Ice Day and Old Pictures

Greetings from frigid, frozen-over NW Arkansas! For those who are not from this part of the world you may not be familiar with all of the different ways water can fall from the sky and keep you from going to work. Well, today the Gosneys (and everyone else here) experienced just about all of them. Yesterday started with freezing rain, which continued for quite some time until changing over to sleet and, finally, some snow. The snow and sleet aren't too bad, but the freezing rain encases everything in a thin (or in this case extremely thick) layer of ice, making roads impassable and power lines snappable. (Snappable isn't a word, so just go with it.) So far the Gosney household still has power, but others aren't so lucky. Needless to say, the good folks at Wal-Mart Home Office were encouraged to stay home and not risk life and limb. The Gosneys readily oblidged. Attached are a few shots taken from the front and back yard. Notice the driveway is a solid sheet of ice, probably about an inch and a half thick. Sharon, particularly, is extremely sad about not being able to go into the office and insisted she needed a chocolate cake in order to deal with her grief. (She cited "extra-ordinary circumstances" for the reason to have non-healthy food on a weekday.)

Back in Utah Sharon's family spent some time looking through old photographs and decided it was a good time to digitize as much as possible. So, after a trip to Sam's Club (where they have a cool machine that you can feed stacks of pictures into and they get scanned in with lightening speed) Sharon and her siblings were able to take home CDs with many of their photographs on them. Meanwhile, an old friend of Matts from the old house he grew up in was doing the same thing as he visited his family for Christmas. This friend, also named Matt (totally cool when you are 7 years old) lived in the house directly behind Matt (even cooler to have someone with your same name share your backyard fence.) Friend Matt sent over some pictures that brought back lots of memories. And now you get to enjoy a few pictures of Matt and Sharon as kiddos. Note how much hair Matt had. *sigh* Matt particularly enjoys the picture of Sharon looking longingly at her brother's birthday cake. Clearly, Sharon's sweet tooth was established at a young age.

For those of you in the ice storm with us, stay warm and safe! And for those who aren't, be glad!

Back in Action! Christmas '08 Redux.

So yes, several of you have commented that the Gosney's have been extremely poor bloggers over the last several weeks. While there are many excuses that could be given (Christmas, Finals, depression brought on by the Obama Inauguration) Sharon probably identified the true reason for the lapse. Matt tends to write in the blog when he is attempting to avoid doing homework. Given that there was a nice break over the holidays there was no homework to be done. Thus, much less blogging. Never fear, there is plenty of homework to be done, and that means plenty of attempts to procrastinate that homework. Count on plenty of blog entries. (Despite the procrastinating Matt did still manage a 4.0 this previous semester. So there.)

Christmas was spent in two locations this year with Christmas day in Oklahoma with Matt's family. The day after Christmas saw Matt and Sharon brave the airport to fly to Utah to visit Sharon's family. Delta only lost Matt's luggage on the way back, which for them is probably above average performance. Utah was beautiful with lots of snow, and it was great to get to spend time with the Smith's. The Gosney Christmas was also great fun, Matt made lasagna as a "something different" Christmas dinner. The dinner was deemed successful as everyone slipped into a broiled cheese-induced coma. Below are two slide shows, the first from the Oklahoma Christmas and the second from the Utah Christmas. Browse at your leisure.

When in Utah Matt decided it would be fun to take a look at the old stomping grounds where he used to live down in Provo. A picture of Matt's first apartment in Provo after his mission is included. Matt lived in the basement appartment. Note the horrifically-dangerous ice sicles hanging over the basement stairs. Not dangerous at all. The hand rail was an "upgrade" that did not exist when Matt resided there. The best part of the house was, by far, the highly sustainable toliet paper caulking used around the windows. One could be sitting in the living room and experience a draft so strong items would get blown off your lap. Good times. Needless to say, Matt only stayed in the apartment for a year and then moved on to better accomodations.

After all of the traveling Matt and Sharon decided to buy themselves a Christmas present. Not known for a lot of decoration on the walls the Gosneys decided it was probably time to actually hang a picture. Matt and Sharon had seen this picture a year ago while in Utah and had coveted it for quite some time. It is a beautiful photo of a small portion of the Salt Lake Temple framed with some fall foliage (that just so happens to match the red accent wall in the Gosney home.) So they decided it would be the perfect addition to the living room wall. Matt is just glad he was capable of mounting the picture without it crashing to the ground ... yet.

Hope everyone is happy and well!

The famous Graham Christmas party!

Last Friday the Gosneys enjoyed the famous, world-renowned, completely awesome Graham Christmas Party. The Grahams are good friends and they have established a great tradition of hosting an adults-only Christmas party. Matt and Sharon celebrate their attendance at the party in two significant ways. First, they buy spiffy new Christmas sweaters (although Sharon refuses to buy one with snowmen or Santa Claus on it.) Next, they find some sort of tasty new treat to make and bring. The results of the sweater purchase can be seen here, along with a very pregnant and very ready to not be pregnant anymore Laura Hammontree in the background. The tasty treats were Cheese Straws and Mini-Cheesecakes. As both were un-abashed hits at the party the Gosneys have decided they are willing to share their recipes. Rest assured, they were glorious. (Recipes are at the bottom of the post.)

Another significant aspect of the Graham Christmas Party is the great and imaginative games that Cori Graham thinks up to keep everyone entertained. This year's major hit was a game in which a series of Christmas songs were written on slips of paper, and genres of music on seperate slips of paper. Each group drew from each pile and, with provided props, had to perform the song in the genre selected. Here several friends are performing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" in the style of High School Musical. The Gosneys did "Deck the Halls" in a country-music style that ended up being much more redneck hillbilly than country. Frightening to behold, but highly entertaining.

Hope everyone is well!

Cheese Straws

2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry (such as Pepperidge Farm), defrosted overnight in the refrigerator
Flour, for dusting
1 extra-large egg
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 cup finely grated Gruyère cheese (or Aziago, which is what we used.)
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Roll out each sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured board until it is 10- by 12-inches. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush the surface of the pastry. Sprinkle each sheet evenly with 1⁄4 cup of the Parmesan, 1⁄2 cup of the Gruyère, 1⁄2 teaspoon of the thyme, 1⁄2 teaspoon of the salt, and some pepper. With the rolling pin, lightly press the flavorings into the puff pastry. Cut each sheet crosswise with a floured knife or pizza wheel into 11 or 12 strips. Twist each strip and lay on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. (We also found that twisting the strips and then doubling them over and twisting again worked best. Otherwise they end up way too long.)

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned and puffed. Turn each straw and bake for another 2 minutes. Don't over bake or the cheese will burn. Cool and serve at room temperature.

MINI-CHEESECAKES
----------------

1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter, melted
3 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 (21 oz.) can Wilderness filling or topping, any flavor,
chilled (we doubled the recipe and went half blueberry and half cherry.)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine crumbs, sugar, and
butter; press equal portions into bottoms 24 lightly
greased or paper cup lined muffin cups. In large bowl, beat
cheese until fluffy (muffin paper cups worked great.) Gradually beat in condensed milk until
smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Spoon mixture into
cups. Bake 20 minutes or until set. Cool. Chill. Top with
filling. Refrigerate. Makes about 2 dozen mini cheesecakes.

Thanksgiving, Christmas Trees, and Sam Bradford

The Gosneys made their oft-traveled journey to Oklahoma to spend Thanksgiving with Matt's parents. The Gosney Thanksgiving Dinner generally consists of the traditional Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, etc, and this year was no exception. However, all of the main course fare is really just a precursor to the many varied and wonderful pies that are always made, drooled over, and eaten with absolute haste. The pie-to-person ratio for Thanksgiving is always a little embarassing. This year a chocolate cream, coconut cream, mixed berry, and pumpkin pie were the choices and Sharon deemed each to be successful (although she's not really a fan of coconut cream in general, citing "yucky texture" as the problem area.) Unfortunately the digital camera did not make the trip, so you will have to simply trust that it was an extremely successful Thanksgiving. Matt and Sharon even ventured out on Black Friday to do some shopping. Although both agreed that it was enjoyable, there is no question that mall pizza at 8:30 in the morning will play havoc on one's digestive system.

Saturday was the OU-OSU football game, with a trip to the Big 12 Championship riding on the outcome. Matt has never purchased a Sooner player's jersey before, however he did decide that OU's quarterback was in fact jersey-worthy. A quick view of the image here will show why. OU won, and now off to Kanas City and a chance to play for the national championship. Matt isn't sure what he enjoys most about this development, seeing OU do well or watching it come at the expense of Texas fans. Matt's new Sr. Vice-President is a die-hard Texas fan, so he has learned to temper his enthusiasm at the office. Best not to commit career suicide over football.

On Monday Matt and Sharon decorated the Christmas trees, while Auggie and Penny observed and ocassionally licked the ornaments. There are two trees that get decorated, one in the family room and one in the guest bedroom. Both look strikingly similar to the Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but with enough ornamentation it isn't too bad. The first tree pictured is the living room tree. You will notice some gaping holes and an angel that is very clearly too big for the tree. One day these issues will be fixed, but not this year. Matt and Sharon bought most of the ornaments in their first year of marriage as they burned through Pier One Gift Cards (wedding gifts.) Unfortunately the tree doesn't really fit the ornaments, but it does make for a more festive living room.

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was wonderful!

Movie Surprise, Cake, and Football

Oh boy do we have more to report today! The Sharon birthday celebration continued on Saturday with Matt's gift (aside from looking the other way as wardrobe purchases continued unabated.) First, some back story. Sharon is a die-hard and dedicated fan of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series of books. She has read them all and is madly and deeply in love with them. She discusses them with friends, buys them for birthday presents for the un-initiated, and generally is devoted to all things Twilight. Conveniently enough, the movie version of the first book opened in theaters on Sharon's birthday. This got Matt to thinking, how could Sharon's birthday be uniquely celebrated while incorporating the Twilight movie? So he made some phone calls and discovered that, for a reasonable fee, a screen at the local theater could be rented before the theater opened for a private screening.

Matt called Sharon's good friend Cori Graham as co-conspirator. Cori first floated the idea during a book club of church friends to see if there would be adequate support for such a surprise party. Needless to say, there was adequate support. So Matt began working with the theater to set everything up. With apologies to any who work in the movie theater industry, Matt's experience with the average Malco theater general manager was less than impressive. These are definitely not the corporate and civic leaders of tomorrow (although based on the previous election maybe they are.) Success was ensured through consistent harassment of theater management. Oftentimes phone call reminders of the reservation were met with complete surprise as if Matt had never spoken to an employee of the theater before, about anything, particularly a birthday party. But tenacity of purpose is a hallmark of Matt's.

Keeping such an event a secret is nearly impossible, and Matt was seriously nervous that eventually things would get back to Sharon. The excitement over the party wasn't just within church friends, word even got out to the local hairdresser. Sharon came home from the hairdresser on Friday and mentioned that, for some reason, the hairdresser knew who I was and had been talking about me. Matt hoped beyond hope that the hairdresser resisted the innate hairdresser urge to spill the beans; luckily the secret remained safe and Sharon remained unaware. Matt's boss even fielded a phone call from his wife saying "You'll never believe what Matt is doing for Sharon!" To which he replied, "I think that is supposed to be a secret." Her response; "I'd better go make some phone calls, then."

Sharon, Matt and Sharon's sister Cathy drove over to the theater bright and early on Saturday morning with Sharon unaware of the purpose of the trip. Sharon became even more confused as they pulled into the theater parking lot. Confusion reached a peak when she began recognizing familiar cars and faces in the parking lot. In the end, Sharon was thrilled as she got to watch a movie she was highly anticipating surrounded by great friends. Attached are a few photos from the event. And as a side note, the movie did not disappoint.

After the movie folks gathered at the Gosney house for cake and ice cream (and for the Twilight officionados, a detailed discussion of the critical elements of the movie -- such as how beautiful Edward was.) Sharon's favorite aspect of the cake and ice cream, aside from the actual cake and ice cream, was the addition of some of her favorite little kiddos. Sharon is a bit of the pied piper of three year olds, as can be seen from the photos. Kids just tend to follow her around, and Sharon loved that aspect of her birthday surprise.

Finally, Saturday evening was spent having dinner and watching football with Cathy as well as Jace and Karis Stapley. Jace and Karis are dear friends (Jace and Matt went to BYU together and were even roommates for a summer back in 2002.) Jace has taken a position with Wal-Mart working on Matt's team, so they are relocating here from Arizona. (Apologies to Jace and Karis if this was still a secret, but we're thinking the cat is out of the bag.) Matt and Sharon are very excited to have them move into the neighborhood, and Jace and Karis were properly initiated into hanging out with the Gosneys by attending their very first OU football-watching party. Here is photographic evidence of the Stapleys safely in NW Arkansas. One look on Matt's face will clearly demonstrate the outcome of the game. The observer will also note that Matt took no chances with the Stapleys accidently jinxing the game, thus appropriate clothing was provided.

Apologies for a very long post! Things are going well here as you can see. Matt and Sharon are taking Cathy to the airport today, and then down to Oklahoma on Wednesday for Thanksgiving with Matt's family. If there is no posting until after Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Happy Birthday Sharon!!

Sharon is 30 years old today! Or, perhaps a better way to put it is this is the first anniversary of her 29th birthday. She is a beautiful, wonderful person and Matt considers himself extremely fortunate and blessed to have her as his companion. As a senior missionary couple used to refer to each other in Matt's mission, Sharon is his "Eternal Passport."

Matt proved his love to Sharon by lying to her for the past several weeks about various activities that were designed to block off Sharon's calendar. Sharon was told that a big important dinner would be occurring on Wednesday evening with Matt's bosses' boss, so a few visiting teaching appointments were re-scheduled to accomedate. Then Sharon was invited to a day-long Franklin Covey class on Thursday. Both the dinner and the class were not real, however. Instead Matt picked Sharon up from work on Wednesday, went by Sonic (Dr. Pepper with extra ice is Sharon's drink of choice) and drove two hours to Tulsa. Sharon gave lots of puzzled looks and tried to figure out why dinner wasn't actually happening and what the plan was instead. Matt and Sharon drove to the airport with Sharon still unsure of what was occuring. It wasn't until they walked into baggage claim where Sharon's sister Cathy was waiting for them that Sharon realized her birthday surprise. (The picture is of Sharon and Cathy at the airport.) Cathy is here visiting for several days and those two are having a lot of fun hitting all of the important shopping venues. Yesterday was not spent in a Franklin Covey class but instead at the mall, Matt had arranged with Sharon's boss for a vacation day on Thursday.

As you can see, Cathy got to meet our dogs -- including Auggie. Auggie didn't know what to think about a new addition to the home, and spent most of Thursday hiding behind Sharon and occassionally barking at Cathy. But by Thursday evening he'd decided she was okay to have around and even cuddle with. Of course, cuddling with Auggie can be an overwhelming experience as Cathy is finding out in the picture. He either likes her or is trying to get her off "his" sofa, one of the two. Either way, you haven't really visited the Gosney's until you've had a Mastiff lay on you.

Happy Birthday again to sweet, wonderful Sharon!

D.I.Y. Gosney Strikes Again

The Do-It-Yourselfing continues over at the Gosney household has we have been emboldened by last week's successes. This week, light fixtures! But first, some back story.

The time is 2005. Sharon has just purchased her first home and is in love with everything about it, except the battleship gray paint in every room. She decides to take a week off work and, with the help of her roommate, paints every square inch of the house -- including the master bath. In the master bath are some hideous light fixtures which must come down and so she asks for the help of a friend in removing them. Unfortunately the hideous light fixtures were poorly installed and large gaping holes are revealed behind the fixtures. Sharon vows to find some better fixtures and have them installed as soon as she finishes painting. By the time she makes it to painting the master bath, however, she is exhausted and quite possibly impaired from the effects of huffing house paint for a solid week. Therefore, she only manages one scraggly coat of paint before calling the project complete.

Fast-forward to 2006. Matt and Sharon have began dating. Many promises of home-improvement tasks are made by Matt in an effort to look impressive, including the repair of the light fixtures. After marriage these promises are promptly forgotten.

Fast-forward to mid-2008. Matt and Sharon have, in fact, repainted several of the rooms in the home already and at last tackle the master bath. They repaint the master bath, this time with the appropriate two coats of paint, and say that perhaps this is the year they will finally address the giant holes in the wall that are so large some creature could easily crawl through. Probably right as Matt gets out of the shower.

Fast-forward to Friday. Matt and Sharon visit Lowes to look at light fixtures again. This is an activity they have done in the past to make themselves feel like they might actually address the bathroom issue. Unlike previous visits, however, they actually purchase light fixtures. Matt is convinced the correct approach is to hire an electrician to install these new fixtures. Sharon asks the teen-age cashier how hard they are to install to which the cashier replies that she installed some herself for her grandmother and that they were quite easy. The take-home message, of course, is that a teen-age girl is more handy than Matt.

Fast-forward one last time to Saturday. Matt, feeling brave due to last week's blinds success and not wanting to be found less capable than a Hannah Montana fan, dutifully reads the instructions on how to install light fixtures while also ensuring that his life insurance policy is paid to date. Miraculously, after one emergency visit to the hardware store (electrical tape) and no curse words uttered, Matt and Sharon managed to install the light fixtures (and they work!) Matt feels this is a good time to retire from the D.I.Y. scene, going out on top.

Hope everyone is well!