Culinary Team

For those of you who don't know, I have been teaching 2 basic teaching classes at the high school. As part of being a foods teacher, I have also been assisting in the Culinary Team for their State Competition. we have been spending long days at the school, but it has been al worth it.

Schools from all over the state participate in th competition.

I was in charge of helping the kids with the dessert. We entitled our dessert, "Self Indulgence - One Cup at a Time."

After the competition we attended a Restaurant Expo at the Convention Center. A famous artist was in attendance so we got our "portraits" done. He is a BUTT artist. In fact, it is called the Original Butt Sketch.

My butt never looked so good (I'm on the far right).

Our team won 2nd place in the competition (we lost by only 2 points).

They are great kids!

Being Two is Simply Too Much

It is official: The terrible twos are alive and well at our house.

We had a family birthday at the house (the day after we got home form Hawaii and two days after Troy got home from Utah).

I was a little disappointed, he didn't even get messy.

The Mickey Mouse Club House is a favorite at our house so we picked up Mickey on our layover in California.

Happy birthday Troy!

The next day he came down with strep throat and the remainder of the week was filled with lack of sleep, tantrums, and crying.

Panoramic Photos of Oahu

After 5 years of marriage we thought we needed another honeymoon, so we took a trip to Hawaii. My sister, Holly, and her husband and baby came along and we had a fabulous time. Since I lived on Oahu for 8 years and am very familiar with the island I think we will all need a vacation from our vacation because we literally saw EVERYTHING.

CLICK ON THE PHOTOS FOR AN ENLARGED VIEW.

Hanauma Bay - Best snorkeling on Oahu

Laie Point - Scott and Jeremy

The view from our room.

Waikiki from the top of Diamond Head

TROY

There is something magical about having a toddler in our life. Nothing earth shattering, just magical.

Although I really like the way I organize things, I still love finding Troy in the Pantry reorganizing every single can into a pattern that he approves of.

Coming home from a long day at work and being able to sit at the computer making faces at ourselves - Priceless. You really can't buy that kind of fun.

Thanks Troy for being a part of our family.

We're Still Alive

You might not know it from looking at the blog, but we are still alive. Like has been really crazy since school started. Our house is still for sale, I'm still working, Troy is as active as ever, and Scott still loves being a firefighter. We had a great Thanksgiving at my brother's home even though Scott had to work.

We hope everyone is having a fabulous Holiday Season and wish you a fabulous new year.

Darla's Wedding

Scott's youngest sister, Darla, got married last week and we got to attend. The weekend was filed with lots of adventures and excitement. Troy got to fly in an airplane, Scott got to go golfing 5 times, and I got to take a lot of fun pictures.

Joe - Chausse- Darla- Luke - Scott- Dutch

It was so nice to see everyone.

I will post tons of pictures on Facebook soon, but for now this will have to do.

My most recent grant . . .

2010 ING Unsung Heroes Award Winners Congratulations to the 100 winners of the 2010 ING Unsung Heroes awards program. Each of the 100 finalists has won $2,000. Three of them will be selected as Top Winners to receive additional grants of $25,000, $10,000, and $5,000. Michelle Ouderkirk Rio Rancho High School Rio Rancho, NM Ouderkirk's "Healthy And On Your Own" winning program, is a cookbook project for independent young adults in grades nine through 12 at Rio Rancho High School. This project will help students create a tangible reflection of the students' knowledge of nutrition and the needs of independent young adults in the form of a nutritional cookbook. Students in her food science classes will research nutrition as a means to open their eyes to healthier options in eating and cooking. Instead of simply learning the basic cooking techniques, students will be able to display their acquired knowledge in collectively creating a cookbook. According to Ouderkirk, the first several months of independence after graduation are critical in creating lifelong healthy habits. Ouderkirk, who lives in Rio Rancho, believes that if young adults are taught easy ways to eat and cook healthily while sticking to a minimal budget and major time constraints, they can ideally turn into health-conscious adults.