cheesecake, cheers, and change

(I decided that I would stick with the labeling thing, and move on to the next letter in the alphabet)

Cheesecake:

I finally did it... I finally attempted to make my mom's oh-so-famous cheesecake. For those of you who are unaware of how delicious and desirable my mom's cheesecake is, you could ask any of the guests that attended my graduation ceremony back in the day (or Kali's graduation from college), because she made...and made...and made cheesecakes for both of these occasions and the critics loved it! After said graduation ceremony one of my friends called me up and said, "Kelsey, if you have cheesecake left we want to come hang out with you; if you don't, you're welcome to come hang out with us." Yes, it had this much of a draw on people.

So the other night I broke down and bought a spring form pan and the necessary ingredients and began my work. We were having some friends over this evening, but I wasn't planning on serving it until Thursday night when we were all getting together again (much better if it has a long time to chill). Brent came home from work and I told him to look in the oven. He did, and said, "This is 35% of the reason I married you: because I know you had your mom's baking skills in you somewhere!" Ha! Funny thing is, I believed him!

As it was cooling one of our friends that was here that evening said he would probably just stay until 1 a.m. when it was sufficiently cooled so he could try it! Well, last night I "unveiled" my first attempt at cheesecake, and although there were some minor setbacks along the way, the end result was delicious...and Brent confirmed it tasted basically the same as mom's! Whew. What a compliment. Everyone else was complimentary as well. Just one more draw to try to get you all to come to Louisville for a visit:
Cheers:

The other day we were hanging out with a group of friends and the theme song from Cheers popped into my head...ya know, the part that goes, "Isn't it nice to go where everybody knows your name?" It was just a passing moment, but I realized that it was significant. I remember my first year of college and this constant need to just feel like I was known. Eventually that need was met with such wonderful people, and I now see that happening here. The only downfall here, much like in college, is that most of these people will be leaving next year. Although we don't plan on staying here long ourselves, it will be difficult to say goodbye and start the long process of making friends over again. But for the time being, it's nice to be with a group "where everybody knows your name..."

Change:

I can't believe the change in the weather here! Today it up in the 70s!! I told one of our friends the other day when he mentioned that he was glad that spring was finally on its way that I am pretty sure my body is still preparing for "winter" to hit. Even though we had a few days of ice in January, I really don't feel like winter has come to visit. After living in the Arctic for 4 years during the winter (see this post), it is quite the change. Although I thought I hated it with every fiber in me, it is strange what you actually miss when you leave a place, isn't it? Well, since it is so very nice out today I am going to get off the computer now and go enjoy it!