Amongst Giants

Last night was the TnT Management/Office Holiday Party and it's a potluck.... Bryan's been so busy with work that I offered to make something. After offering, I realized that bringing food to a catering company holiday party is no small deal. It must taste great! It must be presented well! It must hold well! You must make enough for everyone and not run out! Or... just make a dessert and hopefully after a few celebratory glasses of champagne, no one will judge the dessert. Luckily, with this crew, they're not too judgmental. It still feels like a big deal to me, though!

Last year, I made the Hamilton Family Cream Cheese Pound Cake. It was a hit. So, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, I went with that again this year. I have to admit that it felt pretty good to walk in with the pound cake and hear "Oh yeah! You brought that again!" It's a winner.

This pound cake is awesome and easy. Typically, we serve it with apricot preserves mixed with amaretto (~1/4 c + 1T) on top of a small dob of mascarpone cheese and sprinkled with sliced almonds. Mmmmm. That's what I decided to do again this year. However, this pound cake is awesome by itself, with powdered sugar, or whatever topping you fancy. Enjoy!

Hamilton Cream Cheese Pound Cake

3 sticks unsalted butter

1 8oz cream cheese

3 cups sugar

6 eggs

3 cups self-rising flour or cake flour

1 T vanilla

- Preheat oven to 325. Grease bundt cake pan (or tube pan or whatever dish you want)

- Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy

- Mix in sugar until well mixed

- Add flour and eggs, alternately, beginning and ending with flour (this may or may not be an important rule to follow, but it's easy enough: 1 c flour/3 eggs/1c flour/3 eggs/1c flour)

- Stir in vanilla

- Bake ~1 hour and 15 minutes or until top is crusty and toothpick comes out pretty clean... However, if you undercook it, your mother-in-law will like it better :-)

The Holiday Mix

Well, yes, we have been fairly horrible about posting here lately. It gets so much harder the longer you wait... just like anything else (laundry, dusting, etc.). The amount to catch up on is difficult, so here's the short of it.

I'm on Winter Break right now from school and it is my first true break without anything hanging over my head for the past year and a half. Ahhh. I'm still working on fully decompressing. School's been going well- ups and downs, of course, but well.

Bryan just finished doing 7 weeks worth of catering jobs in 3 weeks. He's still working on that decompressing part, too, but we had a great past two days off together and have done some great relaxing.

Erin and Matt got married just over a month ago and it was SUCH a blast! We had so much fun celebrating their awesome relationship. Congrats guys! (As you can see from the picture below they had a photo booth... FUN!) That weekend we also got to celebrate the future addition to the Hamilton clan- Garrett and Kenzie are expecting! YAY!

For Thanksgiving, Kristen came up and we had a huge gathering at Grandpa & Georgette's. The cousins went around the "kids" table saying what we were thankful for, and it was quite the neat moment that I will remember for awhile. The days after Thanksgiving were amazing, too. One of my favorite moments of the Holiday season was coming up to Mom & Dads, sitting by the outside fireplace in the snow, drinking peppermint schnapps and hot chocolate made by Kristen, listening to Christmas music and just... being... with the family. It was amazing.

Oh, I'm missing so much more, I know.... (Christmas shopping, walks at Lincoln Park, etc.)

Lastly, in my classroom, I have tutors who help out anywhere from 1 to 4 days a week with my students and a paraeducator who is there everyday in 1st period. I wanted to do something nice for them for the holidays and ended up making this great mix and putting them in mason jars with ribbon and little notes written on top in Sharpie. It's an easy mix that is super addictive, makes a ton, and is ridiculously good! You can find the original recipe here.

Yummy Holiday Mix

2 cups Chex Cereal (I used rice chex)

2 cups Honey Nut Cheerios

1 cup cocktail peanuts

2 bags M&Ms (holiday colors, of course!)

1 bag mini pretzels

3 T vegetable oil

2 bags white chocolate chips

- In a large bowl, mix together cereals, peanuts, M&Ms, and pretzels. I actually mixed together half of the recipe in one bowl and the other half in another bowl because it makes a lot of mix!

- Heat oil and white chocolate chips in a small sauce pan until chips melt, stirring constantly to keep from burning the chocolate.

- Dump melted chocolate into bowls and mix really well until all pieces are covered

- Immediately after stirring, spread mix out on parchment or wax paper to cool

- Let sit about 10 minutes and then enjoy! :-)

Fun Blog I'm loving right now

habit

This blog posts nearly daily, and it's such a neat little glimpse and reflection on the beautiful moments (and perhaps not so beautiful moments) in everyday life. Each author posts a picture from her day and then writes a mini reflection on the day. The "about"section describes the idea a little better than I can....

Enjoy! :)

Loving Fall

Hi everyone! I know (yet again) it's been awhile. For me, school has started and is going well... Bryan had one of his busiest months in the past four weeks and we have seen very little of each other! Things appear to be calming down, though, and we have some fun stuff to look forward to in the coming months. I absolutely love fall and am excited to have the cool nights and mornings to greet me on my way to and from work.

In some exciting news, we have two new cousins to welcome into the world! Brett (my cousin) and his wife Georgette welcomed their second child, Ryan William Venn on October 5th at 7:10 pm (central time, 5:10 pacific time). Chris (Bryan's cousin) and his wife Sue welcomed their second child, Benjamin Michael Coccaro on October 5th at 9:45 pm (eastern time, 6:45 pacific time). So, two new additions to our extended family in the course of an hour and a half! Welcome little ones and congrats!!!

As things ease up for me (well, ease is a relative term), I have found myself itching to bake again. I was inspired this weekend by a great blog I follow (3191 miles apart) to make some granola. I am a big granola lover I found the recipe to be a "pantry emptier" meaning you can mix and match whatever you have around... I had slivered almonds, pumpkin seeds, crushed hazelnuts, and honey. But, if you have other fun stuff in half-full bags, you could toss whatever you want in! That's the fun part about granola :-)

Pantry Emptying Granola

Inspired by this recipe from 3191 miles apart. I made this recipe in half-ish quantities and it made quite a bit (enough for cereal for a week for one?).

6 cups rolled oats

2 cups mixed nuts and seeds (this is where you get to have fun)

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I forgot this in mine, but would add it next time)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup honey/maple syrup/whatever (I used all honey, but had a ton laying around, so use whatever you have)

1/4 cup brown sugar

Dash kosher salt

- Preheat oven to 325F.

- Place a baking pan (I used a 9x13 cake pan, but the original recipe says a roasting pan works great, too) over medium heat on the stove top. Add oats and toast, stirring for a few minutes. Add coconut, nuts, seeds, and spices and continue to toast for a few more minutes until everything begins to brown and become fragrant.

- Warm brown sugar and syrup/honey in a small pot until sugar melts. Pour over toasted oats and mix well. Sprinkle with salt.

- Bake for 15-20 min, checking and stirring every 5 minutes.

- Cool in roasting pan and store in an airtight container

- ENJOY! Ymmm... It was great a little warm to pick at!

Vote for MayDay!

FWHS had their first home game last night and one of our awesome students (i.e. first in his family to go to college, wants to go to college to provide a great example for his younger brothers), DJ May, is up for "play of the week" on Komo 4 news. Check out the link and vote for him!

http://www.komonews.com/sports/hsfootball/129576693.html

Octopus Camouflage

I showed this video to my classes today.... It's part of an NPR series on "Science Fridays", which I thought might be perfect to reward my students in the last 5-10 minutes of class on Fridays. They were absolutely enthralled by this one :-) Enjoy!

Scifri Videos: Where's The Octopus?

Yay for FWHS!

An article from the Seattle Times yesterday...

High School Sports | Federal Way nose guard Uso Olive carries through on plans he made with his mother | Seattle Times Newspaper

Things are going great for me in my first few days of staff training. I am a little overwhelmed (to be expected!), but am feeling pretty good about being ready for kiddos tomorrow! WOW! Actually, tomorrow is a nice lead-in.... there will be freshmen and new students only and they go through workshops with the student mentors. I'll have to facilitate a few discussions, but will have the rest of the day to get ready for school actually starting. On Friday, there are canned lessons all day long (and new teacher "initiation" at the assembly!). So, luckily, my actual-factual teaching doesn't start until after Labor Day. However, I'm planning on preparing everything for that week today! Yay!

Hello from Sunset Beach!

A picture of the boys saying hi on our first day on the beach.... Bruce, Matt, Garrett, and Bry played a pretty epic bocce match that took them all over the beach, over our chairs and into the really warm ocean water! While it's been on-again off-again cloudy here, the weather is still quite warm and beach worthy!

A first

This weekend, Bryan and I officially worked together for the first time! I was hired as a server for T'n'T and got to go on my first job to an amazingly awesome birthday bash set out in Mazama, WA in the Methow valley.

It was a totally crazy weekend! In the end, everything turned out amazingly, but to get to that point was wild: a hornets nest right by the tent and food, flowers toppling in the wind, barbecues not hot enough to cook steak, a grease fire on the backup barbecue, and probably something else I am forgetting! I had a blast, though, and when it was necessary to pull me away from serving, I turned into one of Bryan's set of hands in the kitchen. I have to say, on top of being an amazing boss, Bryan pulled off a miracle serving this ridiculously good food out of a kitchen no bigger than ours... for 180 people... miles away from any civilization or grocery store. While we worked Friday (dinner for 40), Saturday (appetizers/dinner for 180), and Sunday (breakfast for 40), we got to stay in the guest house of the property, which had a fabulous back deck overlooking the meadow where the party was.

Needless to say, we were exhausted and ended up straying an extra night in an amazing lodge in Mazama, the Freestone Inn.

It was a great first trial in us working side-by-side and I think we passed with flying colors! :)

A Beautiful Day for Kayaking!

Bryan got most of the day off today, so we are headed out in our kayaks off from Lincoln Park in West Seattle! Hope you are out enjoying your weekend too!

Go M's!

We went to the M's game list night with Scott and Grant and sat in Felix's "Kings Court", a rowdy section where you get a fun t-shirt and get to start random cheers like "Oliv-o-ohhh-ohhh".... We had a great time even if the M's are playing like high schoolers right now!

It's been awhile

Hi everyone! Many apologies for the lack of posting and blog-love lately.... The end of the school year proved to be completely wild for me and Bryan's work has been breaking business records left and right this month. On my last day of school, my SPU summer quarter started, so it's been nuts! Luckily, all my classes are online right now, so it gives me a more flexible summer schedule. Here are some pics of the fun we've been having.... and here's a promise to be better at keeping in touch! :-)

Mariner's Game for Father's Day (got to walk the field!)

We bought kayaks and have been enjoying taking them out at Lincoln Park in West Seattle!

I was this close to a hole in one golfing on Grandpa's 83rd birthday!

A trip to Walla Walla for a friend's wedding included a nice drive through the wheat fields

Fun golfing with Kristen in town!

Goofing around with Sarah at West Seattle Summerfest in the beer garden :-)

What could this mean?

Blue and white balloons. A smile on my face.

In the past week, I had two interviews. One at a high school and one at a middle school where I had to teach a lesson.

On thursday, I got two phone calls. Two job offers! Friday, I made two phone calls.... And now, you are following the blog of the newest science teacher at Federal Way High School (and her amazing husband, of course...)!

I'll be teaching a general/physical science class and a science elective, either forensics or environmental science probably (and I get to explore the curriculums and choose!). I am so excited. My interviews at both schools went well, but I left FWHS with such a great feeling about the science department and the administration that I just could feel myself working there in the future. The drive won't be much more than the drive I'm making now, which is super manageable.

Anyway, though I would share the good news! YAY!

#3!

We've been a little busy lately, so we've been a little... absent, but all is well here. We are celebrating our 3rd anniversary tonight! Woah! It's been like a 4 day celebration (dinner with Mom & Dad Saturday, Dinner out Sunday, Mem day bbq at G&G's yesterday and then actually celebrating our actual factual anniversary tonight), but it's been great to spread it out like that!

Bryan's work is going well; my school is going well (keeping me ridiculously busy, but going alright). I'm in the midst of finishing up my time at SPU, attempting to keep my 8th graders engaged as they look towards high school, and trying to find a job next year. Whew.

Anyway, hope you are all well! As I have done in the past, a photo journal of the past 3 years...

Today:

Last Year:

Two Years ago:

THREE years ago: (see top)

Lots of love and thanks for all of your support over these past three, fabulous years.

Grab Some Kleenex

And watch this video my professor shared with us...

April fool's day in my classroom

Happy Spring

Hi all! I know it has been awhile. We have been quite busy- Bryan's work has had their busiest start to the year ever and I have been busier than (nearly) humanly possible. I have been so happy in the past five weeks at PACMS (not PMS....). It has been awesome having my own classroom- a transition for the students and myself, but it's been really rewarding at times and really tiring at others. Prior to spring break, I fought bronchitis for the whole week, learning how to teach without a voice! Luckily, the students were amazingly supportive, even the biggest troublemakers helped out.

Next week is my HUGE teaching/reflecting assessment for SPU. I will be so glad when it is done. There have been many times when preparing for it that I wonder: "Can't I just go teach this?" But, alas, the time will come soon enough.

In the past month or so since we've posted last, we went to a sounder's game! We are a season-ticket holder (splitting a pair of seats with Billy); our tickets are so close to the field- it's awesome! No sitting, though! They ended up tying, but it was awesome anyway.

Well, we hope you are all doing well and hope that our posts won't be so few and far between in the future!

Love, Lauren & Bryan

It is official!

My interim certificate!

Exciting News!

Hi all!

As you may or may not know, I was offered a long-term substitute position at Pacific Middle School teaching four classes of 8th grade science and one class of 7th grade science! The teacher is going on maternity leave for the rest of the year, so the classes are now all mine! I spent yesterday and thursday in the classroom observing the rules and routines and meeting the students.

It was quite the whirlwind to get the position- I was contacted by the principal and asked to come "talk" about the position- I hadn't even applied!- and that talk was an interview. Three days after that, I was offered the position and three days after that, I was in the classroom! Next week is mid-winter break and after that, it's all mine! CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am getting my certificate early (next week, hopefully) in order to get this position- SPU has been amazing and supportive in this process. I am so excited!!! If you want to read more details about the whole process, I wrote about it on my school blog (click here).

Anyway, I will be sure to keep you updated! Wish me luck.... I think I might need it! Luckily, this week is mid-winter break and I get to do all my work in my sweatpants! :-)

Love, Lauren

WAHOOOOO!!!!

Erin and Matt,

We could not be happier for you two! Congrats on the engagement and we cannot wait for the many celebrations to follow!

Love, Lauren and Bryan

Whistler Trip!

Hey all! Bryan and I had a WONDERFUL trip to Whistler a couple of weekends ago! We got in late Friday night and skied all day saturday, sunday, and monday! It was really, really hard to come home on Tuesday, but we had to.... We had some great dinners out and great drinks after a full day of skiing! Check out our Flickr uploads for photos from our trip:

CLICK HERE!

Sorry there's been quite the delay... let's just say life has been a little busy for the both of us! We'll be in touch soon! Hope you are all doing well!

Love, Lauren and Bryan