And so it begins...

I have officially been through two weeks of school now and Tony has been working long hours at work in attempt to finish a project that is past its deadline. Life is starting to pile up, my to-do list just keeps growing and growing. However, I'm going to take this time to mention everything we are thankful for...stay with me, the list might get long.

• A wonderful support system who has been with us every step of the way, including, but not limited to: our parents, our siblings, other family and definitely our friends, and has greatly blessed us with more than enough in our wedding gifts (Thank you's are coming!) and with psychological and other kinds of support.
• Finding an apartment and being able to move in and get everything settled within our timeline. Also the fact that it is in a great location, such that, Tony can hop on the highway to get to work in a short time (to the highway, not to work), and I have public transportation and the ability to ride my bike to school, only 2/3 miles away.
• Tony's job at Rockwell, even though it's proven frustrating, to financially over-provide for us and to offer him two days off for labor day and other great benefits.
• My fellowship at school to allow me to hopefully have a less stressful, and less busy, graduate school experience and to continue to financially provide for us.
• For a vehicle, cheaply purchased, so that Tony can drive to and from work. 
• The fact that we have found a church that has welcomed us and has made an effort to be friends with us, even though we are still deciding if we want to stay.
• The friends we have made at work and at school. I know my lab has been wonderful to be a part of and Tony has talked about the people he works with.

These are only a few of the things that we are thankful for, as the list is ever-growing. God is and will continue to provide for us as we continually trust in Him. 

1/2 Egg

This new-found duty as wife has found me cooking and baking in the kitchen much more often than I had been. (Sorry Mom, but I just didn't know what was in your cabinets or what to do with it.) Now, however, I know exactly what is in the pantry (the pride of the apartment) and in the frig. I have also taken to planning a tentative meal schedule by the month, one month to be exact and emphasis on the tentative. We'll see how this goes in months to come. I have so many intentions to be organized, but I haven't had any schoolwork to do yet.

I have been working in a research lab at the hospital for the last few weeks and they have been very welcoming. It has been almost effortless making friends with them. Anyway, every Wednesday is a lab meeting with everyone involved in the lab and it was treat day. I hadn't baked anything in a long time so I figured it was time to bring out the sweets. Monday, I decided to make brownies from scratch to try out my skills. Not quite up to par with what Heidi (my sister-in-law) makes, but they were good enough for Tony to say he liked them. I thought they were too dry, or burned, its hard to tell sometimes. The treats I decided to make for treat day were Monster Cookies!! I made them once during this last school year and they are forever since my favorite cookie. Once again, Tony (and everyone) said they were delicious, but I thought they were too dry. This weeks quest is nutella cups, little bowls of dough with nutella in the middle of them. About to come out of the oven this very minute. Didn't quite turn out the way I wanted them to, but anything with nutella is bound to be amazing regardless of its current state.

This brings me back to the title. 1/2 Egg. The egg. The limiting ingredient in further dividing the recipe down. I'm not baking for an entire chapter anymore, or a small group, or a family of ten, but I'm baking for two people who would really prefer to maintain, if not shorten, their waistlines, and the egg prevents me from doing just that. I have profoundly discovered that cooking with an apron is very useful. I love being able to not worry about wiping my hands on my clothes, which I would do anyway, so it is just perfect. Now I use it all the time. Well, it is time for me to go. Tony cooked dinner tonight and it is bound to be fabulous. TTFN!

Big Red

A momentous event has occurred in our lives: we have finally obtained a couch!! (and all other furniture that we have wanted to purchase). I was looking for places to buy furniture and I ran across a consignment shop and a few other places. Last Friday we had some errands to run so we decided to check it out. We looked around and didn't see any furniture, but then I noticed a sign that the furniture was downstairs. There was a lot of furniture and a decent amount of couches. We looked around didn't see anything at first, but the second time around in the last row we saw Big Red. Jokingly passed and it and then decided we actually liked it; a nice burst of color to our black and white apartment. No more camp chairs! Now we have a nice, big, red couch!

Two Weeks of Craziness

The constant craziness in our lives has finally stopped! The month of July has been a month of constant stop and go for Tony and I. Here are some of the highlights of the last two weeks.

Michigan Open House

Naomi and I (thanks Naomi!)

After getting back from our honeymoon and unpacking, we traveled across the Midwest to Michigan where Tony's mother had organized an open house at church. It was truly a blessing to not have to organize the event and for that I am eternally grateful. Thanks Mom! While there we had the chance to spend time with the people and Tony grew up with and quality time with some of the Hammond clan. Another blessing was the chance for my parents and my sister, Naomi to be there for the open house. Tony and I had a great time with everyone and enjoyed visiting with everyone. It was really a joy being welcomed and accepted into Tony's immediate, extended and church family. 

Week 2 in Iowa

Tony's first day of work

Tony officially started work on Monday, July 23rd. He spent the week doing basic training for work, while I spent the week finding things to do. I attacked the second bedroom right away and it took me a day to turn it from this:

To this:

 I thought it'd take me a longer time to do this so I had to be creative for the remainder of the week, aka, sit and do a little more organizing, but mostly fall into boredom. However, Thursday I received an email from a professor at the University and arranged a meeting for the following day. She gave me some training to do so that I could start working in one of her research labs in the following weeks. Finally. something to do!!

Natasha and Pat's Wedding

Joanna, Laura, Me, Zach, Pat, Natasha, Paul, Jenna, Michelle
Lisa, Tony, Becky, Adam

The following weekend we took another trip across the Midwest, back to Wisconsin to share in the joy of watching one of my oldest friends marry an incredible man. It was a beautiful ceremony and a wonderful chance to see everyone one last time for the summer. Congratulations Natasha and Pat!!

We then traveled home for the last 4+ hour drive of the month. Not that we don't love all of you, but I think we're all sick of driving for the time being and are going to stay put for quite some time here.

Week 3 in Iowa

This last week involved much less boredom on both mine and Tony's part. While Tony began officially working and was settled into his position, I spent the week biking all over Iowa City and running all over Coralville. Monday, I started the official name changing process with both the government and the school, new social security card, new email address, change name at the bank. So much change, but not a new drivers license due to the DOT (Department of Transportation) being closed. (I biked 3 miles one way only for it to be closed!) I also accomplished most of the training given to me, met with the head of my department to register for classes (done!!), learned more about my fellowship for school, and took out my sewing machine for some relaxing time.

Thursday brought about my birthday. 22!! Not much of a difference. I have come to believe that our age does not make us old, but rather our current stage in life. Being married has made me feel so much older than 18, 21 or 22 has ever felt. Anyway, I had the chance to do mostly nothing on my birthday. It was a wonderful day to which I received two surprises. One: a basket of flowers with balloons was delievered. Thanks Mom and Dad Hammond! Two: Tony arrived home from work with a bouquet of flowers and a bag of candy. Another part of my birthday included Tony making me dinner on Saturday, which was a sweet onion sauce over pasta and chicken with some broccoli. It was very delicious. 

Birthday surprises!

Friday night Tony and I had the chance to get out of the apartment and go see The Dark Knight Rises. We both enjoyed the time together and movie was excellent. It also helps that Tony gets discount tickets to the Marcus Theaters from his work. Thank you Rockwell!

Friday Night Escape

Yesterday, we finalized the name change for me by traveling to the DOT to change over our drivers licenses. Who knew you needed that much documentation to switch over your drivers license. I must say my picture is the worst one yet, but it wouldn't be a true license with a good picture. We then traveled to the library to pick up some library cards. There also happened to be a book sale going on, our weakness, so we ended up buying a pretty large pile of books, to which our bookshelves are now full. 

My pile on the left, Tony's on the right

While at the booksale, there was also a torrential downpour that puddled the streets (yes, puddled is now a word) and I'm pretty sure it caught the ground off guard. However, it was nice to get some rain. I spent the rest of the day reading one of the books I got from the library while Tony cooked dinner. It was truly a nice weekend to just sit and relax.