A Week in the Life of a Kelley

I know it's been a while since we've posted - we just got busy and cold! Here we were, jogging in the mornings, taking Sam to the park, and even biking a little...and the snow comes back.

Just to spite the snow - Heath and I have been doing our share of baking lately...

Chocolate chip pudding cookies (Heath demolished them in less than 24 hrs) and even heart-shaped sugar cookies in honor of Valentine's Day.

Classes are going well for Heath. He's really enjoying it. A few parents told him during parent/teacher conferences that "It's because of you we have Pepsi all over our freezer".

Why, you may ask? Well - apparently Heath was explaining how a liquid, such as Pepsi, contracts as it freezes. Unfortunately for his parents, one student went home and forgot that it also expands again after it reaches a certain freezing temp. They now have frozen Pepsi covering their freezer...oops!

I started at Lancers last week and believe it or not, I am absolutely loving my waitressing job. I have fantastic co-workers and I'm constantly meeting new (new to me) people from Eldridge.

There was a bit of drama in the kitchen last Friday though. The cook had just finished telling me not to cut my fingers while I sliced lemons and what do I do?

I darn near take my finger off...and almost pass out in the process. Now they're all laughing at the fact that I "looked as green as the dollar bills in my apron". It's too small to look bad, but too nasty to heal very well. Haha. At least I'm good for a laugh!


Heath is now an official grocery shopping husband. My car is missing two lugnuts (compliments of our drive home from Waukon) and we now grocery shop together! I bike to work during the week and then we make our weekly grocery/Petsmart trip into Davenport.



Sam loves PetSmart. We're the pathetic parents of a dog who lives for his Saturday trip into the "dog heaven" of his world. He's tough stuff when he runs into a terrier or a small boxer inside the store, but he whimpers like a baby whenever we walk past the lineup of dog/cat kennels to get to the dog food. Funny, you'd swear he knew it was the "jail" end of the store.

We're headed to Atlantic to see the Wyman family this weekend. Brandi is getting married and I'm singing and photographing...lol, Heath will be photographing the processional while I'm singing! Should be fun. :)

After that it's Heath's birthday and SPRING BREAK! Hurray!

That's all for now...stay warm!

-the kelleys

Hilarious Youtube Video

Couldn't resist posting this video!

Check it out!

Yes, it's us again!

We just posted a video that I made at work today...wow!
Oh! And I also posted our wedding album on Mark's Blog and spent the entire day getting it live along with the facebook page, Mark's Place of Photography. If you have a chance, check it out! :)

Better go! We're getting ready to head off to bible study in a bit. Love you all! -heath/stephanie

Wedding Video

Happy Valentines Day (early)

Hi everyone -

It's been a long week. Heath has the last of his parent/teacher conferences tonight and tomorrow off so we're really looking forward to the weekend. We went up to Waukon for the weekend and had quite the time getting back. Apparently we broke two of the five lug nuts on the driver's side wheel. Took us 4 hours to get home instead of 2 1/2. We were pretty blessed to have made the drive safely.

Then...someone called in to the Eldridge police and reported an "Irish setter who barks all day". We found out from Mark (lol, our landlord and my boss) that it's the neighbor across the backyard and on the corner. Apparently, when Mark and his family were living there, they had a cat the neighbor reported as "running loose everywhere"...they had to put their cat on a leash! :P So (sigh), we have a disgruntled neighbor (neighbor is a stretch because he's on the corner of the other block) and a dog who can apparently bark so loud that he can be heard through the walls of our duplex, across the yard, and down the block. P.S. - the policeman didn't belive me when I said there's no way Sam could bark all day because I only tie him out 2-3 hours at a time. When I'm gone longer...he's inside. Of course, the officer who left us the warning said "the dog barked the entire time" he was there...HA! Of course he did - he saw a policeman in our yard! :D Anyway, we're ready for the extra day in our weekend.

I'm officially taking on most of the marketing efforts at Mark's Place. In about 24 hrs, Mark's Place will officially launch a Facebook page, Blog, and online videos/pictures. Whew! I've been working at that while Heath's been entertaining parents. Next week, I'll start waitressing part-time at Lancers (a pizza/grill rest.).

Heath and I joined a bible-study in DeWitt last week. My great aunt and uncle and several other adults are a part of it and we're going through Phil. right now and loving it. It's pretty challenging. Hope this blog/email finds you all well. Have a Happy Valentines weekend!

love -
the Kelleys

Taco Soup in a Bread Bowl

Here's the recipes! (Soup is compliments of mom). You'll want to start the bread bowls way ahead of time...but they're really worth it. Enjoy!

Taco Soup

2lbs g. beef (brown/drain)
1/4 c. chopped onion (put in while you're browning beef)
1 6oz can tomatoes - don't drain
1 16oz can corn - don't drain
1 pk. taco seasoning
1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 8oz. can tomato sauce (I use tomato soup)
1 c. spaghetti sauce
1 c. water

Put on the oven or in a crockpot until hot. Top w/cheddar cheese and sour cream. Crush Doritoes for the top. :)

Basic Focaccia Bread
(Breadmaker)

1 2/3 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
3 3/4 c. flour
1 1/4 tsp. yeast

Put on Dough cycle. Remove and divide into 4 pieces of desired size. Cover and let rise for at least 30 min. Bake at 375 on a stone for approx. 30-45 min. As they start to harden and crust, 5 minutes before you take them out, cover them in butter to brown. Sprinkle with a hint of garlic. :) Wallah!

Pizza Soup (another favorite!)

1 1/2lbs Italian sausage
1 c. chopped onion
1 6oz can tomato paste
2 15oz can garbanzo beans (drain and rinse)
3 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. salt (less if you're salt-healthy!)
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
4-6 fresh mushrooms (sliced or chopped)

Put on the stove or crockpot until hot. Parmesean cheese to top. (You can add tomato sauce too depending on your taste and more/less seasonings to taste)

Superbowl Sunday

(Heath and I "rock n rolling" after the dance)

It's been a very eventful weekend here in Eldridge - we went to a high school dance, crashed a Superbowl party, and are still in recovery.


Heath and I both had forgotten how awkward high school dances are - we peeked in and everyone was just standing in the middle of the gym with a few couples 'dancing' in the corners. North Scott (Eldridge's school system) had Mark photograph their dance, so I took orders and Heath helped tear down...at 11:00! We're of the mind that either all the dads were MIA or suddenly stricken with blindness to let their daughters out the door in little more than their underwear. I spent all day yesterday and today editing their pictures.

The Superbowl party at Uncle Don and Aunt Julie's was a blast! We were dragging from the dance, but somehow made it to DeWitt for the afternoon/evening. We met two other wonderful couples who invited us to meet at Don and Julie's this Friday night for a bible study. Joel has been a physics teacher at CalWheatland (just north of DeWitt) since...I think '75, but he and Heath hit it off really well. Uncle Don had a different "course" for each quarter. We came hungry but didn't leave that way! Everything was Schwans - yum! (He's a Schwan's driver) We had everything from spicy hot wings to cheese nuggets. We were definitely warned to pace ourselves, nevertheless, we were miserable when we got home. :)

It's Benji's 18th birthday today. He's headed off to Brazil on his missions trip June 2. Little does he know, the family is planning a surprise birthday party for him this weekend.

Oh! Heath's website is up now. You can take a look http://blog.central-clinton.k12.ia.us/~hkelley. It's fantastic! :)

Love you all!
-heath/stephanie