gooood fries." It was time to try the burgers. I almost had to unhinge my jaw to bite into my burger. But the first bite was juicy, spicy, tender, savory and delicious. I was in love. Evan finished his burger in probably less than 5 bites - being the wonderful Walter man that he is. We were hooked.
Now these burgers are not like processed McDonald's burgers. This is real meat, real buns, real ingredients. These were the real deal. I couldn't even finish my burger, it was so big. But, we polished off the cheese fries and sat back in utter satisfaction. Yum, Probably one of the best burgers I've ever had.
If you happen to live anywhere near Bound Brook, or you happen to be visiting us here in NJ, GO TO 25 BURGERS.
Move over Fudd's - there's a new burger joint in town!

Last night, we had a concert at our church down in "The Cellar" which is basically the venue where all our youth hang out. This concert was definitely going to rock. We had five bands lined up, along with two solo acts, and two stages. One stage for the more acoustic sounding bands, and the main stage for the heavier stuff. And let me tell you, did it rock. We heard music all the way from laid-back guitar strumming to head banging, mosh-pit starting chaos.
But amid all the music, I was struck by something that I usually take for granted. My ex-boyfriend, and now very good friend John was standing on the stage performing some songs. He was on the "acoustic" stage, and as he was singing, something hit me like a wave of hot water. I was listening to the words, and thinking about the past. I was almost brought to tears as I thought, I never thought I would see the day when John would be performing praise and worship songs to our God. And I never thought that I would be there listening to it. John even read a poem he had written about his past and what God has done in his life. I found myself really relating to it, as I was a big part of his past life.
If you know anything about my past, you know that John and I were far from God during our relationship. So far away, that I didn't think we could ever come back. But that's not how God operates. God welcomes us back with open arms and the angels in heaven rejoice when we come back.

Then, later that evening, Evan got up to sing some songs. While Evan was singing, that same wave came over me again. Not only was I getting to see my ex-boyfriend praise the Lord, but I was getting to see my husband do it too. I felt so thankful for everything that God has done in our lives. Evan and I have been together for almost 8 years, and God has brought us through a lot together. I felt thankful for how God has worked in John's life. I have seen him go from your typical "wild child" to a God-fearing man who I am proud to have as my friend.

Skeptics often want proof that God exists. They don't understand the concept of faith, or believing in something you can't see, feel, or hear. You want proof? Look at me. Look at Evan. Look at John. Look at every person that genuinely calls themselves a Christian and truly believes that Jesus Christ has saved them from their sin. God transforms those lives. God spoke to me last night at that concert. He said very succinctly and very simply, "See what I can do?"
I challenge you to go see for yourself...

As promised...here they are.

I have been a very bad blogger lately, and a sincere apology to my readers. But after much anticipation, I am finally bringing you the pictures of the house with all our stuff in it! (These are also on Facebook with a kind of Before & After setup - check 'em out!) And away we go...

Here is the living room, complete with our brand new furniture.

Here is the kitchen. It is overrun with cows. You have to see it to believe it.

Here is the "Eat-In" portion of the kitchen.

Here is our bedroom. We are still in the process of decorating, so if the walls look a little bare, that's why.

Here is the "Spongebob Bathroom" - this is the guest bathroom.

Here's the den, or, computer room. (I'm still not sure how they could qualify this room as a bedroom.)

And last but not least, the guest bedroom.


I did not get a picture of our bathroom, but you know, it's a bathroom. If you REALLY want to see it, well then, you will just have to come over. I hope you enjoyed this virtual tour of our new house, in which we have now survived two whole weeks! Hope to see you all soon!

All Moved In

Can you believe it? We are finally all moved in to our new house!!! We rented a big ol' truck last Saturday and had a whole crew of people helping us move out of 11 Valleybrook Drive, and in to 244 South Lincoln Avenue. It has been grand so far.
We bought some living room furniture yesterday, without really meaning to. We found a great deal on a couch with a recliner, so we bought them. They will arrive here next Thursday.
My first meal cooked in my new kitchen was, what else, fried chicken. It was great. I have so much counter space it's ridonculous (that's the amplified version of ridiculous, in case you were wondering). Yesterday I made chicken marsala...mmmm. (I know what you're thinking, "Chicken two days in a row?" Well, chicken happens to be the only protein we have in the freezer right now, so we're making due with what we've got.)
The cats are slowly adapting to their new surroundings. When we first brought them here, they were PISSED. I mean, pissed. Josie did not even want to come out of the cat carrier. They spent the first night hiding under the bed. But over the past couple of days, they have discovered that they are not at the vet, and this new house is not so bad. Josie even managed to sneak outside on the porch to check out the front yard. Thankfully I caught her and shooed her back inside.
Little by little, the boxes are getting unpacked. The guest room is still a bit cluttered, but we will make sure it is ready for our first guests, which, if I'm not mistaken will be Christian and Kelly (yay!).
We just got internet hookup today, and we are still deciding what cable package we want to get. I sure do miss the Food Network. Thankfully, we have most of the Family Guys on DVD, so we've been watching those before we go to bed.
So far, this house has been great. This was a good thing for Evan and me. Hopefully, you will all be able to come over and visit us! I'll be posting some pictures of the house soon and what we've done with it so far.

Moving Day!!

Yes, moving day is almost upon us. I took off from work today, tomorrow, and of course over the weekend to start moving into our new home. We took today to paint the bedroom and the den. We went with a color called "Whispering Wheat" which looks much nicer than that ugly pink color they had going on before.
Tomorrow, we get the water turned on in the house, so now we will be able to use the bathroom. We have slowly been moving things out of this house and into our new house. I didn't realize how much stuff I have for the kitchen! Before you know it, it will start to look like a home.
Saturday, my mom, step-dad and my brother & his fiancee are coming down to help us move all the big stuff. By Sunday, we should be pretty much moved in!
I really appreciate everyone's love and support in this long and tedious process. We have waited so long to find a house, and we have finally found one. (I just hope all of our stuff fits inside!) If anyone is in the area in the next couple of days and wants to stop by, please feel free!

Memorial Day Meme

1. What is your favorite thing to eat at a Memorial Day BBQ? If there's ribs, definitely that. If not, a hot dog with mustard and baked beans on top.

2. Do you have to work on Memorial Day? No, thank GOD.

3. If you answered no to question 2, how late do you plan on sleeping on Memorial Day? Probably until about 11am. We'll see.

4. What is the most number of BBQs you have ever been to on Memorial Day? Umm, I think 2. I'm usually the one hosting the BBQ.

5. Do you do the grilling at a Memorial Day BBQ? Heck yes. Well, I do the cooking. Usually I make Evan do the grilling...with my close supervision.

6. How many hamburgers do you think you can eat? Probably just one. I know Evan and Josh will put me to shame.

7. How many hot dogs can you eat? Definitely 2, if I don't eat anything else.

8. Do you believe that summer begins on Memorial Day and ends on Labor Day? But of course! I am from New Jersey after all.

9. What's you favorite thing to put on your hot dog? Chili & cheese!

10. Who does Memorial Day make you think about? All of our men and women in the service.

Now go have a hamburger and a hot dog!!!

On Moving...or, Moving On. You decide.

As many of you know, Evan and I are moving to a new house by the end of the month. I can't tell you how excited I am to finally have a house that we can call our own! And if you have seen the pictures of the kitchen, you know that I am beside myself with all the room I am going to have. Who knows what culinary creations will come out of my new kitchen?!
I had to laugh when I started unpacking some of the kitchen stuff, because there are tons of things that have essentially been unused since we got married 4 years ago. As I was taking things out of the boxes, I would think to myself, "Wow, I forgot I had this!" or "Oh man, I have one of these!" It was great. I realized that I have pretty nice stuff!
However, amidst all the excitement and happiness, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. I know I have to pack, but I don't even know where to begin. We have so...much...stuff. We have already thrown out a lot of stuff, and yet there continues to be more of it! There is nothing like moving to help you weed out your essentials. I just realized yesterday how many stuffed animals we have. How and when did we acquire so many stuffed animals? (The cows don't count, they're part of my collection.)
All I can say is, thank God our new house is all one level. I hate trekking things up and down stairs, as I'm sure many of you can attest.
I am thankful, too, that we will be able to put the box spring back under our bed. This whole time, we have "ghetto rigged" our bed by putting sheets of plywood on the bed frame and praying every night that it doesn't cave in on us. Don't get me wrong, it has worked fine until now, but I am looking forward to having my real bed back.

Evan and I will be spending next Thursday through Sunday (May 28-31) moving in to our new home. If anyone has any moving tips, or would like to help out, feel free to stop by. You know where to find us. We may even treat you to a Rita's Italian Ice.

Per requests from Josh and Kelly

Ok, I apologize for not posting more pictures, but you understand if I didn't want to jinx it by getting excited too early. We all know how that ended with the last house.
So, that being said, here's the pictures that are available online, but hopefully not too much longer 'cuz the house is ours now!!

Here's the living room. It's a bit small, but we'll make it work.

Here's the kitchen. WOO HOO!!!!

This is the "eat-in" portion of the kitchen. Nice size.

This is bathroom #1

This is one of the bedrooms

Here's what I am calling the den. That floating door is a closet/secret portal to another world :-)

This is the master bedroom (yes, we will be painting over that horrifying pink. Any ideas??)

and the master bathroom. By the way, both bathrooms are full baths, with standing showers.

And last but not least, the yard!


It's a cute little house with a lot of potential. I can't wait to move in, and have you all over!!!

It's a good day for the Walters!!

Christian and Kelly are getting a baby boy, and Evan and I got the keys to our new house!!!
Praise the LORD!!!

*Are any other Walters out there having as good a day as we are?? I'd love to hear about it!*

This time it's for real

Evan and I have been through a lot in trying to look for a house. I made it my goal in 2008 to be in our own house by the end of the year. It almost happened, but at the last moment, it fell through and didn't happen. We didn't get too upset about it, because in retrospect, that house wasn't that great anyway. It was too old and needed more repair than we anticipated.
So, here it is May 2009 and still no house. We have been looking, but not as fervently as in 2008. We've been quite busy with other things, and the truth is that there is not much out there in our price range that would be worth moving in to. We've been quite discouraged in our house hunting adventures.
But there is a bright side to this story! Yesterday we went to look at a house in Middlesex that was for rent. The price was right, so we went to check it out. It is an adorable 3BR, 2 bath ranch house. The kitchen is HUGE and the master bedroom was a decent size. Lots of closet space, and all appliances are included. This was nicer than most if not all the houses we've seen so far. It's perfect for the two of us (and our kitties!) and will be a great starter home. The realtor even said she would drop the rent by $100!
So, we met with the realtor this afternoon, signed the lease and all the necessary paperwork. Tomorrow we get our credit check done, and once that comes through, we will get the key to our new home! We are very excited. And we didn't have to go through the trouble of hiring a lawyer, paying a mortgage application fee, or anything. This will be a good move for us, and we can still save up to buy a house in the future. We were told we can start moving in as soon as we get the key, but our official move-in date is June 1st! I hope you all can come and visit sometime!!!

Scavenging Dunellen

What happens when you let a youth group loose in Dunellen with a list of 50 things to find and/or do?
Well, this:

And this:

And this too:


It was time once again for the annual youth group scavenger hunt! This year, we made it a photo scavenger hunt. We gave each group a list of things to find and/or do, and then they had to take a picture of it to prove they got it. The groups returned with their pictures, and added up their points to see who the winners were.
My group was awesome. Seen here, from left to right, I had Joshua, Becky, Gino, Charlie S., Charlie W., Erin, Amy & Jenn.

We called ourselves "Team Tacos at Midnight." (By the way, if you have not tried that new flavor of Doritos, we highly recommend it.)
We ran all around Dunellen trying to find the things on the list. You can see some of them above. My favorite is the one where they are jumping. For the picture to count, everyone had to be midair. It was so cool.
When all the points were added up, the winners were announced from 4th place to 1st place. It came down to my team and Evan's team in 2nd and 1st place. "And in 2nd place....Evan's team!" My team was jumping up and down - we won!!! We couldn't believe it. I really didn't think we won because I saw the things that other teams got that we didn't, and I thought for sure we were beat. But not so!
And the prize? Each student in the group gets a free breakfast/lunch/dinner with a leader of their choice. My team chose me, and chose to go to the Grease Trucks! I smell an Aubrey Adventure coming on....

Good times.

Adventures at the Clinton Station Diner

That's right, it's time for another "Aubrey Adventure!" This time, we ventured all the way to the Clinton Station Diner, right off of Rt. 78 West.
Clinton Station Diner is famous for making the world's largest hamburger, called Mt. Olympus. This burger weighs in at an astonishing 50 lbs., and costs a whopping $250.00. However, if you and four friends can eat the whole thing in under 3 hours, it's free! Well, we were intrigued, but being that we were four girls with not-so-big appetites, we opted not to go for the mondo-burger. CSD also does burgers at 25 lbs., 7 lbs., 3 lbs., and 1 lb. They are all named after Greek gods - it's pretty funny.
So instead, we each got something delectable to eat on our own. I went for the hot pastrami sandwich:
Yum. Alge opted for a "normal" size hamburger, and ironically enough did not finish even half of it. Becky got a chicken fajita wrap, and Erin got cheesy ravioli. We even got to sit in the train-car part of the diner!
We were stuffed after we finished what we could of our food (good thing we didn't order the Mt. Olympus!) CSD did offer some yummy looking desserts, but instead, we decided to make this a double Aubrey Adventure and go to Stewart's for root beer floats. Halfway between CSD and Stewart's, I realized that I had left my jacket at the diner. By the way, why is it that every time you need to turn around on the highway, the next exit seems like it will never come?? So anyway, we turned around and the jacket was right where I left it. (Did anyone even clean the table after we left??) So, back to Stewart's we went. "Four small root beer floats!" we chirped to the girl at the window. They were so delicious. It brought back memories of working with my brother at our grandfather's factory, and we used to go to Stewart's for lunch.

This was probably my favorite Aubrey Adventure so far. The CSD was very good, and Stewart's was just like I remembered it. I'm so glad these girls are a part of my life - they all remind me of me when I was that age. Good times!!

Those Amish really know their stuff

Last Monday at work, I was given by my friends Tim and Matt, a bag that looked like this:


Just a plain Zip-Loc bag with a mushy, pale goo inside. Along with this bag, I was given directions and a recipe to follow for 10 days. This recipe was for Amish Friendship Bread (it's actually more of a coffee cake).
So, the idea is that for the first 4 days, all you do is mush the bag. Then on the 5th day, you add some ingredients. Then for 4 more days, you mush the bag some more. Then on the 10th day, you have to follow the recipe. The recipe creates 4 additional "starters," much like the bag I was handed last Monday, that you can give away to friends (hence the name). Once you have mixed all the ingredients together and baked it, you come out with this:


You go from a bag of goo, to a delectable cinnamon-sugary treat! If you can get your hands on a bag of goo - called a "starter" - I highly recommend it! And I'm no baker, and this came out good.
There are also recipes on the web to make your own starter, but it's just not as fun. The Amish got it goin' on!

The difference between dating and marriage?

Being able to use the bathroom with the door still open.

American "Idle"

I have always watched American Idol, but only the auditions. Evan and I love to watch the auditions and get a good hearty laugh at those that *swear* they are good singers and then totally blow it in front of the judges. I do give them credit for trying, though. I have never watched Idol past Hollywood Week, because it's just not fun after that. Beyond that point, most, if not all the contestants are very good and it would be great to see any of them win.
But this season, I find myself addicted to the show, well past Hollywood Week! Why? Because of this guy right here:

Adam Lambert. He is no doubt a singer. He was in the cast of "Wicked" for a while, and he has been in other stage productions. He is just so stinkin' good, that I have to watch every week to see what else he will do. His voice is infectious. He has great stage presence too, which makes the show even better.
Last week, they voted off the girl that was my least favorite, so from here on out, I really don't care who wins...as long as it's Adam. And if he doesn't win, I hope he gets picked up by a record label - a la Chris Daughtry - so that I can go buy his CD.
I feel like a teeny bopper, but this guy is so good.
There are currently 8 more contestants to go - we shall see who they vote off tomorrow night.

It's Up!

In case you didn't know, my friends Steve, Carlos and I had been working on building a new website for our church. The one we had was a bit outdated, and we were paying someone who lived down in Florida to keep the information current. We brought our proposal to build a new website to the elders of the church, and it was approved with little to no questions asked!
Having a new website would allow us to build a fresher, more modern site and would enable those with the password to update content almost immediately. For example, if our pastor wanted to load his sermon from Sunday morning, by the old process he would have to convert it to MP3 format, and send it via e-mail to Florida and then it would be posted on the web within a day or two. With the new website, he can upload it himself right after church if he wanted to. And what's cool, is that the website editor is really easy to use and changes can be made effective immediately, or saved for later.
Steve, Evan, Carlos and I worked really late last Sunday trying to enter as much content as we could and finding pictures to put up on each page. We were planning to launch the new page on April 1st because we were sending out invitations to our Easter service, and the invitations have the website URL on them. So, by keeping up through e-mails and phone calls, we somehow managed to finish up the website.
The coolest part was this: the web server that we were using gave us a temporary URL to work with while we were editing the site. When we were all finished, all we had to do was call them and let them know and they would switch us over to our current URL. It was just that easy! Within one hour, the new page was up and running under our current URL.
We did it! The new website that we built is fully functional. We are breathing a sigh of relief, however, now we have to figure out who is going to keep it updated!

Wanna check out our hard work? Visit www.dunellenpres.org

You Gotta Try This

This is a great camera trick. All you have to do is get a friend to take your picture while you are shaking your head back and forth as fast as you can. The results are hilarious!
This is me, looking like I got punched in the face by a ghost:


This is Patrick, just havin' a good ole time!


Try it out - I dare you!

Top Ten Things I Love About Easter

I think this year, I will do a Top 10 Things I Love about each major holiday. I will not include Valentine's Day in this list because, well, it passed already, and I don't consider it a "major" holiday.
So, that being said, I am kicking off the year with Easter. I would be interested to hear other Top 10's!! Enjoy!

Again, in no particular order...

10. Flowers are usually starting to bloom.
9. It's starting to get warm.
8. The time I made dinner for Evan's dad & the boys (Evan and Chris) when Barbara was in the hospital. (He always said he appreciated that)
7. Being with family.
6. Jelly beans!
5. Finding the Easter eggs with money in them (always a favorite at Grandma Fleisher's house!)
4. Watching kids do Easter egg hunts.
3. CADBURY CREAM EGGS (ooooh yeah!)

2. Going to church and singing all the great Easter hymns.
1. Remembering that this was the day that Jesus rose from the dead.

A Fried Chicken Adventure

So this was the "Aubrey Adventure" for March: homemade fried chicken at my house. Becky, Alge and Erin came over after church and I whipped up some of my famous fried chicken and some tater tots (at the request of the girls).
See, I have been bragging about my fried chicken for quite some time, and the girls really wanted to try it. So, instead of going to a restaurant for the Aubrey Adventure, we stayed in and dined on yummy delicious fried chicken. The girls were quite impressed. And I must say, I make awesome fried chicken - after testing many many recipes, I made one up that is GREAT! They enjoyed the good food, and had fun playing with Max and Wilford.
After the food, we looked through a Dunellen High School yearbook from 1967. Evan's dad is pictured in there, as well as my uncle Gus. Turns out, Uncle Gus and Evan's dad were in Chess Club together. How cool is that? The girls loved looking at all the old pictures of DHS and seeing what looks exactly the same even today. None of the teachers that were there in '67 are there now, of course, but the memories are all there.
And that's exactly what I am making with these girls...memories. We have so much fun together, and I'm glad they get excited for the new Aubrey Adventures each month. I hope that my relationship with these girls continues to grow and we can keep on having good food and good times together!!
We will see what April holds for the next adventure....

Sick Days

Well, I managed to go all winter without getting sick. Everyone around me got sick, including colleagues at work, family members, and friends. People were dropping like flies while I skated by with my health in tact. Usually, at the beginning of winter I get a cold due to the drastic weather changes, but not this time. 

But alas, my reign of health came to and end last Wednesday. I woke up to a minor sore throat and a feeling of congested-ness. I let my supervisor know that I would most likely be taking a sick day the next day, and did I ever. The next day I awoke to an even sorer throat, more congestion, itchy eyes and achy all over. So I stumbled to my laptop, switched it on and sent the e-mail I had saved in my "drafts":  "Aubrey out sick. Call if you need me. NNTO" (NNTO stands for no need to open, in case you were wondering.) And that was that. I was officially SICK. 

That same night, I had committed to babysitting my pastor's kids overnight. Though I still felt lousy, I went over their house anyway. I told the kids ahead of time that I might not be as fun as I usually am due to the fact that I am really sick. They understood - I love them. I had anticipated not going to a work a second day (Friday). So, I woke up from a horrible night's sleep, got the kids ready, took them to school and headed home to send out another e-mail: "Aubrey still sick - staying home. Call if you need me. NNTO" I didn't even go to Cellar Friday night. Which prompted a bunch of the students to text me telling me they hope I feel better. That made me smile. 

I hate being sick. It is so debilitating. Even though it is good to get rest, I hate to just lie in bed all day. But that's what I did. I am feeling a bit better today. My sore throat is gone (thank GOD), but my nose is sooo clogged. I can't breathe, which also makes eating hard because I can't smell my food. My left eye is extremely itchy, so I believe that allergies have set in. 

Well, it was my time. I had managed to allude being sick all winter, and it finally got me. 

Happy Spring!!!

Tuesday Night

I got the unique opportunity to relive my college days last night for just a few hours. Evan was asked to be a guest speaker at a film class at Raritan Valley Community College. The professor that teaches the class was Evan's professor when he took the class, and they are now good friends. So, the professor (Mark) asked Evan to come in and share his insights on movies with the class.
Now, anyone that knows Evan knows that he is freakin' brilliant when it comes to film. He always wins the Oscar pools, and he has a ton of movies in his DVD collection...everything from Apocalypse Now to Zoolander. So I went with him for moral support. He did this same thing last year for the same class, and I went then too. It's fun for me because I get to experience what it would be like if Evan were a professor, and I get to put my two sense in too. The class asks him questions, and he gets them really engaged in what he's saying.
Evan began talking about the film as a subversive art, and the discussions grew from there. We eventually got to talking about horror movies - of which I am a big fan. And anyone that knows Evan knows he is a HUGE fan of horror movies. Not just because they are cool and gross or scary, but because they say so much. And I'm not talking about movies like "Final Destination" where it is just about cool ways for people to die. I'm talking about REAL horror movies like Halloween and Friday the 13th. Campy and a bit cheesy? Yes, but good nonetheless. We talked about the portrayal of women in horror movies and Mark asked my opinion, so I got a chance to share how much I love horror movies.
The class ended up talking so much that we actually went almost an hour overtime. I felt so proud of Evan. He is so stinkin' smart, and he doesn't give himself enough credit. It has gotten to the point where Evan is the only movie critic I trust. Of course, I have my owen guilty pleasures like "A Bug's Life" or "The Devil Wears Prada," but I have such a deeper appreciation of movies after being with Evan. There's so much going on in a movie that the average Joe does not realize.
Evan even got an article of his published in the Brooklyn Rail! If you would like to check it out, visit http://www.brooklynrail.org/2009/03/film/ and look under "Japanese Cult Cinema and Abjection"

It was good to be back in the classroom, especially with my husband as the professor. I must admit though, I don't miss school whatsoever!

Air Band Contest 2009

I'm sure most of us, if not all of us, have heard of people doing air guitar right? You know, that thing that Bill & Ted made famous in their movie. Well, at youth group last Friday, we held and air BAND contest. We told the students to get together with their friends, form a band, and pick a song to rock out to. We didn't know exactly what to expect. We didn't know if the students would actually go for it, or how much they would actually be into it. But as it turned out, they really came up with some creative stuff. Even the leaders did some air band-ing of their own.
So, here is just a taste of what the air bands had to offer:

This was "Small Group"


This was "The Awkward Cats"


Our solo act - "DC"


Then we had "Large Group"


My personal favorite - "The Cellar Dwellers"


And finally, "Neighborhood Watch"


A good time was had by all. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of the leaders' air band. But we rocked out to the O.C. Supertones "Forever." We gave out prizes to our favorite bands. Awkward Cats won free tickets to a concert we are having at the church at the end of the month.
Maybe YOU could hold an air band contest of your own. You never know what might happen...