My Husband is a Stud

Today one of David's poems was re-published online as the best poem of 2009 of all poems published on the Verse Daily website. That's right, pulitzer prize winning poets' poems fell by the wayside and David's poem was chosen as the best of the year. This poem was also selected as the winner of the Southern Poetry Review's Guy Owen Prize in 2008. Click the link below to check it out--the link will only take you to his poem on Dec. 31!

http://www.versedaily.org/2009/jellyfish.shtml


Happy New Year!

Long December

As one might expect, David and I have continued to be incredibly busy through most of December. David finished his coursework on Dec. 14 and has enjoyed having extra time to read and write. We flew to Chattanooga on Dec. 19 to spend time with the Clarks through Jan.2. Our Christmas was spent with David's family (including his grandmother, aunt, and cousin) in Chattanooga. We ate so much good food and enjoyed playing board games (especially Settlers of Catan). Christmas Eve was spent at the Chattanooga convention center where David's parents' church was having a service. David and Sarah (his sister) read part of the Christmas story on stage too.

When I awoke on Christmas morning, I could not find my cell phone to call my parents to wish them a merry Christmas. I searched the house thoroughly and did not know what I did with it. I finally asked David to call it for me and when he did my stocking starting ringing! When I opened my stocking, I found my new iphone! David and I agreed to not exchange gifts this year because of all of the expenses associated with our new house. He also told me several months ago that he would not get me an iphone  since I already have an ipod touch and a cell phone. Needless to say, I was thrilled and completely surprised by my gift. My husband is such a blessing in so many ways. 

Here are a few photos from December:

My first Lubbock dust storm!

Dust storm from my office window--crazy, right?

Our mantle at our house in Lubbock... no tree this year

The Clarks and Goldens on Christmas Eve

Doing the Memaw wave

2nd married Christmas together

David and Sarah reading the Christmas story

I was able to see some college friends in Nashville for an ornament exchange party

All of the Zeta girls and Shauna's precious baby Kennedi at the ornament exchange party

Thankful

The past few weeks have been really busy for us. I turned 25 on Nov. 19, we closed on our new house on Nov. 20,  and flew to Little Rock on Nov. 21. We went to Little Rock to visit my family for a week and we were able to see the Razorbacks beat Miss. State at War Memorial (thanks to my dear friend, Lindsay Townsend, from Starkville, MS). My mom has been very ill with H1N1 flu and double pneumonia and finally arrived in Little Rock after being in the ICU in New Jersey. She's been resting and is slowly regaining strength. It was so good to see her. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Once we returned to Lubbock, we got the keys to our new house and moved our belongings in over the weekend. David and I moved everything ourselves so needless to say we're sore and completely pooped! I wanted to share some pictures of the house in the snow. I'll post more pictures of the house as we continue to settle in.

Our new address:

404 Kewanee Avenue

Lubbock, TX 79416

Our house this morning.

Our view from our front door when we woke up.

My kitchen!

Razorbacks

My daddy, husband and I

I got to see Hannah while in LR

Not-So-TexMex Enchiladas

It will be awhile before I'm able to cook enchiladas like the locals, but until then I have a recipe that was a hit at the Clark house last night. It was my first attempt at enchiladas--ever. Surprising, I know.  This recipe is SO simple and comes from Gourmet Magazine. I made simple substitutions for a lower calorie dish. Hopefully, I'll be able to share a true TexMex dish in the near future.


Baked Chicken Cheese Enchiladas

• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 cups prepared salsa
• 2 cups grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• Salt and pepper
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 12 to 14 soft round 6 to 8-inch flour or corn tortillas

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese and the sour cream. Stir in 1/2 cup of the salsa. Stir in 1 cup of the grated cheese. In a second bowl toss together the chicken, the corn, cumin, oregano, cayenne, salt, pepper, and 1/2 of the scallions. Add the chicken mixture to the cheese mixture and stir to combine.

In a baking dish spread a 1/2 cup of the salsa over the bottom. Place about a 1/3 cup of the filling on a corn tortilla, roll up and transfer to the baking dish with the seam side down. Repeat process for remaining tortillas. Pour remaining salsa over enchiladas, spreading to coat all of them. Sprinkle remaining grated cheese over the top. Enchiladas may be prepared up to this point 12 hours in advance. Transfer to preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until hot and bubbly. Enchiladas may be reheated, covered with aluminum foil, before service. Sprinkle with the remaining scallions and serve warm.

SOLD!

David and I are thrilled to announce that we are officially under contract to buy a house! Originally, we had planned to purchase the 1928 cottage that we've been renting, but the seller wanted too much for it. So... we made an offer on this house on Saturday and heard back today that it is ours! We're expected to close around November 20--just in time for my 25th birthday!

Here is our new home, assuming all goes as planned with the contract:

The front of our new house (they're going to finish painting the garage)

Back patio/yard

Living Room

Living Room

Kitchen (notice the gun by the door)

Foyer

Dining area

Dining area

Guest Bedroom

Office

Bathroom #2

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Master Bathroom

Recipe: Pasta Carbonara

I've decided to start blogging a few of my favorite recipes to share with everyone. The recipe below is very simple and has become a staple in the Clark house. I'm ashamed to say it's a Rachael Ray recipe, but I have to hand it to the girl--this recipe doesn't disappoint! My recipe alterations are in red.

Pasta Carbonara

Ingredients:





Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 pound rigatoni pasta

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat bottom of pan)

1/4 pound pancetta (Italian bacon), chopped (I use real bacon because I like the texture better; I usually cook the bacon first--drain the fat--and then add to the recipe)

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (use more if you want it spicy!)

5 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 large egg yolks

Freshly grated Romano cheese (I use parmesan simply because it's easier to find)

Handful of sun-dried tomatoes, julienned

Handful of finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish



Directions:

1. Put a large saucepot of water on to boil. Add a liberal amount of salt and the pasta. Cook to al dente, about 8 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and pancetta. Brown pancetta 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Add wine and stir up all the pan drippings.

3. In a separate bowl, beat yolks, then add 1 large ladleful (about 1/2 cup) of the pasta cooking water. This tempers the eggs and keeps them from scrambling when added to the pasta.

4. Drain pasta well and add it directly to the skillet with pancetta and oil. Pour the egg mixture over the pasta. Toss rapidly to coat the pasta without cooking the egg. Remove pan from heat and add a big handful of cheese, lots of pepper, and a little salt. Continue to toss and turn the pasta until it soaks up egg mixture and thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Garnish with parsley and extra grated Romano.


If you end up trying this recipe, let me know how you like it! Bon appétit!

Love,

Elisabeth

Love in the Time of Swine Flu

It's hard to believe David and I have been married for 362 days and we've been in Lubbock for the last 49. Life in Lubbock has settled down a bit since the last post. Our boxes are unpacked, my job is going quite well and David begins orientation tomorrow. I've bought a bike and have been able to bike to/from work every day (except when it rains and David drives me). We've visited several churches and haven't found a great fit yet. We're hoping to find a church where we can meet other young married couples and feel connected to the community. There is an art walk the first Friday of the month that we were able to participate in this month. We're told that there is also a great drive-in theater nearby that is really fun. David and I have been playing disc golf together on the weekends. It is a difficult course with several water holes and I've lost 2 discs to the water already! I've recently finished watching all 3 seasons of "Friday Night Lights"--so good! So now I've started watching "Mad Men"--needless to say, we're eager to make friends so I can get away from the TV! 

I've taken a few pictures of our living/dining room. You'll have to forgive me for not posting better pictures of the house--it's still a work in-progress to say the least. I'm finding that I'm pretty inept at decorating. You'll see below our living room needs an area rug, more wall decor, photos, etc. BUT it's home. 

You can see into David's office a little from this angle.

Thank you, Dad, for the print--it's perfect over our mantle!

This is what you see when you walk in the front door.

Living room

View from my office... I think you can see Canada from here.

My orange desk circa 1965.

David and I will celebrate our 1-year anniversary on Sunday. Here are a few of the highlights:

Best day ever.

Honeymooners

First Christmas tree.
David's graduation from UVA. 

(I've 86ed the bangs since then--too much hassle)

While we were in LR in June, we decided to go ahead and eat our wedding cake at my grandparents' house.

It was still so good! Traditional 1st anniversary gifts are paper goods while a more modern trend is clocks. Which should I give David? 

Again, we love and miss everyone very much. We're already anticipating the holidays when we can reconnect with all of our friends!

Love,

Elisabeth

New in Town

OUR NEW ADDRESS:

David and Elisabeth Clark

2610 22nd Street

Lubbock, TX 79410

Hello friends! We've finally arrive in Lubbock! It is certainly flat and dry here, but greener than we expected! After hours of driving through desolate West Texas, we pulled into town on July 2 and we've slowly been setting up house since then. (Below you'll find some snapshots of our humble abode pre-stuff... more to come) It is a 1200 sq. ft. home built in 1928 so there are many charming features, although we've been too overwhelmed with boxes to enjoy them! 

I started my new job on July 6 as Unit Coordinator for the Health Organization Management Program within the MBA program at Texas Tech University. My office is located on the 10th floor of a tower adjacent to the English building where David will be working. So far the job has been very challenging, but I think it is a role that I'll be able to grow into. I'm responsible for managing 11 grad. students, marketing, PR, web design, event planning and general coordinating for the department. I'm excited about the connections I'll be able to make in this job and I get to take classes at the university for free. Strangely enough, an acquaintance of mine from Union (Megan Malone) works with me in my office! What a blessing it has been to have a familiar face that I get to see every day! We live about a mile from the buildings where we work so we've been walking to/from campus. David will begin his Ph.D. in Creative Writing (Poetry) at TTU sometime mid-August. He expects to finish the program in 4-5 years. 

In other news, we sold my Jeep prior to moving to Lubbock which was very sad. However, our only remaining car, David's Taurus, has decided to give us some trouble. We found out today that it needs a new transmission to the tune of $1600 so needless to say, we're in the market for another car, but luckily we're able to walk to campus. 

On a positive note, David got a poem accepted into The Cimarron Review!!! We've been celebrating his success and we went out to buy a bottle of wine. However, Lubbock is currently a dry city and we had to go to this place called "The Strip" located on the outskirts of town (picture below). What a bizarre place that was! For some reason these businesses in "The Strip" have a monopoly on the booze sold in our area. It was reminiscent of Atlantic City or Branson---very strange and flashy--but an experience none the less. Word has it that Lubbock will be a wet city as of August so hopefully we won't have to venture out there again!

A few random facts about Lubbock:

• Lubbock is located in the south plains region of Texas and receives ~300 days of sunshine a year (it's been sunny every day we've been here)
• There are 268,000 non-student residents in Lubbock
  
• Buddy Holly was from Lubbock
• TTU has the 2nd largest college campus in America with regards to property size
• We're 6 hours from Dallas and 6 hours from Albuquerque 
• We're only a few hours from Area 51 :)

The view out of my passenger window for countless hours. West TX is so windy so there are windmills everywhere!

Home sweet home

Shade is certainly a commodity in Lubbock!

Our living room

Dining room

Backyard... I'm planning a garden for the spring

Garage--we're told that Lubbock receives many hail storms so garages are pretty necessary!

Check back in a few weeks for another update. I'll try to have the house in decent enough shape to be able to show it off! We miss and love all of our friends and family so much. Please keep in touch with us. 

Love,

Elisabeth

Also, my skype name is: elisabethberryclark