Alumni Status

This weekend it hit me. While Dan and I were at our friend's get together this weekend I realized that I was not going back to school. . . Ever Again.

At one point during the night there were nine of us hanging out in the driveway and everyone but me was going back to school this week, as a teacher of course, but still, they were going to school and I wasn't.

I'm not sure what took so long for me to realize this. I should have had a little bit of an idea that I wasn't going back when I graduated, or when I moved out of my apartment, or when I started my job. But I didn't. It just hit me now.

I loved school. Well maybe not school, but I loved college. These were my favorite things about college, and what I miss the most since I'm not going back next week.

1. The Union. Not only was this in a great location on campus where I could duck in and walk during the cold months, but it was a great place to take a nap, get something to eat, and study. I took many afternoon naps on the cozy couches of the union, a fantastic way to catch up on some much needed rest, or recover from a hangover mid-day... There were many of those day after I started bartending. The basement of the Union was where I would do my best studying, excuse me, I mean cramming. I hated to study at our apartment because I was always so distracted. I preferred to wake up early on the day of exams, grab a cup of coffee from Starbucks and lay out all my papers on the big tables in the Union and Cram. I then just had a short walk to my class to take the test.

2. The HTM Cafe. I somehow made it there every day. If I wasn't working in the John Purdue Room or the Cafe it would be to grab a cup of coffe or lunch. It was kind of a secret spot on campus. Not a lot of people frequented the cafe, mostly people in HTM, it was our little hang out. There was always somebody there to study with or work on accounting homework with. During the last semester of school we mainly sat around and worried about getting jobs. It was a great place to take a break during the day and catch up with your friends. I would love to be able to have lunch with everybody again in the Cafe... just one more time.

3. Walking... everywhere, and being surrounded by your peers. Purdue's campus is amazing. You can go anywhere, do anything you want... on foot. There is no need for a car. You wake up, walk to class, walk to your friend's house, walk to go to dinner, walk to go to the bars, walk home, it's fantastic. But the best part is that as you are walking you are surrounded by your peers. When I walk in the city today I'm surrounded by mean angry people just trying to get somewhere. Nobody wants to chat about the classes your taking or the paper you need to go finish. I haven't really seen anybody doing a walk of shame lately... and those girls always brough a smile to my face. Trust me, I still walk a lot, but it's just not as enjoyable as it was when I was at school.

4. Our apartment. For several reasons, first of all when anything went wrong I could call my landlord, now we're in charge for everything that happens here. I was expecting this, what I wasn't expecting was not having Amanda around all the time. Especially now since Dan is at football quite a bit, I have been kinda lonely. . . and Dan doesn't let me watch the Real Housewives. I definitely miss sitting on the couch with Amanda, eating snacks, and watching trashy TV. . . And yelling at her from my bed to tell her something funny, or her making fun of me for laughing out loud at the television.

5. Harry's Chocolate Shop. I love this place. Not only did the establishment make me a lot of money and allow me to put down payments on a car and house when I got out of school, I had so much fun and gained a family from Harry's. I probably spent half of my college career inside the bar. If I wasn't working I would stop in for lunch or to watch the Bengals or Reds play (God Love MLB and NFL Networks), I could never leave or come into town without stopping by. The regulars from the bar were my friends and family. I miss these guys more than anyone can imagine and I miss sitting at the corner of the bar, listening to funny funny stories. If something good happened, I was there. If something bad happened, I was there. And if I felt like I needed to skip a class, I was there. K9 would always enjoy when I stopped by on a slow afternoon.

Boiler Gold Rush starts this week. When I think back to that week I have great memories. It was the week where I met my best friends from college. I would give anything to go back to the third floor of Duhme Hall for just a day. I'm sure I would get a few quiet hour violations while I was there. But for now, I'm just trying to let it sink it that I am not going back to school this week. . . Or ever again and try to accept my Alumni Status

Hail Purdue!

"There ought to be a special place in heaven for coaches' wives." ~Paul W. Bryant

And to that quote I say... "Roll, Tide, Roll"

I don't want this weekend to end. After this the next 16 weekends will be dedicated to Crown Point High School Football. Don't get me wrong, I love it. I love going to the games and sitting with the other wives and girlfriends. I like watching Dan on the sidelines calling plays and giving the players pep talks. And I like watching, well mainly judging, the cheerleaders high V's and enthusiasm (neither are very great.) I use to live for Friday nights and with Dan I will always get to experience them. But along with the fun of Friday nights comes Saturday morning JV games, Saturday film pick-up, Sunday film-watching, and Sunday Coaches' meetings. {None of this by the way was ever depicted in Friday Night Lights, either that or Tami Taylor is a lot better coaches' wife than I will ever be!}

So I am going to soak every minute of this weekend in. Dan and I have some big plans including a matinee movie, a lunch date, a party at our friend's house and The Air and Water Show downtown. I'm so excited about our adventures this weekend, but I know that it's all going to end at 5:00 pm on Sunday, because that's when the first coaches meeting takes place. "It's a game week babe," Dan tells me when I asked him why we would have to leave the Air and Water Show Early on Sunday. I guess I need to get used to statements like that.

Go Bulldogs!

My Favorite Things... In Our House

I love my things. My mom usually calls them junk, but to me all of my things are treasures. I had a hard time moving out of my college apartment knowing that I was moving in with Dan because he also though most of my "treasures" were junk. It took me days to get rid of boxes of things I didn't want to let go, but now that I think of them they must not have been that important because I don't really miss them all that much.

But now that we are moved in... and almost settled, I'm starting to have new favorite things.

1. Our new kitchen table and chairs. We've been waiting two months for it to arrive and I'm so excited that we got to go pick it up yesterday. putting it together was another chore, but we had fun doing it.



2. Our cozy cozy couch in the loft. I love this couch, we can both stretch out and lay comfortably. We have our big TV upstairs so we affectionately call our loft, "the movie theatre." I'm sure we will be spending a lot of time up here in the winter when it's too cold to do anything else but snuggle and watch movies.


3. Our first refrigerator accessory. Growing up my mom had things on her refrigerator all of the time. Our schedules and pictures and important letters and wedding invitations were always cluttering the refrigerator... along with homemade magnets and the arts and crafts we made for her. (If you look on the right hand side of the refrigerator there is the handwriting exercise I did in first grade, amazing that she still has it) Well when Dan and I received a letter on Friday that was addressed to "The Future Mr. and Mrs. Dan Hartman" I knew there was a "treasure" inside. Inside were two pictures that Dillon colored for us. One addressed to My New Uncle Dan and they other one said We Love You Aunt Tracy! Of course these went on our refrigerator, along with the envelope because I just couldn't throw it away. Yes, I know, I only have chip clips and Harry's magnets on my refrigerator!

So here it is, my current least favorite thing in the house... but hopefully will soon my one of my favorite. P90X. Currently I'm sitting here typing unable to move because of the workouts I've endured the past two days. Dan and I finally bit the bullet and started the workouts yesterday because we figured we could get three cycles in before our wedding day. It's extreme and our downstairs living room is now our gym. But we are going to do it! I'll be sure to give lots of updates and track our progress... and let you know when it becomes one of my favorite things, because right now it's not even close!

The Horstman Family Secret Ingredient

Cream Cheese...

I have cousins that have married into the Horstman family that are so impressed (well, I don't know if impressed is the right word...) by the way we all use cream cheese in almost everything. We have officially declared Thanksgiving - Chirstmas "Cream Cheese Season..." and it's my absolute favorite. I laugh out loud around the holidays when this is the main staple in mom's refrigerator becuse she has cheeseballs, cheesy potatoes, and desserts to make. A recipe cannot go bad if the main ingredient is cream cheese.

Since Dan has started two-a-days I have been making dinner all week. (A standing house rule for us is that the first one home makes dinner.) This past week was my first actual dinner duty. I usually love to cook, but what I love even more is to be cooked for, and I'm not exaggerating when I say this... Dan is the chef in the house, he affectionately calls me his Sous Chef.

Anyway, so this week I've been cooking. All my meals were successes and when I came across this recipe today I knew I had to make it.

Stuffed Peppers

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1 cup chopped celery

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1/2 pound breakfast sausage (I used hot and spicy)

2 garlic cloves, finely diced

8 ounces cream cheese (the secret ingredient)

1/3 cup freshley chopped parsley leaves

1 tablespoon hot sauce (I used about 3 tablespoons)

1/4 cup bread crumbs

Poblano Peppers

In a saute pan over medium heat add the oil. Once heated add the celery, bell peppers and onioin. Sautee. Add sausage and garlic. Brown. Add cream cheese and stir until melted. Take off heat and parsley, hot sauce, and bread crumbs. Let cool (this is where I started taking lots of bites and burnt my tounge a little)

Meanwhile place peppers in boiling water... ummm until you think they are ready and preheat over to 400 degrees

Stuff peppers with veggie and cheese mixture and bake for 15 minutes or grill until char develops (which I think I will try next time)

We absolutely loved these little guys. Hope you enjoy! 3 months and 20 days until the start of Cream Cheese Season!

A Little Encouragement For My Girls in Tennessee

I have a soft spot for teachers.

Not only am I marrying one, two of my best friends are going to be experiencing their first day of school in a whole new way on Friday. They are going to be the ones in charge. I know they are both anxiously awaiting this first day... so girls, here's a little encouragement.

I admire teachers for many reasons, but the biggest one is probably that there is no way I could ever do their job. I'm not patient enough, I would be doing to student's work for them... I'm inappropriate in most situations, hardly any of my conversations are rated PG... I'm a bad student myself, Dan has been teaching economics now for three years and he still says I'm his worst student because I still don't understand the difference between needs and wants, it's a lesson in Chapter 1. So for all of these reason I could never be a teacher!

Good teachers are truly something special. My favorite teacher ever was my English teacher senior year. She really made us think, made us work out things on our own, and let us read books that we wanted to read. She related with us, related what we were learning to what was going on in our lives, and let us ask silly questions.

I know for certain that Ms. Elsbury is going to be someones favorite teacher because of her kindness. She's going to love all of her students like they are her own and be silly with them so that they feel comfortable in her classroom. She's going to make every day special for all of her students.

I know for certain that Ms. Bertram is going to be someones favorite teacher. She's going to make a game out of every lesson that she teaches... and probably sing a song that goes along with the lesson. She's going to be the teacher that the kids think back to because all of the important little things they needed to remember they will know because Ms. Bertram came up with some crazy way to remember it. (The fifty nifty United States automatically just came to my mind!)

They are going to be fantastic. I'm jealous of these little kids that are about the walk into their first day of school. Little do they know, they are about to meet a fantastic teacher!

~Further Evidence of why I could never be a teacher... I'd be trying to serve cocktails!~

Love you Girls!

Shark Attack

Along with everyone else who owns a television... We've been watching Discovery Channel this week. I refuse to let Dan have it on while we are eating because it makes me sick to my stomach, but other than that little time, it's been on. I fell asleep with it on last night and this morning I woke up to sharks circling me on the television. So next time I find myself stuck in a tank full of sharks, I now know what exactly to do.

So... in honor of shark week I thought I would share with you a picture that makes me smile every time I look at it. I love this little guy, and those chunky legs. He's grown a lot since this picture was taken last summer at the lake and his legs have gotten in better shape since he is now unstoppable... but he's still just as cute and lovable as is he here with a shark on his butt.

Happy Shark Week... Enjoy!

Summer's Over...

It's August! Holy Smokes!

Since I've been out of school time has gone by so quickly. I feel like just yesterday Dan and I were moving into our house and planning all of our adventures for the summer. Today Dan started two-a-days... SUMMER'S OVER! We did have a lot of fun the past couple months. Mostly getting settled into our place, unpacking slowly, and learning each other's habits.

Time has just gone by so quickly. I feel like just yesterday Amanda and Jesika were getting jobs in Tennessee... they start school on Friday. They are going to have children they are responsible for. They have their classrooms ready, with palm trees and all... and they are teaching! Just months ago we were drinking sangria under the palm tree in Amanda and I's living room!



It's August! Dillon, the cutest nephew anybody could ask for, is 22 months old. I feel like just yesterday I was secretly driving down to Evansville to surprise Jill and meet Dillon for the first time. Now he's carrying on conversations and has the funniest personality. Last week the girls at work were asking me how old my nephew was and I said "ummm, about 15 months." Then I started counting backwards... he's almost 2. Where has the time gone?


It's been a fun summer, full of new adventures and growing up. I miss home and my friends but I'm love making my new home, and new friends. And the best thing about all of this... Fall is my FAVORITE season! It's coming quickly!