Try these....

Butternut Squash Fries

1. One butternut squash peeled and cut into thin strips.

2. Cover with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

3. Spread on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until brown and crisp at 425.

Flip half way through.

Projects

I have been experimenting with a lot of different things lately and taking the time to make handmade things. Here are a couple things I have done that were really fun.

For Christmas I made homemade chocolate-covered marshmallows. You can make them plain or chocolate-covered, whichever you like. I made both, and they were really good.

Every day when I have to go to work, I drive through an alleyway which is usually loaded with thing people have thrown out. One day I saw this white wicker lamp shade and thought it would look great in our living room. We had to cut a small piece of metal on the inside so that we could get the cord through, but it turned out great! We hung it up last night above our table. Now we can see!

We need to catch up.

Many things have happened since November when we last posted. Here is a picture summary:

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our place with friends who were in Chicago.

In the beginning of December I was admitted into the hospital because I had pneumonia. I first went to an urgent care where they told me to go to an ER because my x-ray was funny. They took a CT and determined it was a really bad case of pneumonia. Within the first 24 hours, I also had an allergic reaction to something they had given me or the sheets, so I had to use my own sheets from home and wear my own clothes instead of the hospital's gowns. Rob took a picture of me with the beautiful flowers everyone sent, and the awesome pj's he gave me. I was there for three days. It took me a while to recover, but am feeling a great deal better.

My siblings and I put together a quilt for our parents. We each made a square to represent us, and we also made a couple to represent the family as a whole. It turned out great! Even though there was a lot of snow over Christmas, we had a good time catching up with as many family members as we could. Becky and Steve had a baby a week before Christmas, and because of weather, we didn't get to see him yet. We are planning to go back for baptism at the end of February.

Cat & Mouse

Rob and I have gone to this game store a lot. A couple times for a Settler's Tournament, and then again last night for a great fall sale. We picked up a game called Pandemic and played it probably 5 times last night. It is a cooperative game, where you work together to find cures for 4 diseases that are spreading around the world. It is pretty fun, and can be played with 2 or more people. There is also an expansion, which we have not yet tired. Click here for a review and better description.

Rob also made this picture for their facebook page. There is a contest to see who can get the most people to "like" their wall post. So far, he has about 80. I think he will probably win.

Willie Nelson

We are going to see him September 28 for a taping of Soundstage for PBS.

Rob got tickets for free.

Family

A few pictures of time spent with family this past week. Grandpa and Grandma Haan came to Chicago and we ate at a really great Bosnian restaurant in Lincoln Square.

A birthday bash, bike riding, and gardening.

Hot Dog! Peanuts! Beer!

New Apartment and Garden

Modern Wing

We spent the morning/afternoon downtown going to the new Modern Wing at the Art Institute. Admission to the museum was free because of the opening. The building is amazing very open and beautiful. There were a lot of areas to enjoy the outdoors as well; a patio area on the ground floor, a deck on the top floor, and a bridge connecting the museum to Millennium Park. If you are planning to go see the new addition sometime, go when the weather is nice, so you can enjoy the outside parts as well! Also, because Target was sponsoring the free admission to the museum, so when we left we got a few free bags of chips and a bottles of water.


We also walked up Michigan Ave to check out any good deals at the stores, and we won a free Hersey Bar from the Hersey store. I guess this was a great day for free things in Chicago!

Settlers of Catan Tournament

Rob and I just got home from playing in a Settlers tournament at a game store called Cat & Mouse. There were 4 tables of 4 each. Everyone played 2 games and the 4 people with the most points went on to play in a final game for the prizes. I won my first two games (20 points) and Rob won 1 and got 8 the second (18 points). We were both in the final game with two others.

It was intense to say the least. Everyone had 9 points towards the end of the game, except for me because I got boxed in. Rob could have pulled through for a win, but did not have the right mix of cards. The other girl won the game taking the grand prize. Rob tied for second with another guy and I got third. We both walked away with a total of $17.50 in gift certificates for the store, and a river expansion piece for Settlers.

All in all, it was a great afternoon of playing with some cool people. The store was really cool too. They have game nights every Tuesday from 6:30-9:30 and then on Fridays starting after Memorial Day. I think we might head over there to play sometime.
( http://www.cat-n-mouse.com/ )

Spaghetti Squash

Rob and I tried spaghetti squash tonight as an alternative for pasta. We were a little skeptical at first, but it turned out pretty good! Since being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, we haven't been eating very much spaghetti because of the amount of carbs in a serving of pasta, but by using the squash as the noodles I cut the amount of carbs down to a more reasonable amount.

Spaghetti Squash - 4.7 grams of carbs for a 1/2 cup serving
Whole Wheat Pasta - 42 grams of carbs for a 3/4 cup serving

Here is how to prepare it:
1. Cut in half and pierce skin several times with a fork.
2. Place cut sides down on a cooking sheet.
3. Cook at 375 for about an hour or until flesh is tender.
4. After it has cooled, take a fork and scrape the inside of the squash to release the spaghetti strands.
5. Cover with your favorite sauce, and enjoy!

april snow brings....

a lot of free things from Craigslist.com.

Rob and I are hopefully moving into a bigger apartment in June and the excitement has gotten us thinking about how we plan to arrange and fill our new space. So we started looking on Craigslist for cheap furniture and then ended up under the "free" section.

This is what we have collected throughout the rainy/snowy day...
- 10 or so painted canvasses
- 20 sturdy boxes for moving
- end table
- shoe rack
- tv stand

I am thankful Chicago people are so generous with their previously used items.

Avery Faye

Fall in Chicago

1. Riding the bus
2. Jacob at the Lincoln Park Zoo
3. Walking with part of Rob's Family
4. Thanksgiving at Becca's apartment

September

A shot from the Free Andrew Bird show at Millennium Park



A cheap toupee?



Meg teaching the "Keepon" how to dance at Wired NextFest.



We've recently found out that the odds of winning passes to advanced screenings to movies advertised in the paper is are really high. I've been winning passes about once a week lately.

Ghosttown was probably one of the better comedies I've seen in a long time. They could easily just make a full 90 minute movie of Ricky Gervais (the boss from the original "the Office") doing different facial expressions. As a whole the movie was pretty good. Though the funny first half was a lot better than the sappy second half. I'd recommend this movie. The story isn't phenomenal but there's enough good acting and memorable lines to make up for that.

I don't think I have much to say about Burn After Reading. John Malkovich was great. Everyone else was just too goofy for me. I usually really like Brad Pitt and George Clooney but not so much in this one.

Nick and Norah's Infinate Playlist was just okay. I was pretty excited for it because it features the Shout Out Louds in the trailer (and in the movie) but there weren't a whole lot of other good tracks in the movie. It was way too predictable even for a romantic comedy. I still like Michael Cera even though he's the exact same in every movie. What I like about him is that he never seems like he's acting. He just seems like a normal guy.

This week I have passes to How to lose Friends and Alienate People. Not sure if we'll make it or not... it's at 7 on Wednesday night... sometimes I'm still working then.

Enough for now.

Bye.

Neko

We had our camera replaced as it was never working.
Here's a new picture of Neko.

Joanna Nesom

We saw her last night with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The first half was played with the orchestra and was mostly her Ys album. Perfect.

The second half consisted of a mix of The Milk-Eyed Mender and some songs I had not heard before. Wonderful.

If you ever get the chance... it is quite the experience.

Neko

This is our new cat Neko. We got her last weekend at the anti-cruelty society. Her hair was incredibly matted so we just chopped most of it off, but it's normally much longer than Ollie's is. She is the exact opposite of Ollie. She is very affectionate, but still a bit skittish. The only thing they really have in common is they both like food... and only the most recently poured dish of food. We'll have to figure out how to pour both dishes at the same time.

We had to use the webcam to photograph her because our camera is not working very well.

Fourth of July weekend...

7.3.08

Fireworks on the lake, best show I have ever seen!

7.4.08

All day picnic with great food and lot of new faces, thanks for the invite.

7.5.08

Day at the beach getting a tan, and then a trip to F.A.O Schwarz toy store, and a movie at a luxury theatre.

7.6.08

Trip to IKEA for some glasses and gifts for the trip home.....

and fresh, hot cinnamon rolls!