home sweet home.

i had a very full week. actually, my weeks have frequently been very full as of late. tuesday thru wednesday i went on my very first business trip! i went to nashville with a couple of co-workers to scout out the hotel we are hosting out next convention [in october] and it is GORGEOUS! it's called the hutton.. i'm pretty pumped to stay there for FREE! i'm hoping joel will be able to come because i found out that his dad lives only 30-some miles north of nashville, so we could go pay him a visit. it would be the first time i've ever met him and the first time in years that joel's seen him.

thursday thru just a little while ago, i was in mt. pleasant [where i went to college] for the midwest fest. goodnight house played thursday night and camerata played friday night. so, so, SO much fun!!! i think that's the best time i've ever had playing with camerata. it was fun re-living the college life again for a few days, a.k.a. going out every night and staying up well past 2 AM (one night i even made it till 5!!). but it is also nice to be home... although i am very, VERY ready for a new home consisting solely of me, my hubbs, and my maggers.

soon enough.

some exciting news -- joel has an interview with oakland university for an academic advisor position on august 5. PLEASE send your prayers his way.. this would be an AMAZING opportunity, and it would change everything for us. it is hard to even fathom having money left over after all of the bills are paid.. we could actually start paying off our ridiculous amount of debt!! even if he doesn't get this job or the other one he is applying for, he will definitely have an assistantship that will pay for his Ph.D and provide a stipend. praise God!!

with all that's been going on, it's been hard to find any time to create. i did make a few pair of earrings that i really adore. i think they're my new favorite to make.


agua earrings.





pretty in pink (and green).






i recently made a necklace (which sold instantly!) that matches the above pair of earrings.


lolita necklace.





i will be making more of these very soon :) hopefully, next weekend since i will finally have some free time! :D


have a wonderful week!

Working from Home

So this is the very first time that I am updating my blog from home. Remember I used to keep up with this thing at work? Wellll, that's no longer possible. The company I worked for was dropped by Chrysler, and the following day, they closed their doors. There is a whole lot more to it then that and it all makes me rather upset, but I'll leave it at that. Sign of the times... So now I once again join the 10% of my fellow Michiganders who are without work. Yippee! I am praying that I find a job much, MUCH quicker than the last time around. Otherwise, Joel and I will be moving all of our stuff in to my parent's basement (and miss out on our $1,000 deposit). My eents-weentsy unemployment check is NOT going to cut it.

Right now I'm at peace with the situation and know that God has something better in store for me. Something that won't get me home after midnight and disallow me from spending dinnertime with my hubbs. I actually already had a semi-interview earlier this week at Campbell-Ewald, so right now I am banking on that because I have no other leads at the time (and I don't need to tell you there are very few jobs to choose from right now). I can foresee a total FREAK OUT if that job doesn't work out... So please pray for me/us!!

Joel's spring break was this week, and though we were both busy with our own things, him working on his PhD app, me applying for jobs, interviewing, babysitting and CLEANING like crazy, we still got to see a heck of a lot more of each other than we are used to and that was a wonderful thing. Goodnight House played a show in Toledo on Thursday night, which made for a very enjoyable time. It was quite exciting to have people in the crowd who had never heard us actually cheer for us. They made it very apparent that they enjoyed us :)

P.S. - If you haven't heard our music, you can check us out at myspace.com/goodnighthousemusic. You can also buy our music on itunes or cdbaby.com if you like what you hear :)

Sorry, just couldn't pass up a plug there.


In the meantime, during my short hiatus from full-time work, I need to start expanding my Etsy shop. I have yet to make any new earrings since my job went bye-bye, but that is going to change TODAY. Something else that is going to change today is my hairstyle. Bad hair day after bad hair day has led me to the decision to CHOP it. It's going to be transformed in just a few hours. Hopefully that will fix the bad hair day problem. I'll have to post a picture later today (as long as it's to my liking).

I'm going to leave you with a delicious, yet inexpensive recipe that has recently become a staple in our household. It is comforting and oh-so-delicious.


Baked Gnocchi
Adapted from Everyday Pasta by Giada de Laurentiis (my fave)
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

1 package potato gnocchi
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups skim or low fat milk
1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken (or veggie) broth
1/8 cup all purpose flour (I used whole wheat as usual)
pinch of salt
freshly ground pepper
pinch of grated nutmeg
5 ounces baby spinach
1 1/2 ounces fresh goat cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place gnocchi in a lightly greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish and set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, whisk together cream, milk, broth, and flour over medium heat. Continue whisking until the sauce is simmering and thickened, about 5 minutes.

3. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg, and stir to combine. Add spinach and toss to coat in the cream. Pour the cream and spinach mixture over the gnocchi evenly, spreading the spinach out to cover all the potato dumplings.

4. Crumble goat cheese over the spinach. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake until the top is golden in places, about 30 minutes.


It is creamy and rich. I leave out the spinach, not by choice, but because my picky hubby thinks it's gross (along with the majority of vegetables), but it is still exquisite. Normally, I'd have a pic for you, but I discovered my camera's battery was dead as I attempted to capture the deliciousness in photo. Next recipe will definitely include one.

CD Baby

Another quick music-related update: Goodnight House's album, It Ends and Starts Again, is now available at CDBaby.com!! So go support your local artists ;)

Only 353 Days Left Until Christmas!

It's been a little while.

That's because I've been busy with Christmas festivities/travels/relaxing. It's been a fun couple of weeks with lots squeezed in. As always, I am so sad that Christmas is over and can't believe I have to wait an entire year for it to come again. I still haven't taken down our Christmas tree -- I'm just not quite ready to part with it. :(

But I can now look forward to spending every future Christmas with my hubby :D This is the first Christmas we were able to spend together, and it was just wonderful. I didn't think that Christmas Day at my parents' house could get any better, but apparently I was wrong. It is going to be strange when one day we have own kids and do Christmas at our own house. Let's add that to the reasons I am simply not ready to be a mommy.


Some highlights of the past couple of weeks:

- Joel and I play Sufjan Stevens' Christmas tunes at Pathway's first Christmas Eve service :)

- Christmas Eve/Christmas Day at my parents'

- Next two days at Joel's parents'
- Receive wife-oriented/domestic gifts like a NEW COOKWARE SET by Martha Stewart (don't make fun), ramekins and a Brita filter, all of which I was far too excited about
- Cried while Joel and I did are gift exchange because I got him the wrong David Bowie box set
- Get a flat tire
- Make 20 pairs of earrings at work due to lack of work
- Girls' night filled with enchiladas, banana Scrabble and, well, lots of talking, of course

- NYE with college friends in Mt. Pleasant, featuring a couple very memorable games of Shenanigans created by Ron, Steve & Sarita (thank God I was not the one to have three dogs lick peanut butter off my face!!)

- Bridesmaid reunions :D (why do they have to live so far???)


- Valkyrie and Marley & Me -- is it wrong that is was the latter that elicited heavy sobbing?
- Time alone with my hubby!!! (though not nearly enough)
- Pregnancy scare (this order was not intentional, I swear)

I would also like to mention that Goodnight House's album is now available for purchase online for the low sum of $8 at DigStation. It should also be available within the next couple of weeks on iTunes - again I'll keep you posted ;) Also check out the awesome video Ronaldo made for the track "Two Minds" - you can find it on our MySpace page (see my list of websites favoritos on the right panel).

• • • •
I am wishing that I was in Mt. P with my hubby right now, where he is playing a CAMERATA(!) and Goodnight House show, both of which I should be lending vocals, bells and a female presence to. STUPID WORK SCHEDULE!! I always have a tough time when Joel is away from me overnight (this time it is 2 nights :/), so I am very eager for his return tomorrow. In the meantime, I am staying at my parents' house, so that I am not envisioning creepy men peering in through my bedroom window while I try to sleep. (I get a little paranoid at our house when I'm alone at night).

See y'all soon.

We had a big day

Joel and I had a big day this weekend.

Well, we each had our own separate big days.

Joel's BIG DAY started on Thursday night at Pathway (our church), unplugging and loading up gear for his band's (which I am a part of :)) CD release show. Luckily, I was exempted from this task (one of the many reasons i LOVE being a girl). After returning home at around 4 am (somehow I managed to wait up for him; I'm not sure why), he took a little nap, got up early in the a.m. and drove through the blustery winter weather conditions to the City of Monroe to unload and set up gear and was still doing so when I arrived with Ron at approximately 5 pm. And continued to do so for another couple hours...

Finally, Goodnight House (Joel's band) took the stage around 10 and, despite losing sound at least two times (I continued playing they keyboard for quite some time without realizing it was mute), we rocked out. I especially rocked hard on my bells and keyboard ;) And you should have heard my monstrous vocals. Anyway, it did go really well despite the complications. We had a good crowd within a couple feet of us, some even singing along :) I am really proud of Joel and the beautiful music he has created. You should check it out at our MySpace page. CDs will be available online soon - I'll keep you posted ;)

Joel's big day continued the next day, as mine began. Well, really, mine started about a week prior when I made my first shopping trip and prepared some yummies in advance for our very first house party/the very first party I've ever hosted. I had very big plans for all of the hors d' oeuvres/desserts/punches I was going to make... As my sister said:

"You're ridiculous!"

I think there were probably like 12 food items total on the list. And they were pretty much all homemade dishes with few shortcuts (cause that's how I roll. Brownies from a box? Not in my kitchen! Store-bought frosting? Nuh-uh). I was thinking I'd have time to get started on my yummies on Friday, but it was not to be. Needless to say, there was not enough time in the day on Saturday to get it all done, so I had to cut a couple of fancy hors 'd oeuvres out :( And I had to get some help in the kitchen -- my sister Amanda and my friend Maggie saved the day!! Maggie even SHOVELED for me! This was supposed to be my hubby's job, but his big day was still in the works back at Pathway, where he was busy returning all of the gear he borrowed for the show. His big day finally came to an end when he returned to the Lane residence at 5ish, at which time he resumed his husbandly duties at home (i.e. taking over shoveling, taking out the trash and giving my toosh a squeeze to show his appreciation for my hard work).

I am sure that no one was surprised when I was late to my own party (I was still in the shower as guests were arriving). Typical Megan etiquette. I joined the party with my hair sopping wet (not how I had planned it!) and was finally able to relax and drink lots and lots of punch :) And chat and giggle with friends I hadn't seen in a long time. And convince a few of them I was pregnant after I stuck out my food stomach - hah! It was definitely a good time. I think it's safe to say that Joel and I's very first house party was a success :) Below are a couple of snapshots from my big day taken by Ron:




Maggs was absolutely the life of the party and loving every minute of it.

• • • •
In other news, my friend Becca got engaged in the luggage claim area of the Hawaii airport this weekend! (Her now fiance crept up from behind her - she had no idea he was going to be there). I shrieked very loudly when she told me the news - I am pumped for her!!!

Also, Joel and I had our first ALONE time last night in nearly a week! Thank you Jesus! I will leave out the details ;)

I am beyond excited to spend our very first Christmas together and relax, relax, RELAX. I couldn't be more ready :D