Magnificent Monday Meal & Movie

I get so excited just thinking about it,

about Family Home Evenings.

Monday night might be my most favorite night,

I don't know if it will ALWAYS be that way,

but for now it probably is.

This past FHE was wonderful.

We ate ratatouille while watching RATATOUILLE.

How cute is that?

Gosh, I want to do it again.

I got the delicious recipe from Allrecipes, of course,

made a beautiful shopping list from it,

went to Payless,

bought all of the ingredients,

came home and started chopping away.

This dish is entirely layers and layers of vegetables 

and is great with garlic bread or cheesy bread.

Firstly, chop everything up with a knife.
Actually you slice everything up.
Big difference.

 

Then you start layering the vegterbles. 

Eggplant, then some zucchini,

Then some onions, 

Then some pepp and tomtoms, then sprinkle on a little Parmesan cheese. 

 Then cook it in the over for forty-five minutes at 350 degrees, then....
Va La!

It definitely does NOT look like the ratatoille from the movie,

But it tastes just as good!

New Blog---The Isenblog.

This is our new blog, if you want to see what we are doing on a regular basis!
http://isenblogger.blogspot.com/

No rest for the weary.

I thought once summer arrived, life would return to a lax, peaceful pace. Quite the contrary. Life doesn't stop at all. It just keeps throwing things at you. Left, then right. The Monday after my last final (Spanish...I don't want to talk about it or ever think about it again) I started full time at my internship. 8 to 5 e'ry day. Like I said no rest for the weary.

But last week was definitely a good one. We had some special visitors! Sarah, JC, and Trin came for a weekend. Then Lisa was here! And then Ashley, Bwayden, and Addie! Ahhhh. So great. I tried to come over as much as possible...My man Brayden and I tried to fly our awesome kites, but for some reason the wind stop right when we stepped outside. Not cool. We also played Fireball Island the last night Ashley and Litha (Lisa with a lisp) were here. 

You know how crazy that gets. 

Curt was yelling, 

I was arguing, 

Litha was making up rules, 

and Ashley was throwing down some fireballs.

It was so fun. I'm sad to say, Litha won. BUT I did find out that there is no such rule as a "Valiant push" when throwing down some nasty fireballs (also known as little red marbles). This one time my little finger slipped when trying to knock down the fireball. Litha  tried to pull that I didn't have another chance...and that it was in the rule book. BUT IT WASN'T. I just want to clarify that for any questions in the future. 

Also, SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE. My plants are growing and I am sweating like crazy. Yesterday I ran 1.5 miles, played soccer with my boy (our favorite activity), and then played some awesome volleyball until the wee hours of the night. THIS is what summer is all about. Sports and sun and food. Gosh I am so excited. Winter was too long. I am itching to play all day and all night.

Hippo Birdie Two Ewe.

Yes, it is the wonderful, spectacular day of Curt Martin Isenbarger's birth. It is a day where the entire world stops to celebrate this glorious occurrence. There are monumental parades, fireworks, and dance parties going on all day and all night, just for Curt. No exaggeration. Let's have a run down of our day today.

Woke Curt up, around nine by jumping on the bed, singing the beloved "Happy Birthday tooo you" in my lovely morning, scratchy voice. After that we danced around for quite sometime. It is a required activity on one's birthday.

After that, Curt wanted his birthday gift. Very understandable, knowing that it has been sitting under our bed for about two weeks now, teasing and torturing him. But, he didn't peak once. He's not about that. So, drum roll please...

Admiring.

Riding.

I pulled out a LONGBOARD for Curt. He had no idea. Let me tell you, it is super hard to surprise your husband with a gift, ESPECIALLY when he works at your bank and can check everything you buy. So I had to cash one of my checks and search around town for the perfect board during the few hours we were apart. It got difficult. Hiding it is even more trickier. So, we plan to be long boarding around for a while.

Later, we headed over to the Isenbarger's to have Curt's birthday dinner. Let me tell you, he requested a 5star meal. This was the menu:

• Honey glazed salmon
• Bacon wrapped shrimp
• Sauteed spinach
• Grilled zucchini and squash
• Grilled pineapple
• Salad
• Apple Crisp

Lynn's famous Apple Crisp. NOMMM

Pooma is a great candle blower

I could not believe the meal Lynn and Craig prepared for Curt and Pooma. It was spectacular. If you ever are considering a place to eat, I recommend the Isenbarger's. You may have to place a reservation though.  After the wonderful meal, it was PRESENT time again. Party NON STOP.

But wait, there is more. YESTERDAY we celebrated even more for his birthday at MY parents' place. We had cake, presents, and balloons there to warm up for the Purdue football game.

SWEETEST balloon ever, named George.

In conclusion, one's birthday is not a one day affair. It is an entire WEEKEND. Nay, the entire month is dedicated to your birthday. It's a pretty big deal.

New Blog and More adventures

Considering I am no longer Vanessa Cramer and I am married to Curt, I thought a new blog would be in order! So follow www.vanessaandcurt.blogspot.com 

to see all our new updates!

De Ja Vu

So, I have been pushing this day off for about as long as possible. It's not that I don't want to start, but I have enjoyed this summer so much. I always enjoy summer. Who doesn't? But anyways, tomorrow is the big day. The day where hard work begins. The day when sleeping in ends. The day when my schedule because anything but relaxing. School starts up again. It's kind of weird. This time, last year I was in Utah, preparing to enter BYU as a freshman. I didn't know the campus, I was unsure of my classes, and was jut beginning to get a feel for my surroundings. I find it ironic how I am in that same exact position AGAIN. Here I am, in Lafayette, IN preparing to enter a new school, one where I find the campus completely confusing and have no idea where anything is. I am just starting to meet people in our ward and figure out Lafayette little by little. It's like de ja vu. I am not quite sure I like it. Nor did I, a year ago, project me living her in Lafayette, being married, and starting a new life together for myself at all. I would have never imagined it to turn out this way, but that's the exciting part. You have no idea where life will take you or where God intends us to be. That is why you must be ready to welcome everything life presents you with. You will end up surprised, experienced, and ultimately filled with happiness. At least, that's what I am feeling right now. Complete bliss.

my lovely ladies

These are my girls,

Who always got my back.

I love them so much.

Seriously, I could not have done the wedding without them.

They did my hair, makeup, and helped so much with the decorations.

I can't thank them enough.