Going on a Trip!

We are nearing the end of the temporary separation. Bryan is going to be done with his job in Wyoming on September 27th. I am going to fly to WY on the 26th to help him drive home. It will be wonderful to be together again. The distance is not fun.

Bryan's first ride in WY

First post from Hancock!

 Bryan looking super happy after a bike ride.

 A wetland restoration project I have been helping a co-worker with this week.

 Edward is adjusting. He loves having the run of the house.

 Making iced coffee, which turned out really, really good!

 The stove.

 The only place my giant plant can sit.

 My kitchen is much more magical with the addition of twinkle lights.

My very chic sink.

Hannu (my co-worker's husband) at Waterfront Park watching the sunset.

The first crop of dandelions has seeded!

1 year of Grad School Done. 1 to go

I just finished my second semester of Grad School. Today I had a moment of clarity and realized that my stuff had taken over the apartment, and up until now, it had not occurred to me. I'm going to blame my mind being pre - occupied with planning field seasons, taking classes, writing parts of my thesis, and reading. Needless to say, I picked up a lot of my stuff and the apartment and Bryan are much happier.

I would like Erin to know that Bryan and I made perogies again last night. They were amazing.

Pierogies

So Bryan got into a cooking mood today (I may have suggested he make me supper).

He was reading a biking magazine to me last night and found this word, "Pierogies" and we had no idea what it meant. After a short google search, we discovered this Polish creation.

Here is the dough recipe we used. We obviously didn't buy truffle oil for it, so we used ground pork and onions a semi-staple in this household. 

http://onceuponasmallbostonkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/02/truffled-cheddar-potato-pierogies.html

He created amazing-ness. They were pork, onion and chedder filled. They tasted a lot like pot-stickers only better, because Bryan made them! Now we are dreaming of all of the things we could fill them with. We could make our own personal mini fruit pie,. good for quick energy.

Lately

I signed a lease for an apartment in Hancock. The move in date is mid- May and my move out date here is the end of April. Hopefully, the people that are in Hancock, move out as soon as they graduate. Otherwise. . . where to put the boxes?

The rest of the Thank You cards from the Wedding were finished and sent out. We are so amazingly grateful!

The Ott grandparents package was found on the door step of apartment 7 :D not our apartment (17). Thank goodness Bryan found it! Love the flannel sheets and the dust buster!

Thank you to everyone for the Christmas gifts! They were wonderful! Hopefully, we will be spending Christmas in person with everyone this year.

Graduate working has resumed. Peat, peat, peat!

New Year

Happy New Year Everyone! We look forward to seeing where life takes us this year.

Bryan's resolution is to get a job.

Cassandra's resolution is to have a Master's Degree by the end of December.

Christmas at the Otts

Star Wars cookies

Ornaments from last Christmas

Cake topper? Shrub Topper?

A past Christmas Ornament

Got to support!

More majestic than one would originally think (complete with moose)

These are pictures of our Christmas shrub. We are so grateful for all of the gifts and support we have received this year.  As poor newly-weds, one of us still in school, we feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. We are hoping to Skype with everyone on Christmas Day, so look forward to that event.

Love,  Bryan and Cassandra

Married!

We are officially Mr and Mrs Bryan Ott.

Both of us are so very grateful for all of the help and support from our amazing families and friends. Thank you!

Now wish Bryan some luck on his interview tomorrow! No breaks for us :)

No longer sick!

Thankfully the sickness has left this home. Yay!

Wedding in ~12days

Grad School

I had a discussion this morning with my advisor about my class schedule and my project. He tells me that I should shoot for graduating in December 2012. Which sounds awesome to me! This means that I will be busy with my project for the next 13 months, but then I can be done early. As to what I am going to do after that, I don't know. It will be nice to move to wherever Bryan is though.

Speaking of Bryan, we are getting married in less than 3 weeks! We are both getting pretty excited. It will be wonderful to see our family and friends and celebrate love and the rest of our lives.

Sick

From Cassandra: I think I am officially sick today. It has taken me the whole day to be sure. Feeling like I had been hit by a truck has been pretty constant. Sore throat, and sore ears. But now the fever has set in. No denying being sick any longer. Off today for some rest and enjoying some throat lozenges that Bryan picked up for me this morning.

Bryan just left on a chilly November bike ride. As soon as he is out of site down the driveway, I notice some light drizzle hitting the pavement. Hopefully Bryan doesn't get sick now.

Hard Cider

Bryan's hard cider experiment turned out excellently. More like apple wine than apple cider. It sure makes these cold Michigan evenings more enjoyable.

Cariboulope

Halloween is a time of creativity. . .

Inspiration

 

 

+

 

 =

 A very stylish yet cranky Lagomorph

Just for the record Cariboulope is still a VERY woody word.

Can Openers

Bryan and I have come to the conclusion that we have gone through 4 can openers in 2 years.

We have had 2 cheap handled ones, 1 camping one, and are on another cheap-not so cheap-but-not-super-nice handled one.  Not to mention the frequently used Leatherman can opener. This is getting ridiculous.

Maybe we should just resort to this.

Bryan's Home

Bryan is home now! Yay! He had a great time, but is glad to be home.

Invitations will be going out this week.

Where's Bryan?

He will be camping the next few days near Isabella. Depending on the amount of rain they get, they may get a large tent (like at Veisha) for them all to stay in.

His cold is getting better and they all have warmer sleeping bags. He sounds like he is having a good time.

Depending on many factors, he should be home by the 27th or 28th.

Today

Today was a little crazy. I guess some days are like that.

1. Bryan got a call during 8 am class that he might have a fire to go to soon.
2. After class he talked to Andrew Storer the Graduate Dean and got a semester long job working on Emerald Ash Borer.
3. He then told his advisor that he would no longer be attending Graduate School. (His advisor understood/respected his decision, no hard feelings). Bryan then dropped all of his classes.
4. At 11am Bryan was given more information regarding the fire. Mostly that he was to be in Watersmeet at 2:30 central time.
5. He then ran home to pack/prepare for the fire.
6. I went to lab, and now am home and relaxing after a crazy day. However, I still have some Stats homework to finish.

I feel overwhelmed, I can only imagine what Bryan must be thinking! Hopefully he is staying safe, and having an awesome time.

Fall is Coming

We went to Minocqua today to go to the bank. The two and a half hour journey was filled with yellowing and red tinted leaves. Fall has started its march south. (I know spring is in March, but I'm talking about the verb).

One difficult thing about living in Houghton, is that the nearest US Bank (our bank) is in Minocqua. Luckily with the advent of online banking; we can deposit checks, transfer money, and handle most of our budgets online. However, there is an amount limit to checks that can be deposited online, and my Student loan check exceeded that limit. So, off to the Bank we go.

While at the bank, we opened our first joint account! Then we ate at the Mexican restaurant in town. What a treat to have ethnic food that we did not have to experiment to make! We then wandered around downtown. Cassandra got some yarn for a hat. Bryan got some super warm wool/angora rabbit socks (very useful). We both stocked up on chocolate and fudge. Civilization is dangerous.

Curry Chicken?

So, we made something that tasted mostly like yellow curry chicken for supper. I think it counts as yellow curry chicken because we put a lot of yellow curry into it. Next time maybe we will use coconut milk instead of sour cream, and eat it with less rice?

Our "Curry" Recipe:
1 large potato,
2 chicken breasts,
1 large onion,
4 garlic cloves,
1 heaping teaspoon of fresh grated ginger (leftover),
2 heaping teaspoons of yellow curry powder,
enough water to cover the chopped chicken, potato, and garlic,
2 cubes of chicken bullion,
and a couple shakes each of cumin and cayanne pepper.

We boiled everything in a large frying pan and added the spices whenever we got around to it. Served over rice. It was a surprisingly yummy mistake! Leftovers tomorrow!