New blog address!

I will no longer update this blog.

Because I imported all of these blog posts onto my blog that's linked to my new Google account, and thus my Google+, my Gmail, and consequently my Blogger. Yay!

GO CHECK OUT:

http://mikeandnatrougeau.blogspot.com/

Slow cooking

I am absolutely in love with my slow cooker. (Sorry Michael....but you know you're in love with it, too.) One of my favorite wedding gifts is our huge, red Crock Pot. It makes life so convenient.

We registered for it on our Target registry but didn't get it right away (but we DID have a Crock Pot cookbook...), so the first little while we were married I tried to feed both Michael and myself by cooking over the stove. While we had some good meals, it was so tedious to have to slice different vegetables in varying sizes, prepare meat, simmer sauce before anything cook be cooked, coordinate which vegetables to put in so each are cooked at the same time...ugh!!! It's fine every now and then, but trying to make a good meal a few times a week was difficult. To top it off, when I finally had the meal done, it wasn't enough to feed both of us and there would be no leftovers, so I would have to do all of that vegetable cutting AGAIN next time we wanted real food. It was more time than I wanted to spend with us both working full-time, so consequently we've had our fair share of pizza, bowls of cereal, oatmeal, PB&J's, Raising Cane's, and mac&cheese for dinner. One's body really notices that a few days of that just makes it feel BLEH. What could be done??

The glorious day came when we received our beautiful CROCK POT!!! Oh what a happy day that was. Since then, I've made four recipes that have each fed us for days and days, and each recipe increases in tastiness as I get better at the "art of slowcooking." I love being able to cut up a bunch of vegetables and meat once, then throw it in the pot and have it be cooking while I work, study, run errands, or clean. Then, when I'm done, we eat our fill and have PLENTY left. Bliss.

1. Chicken Noodle Soup: Our first Crock Pot meal. This was the one I choose because it was the only one we actually had ingredients for. I say "had ingredients for" not really truthfully, though, because I didn't have chicken broth, egg noodles, or bouillon cubes. But I DID have a can of cream of chicken soup and a pack of ramen noodles with chicken seasoning! I used those instead. (It also needed chicken thighs and celery, but I didn't deem them completely necessary.) I was so excited to use my crock pot for the first time, I threw everything in the pot and plugged it in, but two hours later I realized...I forgot to turn the knob on. So we had soup at 10pm instead of 7:30... Once it was done, it made a yummy meal as well as leftovers for a few nights. Michael, who is kinda "eh" about chicken noodle soup, nommed it up and said it was the best chicken noodle soup he ever had.
2. Cajun Beef Stew: Very yummy, and very Cajun! I didn't have a Cajun seasoning mix, but I had something better: TONY'S! I even remembered to turn on the crock pot that time. :) This time we had stew beef cut into cubes celery, carrots, onions, potatoes, and peas (it called for frozen, but I just used canned peas we already owned) in the mix. I had to go buy corn starch for this one and simmer it separately before adding it. Does it actually add to flavor, or does it only serve to make the juices pretty?
3. Spin on Cajun Beef Stew: We had left over beef and vegetables from the last one since I cut up so much it wouldn't fit in the pot. I also had my family coming in to town for Labor Day, so I wanted to show off my apartment AND feed them a meal we bought and cooked ourselves. I opted out of using corn starch because I didn't feel like it, and I put in some balsamic dressing I made the other night as a glaze for some asparagus. Then I threw in brown rice...and lentils. I wasn't sure if it was going to be yummy or weird! My dad absolutely loved it, and my mom (who apparently wasn't hungry enough for a big bowl) went for seconds! Halle (my wonderful 2-year-old niece) loved it, too, and wanted to each not only the rice, but all of the meat and vegetables. William liked it, but didn't like the texture of the "beans" (the lentils). Great success that could have been an odd failure.
4. Pork Ribs: Not in the Crock Pot cookbook, but in the America's Test Kitchen recipe book I own (which is amazing). This was the first time I bought a huge chunk of meat from the store (5 lbs!), and was kind of intimidated by it. I just cut the ribs apart like I'd seen anytime I'd eaten ribs before, but it was SO WEIRD to see this rack of ribs and imagining it as part of a pig that was once alive. It's different when you buy chicken breast or pre-cut cubes of beef. This time we used great northern beans, barbecue sauce, sausage, sage, thyme, bay leaves, onions, and a can of diced tomatoes. The recipe called for browning the meat, simmering the tomatoes and onions with white wine, and more work, but I was lazy and just threw it in. The result was perfectly seasoned, fall-of-the-bone, melt-in-your-mouth style ribs and tasty soup on the side. We're still enjoying this now.

The best part about cooking is figuring out what tastes good together and what you can do to alter a recipe. Well...the best part is actually EATING what you make, and having your husband love it, too. :)

Good bye summer, hello school

Sorry I haven't been blogging. It's all because both Mike and I haven't had interesting things to blog about. That and our lives for the past month has been working full time. We both have been so busy! We get home at the end of the day and just want to fuzz our brains sleeping/playing video games. He's working as a game tester for EA, but he's stuck there testing games he doesn't even want to play, so when he comes home he gets a bit of Left 4 Dead, Battlefield, or Civilization 5 in while I sleep on the couch or play Zelda (on the Nintendo 3DS we bought with wedding gift money...).

I like our little apartment. Yes, it's little, and kind of old, but all of our needs are met. The worst part about it is that it doesn't have a dishwasher. To compensate for that, though, at least we get HOT HOT water that (1) doesn't run out and (2) is included in our rent. This, I think, is the best part about our home. It's great for getting the dishes super clean, but also for taking long showers and boiling water fast. We bought a washer and a dryer, which makes washing clothes VERY convenient. Before, we had to go to the apartment complex's laundry center, which was full of junebugs and abandoned clothes. Yuck.

Yesterday Mike and I were officially initiated into the Baton Rouge 2nd ward: we gave talks in sacrament meeting! We were asked to speak on strengthening testimonies. I went before Mike and took as much time as I could so he would have to talk less. Apparently I spoke long enough that Mike had to give only the bare-bones, bullet points of his talk full of quotes and the like. I don't know if he was thankful for that or not! Hahaha.

Today was the first day of school. We're interested to see how classes affect our lives together. It seems like he'll be done with class and work at 7:45pm on weekdays (or later if EA's shift schedule changes), and I'll be done with my Raising Cane's shifts some nights at 9pm. We'll just have to make the most of our mornings and Saturdays. But yeah, class...I'm both excited for and dreading the semester. I feel like my summer hasn't been "lazy" enough, but I guess that's life now! Now I'm in the world of work, responsibility and adulthood, where lazy moments are few and far-between.

We're excited for our holidays this year! For Thanksgiving, we are flying out to Logan, UT to see Mike's mom, then at Christmas all of the Egan kids are going to my parents' house! And hopefully Elder Nick-o will come home early to make it for Christmas. (If not, we're thinking of just delaying our own Christmas celebration for when he does come home.) Not sure what we're doing for our Labor Day weekend, but we're planning on either having my parents come in to town or heading to Destin. We'll decide.

Now a headache is bidding me to stop here and take a nap...so I'll do what it says. Bye!

Married life and chronicling the last lil while

So it's been a while... Lots of my life has gone unsaid for the past months. Here's a post to tell yall about the main updates of my life.

• As of June 10, 2001, I am a married woman! Michael and I, after a three year courtship, finally tied the knot. It's kind of fun looking back on our dating years.
  After meeting again at Jane's house in the summer of 2008, we had a long-distance thing going on, since he lived in Logan, UT and I was in Baton Rouge, LA. I remember lots of texts, late-night Skype calls, telling him about all the silly things boys that were into me did to try to win me over (which never worked because I liked Mike WAY more), and his trips to Baton Rouge to see me. One one such trip, we shared our first kiss with each other just after my birthday in October 2008. He came with me to see my family in Houston that Christmas, too. For Valentine's Day, though he wasn't able to fly down, I found a surprise bouquet of roses on my doorstep. We liked each each other more and more as time progressed, which also made it harder and harder to be living so far away.
  The next summer, the summer of 2009, Mike moved to Baton Rouge. (He always wanted to move back to Louisiana, but I'm quite sure his decision to transfer to LSU was influenced by a certain girl he knew.) How nice it was to have my boyfriend around! Skype went from my most-used program to my least. Whenever studying or work wasn't in the way, we were hanging out. We went to all the Single's Ward dances together, did double dates, He always accompanied me to Houston whenever I made the trip over. Life was going good, our relationship progressed well, and at the start of 2010 I was definitely wanting to spend the rest of my life with him.
  The rest of 2010, however, presented its bumps and challenges. In June, I for a study abroad to Beijing, China. Since our relationship was as serious as it was and also since we never exclusively dated anyone else, we came to a mutual decision that we would break up for the summer. I would concentrate on my adventure, he would ask a few girls out, and when I returned we would see how we felt about each other. After my trip ended, we made another mutual decision that we would stay single for a while still. I felt like I needed more time to grow up before I got married, and both he and I felt we needed to date more. This lasted only until just before Thanksgiving: we went on a few dates with other people, and ultimately came to the conclusion that we had eyes for none else. His father, Thorsell Rougeau, died early November. In this event, all I wanted to do was help and support Michael in his time of need. Our love was realized for each other like never before, and we were quickly an item again.
  On March 5, 2011, Mike and I watched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at his house since I had never seen it. Halfway through he "went to the bathroom." After our movie, he walked me to my car, I told him good night, and opened the door to find.....a small box on the seat! I turned around, crying happy tears as I gave him the box. He asked me to marry him after showing me the diamond ring that was inside. (Then his crazy neighbor walked up and, rather upset, told us about how his car broke down.)
  We were married and sealed in the Baton Rouge Temple in the morning of June 10.
  
  
  
• For the entire past month, we've been trying to get stuff done, but the items on our list are quite the formidable opponent! Another agency with which I need to get my name changed as soon as I get one done. Our new apartment, which is in the married student housing at LSU, can never get clean because of unpacking, wedding gifts that keep coming in the mail, not knowing where to store big stuff, LAUNDRY, and DISHES! They just pile up! Is this going to be the rest of my life? Hahaha. Also, cooking for two is something I'm getting used to. Luckily Michael likes to snack on available food and $5 pizzas from Little Caesar's, so I haven't had to cook extensively. However, a lot of times I'll cook something up, split it down the middle, and Michael's still hungry afterward. Cooking twice as much as I would normally eat isn't enough, apparently!
  We also really need to get our thank you cards done. We have been getting some GREAT wedding gifts. All of our friends and family have been so generous! Life's been busy, though... It's gonna get done THIS WEEK, I promise!
  
  
• I just decided a couple days ago that I am going to pursue a dental hygiene degree instead of going to dental school. It seems more conducive to life as a mom, which I ultimately want to be. I've been working as a dental assistant since January, and what I've learned from observing both the dentist and the hygienist there is that hygiene is what I want to do. There's always time to finish my Biological Sciences degree in the future if I decide to, and I'll have a career in 3 years instead of a residency in 5.
  The good part about this is that I DON'T HAVE TO TAKE SCIENCE CLASSES IN THE FALL!!! So excited about that!! Almost my entire three years at LSU so far has been science science science. I get to take psychology, speech, a computer class, more Chinese (just for fun), and NO SCIENCE. What a nice break this will be.
  This also means I dropped my class for the summer. It was Parasitology. It's the kind of stuff you might like to see on the Discovery Channel, but only as something interesting. Memorizing huge nasty names and prescriptions just isn't my idea of a fun class.
  
  
• We spent last weekend in Bartlesville, OK to spend the 4th of July with family. Bartlesville is my mom's hometown and where I spend most of my childhood years. We went to see the Vaclaw Family Fireworks, a simply fantastic firework show put on by all the Vaclaws in the area. We also did a lot of swimming and hanging out with the Ahlerts, my aunt's family. Getting to see my grandparents was wonderful, too. I've missed all of them, even though a lot of them came to my wedding a month before.
  
  

That's it for now. Thanks for reading! I'm going to try (keyword: TRY) to update shorter posts more frequently, and post more pictures for sure.

Blessings amid affliction

I apologize for not posting since forever! School has been difficult and demanding, and now that school is out, I can finally take a breath and update my blog.

I have been meaning to update about all of the wedding planning, the obstacles I've endured in applying for dental school, how I managed to make a 4.0 this semester, my dieting & weight loss involved in fitting in my wedding dress, etc., but right now I need to blog about the scary experience from last night.



I left for Houston after church on Sunday to coordinate wedding things with family, and also to get to hang out with them one last time as an unmarried woman. It was a great few days to relax and plan. I started my journey back to Baton Rouge yesterday at 7pm so I could get back and be well rested enough to go to my good friend Kharis Veazey's Bridesmaid Luncheon this afternoon.

The drive was going great! I was making good time, I wasn't tired, I didn't need to stop or anything. However, there was an area where I didn't know the speed limit, so I just decided to follow someone who was going 80 in the leftmost lane. I passed signs for Vidor, then...I see red and blue flashing lights behind me! Yikes!! I was getting pulled over for speeding for the first time ever!!! I made my way to the rightmost lane and was slowing down when suddenly...the lane ended. My car took a dip into the overgrown grass and the underside of the front of my car took a hit on the edge of the concrete. Immediately the oil light came on and I could smell transmission fluid.

I got back onto the shoulder of the road, and the officer came up to my window and told me to shut off the car, which I did. He asked me why I was speeding, yadda ya, and I sort of mustered out that I was just following traffic. I was so jolted. I guess I looked alone and helpless enough that he decided not to write me a ticket, just a warning (blessing!). He called a wrecker service while I called my dad and told him what happened. Luckily my dad knows someone in our church who is from Vidor, so he gave him a call and arranged a home for me to stay at for the night (blessing!). The tower came within minutes, and he told me it would be a courteousy tow. Again, I probably looked alone and helpless enough for him to not charge me for towing (blessing!). Also, the family I was staying with knows a mechanic in the local congregation, so the car was delivered to the home of a sweet older couple who are now doing all they can for my car (blessing!). My dad's friend's sister came to pick me up and take me to their home. My phone, which was on the verge of running out of battery throughout the entire process of making phone calls and coordinating things, also didn't die until I was safe in a comfy bed last night (blessing!)

So now I am in the Crowly home. They are so hospitable and accommodating. I am so thankful that this experience is not what it could have been--the cop writing me up for speeding (and also for my license plate lights being out! didn't know that!), the tower charging me for a tow (could have been $125), my car being taken to an expensive mechanic (beaucoup dollars and beaucoup cents), and me staying at a hotel. Not to mention how I'd ever find my way around in a strange city.

I am so extremely blessed and well taken care of. I received a lot of comfort from the scriptures as I lay in the big comfortable bed that was provided for me last night. I read in 1 Nephi 17:1-2, which says:

1. And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel and ^awade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our ^bwomen did bear children in the wilderness.
2. And so great were the ^ablessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon ^braw ^cmeat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.

How great are the blessings of the Lord! Nephi and his family, though struggling with their trials in the wilderness, still recognized their blessings and thanked the Lord for what He had provided them. I am blessed.

I have a Beyoncé!!!

Wait. That's not the right word. I know it rhymes with that.

Piancé?

Fliancé?

OH! The work I'm looking for is...fiancé. :)

Report on Life

Don't plan on this post being wholly coherent. I'm just typing stuff as I think of it. It may be kinda long, too.




So my laptop is dead. This is inconvenient. I have to go to the library or use my apartment's computer lab to check email/check teachers' websites for homework assignments (I actually found out in class that I had an assignment due online before that class started)/do homework (three classes of mine post homework/parts of homework online)/etc etc. Maybe this will help me use my time better, though. I used all the time that I WOULD have been on Facebook last night cleaning my room. Having my room clean made me feel WAY better than I would have felt after just checking Facebook. And now that my room's clean(er), I can think and study better. There are still stacks of paper I need to sort through, trash to be taken out, and a basket full of clothes that need to get on hangers, but for the most part it's helping my mind. I guess not having a computer always next to me will be a good thing. (everything's what you make it out to be, after all.)

It's also amazing how a clean room can have an affect on your well being! Since my room's been disorganized, I've been disorganized. It's like the state of your room is the state of your brain. And boy would I like to sort through my thoughts and goals. Lately I've been scatterbrained and unmotivated in just about everything, or my mind will dwell on the negative and confusing aspects of life, which is NOT conducive to making good grades, being active in organizations, and keeping a boyfriend happy. Maybe having a clean room will help with this. Scripture study and prayer is also a daily must to get me out of this funk.

My job as a dental assistant's still going good. There are a lot of instruments and procedures I still don't know, but I've only been there just more than a month and working only five hours a week, so that seems pretty understandable. Some things are becoming natural to me, like sterilizing instruments, cleaning rooms, and taking out the high suction tube when Dr. Shea grabs a drill. I just need to get setting rooms up, knowing where instruments are located, and anticipating what the dentist will need next before he asks for it down. I'm really so blessed to have this job. I like it a lot.

I also love my job at Cane's. I would describe is as way fun. I'm comfortable with it for sure. There are a couple managers that I get a little awkward working around, and so I get really self-conscious and consequently start messing up, but the other three are so positive. I feel like I do my job so well when they're working. One in particular is my age, takes a bunch of the same classes I do, and likes a lot of the same stuff I do/did (video games in particular, and he likes anime/manga, too, something I used to be WAY into but not so much now) so we always have something to talk about. He's definitely my favorite manager to work with. Also, you know how on some shifts you work, all your favorite people are there, and everything runs just so smoothly? I love those days.

Speaking of being awkward around people... I'm feeling kind of alone in school lately. I don't know many people in my classes, and the people I DO know tend to want to gab with each other. I'm not so much a gabber. Sometimes I wish I was, but that's just not something I enjoy or am good at. The whole "omg i have a test today, barf!" and "heeeyy, how are you??" thing is so boring to me. Can I find someone to talk about real things to? Things of substance, value? I'm tired of being "in" a conversation with cheerleadery people and I say something incredibly dorky
and feel stupid. For example:
"Me and my boyfriend are going to Gulf Shores for Spring Break! We're gonna get so drunk, it's gonna be awesome. What are you doing?"
"Well, I'm staying in Baton Rouge and studying for the DAT."
"Oh. Okay."
I have far better conversations with professors than I do with other students. I thought college wasn't supposed to be high school. I'm just not like most people, I suppose. Or maybe I just haven't met the right people. Meh, I dunno.

There's at least one person I'm bonding pretty well with. My Chinese teacher is taking some anthropology courses with LSU, and has to do some field research on a group of people. She picked the Mormons! hahaha. She learned I was Mormon when I told her I went to China with a BYU Study Abroad. She's actually been to Temple Square and knew a lot of Mormons when she lived in California. So, she's been coming to Institute and church with me. It's way cool. It's weird, too, just that she's one of my TEACHERS...now I'm on a hugging basis with the person who grades my work. But it's still awesome.



Class starts in half an hour, and I have some studying to do. Peace out.