Missing him

The men have left and are well on their way to Alaska. It was/is harder than I thought it would be. Despite all the amazing technology that gives me reassurance he is okay, he is still gone, far away and getting further. They are well into Canada now, and I think their ride will be beautiful today. I pray God uses it to show them of His majesty and goodness.


The only thing that keeps me sound is knowing that He has him and loves him more than I do.

As I have approached the second trimester (or 4th mester as Nic and I call it), Baby Kline likes to keep me guessing by giving me spoadic morning sickness. Today the little one said hello again. Yes, we haven't forgotten about you.

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two men go to Alaska today

today, nic and his dad launch for Alaska on their motorcycles. we've all been preparing for this day for quite a while. if you'd like to follow their adventures here are the links to their blogs, nic kline and dad kline.

last night we celebrated nic's last night (for a while at least) in kansas by enjoying two of our favorite things, bloomin' onion and coca-cola, needless to say we didn't feel too great afterwards. but as always, we enjoyed being together.

and he made some final preparation decisions.

We will miss you while you're gone.

In 6 months time...

now and then

may is one of those months, much like december, where there is never a dull moment.

we had a bachelorette party for one of my high school friends. hilarious looking through all the albums of high school pictures. here we are decorating for a high school dance. i wanna say prom at the indian center in 2004, but i still have braces which makes me think it was 2003. somewhere in there.

now, may 2012

the following weekend we took a day trip to manhattan and moved my youngest brother out of goodnow hall. he just completed his freshman year at K-State. i seem to remember it taking me longer than 15 minutes to move out of my dorm.

fun fact, goodnow hall, floor 6, is where nic and i met. my freshman year, mandy and i lived together in goodnow hall and nic and carolyn were our RAs. :) p.s. i realize my cheeks are bright red in this picture below. i was SO nervous as this picture was being taken - i think mandy was taking it and i swore she was stalling so nic and i had to be in this close together awkward semi-laying down position. p.p.s. this picture was pre-dating. it was taken December 2004, we started officially dating Fall 2005.

this month, i also had my first professional (i.e. paid) dance performance. i like to call it a gig. i've made a few connections in the dance world in kansas city this year. starting last september i began teaching ballet and contemporary classes on saturdays at Denises Dance Academy (DDA). i even got a staff shirt.

anyway, one of my co-teachers has an agent who called her wanting some dancers for a 70's show at a quilting convention. random right. it was a blast. between our schedules we scrounged up rehearsal time and put on a hilarious 70's performance.

lots more happenings that i will keep you posted on. it is memorial day weekend 2012, and i am thoroughly enjoying taking some down time, cleaning the house, running errands, and getting quality time with neosho. :)

nic is currently homeward bound, riding back from west virginia. for more information on why west virginia or to follow his trip visit http://twowheeledadventure.blogspot.com. i imagine he will also use this other blog for the upcoming Alaska adventure. he leaves end of June, and i fly out after the 4th of July. i tried to convince him to record his travels on this blog, but he decided he didn't want to bore you all. so, apparently if you want to be bored you can follow his two wheeled adventure blog. :)

Sausage Souffle Recipe

Try it, it's delicious. Growing up it was more commonly referred to as sauasge egg caserole, no idea the difference between soufflé and casserole. I'll need to google that. My grandma Fansher would often make this dish while we were in town visiting. The smell of it cooking the other morning brought back a flood of lazy morning memories at the Fansher household. It was always a treat to eat.

Ingredients:
1 pound bulk sausage (I use Hot Jimmie Dean)
6 slices bread (crust and all, cubed) --easy to slice in cubes if you freeze it, otherwise tear it into pieces
1 cup cheddar cheese (grated) --the original recipe only calls for 1/4 cup of cheese...truly not enough
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs (I use 6)
2 cups milk

Brown sausage and drain. Grease/butter glass 9x13 dish; combine and mix browned sausage, cubed bread, 1/2 of the grated cheese, mustard and salt into the 9x13 dish. In a separate bowl mix eggs and milk completely. Pour carefully over the sausage/bread mixture. Top with remaining cheese and cover with foil.

It is best if you make this the night before and refrigerator overnight.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, covered with foil and then reduce heat to 325 degrees, uncover and finish baking for another 15 minutes, or until done.

Deliciousness!!

Whistle while you work

Snow White is probably, no definitely, my favorite disney movie. This has come to light through the following set of circumstances in my life,

1. Visiting the Disney store as a child I wished and wished and wished that I would someday own all 7 dwarf stuffed animals. You know, the big giant display of stuffed animals at the back. They had the 7 dwarfs in all sizes, and at first I wanted the biggest ones, but then I realized that wasn't practical as they all wouldn't fit on my bed, so I settled for dreaming about owning the smaller ones.
2. In high school, a personality test told me I am prone to collecting... I was in denial until in college when I realized I was collecting all 50 state quarters, license plate key chains from states I had visited, and remembered my desire to have all 7 dwarfs, the list of collecting goes on and on. It is most recently displayed in my love for kitchen towels. Seriously, world market tea towels are killing our budget. I am trying to fight this personality trait as collecting can quickly equal hoarding, please have an intervention if needed.
3. I married a man who grew up in a family of 7 chillins. When I first visited his family, I stayed in the guest room where written on the wall was a depiction of the 7 kids all assigned a snow white dwarf character. If I remember right, I married Dopey.
4. The new show "Once Upon a Time", fabulous. A couple of weeks ago, a girl in my dance class told me I look like Snow (snow whites character name in the show if you didn't know). Made my day.
5. I work, a lot, and whistling always seems to help get through the days. :) I have been working in our downtown office these past weeks. Late nights and early mornings have continued as we finish up busy season. In our break room, we have a flavia machine which brews us fresh coffee and the view of downtown brings a smile to my face.

Until this past week, I've never been in our downtown office through the evening hours, but as I ventured out of my cubical one evening, most likely for a coffee refill, the glow down the hall from the setting sun was picture worthy. Oh, the things I think are cool when I've been sleep deprived and stuck in the office for too long...

We continue to be workaholics. Pushing hard towards deadlines. And missing our pup grow up. Thankfully, last week our friends gave our little guy some much needed attention. What would we do without community?? I have no idea.

 

Our trip to Lincoln, Nebraska

Yesterday we took a day trip to Nebraska. Words are hard to find to describe our visit to Lincoln, NE. Three weeks ago today, a friend, and dear sister in Christ suffered through multiple strokes resulting from a blood clot at her brainstem which has left her fighting for her life. She is in her early thirties. There is a rehab center in Lincoln that is a perfect fit for her while she continues to heal. Four of us and their beloved dog-daughter, Piper, went up to visit.

 

I don't remember where we first met her and her husband, but last fall we reconnected through our church and as God would have it, they joined our gospel community group. We meet on Sunday nights and my heart hurts to be without them tonight.

I cling to the words of this song:

Be still, my soul, the Lord is on your side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to your God in order to provide; in every change, he faithful will remain. Be still, my soul, your best your, your heavenly Friend, through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. Be still, my soul, your God will undertake to guide the future as he has the past.

Chris and Alison, we trust God with His perfect plan for your both. We will miss you tonight.