Show Us Your Life- Your Alma Mater

I thought it would be fun to link up with Kelly's Korner blog again this week and talk about our Alma Mater.

Derek and I both graduated from Harding University.

When I was a junior, I got to join my sister on a college tour when her friend backed out of going. I am so glad her friend couldn't go! Ha! 

I fell instantly in love with Harding. I knew that's where I wanted to go! The only problem was that it was 6 hours away and my sister chose a different school. I stood my ground and tried my hardest to persuade my grandparents this was the school for me. They were worried about sending me somewhere so far away. 

Thankfully I started in Fall of 2004. 

My very first class was Freshman Bible- New Testament Survey. I chose a seat by a girl I sort of knew from Nashville- thanks Jennifer! :) 

What I didn't know was that Derek was sitting in the row right behind me. 

I met Derek during his dorm open house. (The guys and girls are only allowed in each other's dorm lobbies, so once a month or so they would let a few dorms have open houses where they guys or girls could come up provided they followed a few rules!)

A few weeks later he waited for me after we finished one of our Bible tests and that night we had our first date! 

That's one of the reasons I love Harding so much. Without it, I would have never met Derek! 

Derek wasn't the only amazing person I met! I was blessed with a great group of girls on my hall freshman year. We had so much fun! I feel like I was richly blessed with all of the people I got to meet. It was an absolutely amazing experience. 

I chose to major in Interior Design, but I chose late so I was put behind in my classes. Having Anna-Kate right as I started my lab classes didn't help me speed up my timeline either! I am so glad though. 

God blessed me with such a wonderful group of friends in my classes! When you spend as much time together as we did, you learn to love each other. I really did. I miss my classmates and teachers more than anything! I'd almost go back, just so I could have my friends back! 

Love Me Some Chicken

I was supposed to have done this a week ago but the whole family has been bitten by the stomach virus and we took some time off to deal with that. So, for the record: I LOVED THAT CHICKEN FRICASSEE!!!

It seems like such a fancy French thing but it was really pretty simple. The chicken itself was cooked just right. I'd like to take some credit for that as I was the one watching the clock on it. But Nicki did a great job browning the bird first. Mainly you just put a light sear on the chicken and then simmer it till it's cooked through. Because it gets simmered in the tomatoy-herby-vinegary-oh so goody-sauce, it stays moist and flavorful.

The sauce was so perfectly balanced too! I love tomato sauce and that is the base of the fricassee sauce. But it has a healthy portion of red wine vinegar too and the acidity is so complementary. I really like the herbs that kind of pop out at you too! Overall, our first experience with French cooking was a success.

I think the best part though is getting back in the kitchen with Nicki. I enjoy cooking and I'm not half bad either. But Nicki has gone from good to great in the last several months and taken over much of the kitchen duties while I've been working. I like that she is able to do that and have something to be proud of, but I still want to help some too.

After we got married, we usually shared the kitchen work. It is one of our favorite things to do together and it is an enrichment to our marriage. So I have to say, the best part of the meal was not the chicken. The food never is the highlight for me. It was working together to create a great tasting meal for friends, and a great memory for us.