Skamilton's Southwestern Jumbalaya

I apparently cook a lot now; so i have decided to start sharing my recipes here.
Whether I find it online, in a book, or create it myself; here it is for you to enjoy.
This one I created myself tonight in a time of need. It turned out pretty great!
I am not sure the exact measurements but this should get you through.

Skamilton's Southwestern Jumbalaya


Ingredients:
2 cups of white rice
1 can black beans
1/2-3/4 Cup diced ham
1 large slice of red onion, diced
1/2 can diced tomatoes (drained)
Fresh Ground Pepper
3 slices of lime


serves: 2

Prepare white rice and set aside.
Mix black beans, ham and onion in medium sized saucepan.
Place over medium heat.
Add tomatoes. Pepper to taste. Stir.
Take the end slice of lime, squeeze on top of mixture.
Place the other two slices of lime in mixture. Stir.
Continue to cook over medium heat until it comes to a simmer.
Turn stove to low heat.

After placing desired amount of rice in plate/bowl top with mixture (use a spoon to drain excess juices). Drizzle with juices and place a slice of lime on top.


Let me know if it works out!

-s

Pumpkin fever, alive and well....

It's official; by request, i made more of these:

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing!
(http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/pumpkin-cookies-with-brown-butter-icing)

Well that's Martha's version of them. Here's mine:

not as pretty, but extremely tasty!
(Elise helped make this batch; probably why these are so good)

Now, don't get your hopes up; I have made them for Curtis (previously mentioned)
AND... our FIRST HOUSE GUESTS!!

We had the pleasure of having these guys stay with us last night:

WEINLAND
http://www.myspace.com/johnweinland

and the even better news is we get to have them stay with us again tomorrow! Nice, nice, nice, and talented! (Please feel free to enjoy their music and even buy some!)

Other official news:

We're married... for real.
Now all the other paper work! Social security offiice, be on the look out for my mail!



Weekend line up:
Friday: Weinland at The Moon
Saturday: The Cut Off at The Moon

It's a Moon weekend.

Now, just have to make it through Friday day....


With my freeze ray I will stop the world,
Sarah

Life Excitement!

Wedding is over. Life has begun.
As we are learning, it takes a while to get into your married groove. Work has been super busy, we are still unpacking the house, have lots of errands to run, I've been getting sick, and we have our first house guests Friday!
It's all fun though. I'd say by January 1, 2010 we should be in somewhat of a normal schedule. Meanwhile, here are all of the things I'm happy about this week.

I stopped watching General Hospital 10 years ago because Jonathan Jackson left the role of Lucky Spencer. 14/15 year old me was absolutely crushed. Good news: HE'S BACK! (On top of that James Franco will be guest starring on GH starting at the end of the month- in preparation for a film role he's taken. Set your DVR's!)


As many of you know, I LOVE Gilmore Girls. Therefore, I have the ability to see a tiny glimpse of a dog in a tv commercial and be able to shout out "THAT'S PAUL ANKA!"
That's right; everyone's favorite neurotic pup is now on (at least for one episode) Monk. I just saw a commercial and found a picture online, so i don't know the full story; but here are pictures of Paul Anka on GG and Monk.


notice the little blonde spot on his right ear. same dog.

I'm also excited because Inera from Firefly is going to be on the new show V; but since I don't know if that show will be any good, I can't be too excited yet.

Last and final bit...
CURTIS IS BACK!!! My wonderful friend Curtis (who has been gone for my entire relationship with Jayson) is back in Fort Worth! I'm so excited; i'm going to make him pumpkin cookies and read Sherlock Holmes!!


yes, i took this headshot, two years ago.


You both kicked off your shoes. Man I dig those rhythm and bluesssss,
Sarah

P.S. made a bit o progress on those thank you cards... i tell you what...

TODAY!

We get married today! I'm pretty sure most everything is taken care of, and now it will just be the rush from hair place, to make up place, to ceremony location!
In 4 hours 15 minutes i will no longer be a Kendel.... though Kendel will be my middle name.
Time to run, have to pack everything in the car!

The search is on...

The new job is going great! It's extremely busy, but it fits/i fit perfectly. Praise to God for that! He knew exactly where I needed to be.
I have been focused so much on organizing everything at the new job, I have not had time to really get things done for the wedding. I think they are getting done and proceeding at a good pace though. According to TheKnot.com we have only 34 days til the wedding... til this is all finally over. If you know me, you know handling the planning of this wedding has been one of my least favorite things in life. So both Jayson and I will be singing songs of praise come October 11th.

We are in the middle of searching for two very important things right now: a home to rent and a new church home. Both are vital to our married life together.

We have come to a few pit falls in the housing search; so please pray that God will open up doors and place us in the house/community we need to be in.

In the search for a new church home, we have found many churches with great sermons and great pastors! The problem is finding a community with whom we can meet. So far the places we have found have hours and schedules that don't work with ours. Seeing that Jayson has the worst schedule in the world, and my schedule is 11 am- 7:30 pm every weekday, it's hard to find a church that has a small group/Bible study we can attend. There are still a few more places to look into; so please pray that God will lead us to our new church family, and that even the searching process will be a growing process. Also, pray (for one of the sillier obstacles) that we will feel accepted; since as ... Democrats (yes, i said it)... we often feel pushed aside and put down by our fellow believers.

Thanks to all for providing us with great support during this BIG transition in our lives!

-sarah

So much, so much

Everything has happened in just the last month and a half!
I got a job (woohoo!) working for AmeriCorps/Big Thought/Thriving Minds. I will be an Assistant Site Manager at WW Bushman Elementary (in Dallas) for their after school program. It's actually a really amazing organization, and it's less than two years old. We're really building arts curriculum into these (mostly underpriveleged) students life.
I am waiting until after the wedding (and everything settles down) to see if I want to continue to work 1 day a week at Barnes & Noble.

Almost everything is ready for the wedding. Just have to get rings, tux's and a place to live.
We've changed the wedding time to 2:00 pm ceremony and 3:30 reception. Salim Nourallah is opening up the reception for us, and then The Cut Off will play! We are hoping to get one more band to finish out the celebration for us. It should be fun!

Other than all of that I just have to learn to relax some. Apparently, all of the stress and the coffee has made me sick. I had to go to the doctor today, and I found out I had lots more acid in my tummy than there need's to be. I have medicine to make me feel better, but I pretty much need to take more time for resting.

P.S.
Invitations go out this week!!

Apple has me under their finger once again...

To make my life easier in sharing photos and information with the world, I have been roped back into a mobile me account with apple. Thank goodness for 60 day trial periods! It will give me time to earn the money to pay for a year subscription.

the email address I will be using for all things wedding is:
sarah.e.k.hamilton@me.com

In the future, i will most likely keep the account, but I will just use it for business/professional/bill paying type things. If you want to email me you can still use my gmail account.

Updates:

I'm still working at Barnes & Noble, and looking for a new job. Jayson is still working a lot at the hospital, and we are still searching for a house to move into in October.

We did have the pleasure of hanging out with some of Jayson's best friends on Sunday and Monday. Jayson's best friend, Nick, was in town with the band he works with. We went to the House of Blues in a big group, but for Jayson the joy was definitely in getting to hang out with good friends (I really liked it too).

Here's to a happy week for everyone, and I hope everyone makes it to the theater to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!

-sarah

Back in Action

I might be completely exhausted... I haven't decided yet. For the month of June, I had no where to live; so I traveled to: New York, Dallas, and Little Rock/Cabot! I have been back a week and a half; but I have had so much to do, I feel like it's been a month!

The wedding is falling together nicely. It is now down to all the details that I don't care about. So now it's just making sure everything gets done. The guest list as always is a pain in the butt; but hopefully, it will be done soon, since the invites are to be mailed at the end of the month.

I am ready to have the wedding over and be on my honeymoon with my husband. Then, be at home with my husband. We went searching for houses today, and found one we really like. I am calling the rental place tomorrow to ask details. Please be praying that the house stuff falls together nicely because we don't need another headache.

Barnes & Noble has been great because I've been getting more hours, but that still puts me just barely above the poverty line. What I really need right now is a new job! I apply to an average of one a week, and over the past 4 months have heard back from only one person (to tell me there are no positions).

I am learning to tighten my belt more; but especially with the wedding, any financial help is needed/a blessing.

One big blessing in my life is the new house I moved into. The girls are wonderful, and it's a peaceful house. I have room for groceries! I haven't had cable, and it hasn't been that bad (cnn.com live has saved me).

Jayson is still working a whole lot of hours every week. We still party though. Nick Fishbaugh is coming in town next week (Jayson's best friend and first love); so we are both really excited to see him.

All in all... it's just good to be home.

Jayson turned 28!

Jayson's officially 28, and I am officially moving out of my house. Lucky for him those both come in the same week. Jayson and I have now spent 2 birthdays each with each other... it shows that you are always learning a person. I am still trying to figure out just what he wants to do for his birthdays.

I think this year was pretty good. I did a lead up to his birthday. On the first day I gave him a card and candy. On the second day he opened Across the Universe special double edition. The third day made him a proud owner of a RENT on Broadway DVD, and the fourth day (a.k.a. Birthday Eve) he opened Happy Go Lucky which he has been wanting to see/most likely own. For Jayson's actual birthday I finally framed the picture I drew of Elliott Smith for him last year for his birthday! I think that was probably the best surprise for him because that's just been sitting in my room for a year.

Like I said before, I am officially moving now. We have moved two loads to Jayson's house (now almost all of my books are over there... i think i have one more box). Really what's left is going through all the nick-nacks I have and trying to throw some away/find a proper way to pack and store what I do have.

Wedding stuff is going really smooth. I don't spend time worrying over it because I have so many other more important things to worry over. The whole process of moving out of a house (with 4 other girls) is stressful enough as it is.

On happy notes:
My dress that was supposed to take 4 months to come in, took 5 days. It's ready for pick up!

I looked at the Haverly's backyard, and it's PERFECT for a ceremony!

I called and confirmed that we want to rent Mainstay Farm on October 10th for our reception!

Life is good; and it will be better onced I'm moved, in NYC visiting for 9 days, find a job (in DFW, not NYC), and Conan is back on TV.

rock around the clock,
sarah

ideas, ideas, ideas

There are so many ideas, suggestions, opinions and visions roaming around my little wedding world that I must have hit my head at least a dozen times. Colors, location, time, atmosphere are all thrown at me and land in a pile at my feet. I'm slowly sifting through, and it's not always the magic girls are lead to believe.

Here's hope though: Jayson and I are slowly making decisions. I ordered my wedding dress (it's just 4 months away and THEN i have to get it altered), we looked at venues, and we've even come made an outline of how we want the wedding to be laid out (small, intimate ceremony and big reception bash).

I am super happy at this moment that I've no interest in one of those huge elaborate weddings. Life is tough enough as it is. Speaking of.... any one have a job offer for me?

-s

Big day tomorrow!

Life has been crazy hectic! I've been finishing up exams, and Jayson's been doing his rock star/hospital worker bit. Tomorrow we head out to Mainstay Farm to take a look. Big decisions to come.

On an important note: we both really liked Wolverine and super duper loved Star Trek!

Also we both have a very strong love for bands out of Portland. Here are a few to give a listen to:

Blind Pilot

Weinland

The Decemberists


Thats all for now, folks!

-s

The Waiting Game

Nothing super exciting is happening right now in the whole wedding planning process. Everything is on hold until May 11th, when we go check out Mainstay Farm.

The more we go into the whole process, the more we are more set on having something calm and casual. I just see other brides (in real life and on tv) freak out because they want a perfect day, and I just want to get married and listen to music with my friends.... and wear a pretty dress while i'm doing it.

School is wrapping up and the job search is on.

Moving out at the end of the month... no where to live for a month so I am traveling around. Let me know if you want me to sleep on your couch!

VM i received from my future husband:

"[singing] Baby, baby this is Jayson Hampton....[stop singing] i just messed up saying my last name..[end of message]"

04/27/09

Everything is going smoothly. I think the main goal is just to not take too much on, and try to not take it too seriously. We are still looking for a site (which means our actual date is still up in the air), BUT I did find my dress!

I didn't expect to even start looking until after school! There was a big event, Battle of the Brides, at a Sheraton in Dallas; and even though I didn't find anything there, Terry Costa was only 1.5 miles away! The first dress I picked up was the perfect dress. Caitlin Hines was there to help me, and I am very grateful!

We also signed up for our first registry! Walking around with that little scanner feels so powerful! We tried to keep it to practical things, but we added a couple of things we like that we don't expect anyone to buy. :) It was just a fun event.

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/Gift-Registry/Guest/ViewRegistry.aspx?grid=4320643

The interesting part will be when we go to Target to register for more decorative things. We don't know what our house will look like, so it's a little hard to plan the look at the moment.

We are still finalizing details on wedding party numbers and participants, but that will work out in due time. There is apparently a lot to do, but no freak outs yet. Hopefully, it stays that way.