~*~birthday pie~*~

August 24, 2010

Tonight we had my birthday pie (chocolate chess). I had to wait for it because my birthday fell during thesising, graduating, and moving, then I didn't know what kind of pie I wanted, and finally I hate to wait until everyone else's birthdays had passed so the house was empty of dessert. It was worth the wait. :) It was yummy! Beverly did a great job.
I've never known someone to have a birthday go over three months. ;)

Can you see the 25 spelled out?

send me a postcard, drop me a line

April 26, 2010
I just had to tell my dear sweet Pearl (a.k.a. Monica) thanks for her well wishes! I love cards, and I am so sentimental. I keep every one I get, and everyone she gives is a treasure.

Here is a picture of the Good Luck card she gave Zach and I at the beginning of the month for his thesis defense and my comprehensive exams . . . and this is the Congratulations card she sent me for passing comps and my thesis defense. Notes like this are rare, and make me especially happy.

Monica, thank you for always being so supportive and encouraging and knowing that your friends can reach their dreams and achieve success despite the odds. I hope you know that I believe in you, too. Always. I love you and admire you so much.

[Between Monica and her pal Stacy and me, we could start what my aunt Lura calls a card ministry!! That would be awesome. ;]

Master Ashley : )

As of April 23, 2010, I am officially a Master of Literature!! I passed comps AND my thesis defense!

I really cannot believe it. It took so much to get here. I am in shock that I passed everything, especially that last essay on comps, and that my thesis turned out so well. It was an emotionally-draining project.

Last night we went out to celebrate! We never really got to celebrate Zach's defense or even taking comps, so we wanted to have a really good time. We had a nice dinner and drinks (had multiple mojitos because of the great week I had and I'm really into mojitos now!), popped into Target for a bit (because we LOVE Target), and went to see Date Night. (We had a buy 1 ticket, get one free coupon. ;)

All in all, a wonderful celebration!

Pie Night

April 12, 2010
Because my thesis defense is going to be next week, the only time I left this...
...was to make this!
Semi-Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
2 refrigerated pie crusts
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 small bag of frozen mixed veggies
1 large can of chicken [tear chunks with fork]

Preheat over to 425 degrees. Heat soups and milk. Add onion, garlic, mixed vegetables, and chicken. Heat to a boil.

Unroll one pie crust in pie pan. Pour in soup mixture. Unroll other pie crust over the top, crimping edges. Pierce the top with a fork. I like to make a pretty design. :)

Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown!

This was actually very good! I combined a lot of different recipes to get the flavor and veggies I like. I don't like mystery sauces, and Paula Deen's recipe used the soups--I thought the cheesy flavor would be great. Zach wanted green beans, corn, carrots, and peas in the pie, and most recipes only call for carrots and peas (and sometimes corn), so I decided to use the mixed veggies. We didn't want a lot of chicken, so used canned chicken. I am hesitant to use canned meats, but I didn't want to go through the mess of boiling a chicken breast and freezing the leftovers.

AND we had apple pie for dessert! *lol* I guess we are a themed household.

But, geez, does anyone know how to cover the pie crust edges with foil to keep them from burning? Or to get refrigerated dough to crimp?!

Welcome to The Pharr Side...

In honor of his thesis defense & completion of my Master's comprehensive exams, Zach and I got dressed up for dinner at Marketplace Grill.

I started a blog when Zach and I got engaged and started planning our wedding. [I'm Ashley, by the way. ;] We wanted an unconventional wedding, and, as we planned it fast--two months exactly--we knew it would be nice to document each step. Initially I also planned to explore wedding traditions along the way, exploring their origins and whether or not they fit into our wedding/marriage. Unfortunately planning a wedding, starting our second year of grad school, and beginning our life together got in the way. :)

I have kept a diary or journal on and off since third grade. I did XANGA for a bit, blogging on MySpace, and notes on facebook. After my wedding blog failed, I started a photo album on facebook in which I posted a picture everyday: an outing or activity, something I cooked, a movie we watched, a point of interest, what I wore, the weather, a picture of a friend and I for her birthday, Christmas decorations. It was received well, and I have kept it up since November 30. ;)

Lately I have started reading a lot of blogs, and so I thought I should branch out by starting a new one.

Today Zach and I have been married for 200 days, so I thought I would honor this milestone by starting a similar photo-a-day blog of our life together. Some days I will write very long captions while others will only have one sentence, but there will always be a photo (or two)!