It's Ours (or will be soon)

We signed papers today to buy a new house! The negotiations are over and we have agreed on a price. We are very excited. Closing will be May 1st.

Em's Got a New Job!

Because I resigned on Wednesday, I was extra pleased to get hired by Shawnee Mission on Friday. I knew I wouldn't be commuting an hour in one direction, so I resigned although I didn't have a job yet. I must say I am relieved to know I will be employed next year. Whew. I don't know where exactly, but I requested 7th grade (because I already know the material well) or Geometry (because I love it.) I am sad to leave my current school, but I am excited to do less of a commute and be part of the community I work in. Yea!

Woosh!

Wiebe's move fast. Since we did not get a favorable offer from PC, we decided to take a look at the house market in Kansas City. Low and behold, we will soon own a new house!! We decided to place an offer on a home in Prairie Village near 75th and Nall and today all the paperwork was signed. We will close on May 1st. This place has the potential to be a real lemon or a gold mine. Lots of work will be needed to bring this back to life. So many things to look forward to. The neighborhood is great and we are thrilled to be living in town, closer to everything.

Very Belated Blessings

This post has patiently waited to be published for about a month now. So I now give you a quick insight into the happenings of January 11 -13.

Emily and I have had the privilege of hosting the homeland Wiebe Christmas this year. Jen and Dave flew into KC on Thursday evening. We started the festivities by having a pesto, roasted garlic and gorgonzola pizza at Waldo's pizza. Jen's reaction was to say "this is some intense pizza." Well, if the occupation of your taste buds by a foreign power is intense then I would agree. Thankfully the supreme pizza we ordered was much more agreeable and welcome.

Early Friday morning we all (Jen, Dave, Em and I) drove down to Augusta for Dave's interview at the Municipal Airport. Upon arrival at the interview Dave was informed that the manager was sick so we drove right back to Gardner, expressing frustration and napping along the way. Thankfully we were excited enough and enjoyed being together, sharing witty banter all the way back. In Gardner we started a Bourne movie marathon. Mom and Dave arrived around 6:30 pm on Friday Night and we enjoyed Chicken Diane, a buttery culmination of chicken, mushrooms and spice. Here is the recipe if you are interested:

Chicken Diane

6 oz. uncooked dry pasta

3/4 (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. Cajun Magic Poultry Magic

3/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

3 c. sliced mushrooms (about 8 oz.)

1/4 c. minced green onion tops

3 tbsp. minced parsley

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 c. chicken stock

Cook pasta according to package directions just to al dente stage. Immediately drain and rinse with hot water to wash off starch, then with cold water to stop cooking process; drain again. To prevent from sticking together; pour a very small amount of oil in palm of your hand and rub through pasta.

Mash 4 tablespoons of the butter in medium bowl and combine with Poultry Magic and chicken. heat large skillet over high heat until hot, about 4 minutes. Add chicken pieces and brown, about 2 minutes on first side and about 1 minute on the other. Add mushrooms and cook 2 minutes, add green onions, parsley, garlic and stock. Cook 2 minutes more or until sauce is boiling rapidly. Add remaining butter (cut into pats), stirring and shaking pan to incorporate. Cook 3 minutes and add cooked pasta. Stir and shake pan to mix well. Serve immediately. Serves 2.

After supper we opened stockings and enjoyed the evening. Now on to the important part of our Wiebe Christmas tradition. Semmel and Cervelatwurst!! For those of you who know me or have been lucky e nough to enjoy this treat, you know just how wonderful life can be. Semmel is a hard, yet soft roll. Cervelatwurst is a summer sausage like log of delicious raw meat. Our tradition is to have this meal as brunch on Christmas morning. Piping hot Semmel are buttered and a frozen slice of Cervelatwurst is inserted to create a mini sandwich. A Wiebe can consume up to 10 of these in a sitting. Below are recipes for the daring.

Semmel

6 cups - Flour

2 1/2 t0 3 cups - Water (luke warm)

1 scant tbs - Yeast

1 scant tbs - Salt

Dissolve Yeast in warm water. Gradually add flour and salt while mixing. Whip with a wooden soon or dough hook until dough looks blistery with small air pockets. Preheat oven to 495 degrees. Spoon dough onto a greased sheet in lumps roughly 1 1/2" in diameter. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until slightly browned.

Cervelatwurst

1 1/2 lbs - Fresh Beef (leanest possible)

2 tbs - Vegetable Oil

2 tsp - Liquid Hickory Smoke Flavoring

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix ingredients thoroughly by hand. Form into a 1 1/2" round log on aluminum foil. Freeze overnight or longer. Slice and serve on hot Semmel. Eating Semmel and Cervelatwurst leaves one satisfied and very happy to be alive. I highly recommend it.

This picture is of the Wiebe orchestra. We are for hire. If interested call 316.283.0821 and ask for our manager, Gilbert. He should have our schedule and a sample CD. We specialize in the awkward and avant-garde, combine classical and bluegrass with no technique.

If was a great weekend and we miss having everyone around. If you are bored, just can't stay away or want to join the band, give us a call. We would love to have you over.
Jon

Not What We Had Imagined

Jon and I heard back from Peace Corps last week. We were offered a position to teach English at a University in Asia. While we know this important work, it is not what we want to do for 2+ years. Our liaison will go back to the committee to see if they can offer us something else, but in all likelihood it will be too late to resign/take leave from our jobs for us to consider doing it next year.

I am disappointed that this didn't pan out at this time; I didn't really consider that they wouldn't find something in our areas of interest. I am getting excited about possibilities for the years ahead though. We will probably stick around here for a few years and then look into doing MCC. We're looking forward our next adventure (even if it is around these parts). We'll let you know when we figure out what that is.

Emily

Every Flavor Jelly Beans

Last summer, I bought a small box of "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans" from the Harry Potter books. If you aren't familiar, these boxes have nice flavors like lemon drop and blueberry, but also earthworm, soap, black pepper, vomit, rotten egg (in my opinion, the worst), pickle, sausage. . . It is truely disgusting. I shared some of these lovely items with my sister and in-laws. But really, the fun can only last so long (for adults - good sports might I add). When this box fell out of my cupboard yesterday morning, I thought to myself, when am I ever going to eat these. And then, of course, I realized I teach 7th graders.
So, I took them to school and at the end of the last hour of the day on Friday, I invited anyone who was interested to partake. These kids stood with their hands out for about 10 minutes waiting while we watched one person at a time eat one with their eyes closed and then laughed and laughed. (They really stood there with their hands out that whole time - weird) It was hillarious and I had just enough for everybody to have one. A perfect ending.
I love my job.

Emily