Veteran's Day Weekend



My new "Hope" shoes

Happy Veteran's Day to all present and former men and women of the United States Military. Your sacrifices are much appreciated and I am honored to be the wife of a current Army Captain!  Unfortunately for Jon, his Veteran's Day celebrations included getting all four of his wisdom teeth taken out.  Although, he was unable to eat and pretty swollen on Thursday after his surgery, we were really blessed there were no complications during and after his surgery.  He's almost back to 100% and we had no issues during his recovery, well except for his stomach being hungry!  Thursday and Friday we were able to spend some time with my mother-in-law, Donna, and brother-in-law, Tim.  This was a very special visit because Donna just left to go back to Peru where her and Kenny (Jon's father) are missionaries.  It was bittersweet enjoying our time together and knowing we would not see Donna again for another year but we're also incredibly excited for the work they are doing for the Kingdom.  To find out more about Kenny and Donna's work in Peru, you can read their blog, Peru for Christ.  During, Donna and Tim's visit we got to go shopping!  This was our very first trip to the Columbus mall, which was a lot bigger than I expected.  A couple of months ago in my blog I mentioned the Tom's shoe brand and how awesome it is (which it is still awesome) BUT I have found another awesome brand that is doing a similar project called "The Good Shoe Project."  Airwalk has partnered with World Vision and for every shoe that is sold they will donate a pair to a child in need.  The Hope shoe is sold at Payless and is only $19.99 (instead of the $50 for Tom's) but this project is only expected to go through mid February.  I got my Hope shoe, now go get yours!  Merry Thanksgiving to me :) Well, the boys eventually got restless about all the shopping but we did find Tim some new clothes and shoes for his new soon-to-be post grad school life, mission accomplished.  Every Nuclear Engineer needs new jeans and new shoes!  At the end of the night, after Donna showed me how to make a roast with potatoes and carrots, we (Jon and I) put on our Carolina jerseys and watched the UNC vs. Michigan State basketball game that was held on board the USS Carl Vinson at North Island Naval Station in San Diego, California!  My school truly is the best, go heels!

After Tim and Donna left, Jon and I responsibly tried to do some Christmas shopping and Spain planning.  The verdict - accomplished a bit but still much more to go!  We booked our Madrid hotel alongside some Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Bars - super healthy and hit the spot!

I love the Army because for major holidays they (usually) give everyone a 4-day weekend and I love 4-day weekends because a.) I get to spend more time with Jon b.) We (sometimes) get to go to NC or another fun place and c.) Jon has enough free time to make breakfast AND dinner.  Yes, I was spoiled yesterday.  On a usual Monday I would have oatmeal for breakfast and some quick, thrown together dinner made by yours truly.  But not yesterday!  Jon made french toast for breakfast and a healthy Cheesecake Factory Louisianna Chicken Pasta for dinner.  It was pure joy.  Tasted so incredibly delicious and literally a thousand times healthier!  Hence, I have instated a weekly reoccurance of Jon's new dish.  Thanks, love!

Also, in my quick and hasteful post I want to mention that last week I hosted a wine night with my girlfriends here in our apartment.  It was awesome having a mid-week girls night with tasty treats, yummy wine, and delightful company!  Speaking of, we probably need to get started on planning the next one ;)

 

Rache, Sally, Allison, Evangelina, me, and Jordan!

Hebrews 10:24-25



Rachel, Evangelina, Me, & Sally eating our first MRE

What a great weekend!  We spent the majority of the weekend in fellowship with our newfound friends, many of which also go to CrossPointe Church.  Our sweet friends, Josh & Evangelina Garcia, graciously invited a group of people over for dinner on Friday night.  Initially, I thought perhaps another couple in addition to Jon and I would be dining at the Garcia's on Friday, but boy was I wrong!  Evangelina cooked for 10 couples + her and Josh + 2 adorable toddlers = 12 adults and 2 toddlers!!  She truly is an impressive lady!  I mustn't forget that Josh cooked for us as well... at some point in the night the conversation turned to MREs. MRE stands for Meal Ready to Eat and it is what the military uses as meals when in combat or during training exercises in the field.  Clearly all the husbands at dinner were very familiar with MREs, some were even discussing their favorite flavors!  But, folks, do not be deceived, this is not a "lunchable" type meal (you know with the ham, cheese, and crackers).  MREs are meant to be a complete meal, each one providing an average of 1200 calories.  Although safe to eat cold, all MREs come with a flameless heater because MREs "taste" better when they are warm.  Josh was kind enough to heat up a chicken fajita MRE for the ladies by filling up the water-activated heater and letting it rest for a few minutes.  All the girls, minus Allie because she's pregnant, put together the tortilla, refried beans, and chicken fajita mixture topped with the cheese sauce and sampled our first MRE!  My conclusion?  It is edible but I will never choose to eat it again.  Now, Evangelina's sopapilla cheesecake?  Yes, please, I'll have seconds.



Columbus Public Library

Late Saturday morning, we drove over the the Columbus Public Library and got library cards!!  I'm not kidding, and we were super stoked about it too.  I could not believe how big and how pretty the Columbus library is - it is an incredible library and it is in COLUMBUS, GA!  We wondered around all over and even checked out some materials for our Spain trip.  Oh and I also found this cookbook, Hodgson Mill Whole Grain Baking: 400 Healthy and Delicious Recipes for Muffins, Breads, Cookies, and More, yes, I do love the library!  Eventually, we finally made it back home only to soon head out again.  Our church hosted a large potluck dinner/bonfire Saturday where I took some Spiced Caramel Apple muffins and we all feasted on an overwhelming amount of food and an even more amount of dessert!  We had a blast meeting some new folks and hanging out with our new friends, Peter and Sally Arendt, who were also at the Garcia's the night before.  Evangelina and baby Isabella were also able to join us at the potluck even though poor Josh had to do some training in the field.  So while we all had BBQ and a million side dishes, Josh was probably chowing down on an MRE...  We also had the privilege of chatting with our pastor, Brad Evangelista, briefly before leaving, which is always so encouraging because he is one of the most genuine and passionate people I have ever met.  After leaving the potluck, we really wanted to watch "A Better Life," so much that we drove to three different Redbox locations looking for it.  Unfortunately, it was out of stock at all of them so Jon rented "The American" with George Clonney, who is getting pretty old by the way.  Movie review?  I've been pretty disappointed with the last two George movies I've seen, this one included.  It is a muted romantic thriller oozing a little too much with existential angst.  I know a few people that would definitely enjoy this type of film, but I was not a fan.

After getting an extra hour of sleep Saturday night due to the time change, we went to church, where Pastor Brad preached on the theology of adoption.  Sunday was Orphan Sunday, an international movement among Christian churches to recognize our responsibility to care for orphans and promote this culture within our church.  We may not all be called to adopt, but we are called to participate in the process - either by financially supporting, fostering, praying for families and children in the process, or ourselves adopting.  It was a beautiful message including the wonderful testimony of a family that has adopted a little boy and is in the process of adopting a little girl at our church.  As always, I recommend you to listen to this inspirational and truth-bearing message that can be found on the church's website.  After the service, we hung out some more!  We went to Panera with a group of people from church, Tyler & Jordan Matthews (met at Lifepointe Group), Peter & Sally Arendt, and Josh & Evangelina Garcia.  It was great spending so much time in fellowship this weekend and I truly believe that having a church family has had a direct effect on our positive attitudes about Columbus.  We didn't have this type of community in Clarksville, which made it difficult to adjust to being far away from friends and family.  Given that Jesus’ final words to his disciples were delivered in the context of a group meal, I think we can surmise that fellowship is pretty important.  That said, sharing an MRE, going out to lunch, hanging out at a friend’s house–all of these activities are valuable forms of Christian fellowship. We may not be explicitly talking about Christ the entire time, but the way in which we listen to one another, build one another up, and create an environment of trust has the fingerprints of Christ all over it.   I am so thankful for the amazing church we found here and the awesome relationships we are forming! 



And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25

Dinner Party & Atlanta

Success!  We entertained our first non-family guests this weekend!  Our sweet friends, Josh and Evangelina Garcia and their sweet baby girl, Isabella along with our neighbor, Collin, came over for dinner Friday night.  We had a great time enjoying each other's company, talking, and eating (clearly the Flaspoehler's favorite thing to do).  I made my mom's Arroz con Pollo recipe which I could not post to my food blog because it involves "a little of this, some of that" ABSOLUTELY no real measurements which is a miracle that I can even make it!  Also, it includes speciality ingredients like Salsa Lizano (a condiment that is is ubiquitous on restaurant tables in Costa Rica, much in the same way ketchup is here in the States).  Also, I made Carnitas in the slow cooker with a pork shoulder and a carnitas sauce I bought at the Fresh Market.  Many of you would say that is cheating but considering how much work the Arroz takes I figured it was only fair to cheat a little where possible.  Speaking of cheating, I also made my first pumpkin pie and I don't know about everyone else but I LOVED IT!  I don't normally love anything I make - except if it's pumpkin flavored.  Instead of cutting/baking the mini pumpkin I bought I used canned pumpkin... but I also used PUMPKIN SOY MILK, which I truly believe should be sold in stores all year round.  Nonetheless, having our first (non-family) guests over for dinner was a success and hopefully it will happen more often!

Saturday, we drove to Atlanta to take my car into the Mini dealership for service.  During our wait, we of course looked at the new mini, the Mini Coupe, which is even smaller than my convertible mini and only seats two people!  Clearly, it's a darling little car but absolutely not practical (like mine is super practical...), also I was really surprised that it is not a convertible.  It's a very sporty car but I don't think it will sell as well as it would had it been convertible.  We took advantage of being in Atlanta to visit friends/family and we also had every intention to do some Christmas shopping but that didn't happen.  We met up with Jon's brother, Tim, my cousin, Randall, and our dear friend, James, at Atlantic Station and had a long and pleasant lunch.  It was really fun to walk around that area too because there was some sort of Halloween festival going on and tons of small children and pets dressed up for Halloween! 

Finally, at CrossPointe Church this past Sunday, our friends Josh and Evangelina, along with some other folks got baptised!  Their beautiful testimony was read out loud and after Josh's baptism he then baptised his wife, Evangelina. 

Also, in some exclusive weekly news... I made Spiced Pumpkin Bread for Jon and his Captain's Career Course class as a Halloween treat.  But, that is not nearly as exciting us our other Halloween treat - we bought our tickets to Spain Monday night!!  What a Happy Halloween for us :-) Unfortunately, we will be missing Christmas with my family but we'll still get to see them for a few days when we get back.  We're flying into Madrid on December 18th where we'll be focusing on Andalusia for our trip and flying back on December 29th.  Andalusia is the southern part of Spain, which includes Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, etc. and this region's history and culture have been heavily influenced by the Muslims, Greeks, and Romans.  More to come on our trip to Spain!

Home Sweet Home

And I do mean Columbus!  I still feel like a traitor calling Georgia home - but alas, that is where my home is (for now).  It sure was nice to finally be home and not driving this weekend.  We absolutely love taking road trips but it was time we stayed in town for a change.    Friday night was our lazy night; we ate "tapas" for dinner which simply means I did not cook and we snacked on stuff all night and I actually convinced Jon to watch a scary movie in preparation for Halloween!  We watched Paranormal Activity and I won't lie, we jumped and "AHed!" a few times... but the most hilarious part was that we both closed our eyes at the end.  We know how it ended but didn't actually see the last 30 seconds.  We are chickens, I know, I'm not ashamed.

Well, good thing we laid low Friday night because Saturday we rented bicycles at Ride on Bikes downtown and rode through the RiverWalk for two and a half hours!!  The Columbus RiverWalk is picturesque, peaceful and with its historic markers, even educational.  It is an outdoor 22-mile linear park that hugs the banks of the Chattahoochee River and on this specifically beautiful sunny Saturday it was being enjoyed by walkers, cyclists, and joggers - all appreciating the beautiful nature that surrounds the trail.  We had such a lovely time trying out our new hobby that we completely lost track of time (and the distance!) but finally, we returned to our starting place feeling rejuvenated from our morning/afternoon ride.  We finally calculated how far we'd gone on our bikes and it was between 18-20 miles!! AHHH, can you believe that? I cannot!  I've had four knee surgeries, I never in my life would have expected to be able to go 5 miles, even less 20!  Well, I think I proved myself on Saturday :-) I can definitely get into biking.  Later that afternoon, we enjoyed a Pumpkin Spice Latte & a Salted Caramel Mocha while we did work.  I studied for the GMAT and Jon worked on his Army brief at Starbucks... doing work is so much more enjoyable with a tasty treat in hand.  I really need to either commit to this GMAT exam or not because right now I am only half committed making myself study when I'm done reading the Economist and Bloomberg.  There is no point in wasting my time studying sometimes if I'm not going to take it and there's no point in taking it if I don't really study.  I'll let y'all know what I decide...

Anywho.... we finally got back home after a trip to the Fresh Market (where I found pumpkin soy milk!!) and CRASHED.  We had absolutely no energy to get dressed and go out Saturday night.  Looks like our bike trip hit us hard!  We quickly decided it was a Trader Joe's Orange Chicken (along with some TJ's dumplings) and RedBox night.  We watched an incredible foreign film that I would highly recommend everyone to watch, Incendies.  The storytelling in Incendies strikes me as primal the way Greek tragedy is primal. Shattering. Cathartic. It is a breathtaking film. Go rent it.

This morning at CrossPointe Church our pastor, Brad Evangelista, preached a sermon called "Predestined According to His Purpose" that I would also highly encourage everyone to listen to.  It was a very real sermon on a highly controversial topic that I've never felt comfortable with.  For the first time in my life, I began feeling a bit more at peace about predestination after leaving church this morning.  Jon and I absolutely love our church here in Columbus, and come next Spring it's going to be awfully hard to leave it.  We know the Lord will provide us a new church in North Carolina but we will be sad to say goodbye to CrossPointe.  On the bright side, we get to go back to CrossPointe on Tuesday for our Life Pointe Group :-)

NC Bound: Ale's Wedding

This past weekend, one of my childhood friends got married!  It is so hard to believe that little Ale is all grown-up and married.  I have known Ale since I was in 1st or 2nd grade (she is 2 years younger), we grew up together and our families have always been very close.  Ale's family is also from Costa Rica and I still remember when our families were the only hispanic families in Lincolnton... boy was that a long time ago!  I saw Ale a few times when she was at UNC Wilmington and I was at Chapel Hill but we didn't get to see each other very often so in my mind she was still "little Ale."  I am so happy for her and Lee - getting to start their lives together and live in their favorite place, the mountains!  I am clearly an advocate for marriage as I have enjoyed mine so much thus far :) I am also extremely excited for Caroline Ranghel or should I say, Mr. and Mrs. Ashley Blake for tying the knot this weekend too!  Unfortunately I could not be in two places at once and had to miss Caroline's wedding but I know she looked stunning and had a perfect wedding in Raleigh, NC. 

Ale & Lee's wedding was the epitome of a beautiful fall wedding.  They got married at Lee's parent's mountain house in Grassy Creek, NC overlooking the beautifully orange, red, and brown leaved trees.  Ale looked stunning in her gorgeous gown and her & Lee wore orange Chacos for the wedding.  The cool, crisp air of fall surrounded them as they danced together for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Lee Warden.  Perfect for a NC wedding (best BBQ = NC BBQ) they served BBQ, green beans, & cole slaw for dinner with pumpkin beer!  It was all too cute.  Congratulations Ale & Lee!!

My mother and husband accompanied me to the wedding and I got to catch up with one of my best friends from high school, Alex Mullen and his girlfriend, Nicole Sykes.  It was great to see some old familiar faces from Lincolnton there and also enjoy the beautiful scenery.  I am so thankful to Jon for willingly driving 8+ hours there and 8+ hours home for me to get to attend Ale's wedding.  Luckily, Lincolnton was on the way so we were able to stop and visit with my family some and break up the drive.  Clearly this is not enough time for me to consider it a "trip home" so I will be arranging another trip to NC soon :-)

During the short time we had in Lincolnton - we managed to eat mama's chuletas, gallo pinto, and empanadas and dad cooked us up some delicious kabobs before we left on Sunday!  Per usual, our trip was concluded with a dose of cafe con (tico) pan.  My parents, without fail, pick up baked Costa Rican goodies from the Costa Rican bakery (Tico Pan) every time we are in town and we delight in these with a cup of coffee.  We also ate some yummy Spiced Pumpkin Bread I made to try out a new recipe and it was tasty!
Lastly, I'd like to note that on our way home, we got gas for $2.86 in South Carolina!  Yes, exit 75 in Spartenburg!  Come on, GA, let's see you match SC's prices...

Beautiful Ale!

Jon & I with the sun in our eyes

Road Trip: Savannah, GA

                   Savannah  

I don't even know where to start except by simply saying I love Savannah.  Well, that and the fact that Jon and I have been hurting this week for all the "good eating" we did in Savannah ;)  Jon had Friday off and I took a vacation day so we could get an early start on our lovely Savannah weekend.  We wanted to get there so badly that we drove straight there (plus it was only a 4.5 hr drive) but for those of you that know Jon are well aware that he cannot go 2 hours without food.  Planning ahead, I packed him some snacks but in the morning rush I put my bag in the trunk!  TROUBLE.  So I lied when I said we drove straight to Savannah, we stopped for 2 minutes to grab the snacks out of the trunk.  As you can imagine, once we got to Savannah, we were starving!  Solution?  Shane's Rib Shack.  I did not love my BBQ chicken sandwich but I did love Jon's BBQ sandwich and the sweet potato fries were phenomenal.  Also, I think it's important to remember the Brunswick stew, it was quite delightful.  Don't get me wrong, Shane's was no Brother's BBQ, but it was a nice introduction to GA BBQ.  Clearly after stuffing our faces we started regretting eating so much and so fast but oh well we enjoyed it while it lasted :) The restaurant also has a Sunday Special, "Bring in your church bulletin and get 10% off."  Ah, I love the South!

Drinks @ Vic's



me in front of a huge pumpkin!



After a quick trip to our hotel suite to check-in we quickly departed for Historic Savannah (downtown).  I immediately fell in love and decided I never wanted to leave.  Streets and streets covered in history and historic buildings, restaurants, shops, houses, and monuments were everywhere!  Not to mention, River Street overlooking the Savannah River was absolutely amazing.  One neat law in Historic Savannah is that you are allowed to walk around with an alcoholic beverage as long as it's 16 ounces or less and it's in a paper or plastic cup.  We took advantage of the beautiful afternoon and walked up and down River Street, peaking in some of the stores and checking out the local vendors.  Due to our incredibly large lunch we weren't very hungry as the evening approached so we decided to check out Vic's on the River for happy hour.  So glad we went to Vic's!  It was a beautiful restaurant and the drinks were tasty; I had a Pina Colada and Jon had a Savannah Sweet Tea.  We loved the environment and the menu looked awesome, too bad we were still BBQ-stuffed. Well, to wrap up our Friday in less words than I have been able to use thus far, we continued to walk around and get aquainted with the area and finally ate dinner at another fun restaurant overlooking the river with live music.  At Tubby's we split the calamari appetizer and the shrimp po' boy (even though I still was not hungry!).   On our walk back after dinner, we were serenaded by a couple of guys singing "End of the Road" by Boys 2 Men and that's the best way to end a night, always.

Enjoying a bev on River St.


So I will not go into great detail with the rest of the trip, as I am trying to watch the Republican Debate and finish this post before bed...  Saturday we went on the Savannah Historic Trolly Tour and learned so much about the area and all the beautiful landmarks in the historic district.  We explored all morning and worked up an appetite.  The Pirate House seemed appropriate considering it was Pirate Fest in Tybee Island that day and many of the customers dining were in fact dressed as pirates for the festival. The place contains one of the oldest buildings in the historic district, and there was plenty of pirate lore all around. Southern style buffet for Jon: fried chicken, fried fish, fried okra, green beans, AWESOME mashed potatoes (of which I stole many bites), bbq, etc.  I delighted in a superb she crab soup with a steak and cheese sandwich and cornbread/biscuits were served with honey butter and orange marmalade.  It's clearly a popular spot because there was a 20-30 minute wait at 2:00 for lunch in October!  Skipping down to that evening, we were again too full for a traditional dinner so we went to the Rooftop Bar at the Bohemian Hotel for a drink before our night time Ghost Tour of the city.  This is probably the best place to have a drink overlooking the river at night, so beautiful and classy!  Now, for our Spooky Ghost Tour.  Savannah is in the top 3 "most haunted cities in America" and with all the deaths there from Yellow Fever and the city burning down 3 times they definitely have some stories to tell.  We walked around all over (90 minute tour) in the dark listening to the ghost stories for each building, taking pictures of the "ghosts" and getting chigger bit... well I did at least.  Oh well, it was fun and we learned a lot more about the city!  Finally, we decided to grab a "light" dinner at Jazz'd Tapas, you decide how light it really was.  A baked cheese terra cotta plate included blend of several cheeses (brie, goat cheese, fontina, and an aged cranberry cheddar) melted and topped with a succulent roasted head of garlic.  Tart green apples fanned around the edge of the terra cotta bowl, and the plate was also covered with toasted slices of baguette.  We also had the crab cakes which were a wonderful taste of a Savannah favorite. Plenty of crab meat came together for these scrumptious morsels, served with a remoulade sauce. Finally we had cuban rubbed beef satays; beef strips served with an original and successful sweet jalapeno glaze over crisp plantains.  Live jazz was playing during our delicious meal; we were incredibly pleased with our experience.

  

Jon & Scarecrow @ 17hundred90 during ghost tour

Forest Gump showed up on our Trolly Tour



Jon reading the paper before the Trolly Tour

 Sunday morning rolls around... my legs are killing me, Jon is exhausted, we must be getting old!  To our defense we did walk around A LOT the past two days and stay up A LOT later than we normally do.  The day was cloudy and windy, as predicted, seemingly there was a storm a brewing.  Due to the potential rain that afternoon and tropical storm coming in on Monday we decided to check out a day early.  We weren't heartbroken because we had seen and done a lot in our time and were quite exhausted, plus it gave us an excuse to come back and go to Tybee Island next time!  After breakfast, we packed up the Mini Cooper and headed out... but we weren't quite ready to leave, not yet.  We took one last drive through the historic district and clearly ended up parking and walking some more.  Finally, we came upon 17hundred90 Restaurant & Inn, which we had visited during our ghost tour.  In the brick-lined, low-ceilinged cellar of Savannah's oldest inn, this place is the site of Savannah's most famous 18th-century suicide.  Anne Powell is said to still be in her room, RM 204, which can be rented out.  There is a life-size female mannequin dressed in the 1800s dress which is looking out the window for the entertainment of the nightly ghost tours and is quite creepy I might add.  Anyway, the cute basement restaurant won us over and despite our lack of hunger, we split an order of french toast which we did not know also came with honey butter biscuits that were impossible to resist.  After one last stroll through the historic neighborhoods, it finally started to rain at 2:30, it was time to go home.  Until next time, sweet sweet Savannah!




one of the haunted B&Bs



Jon in front of the Cotton Exchange

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

Gold-domed capitol building

 

Part of the Pirate House



Cathedral of St. John the Baptist




Captain Flash Runs 5K

This past weekend was a very exciting one for the Flaspoehlers... first of all, Hannah and Bobby had their little girl (and our first niece), Eberle Marie Gobel!  Congrats to them and her big brother, Silas!!  Also, Jon's mother, Donna, celebrated her birthday the very next day.  What a great birthday present, celebrating the birth of your first granddaughter!  And finally, Jon got promoted to Captain!  So now he officially sounds like a super hero, Captain Flash.    Unfortunately Captain Flash has a big brief (or some big army presentation) he has to give on Wednesday so he spent a large portion of his weekend studying/working on his brief.  We did get away Saturday morning for Jon to run in the Mogadishu Milke 5K Run.  The Mogadishu Memorial Run commemorates the members of Task Force Ranger killed during Operation Gothic Serpent on October 3, 1993.  The 5K alsos raises funds for Rangers wounded or killed.  It was an awesome event and we were honored to be a part of it.  Unfortunately, due to all my knee surgeries, I was unable to run in the 5k but I supported Jon by being there and shopping at the local farmer's market at the race! 

Yay! Go Jon!  Meanwhile, I was buying thai basil and every type of squash imaginable because I really love fall and all that comes with it.  After the race we went back home and did work...  HOW BORING! It was an absolutely beautiful day but we forced ourselves to get some work accomplished so that we could do something fun to really celebrate Jon that evening.  So for a few hours... yes, hours, I studied for the GMAT (finally) and Jon worked on his brief.  When it came time to celebrate though, we were out of the house with in 20 minutes!  We went back downtown because it is our favorite place in Columbus and ate at The Cannon and boy was it tasty.  Following dinner, we met up with our neighbor, Colin, and one of his friends at Belloo's Martini and Cigar Bar.  I'm pretty sure this was my first Cigar bar ever but nonetheless it was a fun time.  It was a pretty sophisticated environment (except for the drunk 30-something year olds fighting for the bathroom) with live entertainment playing some blues and jazz music.  Finally, we topped off the weekend with banana bread, butternut squash & goat cheese pasta, and south american style empanadas.  All homemade by yours truly. 

Small Group & Atlanta

Well, I have not updated the happenings of our life recently.  In part because I have not really decided the "focus" of our blog and partly because I have been having quite a bit of neck pain after last week's trip to Six Flags.  For now, I have decided that I will just write about whatever we do (mainly on the weekends) if for nothing else to at least have a documented account for our time in Columbus as a young married couple.  I hope to continue this into our travels, our family, and so on as the years go on but no promises.  If you know me at all, you know that I prefer to work with numbers over words so it is a challenge to myself to write for fun.

I'd like to start off by mentioning that Jon and I attended our first LifePointe Group meeting at CrossPointe Church last week.  The group is discussing Paul David Tripp's book What Did You Expect and it is geared towards recently married couples and expectations in marriage.  We had some great conversations and met some awesome folks which was so refreshing!  First friends in Columbus :-) One couple actually had us over for dinner last weekend too!  The group only meets every other Tuesday for now but with Jon's workload it may be for the best.  Speaking of Jon's work, he recently got a 100 on his last quiz and was the only one in his group to do so! I married a champion.

In addition to dining at the Garcia's last weekend we took off for Atlanta on Saturday.  Six Flags was offering free tickets to active duty military so we took advantage of it for an excuse to go to Atlanta.  I do not even remember the last time I had been on a roller coaster prior to last weekend.  It had to have been at least 5-6 years ago and most likely at Carowinds in Charlotte, NC.  Jon on the other hand had just been jumping out of airplanes last month so I'm sure he was prepared!  We had a blast for the most part but given my previous neck and back injuries from the accidents last year it was probably not the smartest thing for me to do.  One ride snapped my neck pretty good (I heard pop, pop, pop!) and we were pretty much finished after that.  Oh, except for the last ride that drops you from 200 feet, I just had to ride it.  Well, long story short, I went to the doctor yesterday and was given a few meds and a referral to the chiropractor due to this fun little trip.

After our roller coaster riding, we knew there were two things we had to do before leaving Atlanta.  First, go to Trader Joe's and second eat dinner at Papi's.  We love TJ's so much we prepared ahead of time and brought a cooler with us to bring home groceries (especially loaded up on the tastes-naughty-but-is-NOT Orange Chicken)! 

Now for our delightful and delicious dinner... Papi's is a Cuban restuarant we discovered thanks to Jon's brother Tim.  We will forever love you for bringing Papi's into our lives.  It's very afforadable and very tasty food that you will wish you could eat everyday.  I usually try different meals but Jon always gets:

Authentic Cuban Sandwich - Smoked pork marinated with Papi's secret recipe, Ham, Swiss cheese, dill pickles, mustard, and mayonnaise on Cuban bread

I remember last time wishing Jon's sandwich was bigger because I wanted more of it and since I knew he was starving I decided to get my own this time instead of eating bites of his, except of course I like veggies on mine:

Papi's Sandwich - The Authentic Cuban Sandwich with Swiss cheese, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes

We also got a starter sampler of:

(1) chicken empanada, (1) papa rellena, and (3) croquettas de jamon

Oh... and to drink:

I got un jugo de guanabana and Jon got a rumchata (rum with horchata!

What a lovely time we had - it was definitely worth the pain I've felt this week; both due to my neck and withdrawls from Papi's....

Charming Columbus

I am continuously amazed at how much personality Columbus has.  This weekend, the weather was incredible!  Perfect weather for cruising around town with the top down on the Mini.  After riding around town, Jon took me for a walk in the Historic District downtown and it was the most charming neighborhood I've ever seen with a brick road that made me feel like I was in Oz and plaques displaying the local history.  After this beautiful walk (and 10 mosquito bites later) we went over to the commercial side of the downtown and peaked into a bike store where we decided to become bikers!  Well, we are going to try it out with a bike rental but hopefully my knee won't complain and Jon and I can finally participate in events together, such as the GA BikeFest.  Jon loves doing these kind of physical events and has signed up to do the Mogadishu Mile 5k Run in October but I am unable to participate in such events due to several knee injuries and multiple knee surgeries. 

Now, to point out a couple local delightful eateries in town.  Last week, our schedules worked out to where we were able to meet for lunch during the week.  It was a rare event and such a treat!  We ate at Minnie's Uptown and boy did we eat...  Southern style curry chicken, fried chicken, mashed pototoes, broccoli, green beans, and the best cornbread (in pancake shape).  Oh and of course, sweet tea, and I do mean sweet!  There should be a disclaimer on the door: "Don't plan on doing much after you eat here, and plan for another hour at the gym later in the week to burn it off." Maybe I will suggest it next time ;-) For date night, we made sure to go back to Cafe Le Rue as mentioned in my Columbus Adventures post.  Luckily we did not have plans afterwards because we were there for over two hours!  But it was a very enjoyable experience.  New Orleans food done right, and by and Indian man!  The owner is from India but has spent a lot of time in Louisiana and studied culinary both in the US and Europe - he was amiable and talked to us about his experiences and his family as Jon and I raved about our dishes:
Jon's ~ Sampler of Seafood Gumbo with Crawfish and Shrimp, Shredded Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya, & Shrimp and Crawfish Etouffe served over rice.  (We also got a free Sauteed Shrimp and Sausage on Creamy Grits because our order came out wrong - no complaints here!) 

Mine ~ Popcorm Shrimp Po-boy with Cajun Fries
The verdict?  We loved my po-boy and LOVED the cajun fries and out of Jon's sampler we liked everything but I especially enjoyed the shrimp/sausage grits and Jon's favorite was the jambalaya.  We were, of course, completely stuffed but everyone always has room for dessert!  Last weekend the owner had given us a coupon for a free order of beignets (see below) so why not, right?  WOW!  I would definitely recommend getting these every time (and taking it to go, served with vanilla ice cream!!). 

Finally, as a quick side note, I would like to brag about my husband.  Jon is in his 2nd/3rd ish week in the Captain's Career Course and during their PT (physical training) test he scored the highest PT score in his seminar group!!  BUT, he is not only in incredible physical shape, but he is also an intelligent man - he passed the Manuevor entrance exam on the first try!  I don't know how to explain this (probably because I don't really understand it myself) but Jon's branch the past 3 years has been MP and instead of going to an MP Captain's Career Course he is in the Infantry's Captain Career Course because he is now doing Special Ops so a lot of this information is new to him but repetitive for most of the guys in the course.  I made him (Whole Wheat) Beer Bread for a job well done!

Columbus Adventures

Last weekend Jon and I had a nice little restful weekend here in Columbus.  Friday after work, we went out spontaneously for happy hour!  Haha - thank you Chilis for happy hour apps and drinks.  After having delicious greasy appetizers we thought it would be a good idea to go for a walk.  We ventured over to The Landings not to far from where we live and walked around the little stores.  It is incredible all the stores located in this small area, including a natural foods store and an "adventures in living" store that had an insane amount of Georgia and Auburn gear... boy do I miss being surrounded by everything Carolina and the beautiful color that is Carolina Blue :) anyway, this store was certainly interesting with all the hiking/camping equipment, cute dresses, and Toms shoes!  If you are not familiar with the Toms brand, I strongly urge you to check out their website.  For each pair of shoes that you buy, Toms will give a pair to a child in need. AND they recently started doing the same thing with sunglasses, which I think is even more impressive, with every one pair of glasses that you buy, Toms will help give sight to a person in need.  They do this by way of medical treatment, prescription glasses, or eye surgery!  How incredible is that?  Well, after leaving Kinnucan's (the adventure store) we started walking back towards the car when a man came out from a restuarant and gave us a menu for Cafe Le Rue.  After looking at the Cajun New Orleans menu we were sold!  Too bad we weren't dressed for "date night" so we decided to return another night.

Saturday morning, Jon and I had a delightful Chick-Fil-A breakfast date and everyone in the Chick-Fil-A was completely covered in either Geogia or Auburn paraphernalia (again, insert comment about missing Carolina).  I wonder if Columbus is like this year-round or just for football season?  Either way, breakfast was so so good, per usual.  Surprisingly, we had not been to this part of town where Chick-Fil-A was yet and decided to drive around a bit and thank goodness we did because we found a Fresh Market! OH, we looked like kids in a candy shop, but it was so nice to find an organic grocery store, I was sure I'd given that life up moving to an Army town.  I have to say that walking in to that store was like a breath of fresh air. It is the PERFECT alternative when you don’t have a Whole Foods/Trader Joes in the area! All the produce looked so fresh and colorful.  We were able to get organic fruits and vegetables that are nowhere to be found at Walmart and Jon made a beer sampler pack while I found some eggplant empanadas.  PLUS, you can sample anything in the store, so clearly Jon loved that :)  I know it seems like we are lame if a grocery store was the highlight of our day but we love food and we are old people at heart.  When we moved from Fort Campbell, I was expecting to be moving to a worse place than Clarksville but, luckily, I have been proven wrong.  (Not that there is anything wrong with Clarksville, but it just wasn't for me).  I also had a biased opinion of Columbus from the short amount of time I spent here visiting Jon before we got married... I was scarred from those visits... one day I will tell of those stories...

Labor Day Weekend

Congratulations to Jon on graduating from Airborne School on September 1st, 2011!  Airborne School is a 3-week course designed to qualify soldiers in the use of the parachute as a means of combat deployment and to develop leadership, self-confidence, and an aggressive spirit through mental and physical conditioning (thank you Wikipedia).  The course consists of "Ground Week", "Tower Week" and "Jump Week," with Jump Week being the scariest (for me at least!) where Jon had to sucessfully complete 5 jumps out of an airplane.  With that said, I am extremely happy that it's over  and I even had the privilege of pinning Jon's Airborne wings on him during the ceremony.  Unfortunately, the ceremony was at 9:00 am and Donna (Jon's mother) and Tim (Jon's brother) were not able to make it but they were able to come down to Columbus later that day.  We had a great visit with them on Thursday and Friday filled with Mexican food, homemade pizza, chocolate pound cake with peanut butter glaze, brownies & ice cream, and lots of qualtiy time.  We rented Inception and watched it at the movie theater here in our apartment complex - which was awesome having a mini movie theater all to ourselves!  The apartment folks even popped us popcorn in the theater for our movie (which we were all too stuffed to eat... until we smelled it and each had a bag!)  Tim left Friday night to go pick up Amie at the airport and Saturday morning we took Donna to the airport so she could be on her way to San Antonio.  From there, we continued our extended holiday weekend to North Carolina.   

If you know me at all, you know this makes me extremely happy.  I love visiting my family, I love North Carolina, and I love quality time!  (Side note:  On our way to NC we saw a very interesting sight on the road... an alligator in the back of someone's truck...) Once we arrived in Lincolnton, we were able to spend a couple of days with my family which of course also consisted of delicious food - Mom's ceviche and chuletas, Bojangles, Costa Rican pastries from Tico Pan, and Jon's delicious French Toast.  If you haven't noticed, our families have a lot in common, we love food!  I should add that our time in NC was shared with our "adopted" Korean-but-I-want-to-be-Hispanic friend, Ed Kim.  Ed went to school with us and was in ROTC with Jon, he is stationed at Ft. Stewart, GA and my main goal in life is to find him a Hispanic wife. 

Well, after such a blessed weekend with both of our families and a long weekend of eating, Jon and I are back to healthy food this week and we have Jon's first day of his new training to look forward to: the Captain's Career Course.  More on his first days and PT test later!