Thanksgiving

Ah, once again, long time no post! :)

My new job is great! I just started at the Office of General Counsel at the University of Wyoming last week. I've been learning a lot about the legal process and my coworkers are all really fun and good at teaching me all sorts of things. In fact, I'm not really sure I can talk much about it! Lawyer-client privileges and all. :)

here's the building I work in, Old Main.


the entrance to my office


my desk! come visit!


For Thanksgiving Johnny and I drove down to Pueblo, CO to see Meghan and Nick and stay with Nick's family! OH gosh it was SO fun! We had a blast. We stayed Wednesday night, then Thanksgiving and Friday. Saturday we met up with Aunt Sherry and Connor for lunch! I have a few pictures from our Thanksgiving adventure. We decorated Nick's family's Christmas tree, too, which really reminded me of decorating our tree, with all sorts of 25+ year old ornaments, elementary school projects, etc. :) We played lots of Wii, watched lots of Project Runway, knit a lot, and ate a lot! And shopped a lot! haha. :) It was definitely a fun time, Nick's family is GREAT! And they even invited us back! :P

On the way there, about in Loveland, CO, literally THOUSANDS of birds flew across the sky. It was like a never ending stream of birds!




the sunset




Johnny, me, Becky, Meghan and Nick. Becky is Nick's younger sister. Missing are their parents, Becky's twin brother (twins are the best!) and their oldest sister.


Johnny and I.


On the way home, Pike's Peak (I think)


Castle Rock


when we were almost home, the moon came up over the mountains. It was HUGE and AMAZING!




almost home




my friend Lauren and one of her dogs, Tess. Lauren and her fiance Matt watched kitty while we were gone, so we bought them little matching sweaters for their doggies to say thanks. Cute huh?!?



Today I went shopping for Christmas ornaments and while we were planning on doing a multi-colored tree, I found all these great green and gold ornaments at the dollar store, so I decided to go with a new theme. I ended up finding a few finishing touches at WalMart and Kmart, but almost all of the ornaments are from the dollar store. I'm so proud, haha. :) I think it looks *really* great!











well, that's about it. We're watching a movie tonight, gotta go!

Tonight Johnny and I carved pumpkins with our friends Lauren and Matt. Here are our creations!!!

mine is an owl on a tree branch. It was supposed to have a moon behind the owl's head but that fell off :( ah well it still looks neat, huh?


here's Johnny's, he printed it offline and then free-handed it onto his pumpkin. I think it looks really good!


This weekend is the UW Art Museum's gala! I bought a dress specifically for the gala, which is safari-themed:


Hopefully I'll be able to take some pictures to post here. :)

oh, and the other night I went to take pictures of the full moon, after reading up a lot on how to do it (you use settings that you would use to take photos during the daylight!) I am thinking I might go to the thrift store and see if I can find a cheap telescope to take photos through. They are a bit blurry because my settings weren't quite right, the tripod was moving and the moon itself was moving!

So, if you didn't know, I was offered a permanent position at the University of Wyoming. The position at the Art Museum is temporary through nearly the end of November (which is sad because I really like it there), and I will then move to the Office of General Counsel at the University of Wyoming. I'm going to be the Senior Office Assistant for the two attorneys and the office in general, occasionally helping with the VP and his assistant. I'm excited because the people are all very nice and welcoming and I'm going to be exposed to a very interesting work environment. I definitely think I'm going to be kept busy and enjoy the position. I hope I can still help out at the Art Museum still, as a volunteer maybe.

Yesterday I made this type of apple pie called Rustic Caramel Apple Tart.

here you go:

It was SO GOOD. I decided I am going to make them for Thanksgiving.





Prep: 20 min + 30+ min chilling
Bake: 25 min

DOUGH
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold butter
6 1/2 teaspoons cold water
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

FILLING
1 1/2 cups chopped peeled tart applies (one large apple does the trick)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon all purpose flour

TOPPING
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons caramel ice cream topping, warmed

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add water and vanilla, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 10 inch circle. Transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. (I didn't do this, just put it on a non stick baking pan). Combine the filling ingredients;, spoon over pastry to within 2 inches of edges. Fold up edges of pastry over filling, leaving center uncovered. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over filling.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly. Using parchment paper, slide tart onto a wire rack (I just used a spatula since I didn't use the parchment paper). Drizzle with caramel topping. Serve warm.

Yield: 4 servings.

nutrition facts: 1 slice equals 286 calories, 12g fat (7g saturated fat), 31mg cholesterol, 226mg sodium, 44g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 3g protein.

SO GOOD


Speaking of Thanksgiving, we'll be going to visit Aunt Sherry! yay! AND, Meghan and Nick are flying in from Seattle and we're going to have another Thanksgiving with them! WOO!

The best thing about Wyoming: blue skies nearly everyday. LOVE IT!