Old Faithful: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Part of our "Week of Soups" 

Chicken Tortilla Soup was my first attempt to be the wonderful wife* who makes yummy soups for dinner for her husband* who eats soups like it's going out of style, but hates canned soup herself.  It all tastes the same and gives me heartburn.

No actual tortillas are involved or harmed in the making of this soup.  That's just what we call it...don't judge.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 lb chicken breasts
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
6 cups chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5oz)
1 can corn, drained
1/4 cup diced pickled jalapenos (use more or less for heat)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (about 1/2 of a bunch - unless you go to the Supermercado where they're not so skimpy with the cilantro - then, about 1/4 of a bunch)
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp oregano
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Serving Suggestion Ingredients
    White Rice
    Sour Cream
    Cheddar Cheese

Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper; sear both sides of chicken over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes, and then transfer chicken and an to a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.  Cooking the chicken this way keeps it juicier than if you boil the chicken in the soup.  Once the chicken is done, shred it with a fork and set it aside until later.  Rotisserie chicken shredded up works great too!

In a soup pot, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until tender - about 10 minutes.  Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, corn, jalapenos, garlic salt, paprika, oregano, chili powder, and cumin.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and then reduce heat simmer for about 20 minutes.    Add the chicken and cilantro and simmer for 10 more minutes until everything is delicious!  I usually end up adding more cumin and chili powder and a little salt and pepper at some point - just because I can't leave things alone, and it makes me feel like I know what I'm doing!

Serve over a spoonful of rice and top with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of cheese!

* I use the terms husband and wife loosely since we might have just been engaged at the time I started to develop this recipe.

Gumbo: by me!

Part of our "Week of Soups" 

I am not Cajun, and I do not claim that I am a gumbo expert, by any means.  In fact, I've never even been to New Orleans.  But this is good stuff my friends, good stuff!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and then shredded

I season the chicken with creole seasoning and black pepper, brown them in a cast iron skillet for a couple of minutes on each side, and then put the pan in the oven @ 350 for about 15 minutes to cook the chicken.  This makes it really juicy, and it stays that way in the soups!  Rotisserie chicken works good too though!

4 links of Andouille sausage, cut in half lengthwise and then sliced up - I use Aidell's
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced - that's smaller than diced ;-)
1+ tablespoon Creole seasoning -

I use Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning or Tony Cacciatore's, as my mom calls it

1+ teaspoon dried thyme
1+ teaspoon gumbo filé powder* - it's essential folks!
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 cups chicken stock -  that's two boxes
16 oz package of frozen sliced okra
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes 
1/2 cup butter - that's one whole stick kids!
3/4 cup flour
White Rice for serving over
French Bread for dipping and mopping

Prep everything!!!  The roux is a pretty time consuming process, so you want to be able to throw everything else together while whisking with one hand.

Start the roux by melting the butter over medium heat in a small sauce pan or cast iron skillet; add the flour to the butter, and begin to whisk fairly continuously.  It'll start really thick, but you'll want to keep whisking until it becomes thin, and a dark tan color like below.  This takes about 30-45 minutes over medium to medium low heat.  You also have to be careful not to let the roux burn; you'll need to whisk almost constantly.  It's a pain in the ass.

Pay attention to the color near the whisk.  That's the good stuff.  
Stupid florescent lighting.

About 15 minutes after starting the roux, start the rest of the gumbo.  Sauté the onion, bell pepper, and celery in olive oil over medium heat in a soup pot for about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and sauté for 10 more minutes.  Throw in the sausage and all of the spices and saute for 5 more minutes.  Once the roux has reached the right consistency, stir it into the gumbo mixture and coat everything well.  

If the roux isn't ready when you get to this point, you can leave the mixture on low for a good little while.  This time, it took mine almost an hour because I had the heat a little too low.

Now whisk in the chicken stock slowly.  You'll want to do this slowly so the roux doesn't clump up.  Add the tomatoes and okra and stir everything together well.  Taste and adjust your spices - I usually add more creole seasoning, definitely some more gumbo filé powder, and maybe some chicken base or a bullion cube or two...

Bring the gumbo to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low.  Simmer for about an hour.    Add the chicken and simmer for about 30 minutes more, stirring regularly and tasting/adjusting along the way. 

Serve over a big helping of white rice with a chunk of warm French bread!  And maybe a sprinkling more of gumbo filé powder!

This makes about 8 mug sized servings, so it's great for large groups or when you want to have lots o' leftovers. 

And yes, this is ridiculously time intensive and a lot of effort, but it is oh so worth it!  You'll get lots o' love for this one!!

P.S.  It's always better the next day - like spaghetti!

*Anytime there's a "guys" trip planned to New Orleans, Patterick reasons why he should go to me by explaining that if he goes to New Orleans, he'll get to bring me back more gumbo filé powder.  He was devastated when our local grocery started carrying it...

French Onion Soup

Part of our "Week of Soups"

This one isn't one of my favorites, but it is definitely one of Patrick's!  I was sick one time not too long after making this one - unrelated to the soup itself - but once I'd been through that, I just can't eat very much of it...but before that, it was delicious!

That being said, this recipe makes enough for 4 smaller appetizer style servings or two larger it's-what's-for-dinner Patrick style bowls*, so if it's more than two of you, definitely multiply this one!

French Onion Soups

Soups
1 super large or two medium sized yellow onions
2 tablespoons of butter
1 box (4 cups) beef broth
A splash of dry sherry or white wine - I like the flavor this brings to the table, so it's usually about 1/4 of a cup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper

Saute the onions in the butter until they begin to caramelize - usually about 10 minutes.  Most recipes say not to let them get this far, but I think they make the soup better when they get to this flavor!  Once the onions are how you want them, add everything else to the pot and mix it all up.  Bring it to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Taste it, and usually add more black pepper and maybe some salt if you went with the low sodium broth.

Bread / Swiss Cheese "Croutons"
8 slices of french bread about an inch thick each
Swiss cheese to cover each slice of bread

Oven @ 350 (this is the default for my oven, so this is what you get!).  Place the bread on a baking sheet and cover each slice with Swiss cheese.  Bake until the cheese is bubbly!

We like to put one "crouton" in the bottom of the bowl and put soups on top of it, and then float another one up top!  Enjoy!


* We have the most awesome soup mugs!  Thanks Grammy!

The "Week of Soups" Explained

I'm leaving Patterick and the pup-pup for a week to go to my parents for Thanksgiving.

I'm pretty sure they'll survive without me - they'll manage to feed themselves, pup-pup really won't stare out the door waiting for me to come home, and Patrick probably won't run out of clean underwear - but I like to think they won't.

But, in preparation for my abandonment departure, we decided to have a "Week of Soups".  We do love soups, and we're always joking about how we could eat it every day, so we decided to give it a go.  Plus, I have an uncanny ability to make any type of soup in anything even closely resembling a small quantity, so Patrick will have plenty of leftovers for dinners, lunches and breakfasts while I'm away!

Here's the rundown of our week:

Patrick's rating the soups on a scale of 1-10 as we go along :-)

Sunday: Sherried Tomato Soup with Caramelized Onion Focaccia Bread

Patrick's Rating: 9 

Leftover Count: 2 bowls 1 bowl (Patrick had leftovers for lunch)

I'll have to share the focaccia recipe later, since it was a combination of several online and cookbook recipes, and I've got lots of little tweaks to make next time around!  It was amazing though, and I am very frightened that I could now potentially have delicious bread in my house all the time!

Monday: Italian Meatball Soup

Patrick's Rating: 6 

Leftover Count: 3 bowls

I've made this one once before, and I remember it being better a last time, so I'm not sure what I did wrong.  I also add a full can of tomato paste instead of what the recipe calls for, and a can of diced tomatoes.  I'm tomatoey like that.

Tuesday: French Onion 

Patrick's Rating: 8 

Leftover Count: 0 bowls

Recipe coming soon!   An adapted version of the recipe in my Better Hones and Garden cookbook.  This is the only soup in the whole wide world that I can never have leftovers of.  I think it shrinks while cooking.

Wednesday: Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Patrick's Rating: 8 

Leftover Count: 4 bowls

Recipe coming soon!  I am by no means an expert in Cajun food, but I give it a try.  This one is a combination of my mom's recipe, Emeril's recipe from Food Network, and my own little adjustments.  And it makes a ton of food!

Day 4 Note: I miss chewing.

Thursday: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Patrick's Rating: 8 

Leftover Count: 2 bowls

My first foray into the homemade "Soup for Dinner" arena is still regular favorite!  We probably have this one more than any other soup I make, mainly because it is super easy and extra delicious!

Day 5 Note: I'm tired of chopping, and Patrick's tired of doing dishes.

Friday: Irish Beef Stew and Buttered Rosemary Rolls Robbie's Mom's Cornbread

Patrick's Rating: 9 

Leftover Count: 2 bowls

This one is my personal favorite!  It's like your mom's beef stew, but with an extra special delicious kick from the wine and the Guinness!!  It's fabulous.  And I forgot to put the rolls out to thaw this morning, so our neighbor's brought some cornbread down and we all chowed down, and still had leftovers.  Make this one tomorrow!!!   You'll love me for it.

Saturday: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soups

...and then I fly to Tejas where I don't have to cook for a week!!!!!

Meatless Monday and My Mother

We attempted Meatless Monday Tuesday for the first time this week!

If you know us, that's a pretty big accomplishment...we do love our animal proteins here in the Broughton house.

The recipe is below, but first I must introduce you to my little friend:
(my momma introduced him to me)

Classico's Traditional Basil Pesto

It's about $3, and it makes two meals!  What a deliciously great deal!

Funny story - Mom gave me a jar of this in the "pantry care package" she made for me when they put our kitchen back together post-flood.  She told me she tosses the whole jar of pesto with pasta and serves it with a chicken breast.  Dad walks over to me and mutters 'a little goes a really long way.'  And that's one of the many reasons why I love my parents - I guarantee my dad eats it every time she makes it!

Funnier story - The "pantry care package" had 3 things in it that weren't expired 1) the pesto 2) a bottle of bbq sauce 3) a box of gravy mix.  Fun fact: a box of spaghetti purchased today generally doesn't expire for 3 years...the one in our care package expired in 2008.  Thanks for cleaning out your pantry, Mom!  Love you!

Amanda's Pesto Pasta

• One box Whole Grain Penne
• 1/2 jar Classico's Traditional Basil Pesto - shake it up first so the oil is distributed
• 1 can black olives - slice 'em up
• ~1/2 cup Sun-Dried tomatoes - I use the pre-julienned ones so no work for me!
• 2 8oz. packages of sliced mushrooms - I use whatever type is on sale...
• Salt / Pepper
• Parmesan cheese for topping

Boil water and cook the pasta according to the package directions.  While the pasta is cooking, saute the mushrooms in olive oil with a sprinkling of salt and pepper until tender and delicious!  Drain the pasta and return to pasta pot.  Toss in the pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, sliced olives, and mushrooms.  Spoon a large helping onto a plate and top with some Parmesan cheese shavings!

It's nothing fancy, but its kind of healthy, and super-duper easy to make on a week night.  Plus, this makes a ton of food - for the two of us, it's more than enough for seconds and lunch the next day!

P.S.  If we weren't going meatless, it's also super delicious with a grilled chicken breast sliced up and tossed in in place of one of the packages of mushrooms - almost just like Mom makes!

Friday Night Date Night

Friday night date night has returned!!!  And I am oh so happy!!

On Friday nights, we used to regularly have "date night" at home:  try a new recipe together, have some wine, and play a game or watch a movie all cuddly-like on the couch

I know.  We're the boring old married couple.  It's really what we do best.

This past Friday, Patterick surprised me with a shiny new Wii 2.0 for date night game time!!   

In yo' face Harpeth River!!

And then we tried lots of new recipes to make up for all of the date nights we've missed:

Olive Cheese Bread for appetizering while I beat Patrick at Wii jet skiiing...

(apologies for the horrible picture)

then Steak by Patrick with Onion-Blue Cheese Sauce and sauteed Asparagus/Tomatoes

and more amazing bread!!  The Bread.

with Five Rivers wine thanks to Wes and Sydney.  

Punkasses.

It was absolutely perfect!

Don't judge.  We love to cook together and on Friday nights, we try new recipes, regardless of how utterly unhealthy the recipe(s) might be.  It's what we do.  We walked Abbey twice that night. 

Seester and a wedding

I know I'm like 17 year behind the times on this one, but seester and I Skyped for the first time last week!! 

I love love loved it!! Why have I never had a web cam before now?!?!?!?  

I could see her and I could talk to her.  AT THE SAME TIME!!!  

It almost made me not mind that we live 10 hours apart.

Almost.

Now if only Mom would not have dial-up...

In other news, we went to San Antonio (yeehaw) last weekend, saw lots of old friends, ate and drank way too much, and, oh yeah, Holly Jo and Adam got marriaged!!  She was bea-u-ti-ful!  Congrats guys!!

Sorry about the break...

So it's been a bit of a busy summer - and writing about my life hasn't really been a priority, plus any and all posts probably would have contained a lot of curse words...but things finally seem to be back to normal!  We're back in our house; we've got almost all of our furniture replaced, things are starting to go back up on the walls, and I don't quite hyperventilate as much anymore when it rains!  I'll post pictures of the "new-again" place soon, but for now, I'm too lazy for that, so you'll have to wait.

We're having our first official we-don't-have-to-do-a-damn-thing weekend this weekend, which I am super excited about.  I plan to plant myself on our new sofa and spend the majority of the weekend there - you'll need to come to me if you want to see me, sorry.

On a non-house related note (and who knew such a thing existed?!?!?), its finally Soup Season!!!  In spite of the 95 degree weather and the lack of my ability to wear a sweater without having a heatstroke, we've decided it's time.  So in honor of the first official day of Fall, I give you soup number one of the season:

Irish Beef Stew

I must say that I am ridiculously amazing.  It needed to be said.

And the best part...

P.S.  Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup is on-deck for the weekend!!!!...if I can pry myself away from my couch...

Prayers for Granddad...

Apparently these days, when it rains, it pours - literally and figuratively. 

My wonderfully loving and delightful Granddad - Benton - could use a little prayer.  He's been having back problems for quite a few months now, and Mamaw finally decided that something had to be done.  After a barrage of tests, a hospital stay, and a host of poking and prodding,  they think its some form of bone cancer.

They don't know the degree of it yet, but we're headed to Texas just to be there and have some Helm family time over the long weekend while we had a little window of time we could slip away from the house and life around here.  Sadly, we're going to miss Patrick's family's annual Fourth Festivities, but I need some Granddad time!

Please just keep him in your prayers!  We'll be back soon to tackle more house-related adventures, but for now, we're off to get a Granddad hug!

Some Granddad wisdom for the day:

Keep your eyes open out there -

people'll think you're pretty dumb if you're walkin' around with 'em shut.

What is it?

When my brother was visiting the weekend after the flood, he took a walk in the muddy flood plain field behind our house and collected goodies that had floated back there for us!  The field had collected all of the bushes that had washed out of the holes in our flower beds - many thanks to Norfolk's landscapers for leaving the root balls intact so they just floated away after being planted for 6 months, a water hose on a reel, a rickety rocking chair that lasted until we could find another like the one that floated downstream, a huge ceramic plant urn for the sis-in-law, plenty of gutter downspouts, a pooper scooper, enough lumber to rebuild my stairs and frame out some under-stair storage, my (and my neighbors) doormats - or at least a 'B' and 'F', respectively, and this plant - which used to be hideous!  I neglected it for a good 7 weeks - I think Patrick watered it once, but apparently it thrives on neglect, so it might be just the plant for us!  To my surprise, I looked at it sitting in its pot in our new weed bed, and we had little pink flowers!!!!!  Who knew it would be so pretty?!?!?

 
Of course, if I start paying attention to it now, it'll probably die...


PS - Pay no attention to the surrounding weeds - it'll be a flower bed again someday.

PPS - Does anyone know what this might be?  Until yesterday (or the day before), it was just the stick-y part - no leaves or blooms.  And if it's any hint, it seems to thrive without water and in 100 degree weather...

Things you should know

1.  It's ridiculously freaking hot.  I'm done with summer.  Fall, please.

2.  I'll be posting house progress pictures soon, just for Mo.

3.  Patrick and I have the condo to ourselves for a couple of weeks while the parents-in-law are out of town...and today I discovered they left us with no coffee!!!  How dare they?!?!?  Now I have to go to the grocery for the first time in about two months (excluding a quick beer trip or two...).  I might need a map to the coffee aisle....

4.  I woke up to this this morning:

He's all talk about being strict with her.  

Sorry about the picture - it was early, and I wasn't thinking about lighting.

5.  Tile is expensive, and there are way too many options that almost all look the same.  

6.  I wish Abbey could actually do my work for me...

 

7.  Our cabinets are going to be amazing!  My parents are amazing!  Did I mention I'm getting drawers in the bathroom???  That almost makes the flood worth it!!!  Just kidding.

That's all for now.

My Guacamole

Patterick thinks I shouldn't share this in such detail - he thinks we won't have any friends if they all can make this for themselves or something, but here's my super delicious Guacamole recipe anyways - I have faith in the fact that ppl like us for more than my guacamole making abilities.  It's a lot of work - mostly of the chopping variety, but it's totally worth it! 

Presented in the style of The Pioneer Woman.

FYI - taking, editing, and posting this many pictures take a long time; I don't know how she does it everyday - but, I'm in love with her method!!  She has ruined all other cookbooks for me.  I am lost without step by step pictures.  Thanks a lot PW.

P.P.S.  These pictures were obviously BF.  I miss my kitchen.

On to the guac...

What you'll need - plus the cumin I forgot for the picture: 

(4-5 avocados, 2 limes, 1 medium onion, 3-4 cups of cherry tomatoes, a bunch of cilantro, 1 jalapeno, 2 Tbsp black pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp garlic salt,  1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cumin.)

Start with the juice of one lime in a large bowl.  It takes me a while to chop everything, so this keeps the avocados bright green!

Slice up and scoop out the avocados into the lime juiced bowl.  The avocados should be ripe, but not smooshy - just a little give when you squeeze them.
 
Extracting an Avocado 101 with Amanda:  

Slice all of the way around the pit...

...then twist them open and whack the pit with your knife and twist it out (you might need to then whack the pit on the side of the sink to get it off your knife)...

 ...and then score the avocado in it's skin with a knife and use a spoon to scoop out the goodness!

P.S. This recipe uses a lot o' dishes.

Now mash up the avocados with a fork.  This is the only mashing we do, so make it as smooth or as chunky as you like - I'm smooth, personally. 

Now dice up one medium sized onion.

Now at the time I was planning to share this recipe, I was going to make some cute little comment about how 'if you're me, you have to deal with this under your feet waiting for the slightest crumb of anything to fall', but given the fact that rug and floor are no longer in my house, having her under my feet seems like a fairly insignificant thing to complain about - but isn't she cute?!?!?

Back to the food - add the onions to the mix.

Now chop up one large jalapeno.  I think it's easiest to chop off the top, run a knife around the inside to cut out the membrane and seeds, rinse out the inside of the jalapeno to get rid of the hot stuff, cut it in half, slice each half into super thin strips, and then diced the strips super duper fine - but that's just me...

And add the spicy dicey to the mix!

Now we need to chop up about half a bunch of cilantro - cilantro's a pretty strong and distinct flavor, so just use as much as you want, and you can always add more.  We're big cilantro fans though, so if you've had this from us before, it probably had upwards of 2/3 to 3/4 of a bunch in it - just a little perspective for ya!  Make sure you take all of the leaves off the stems; it's worth it!  Then add it to the mix...

Now stir the mix together.  Please note the use of yet another utensil.

Next comes the black pepper - add about 2 tablespoons of regular ground black pepper.  Don't be afraid.  It really does take this much to make it perfect.  You can start with less and just taste it as you add, but I always end up with this much...

You also need to add 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt,  1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin.

And mix it all together.  At this point you want to taste it and add more of something.  Something else always needs to be added - and it's usually the juice of half a lime.

Now comes the fun part - slicing cherry tomatoes.  You may be thinking 'Amanda, why don't you just throw them in there whole?' or 'Amanda, why not use a big tomato that's easier to slice?', but trust me, this is the way it has to be.  The cherry tomatoes always have just the perfect flavor that you don't always find in regular tomatoes, and they need to be sliced up so they're easier to scoop with a chip and so their juices permeate the whole guacamole.  Trust me, we've tried to make this easier...

You'll need 3-4 cups of tomatoes, depending on how tomato-ey you want it and how long it takes you to get tried of slicing them in eighths (or fourths if it's a really small tomato).

Now add the tomatoes to the mix and fold them in very lightly.  You don't want to over mix here so you'll still be able to see the red tomatoes - think pretty!  (Sorry about the flash in this picture - it's really not this slimy)

And TA- DA!!!  

This is where I wipe down the edges of the bowl and sprinkle a little more tomato on the center to make it pretty for hubby's official taste-testing, but he never even notices...

According to Patrick, any official taste testing must be done with a chip so the saltiness of the chip is taken into consideration as a part of the overall flavor.

 He usually tells me it needs more lime, so I add it, bringing the official total for recipe-keeping purposes up to "the juice of two limes".

Then refrigerate it for a couple of hours and serve chilled.  On the Border chips are best, for the record.  Enjoy!

And please still be my friend...

BAM!

I ran directly into a wall this past weekend.

Under normal circumstances, I would be referring to a literal wall - since running into one is a daily occurrence for me.  But this wall was emotional.

I'm done with it.  I want my house back.  I want my own bed.  I want to be able to sit on my own couch and work or watch TV or cuddle.  I want to have a relaxing weekend that doesn't involve sheetrock dust, appliance shopping, furniture looking, paint shopping or going to Lowes.  I want to be able to open the door and let Abbey Lane run and play.   I want blinds because 12 foot windows stink at 5:30am.  I want to drink coffee in my rocking chair on my porch and gossip with Patrick about our neighbors.  I want my Wii back so we can play MarioKart.  I want my pretty flowers that got engulfed by the garbage pile to magically reappear.  I want to cook dinner in my kitchen.  I want to drink wine in the garage and play darts.  I WANT MY LIFE BACK.

I hate you Harpeth River.

Thanks for listening - I'm better...for now.

Seriously?

I would just like to take a moment to thank the company who has made my month even better , so THANK YOU AARP, for sending me, Ms Amanda Broughton, a membership card - that's definitely what I needed!

No joke - they're only off by 23 years...

On a happier note, we got sheetrock today!!!  So let the walls begin!

Amanda 2000 vs. Amanda 2010

On May 22, 2000, my wonderfully thoughtful junior English III teacher had us all write a letter to ourselves 10 years in the future - to Amanda 2010.  During the flood clean-up, I stumbled across this letter, all soggy and muddy on the outside, but somehow, the letter survived - it must have been all of that gel ink I was so fond our back then.

 
It's full of interesting little tid-bits of information - like who I went to prom with, who I had just started dating at the time, how old my brother and sister were, my favorite classes and teachers, who my best friends were, what I did in my spare time, and how much gas was ($1.35 a gallon, for the record).

We were also supposed to write about where we thought we'd be in 10 years, and what would have happened during that time - and that's the most interesting part!  I predicted that I'd go to A&M or OU - which were the schools I ruled out first the summer after my junior year.  I wanted to be a graphic designer, so I guess I wasn't too far off there, although graphic design is the only part of web development that I stink at...  I thought I'd be married by now according to the letter, and I was smart enough to realize at the time of writing the letter that I hadn't met that person yet.  I planned on having a kid by now, but I am glad plans have changed.  We do want kids in the not too distant future, but I thank God that we don't have a child going through this experience with us.  In the biggest surprise, I wrote, "I hope I get to move back to Denison because I think it would be an awesome place to raise my kids!".  While I do think Denison was a great place to grow up, I'm not sure I can see myself living there again, and I am definitely sure Patrick would have something to say about that move!

I'm not a big believer in fate - I generally think we get where we are by our own actions, but I have to wonder about this one.  I honestly have no idea where this letter was in the house - it could have been a yearbook that was ruined and fell out as it was thrown on a trash pile, it could have been in a box of papers from college that disintegrated, or it could have been in any number of other things that the pack rat in me deemed a necessary part of my life, but it ended up in a wet, crumpled mess on my front yard.  If there was no flood, I most definitely wouldn't have read this letter anywhere near May 22, 2010.

But I did.  And I needed it.  This sounds cheesy, but I read it at the right time in my life.  It made me realize that - in spite of the flood and losing so much that Patrick and I had worked so hard for (me for the past 10 years, really), that I am very, very happy with my water-logged life.  You could not have ever made me believe in 2000 that I would end up married to an amazing guy from Tennessee who would have been able to convince this Texas girl to move here, but I love where I have ended up (especially the Patrick part).  And I would never have guessed that I haven't spoken to either of the two people who were my bestest friends in high school in well over a year, but I guess we all have different futures.  And I never would have guessed that I would be dealing with a '1000 year flood' in my living room, but I wouldn't be dealing with it if I weren't who I am now, and I truly can't imagine where I'd rather be.  And I suppose there's a reason we can't predict the future - and I am certainly glad that Amanda 2000 couldn't.

So, thank you Mrs. Terry - where ever you are - for knowing that a 27 year old might need a little perspective from the 17 year old version of them self.  (And I'm certain there's a comma splice in here - that was always my weakness...)

Finally...

NO MORE PILE OF TRASH!!!!!

Now how to get rid of the sheetrock dust...

Flood Pictures, Finally

This about sums up our life lately.  Trash and smiles.  Trash because it's everywhere, and smiles because, in spite of all that has happened, we're okay, we have each other, we have a place to stay, we have awesome friends and family, and there's not much else you can do but accept things at this point and make the best of it with a smile.

I finally got a card adapter, so here are some pics of our mess.  And lots more can be found here.

And how things look now - except a little cleaner...

And most of all...

to every single person who has helped us, loved us, hugged us, fed us, prayed for us, and thought of us in the past 10 days.  You really have no idea how much you mean to us.