Oh, Hey, I Remember Blogging

I suppose I should talk about how sorry I am about not blogging in such a loooong time. But instead, I'll just do some pics n' bullet points about what's been going on in the Leveille household in the 6 months since I last talked on here...

Scott and Ben hard at work tearing the laundry room out!

Ok first up is some home improvements! We hit the house stuff pretty hard this spring and early summer because of Scott's 2nd shoulder surgery (more on that later). Here's what we did:

• Bathroom--stripped the old wallpaper, saying "au revoir" to the toile...made me a little sad, but it was time for a change. And if I ever try to wallpaper something again, slap me. Stripping wallpaper is NO fun!
• Bathroom--got repainted to Pale Gold 2 and the trim done in turquoise with an antique-ing and brown glaze to tone down the blue. Definitely a very different style!
• Laundry Room--we totally demo-ed! The "before" LR was a lean-to type of room tacked onto the back stoop outside the kitchen. Some of the college group guys came over and had fun slinging sledge hammers through the walls!
• Laundry Room--we hired a general contractor to help with the re-design. The new LR is about triple the size! The back door was moved, the hot water heater has its own little closet, and I have LOTS of storage space! 
• The rest of the front facade was re-sided to the cedar shingles and the door and window trims re-worked. No more shutters, but pretty, wide woodwork! The front of the house is now much more presentable!
• Deck--oh golly...the poor deck was demo-ed, but hasn't been put back together yet...but we've re-designed it and it will be bigger, wrap around the side to the back, meeting the new laundry room addition. Hopefully we will have that finished soon!

Laundry Room in the middle of demo!

So, while the laundry room was torn apart, we had to live with my mom, because the hotwater heater lived in said laundry room, and it spent 6 weeks in the middle of the backyard. Can't live very long without hot water! But, my mom was very gracious, letting us take over her house, doing our laundry, and generally putting up with our messiness. And, as home improvement tend to go, an estimated 1 week project turned into 6 weeks. 

At the end of which, Scott had his 2nd shoulder surgery, stemming from an injury when we were overseas last summer on missions. 

So here's how THAT weekend in June went down:

Scott has surgery + staying overnight in hospital + Ann Marie coming down with stomach flu + lack of sleep because of hospital neighbor singing all night/Scott in crazy post-op pain/Ann Marie running to the bathroom + Ann Marie in mini-tern at UAB with crazy amounts of papers to write + a house that was torn apart and dirty = we were REEAALLLY glad to be staying at Mom's house! :(

OK I think that I've reached my writing limit for this afternoon...stay tuned and I might will finish the story later this week. 

I'm trying to be more disciplined in writing....but don't hold your breath! ;)

Both Feet In

So this has been a really busy semester, as I have doubled by class load to TWO classes at night, but it has stretched my schedule pretty much to capacity. Thus, blogging has suffered quite a bit. In fact, I am writing this on Friday and I should be at least doing some research for my paper proposal thats due Wednesday, or doing reading for class discussions...but this is important and I wanted to make sure that I blogged about this before time goes by too much!

Here's a little bit about our ministry story and what is new...

When we were married 8 1/2 years ago, Scott worked for one of the largest banks in Alabama, working his way into the corporate world. Through a series of events in our lives and the church as a whole, Scott quit the bank and came to SMIC as the financial/business administrator the spring after we were married. (Ironically, a job that his dad held for like 15 years and had vacated a couple years earlier...weird, eh?) We THOUGHT that would be almost a temporary gig...he'd go in, get everything in shape and running well, then go back tot he business world.

As I have pointed out many times since then, life is seldom what YOU plan! And thank God for that!

It's now eight years later, and Scott is transitioning to a pastoral role at SMIC! A couple of years ago, the college group was orphaned when their latest leader left our church. Someone needed to take them on, and Someone decided it could be Scott and I.

I, admittedly, was NOT in favor of this. I can't really explain why, aside from my selfishness, except that I felt like we did enough around the church and we didn't need any more responsibilities. (Ridiculous thinking, I know)

Eventually, God worked in my heart, and actually, did a lot of shaping in both of our lives, and we threw ourselves into college/young adult ministry. It was at the Thirsty Conference in 2006, put on by Louie and the Passion team, that I really let God mold me and lead me into whatever He wanted of me/us. We felt the call of college ministry pretty strongly.

As we have deepened relationships with students and others we have been ministering to/with, the desire to do MORE ministry has grown in both of our hearts. But its frustrating because our scheduled literally do not allow for anything else!

Scott has been the go-to person for anything non-pastoral at SMIC (including grounds and facilities, budgets, HR, insurance, technical stuff...and probably more that I'm forgetting!), but had let Harry know of his desire for having a more free schedule to focus on ministry, the desire to learn to preach and his passion to see others develop their intimate relationship with God. But no one saw a way out of him doing all the other business stuff.

Meanwhile, a man in our church who has served as board chairman, Gary, lost his job...at a BANK, of all places. He had been feeling the pull to get out of the business world. SMIC also lost our Executive Pastor, Jeff, last year, as he returned to his homeland of Australia, and we had a vacancy in our pastoral staff.

So, long story short, Gary is coming in to be the business administrator and Scott will transition into a full pastoral role as the college/young adult/young marrieds/discipleship pastor. We are excited, because this truly has been a desire of both our heart, but nervous as well.

As I was telling Harry and Karon the other day, its a little scary because its so official. Officially moving from the Professional to the Pastoral. For some reason that is sticking with me. I think before, we had one foot in, and now its both!

So, the future at SMIC is exciting for us and we are privileged that the board and staff are willing to give Scott this chance at doing fully what we believe God has called us to. I've been at our church my literal entire life, and everyone there is truly family.

I'm still working full time and going to UAB at night to finish out my BA, but Scott is looking at starting seminary too, possible later this year. We continue on a full, busy schedule, but looking forward to what God has in store for us and our SMIC family!

Professional Croissant Taster and Other Jobs I Wish I Could Have

Scott and I are headed to Asheville, North Carolina this weekend for a quick get-away and to visit his grandparents. Asheville is one of our favorite spots and it's so convienient to travel to from Birmingham. And we've always said that if we lived anywhere else in the Southeast US, it would be Asheville. So, that got me thinking about what I would do if I moved to a different city. Just for fun, here's my plan for a couple different places!

Asheville, NC

I would get a job at the Biltmore Estate, "America's Largest Private Home" (AKA-Castle)

I could be a hostess and welcome people on their visit and tell fun, historical facts. I love history and I love the Biltmore. Its amazing and you should visit one day!

And I would insist upon wearing a period Victorian costume to work. Something like this:

Because I am that ridiculous...

But seriously, I would probably apply to work in one of downtown Asheville's chocolate shops. Our favorite is The Chocolate Fetish! They make fabulous European-style artisan truffles and chocolates. Heaven. May favorite truffle is called Velvet Sin. So great I can't even describe it.

Or I could apply at The French Broad Chocolate Lounge, where they serve coffee only in French presses. How great is that?! They serve what they call Liquid Truffle Sipping Drinks...this is no ordinary hot chocolate!

Scott enjoying his treats at the Chocolate Lounge when we were there in September.

Paris, France

Mais oui, I dream about living and working Paris one day because I am obsessed with that city and French culture. But what would I actually do if I do go to live in Paris?

Would it be acceptable to be a professional Francophile and Student of French Culture? I know I could study language, but what about walking around the lovely streets of Paris or sitting in cafes while wearing a scarf and beret? Will someone pay me to do that?

How chic is she? Source: The HiP Paris Blog

Or what about being a Professional Croissant & Cafe au Lait Taster?

From In Praise of Sardines Flickr stream.

C'est la vie...that certainly would be the life!

So what about you? Where do you dream of living and working (or not working!) ?

"Le Blog de Ree" is Two Years Old!

Happy Bloggiversary to moi!! This will be entering my third year blogging...not very faithful at it mind you, but I'm here in the blogosphere nonetheless!

Merci beaucoup to anyone out there that reads me, whether I know you in the real world or not! I hope that you've tried a new recipe or been encouraged, or, more likely, laughed at our crazy lives!

Here's to a new year, a new decade, and the next year of my Le Blog!

Ree's Cookbook: Leek and Potato Soup

Scott and I came back from an exhausting, but powerful, weekend at Passion 2010 with our college group. We were "vegging" on the sofa, flipping through the channels when we landed on PBS and "Jacques and Julia At Home". Re-runs of this show have become one of our favorite cooking shows! (We don't have cable, so there's not many options anyway) We love how Jacques and Julia banter while cooking, often bickering like an old married couple...reminds us of ourselves while we cook together! One of my favorite quotes from a show is, Julia: "You could leave out the butter and cream, but why would you want to?" My sentiments exactly, Julia! Anyway, we were watching J & J so a show on soups, and as their different versions of leek and potato soups came to life before us, we looked at each other, and said, "Let's head to the store! We have to make soup tonight!"

So, here's our version of Leek and Potato Soup, adapted from "Jacques and Julia At Home" TV show!

Leek and Potato Soup

1 bunch of leeks, trimmed, thoroughly washed and chopped

1 white onion, chopped small

4-5 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you want to keep it vegetarian)

3-4 cups water

Watercress, minced

Salt and pepper

Heavy cream

1. Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil and a pat of butter in a large stockpot. Add leeks, stirring to saute for a couple minutes. Add onion and continue sauteing until vegetables are soft.

2. Add chicken stock and at least 2 cups of the water, stirring well. Let mixture come to a boil.

3. Add potatoes and more water if needed. You need enough water in the pot to cover all the soup ingredients completely. Let soup come to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are soft enough to mash with a spoon.

4. Add watercress and salt and pepper to taste.

5. Remove pot from heat and use a slotted spatula, large fork or potato masher to mash the chunks of potato, leaving smaller pieces in the soup. The idea here is to help thicken the soup with the mashed potatoes, yet leaving large enough chunks to eat. This is not a pureed soup, so don't worry about getting things completely smooth!

6. Return to heat and let simmer for a few more minutes until soup is heated back though and thickens slightly.

7. To serve, pour 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream in the bottom of soup bowl then ladle soup on top. The diner can then stir the cream into the soup as they eat. We also served this with cheese toast!

Hope you enjoy this country-style soup! Its "souper" easy and quick on a cold winter's night....don't worry about following the directions to a "T"...add things here and there and I promise it will be great!

Variation: puree soup, add heavy cream, chill and it now becomes Vichyssoise, an iconic French soup! Serve with a dollop of sour cream!

2009 in Collage

(Click on collage for a larger view!)
We've been half-way around the world and a few places in between...here's a collage of people and places from our year! God has blessed us richly in 2009, and we are thankful!

Merry Christmas! (AKA-Your Digitized Christmas Card)

I'm still scrambling around for a few addresses for cards this year, AND I needed to cut down the list to save some money, SO here's a digital version for everyone's enjoyment!

This is in Central Park at Wolman Rink, taken a couple weeks ago by our own Rachel Jones Photography! I cropped and added the script myself in Picasa.

Oh yeah, go over to Faith's blog and link up your card too!