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.