Ben's Blurb - "A Sad day at the Whitaker's"

"February 11th, a day that will live in infamy..." Okay, well maybe not quite that bad. We sold the Scion today. (awaiting gasps, and sighs)

We drove into Portland after work to meet the gal who wanted to buy my car. A very nice lady who was buying the car....for her 16-17 yr old daughter! Yikes. The daughter was there, but didn't test drive it, barely even gave it a second glance. What a shame. Andrea seems to think the girl was more excited about the car than what I was picking up from her. Maybe girls are different - but I know when I was a teen driver, I would drive my car into the ground. Hopefully this teen driver will be different.

Anyway, the way the sale went really helps us to count our blessings and thank the Lord for being so obvious in our lives. I re-listed the car on Craig's list on Sunday night. A couple of hours later - I had a call from the girl who was interested. We set up the meeting to be right across the street from where my Dad works in Portland. This is the same place the car title was at as well.

So everything worked out. After work we met her down there. The Mom and I went for a test drive. Afterwards, she went down the block to get the cashier's check and brought it back. Dad met us there while we were waiting for the woman to come back with the check. After the transaction was completed. Dad gave us a ride to the mechaninc to pick up the truck (had brakes done) and now we have wheels again.
Just the way the entire evening went so smoothly let's me know that it was the right thing to do. It seems like such a small thing to thank the Lord for - but it just goes to show that nothing is trivial for Him. I honestly believe that this was a small step to help out our future. Dropping this car payment, and allowing us to save a little more money each month in order to set up our future seemed to be the right thing to do. And the fact that it was as easy as it was - drives that point home.
So in light of that - I have a small tribute to the Scion Tc. Please enjoy the photos - and allow me some time to grieve a little. The loss is certainly bittersweet.

Ben's Blurb - Okay...maybe a couple of more pics

A couple of more pics and we'll lay the Tc to rest...








Please feel free to leave your kind remarks for the dearly departed...

Cooking in the Burbs with Andrea Vol. 1

I know this pales in comparison to the famous Cooking in the Country with Abby, but I've been very excited to share my new love of domesticity with my faithful readers. I hope to regularly share new recipes that we have been trying out.

This recipe is from one of my Weight Watcher cookbooks. I served over rice and it was quite tasty. On a scale of 1-5 Ben gives this one a 4.

Spicy Orange Beef with Vegetables
Makes 4 servings (5 WW points per serving)

3/4 pound beef top round, trimmed of all visible fat, cut into thin strips
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp grated orange rind (didn't have any)
1/2 cup low sodium beef broth
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp chili garlic sauce or 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (used red pepper flakes)
4 tsp canola oil
1 Tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger (I have stuff I squeeze from a tube)
1/4 pound green beans, halved crosswise
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips (yuck, I used part of an orange pepper, cut small enough I wouldn't notice)
1 carrot, cut into matchstick-thin strips (I used 2 carrots to make up for the pepper).

1. Combine the beef, 1 tablespoon of the cornstarch, and the orange rind in a medium bowl; toss well to coat and set aside. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon cornstartch, the broth, orange juice, soy sauce, sugar, and chili-garlic sauce or crushed red pepper in a small bowl; set aside.
2. Heat a non-stick wok or a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles. Swirl in 2 teaspoons of the oil, then add the beef. Stir-fry until cooked through, 2-3 minutes; transfer to a plate. Swirl the remaining 2 teaspons of oil, then add the ginger. Stir-fry until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the green beans, bell pepper, and carrot. Stir fry until crisp/tender, 2-3 minutes. Add the broth mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens, about 1 minute. Add the beef and cook until hot, about 1 minute.

Ben's Blurb - What's New...

So, I'm in a little bit of hot water this SuperBowl Sunday. Anyone who reads our blog automatically knows why:





As a football fan, it would be a cardinal sin to miss the Superbowl and to miss seeing a team possibly go undefeated for an entire season. This is something that we will be potentially be able to tell our kids about. (At least I will anyway). So, my wonderful and understanding wife is sort of okay with us not going out on a Hot Date today. I will certainly make it up to her in the near future though.

I've been deliberating for a very long time on whether to get a new Game Console for the house. I finally decided that I definitely wanted one. So for the past couple of weeks I've been trying to decide on an XBOX360 Elite, or a Playstation 3. After talking it over with Andrea, I decided to get the PS3!!! It is very exciting to have and I can't wait to play it. It also comes with a Blu-Ray player as well. A very exciting weekend indeed.





http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/car/559336959.html


Some sad news is that I've decided to sell my Tc. This was a pretty hard decision to make as I am pretty attached to this car. Compared to the cars that I've had in the past, this one has been the best. Unfortunately it just isn't very practical to hang on to anymore. Andrea's car is paid off and selling mine would save us over $300 per month. Looking towards the future and wanting to save money it seemed like the best thing to do. Also, as we're looking for a new house in the next few months - having the remaining loan for the car come off of my credit report will help too. All of my life having good credit has been a priority, so this little adjustment could help us a tiny bit in the loan department as well.

My Dad is giving us his truck once my car sells, so I'll drive that whenever we need to have a second vehicle available. If you know of anyone looking for a little sporty black car, you know where to find me!

Here's a pic of the new ride (close to it anyway):

Hallelujah!

After cross-training for 7 1/2 months, I finally got the news that I am officially a permanent member of IT. I'm so thankful the Lord blessed me with the opportunity and the ability to do well. I'm most excited that I no longer have to take customer service phone calls (except for those coming from our close and personal friends). Still deciding how I'm going to celebrate, but it feels great!

The Cat Show

Sunday we had the pleasure of accompanying the Craigs to the 2008 Cat Show. This was actually really interesting. Those cat owners are REALLY into their cats. I'm sure they cost a fortune and it's probably a lot of work getting a cat ready for a cat show. Those reasons may explain why many of the owners demand you use hand sanitizer before petting their cats - if you can touch them at all. We had a good time, and even got free cake. You can read more about it on the Craig's Blog here.

The Perfect Pair

Last Saturday we hosted an engagement party for Mike & Lisa. Neither of them were hip to posing for photos, so we don't have any good ones of them. We have quite a few of them with eyes closed, tongue sticking out, and even eyes rolling. I'll spare them the embarrassment of posting any bad ones. We'll just leave you with a photo of the fabulous JaCiva's cake that Alane provided. We're so happy Mike finally popped the question. We think they are so perfect for one another.

You know, if you guys decide you need to get married in Disneyland, we would totally be there!