Lazy days...

Monday morning, Stacy had a doctors appointment. I've got my coffee and my puppy and am snuggled back in bed, being lazy and completely enjoying it. 

It was wonderful to not have to drive to Austin Sunday night like I've had to for so many months now. San Antonio is home. Waking, seeing Stacy out the door, snuggling my puppy, just being here and knowing I won't make the trip to Austin til Friday makes me so happy. Majority of my time here now, settling into a new home and life. I'm feeling an even bigger push to live a life of mindfulness and contentment. 

This is what I want, my new life and our new family. Perfect. 

Drumroll please....

Talk about big life changes....here it is.  All out in the open all official like.

I'm getting married to Stacy Underwood....amazing man that came into my life via okcupid.com.  Yes, online dating and look what happened.  No wedding for a while, lots to accomplish before then.  Give it 6 months to a year.  Things to do.....

Secure a new job.  Oh wait!  Did that.  Well, a temporary part time job to start anyway. Hope to work it into full time as they need to hire the position just haven't yet.  Hope I"m the gem they've been waiting for.  It's at Palo Alto College in San Antonio which is part of the Alamo Colleges system.  Reference Librarian.

List house for sale.  Talking to Shane tomorrow to talk about listing and what I need to do then will bust my butt to get it done to list by start of October.  The market has been very hot here....hope it continues.

Last day full time at Liberty Hill will be end of September.  Starting October 1, I will continue on part time, working from home via computer and making the 1.5 hour trip weekly and staying a night or two. But end of September, Melissa, the dogs and I are San Antonio bound to stay.  All this while working part time at Palo Alto College too.  BUSY????

Move...soon as the house sells the furniture has to join me.

With all this, Stacy's brother lives upstairs in the house....he's moving to the back house so we can be in the main house.....upstairs instead of down in the guest area where Stacy's been living.  Probably around November will start painting and getting moved in to our space.

Whew.  Tired yet?  I don't even want to start thinking about the stuff to be done in my current house.....replace microwave, replace some baseboards, a door....carpet cleaning.  Positive outlook....it will all work and be wonderful.  Good things to look forward to!!!

Stepping out

Beautiful art. There are a number of these around the campus of Palo Alto College which is part of The Alamo Colleges system. Yes, Friday morning this is where I am for an interview. Part time. Temporary. Not words I'm fond of in looking for a job but.....they haven't advertised for the permanent replacement yet. Perhaps this could turn into a 'trial for hire'?  

I'm going to ask but bottom line is it gets me to the same town the man I'm gonna marry is in, I'm game to try. Yup you read that right. New town. Marriage. Huge changes. I'm taking a risk because I need to be in the area to really be in the job market. 

Now to cross fingers and toes and hope all goes well and I get offered the position.....or something better comes along. 

A new beginning.....

So, as I've mentioned, I am moving to San Antonio.  This is the man I'm in love with, Mr. John Stacy Underwood (goes by Stacy) that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with.  We have a goal to have a beautiful rest of life together and to better ourselves doing it.  So.....goals have now been set.  November 8 is my drop dead date.  House will go on the market start of October (gotta do some repair, fix up etc).

Night of November 8 I move to live in San Antonio.  Oh, that includes Melissa too.  We've worked at fixing up the studio apartment she will live in that is inside the house.  She's all set.  Now our weekends are all about getting us settled there and him coming here to help me get the house ready.

If I don't have a job and the house hasn't sold by November 8 I will continue working in Liberty Hill....using the massive amounts of vacation I've built up.  I can come in at noon on Tuesdays, work late, stay at the house on Tuesday and Wednesday night and drive home at 4 pm on Thursday.  That gives me two nights away from home staying in the house that is for sale.  Use 1.5 - 2 days of vacation a week.  Full pay.  I have enough vacation to do that for at least a month and a half.  That gives me the rest of the time in SA to look for jobs and get the house ready.  It's a fall back anyway.

Major goal is San Antonio job.  Rough in this world where everything is online application only.  How do I really know they got my application?  If I can get in their face I can get the job.  But even phone calls disqualify you at most places.  Ugly world, I have to say this is one place I really don't like technology.

Anyway....was wandering through my blog and realized I don't have pics of Stacy in it really....and I like pics of Stacy :).  Oh.....I'm going to meet his mom on Sunday.  Must be serious.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

So yes, I'm addicted to Pinterest.  I pin lots of recipes to try.  Then I find myself going back and deleting a lot after I try them.  Thrilled to pieces when I find a good one, and have I got one for you.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
. makes 24 muffins .

INGREDIENTS

filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar

muffin batter:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cup vegetable oil

topping:
1/2 cup sugar
5 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 Tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces

DIRECTIONS

To prepare filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners sugar in bowl and mix well til blended and smooth.  Transfer the mix to a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper and roll into a log approximately 1.5 inches diameter.  Reinforce roll with foil and chill til slightly firm. (I did over night).

For muffins, preheat oven to 350.  Line muffin tins with liners.  Combine flour, spices, baking soda and salt and set aside.  In bowl of electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil.  Mix until well blended.  Slowly add in the dry ingredients, mixing until blended.

For topping, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon in a bowl and whisk to blend.  Add in the butter pieces and cut in using a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly.

Assembling the muffins:  Fill each muffin liner with a small amount of batter, enough to cover the bottom.  Slice the log of cream cheese into 24 equal pieces and put one piece on top of batter in liner.  Divide remaining batter amount the muffin cups, covering cream cheese completely.  Sprinkle with the topping mix.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Java accoutrements

Today is September 1 and I'm chomping at the bit for fall and fall-like weather.  In Texas, that doesn't always mean a lot for quite a while, but I'm enjoying my "eats" file on Pinterest.  I found a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Creamer so......thought I'd see how hard it could be to make your own creamer, I was betting I didn't have to milk the cow so I could handle it.

Off to H-E-B to get all the things I needed (the heavy whipping cream) then back home, start cooking, put on a cup of java to brew.....kitchen smells wonderful.

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer

ingredients:
1 cup milk (skim ok)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 Tbsp pumpkin puree
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
4 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

directions:
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the milk, cream, pumpkin, maple syrup, pumpkin spice and cinnamon.  Heat on medium just until it begins to bubble around the edges.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.  Strain through a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth and refrigerate before using.
from deliciouslyorganic.net

It was quite easy to do, the hardest part was the straining....be patient.  Of course, I could NOT wait for it to be refrigerated before using, so I cheated and put some in my coffee.  Good!!!   I'm sure that tomorrow after the flavors have melded together, it is going to be even better.  I'll have to let you know how it goes....and I've found recipes for peppermint creamer......and more!!  

.....I've really missed cooking, time to get back to it!