The Proposal

I was about to put up pictures of the beaches we went to in Costa Rica, but decided that our readers are likely far more interested in the proposal story/pictures!!

To begin, I did not think Edwin was going to propose in Costa Rica. Correction: I thought it was a strong possibility, but essentially ruled it out as soon as the trip started. I didn't want to get my hopes up and then be disappointed!!!! Here is the story of our trip, part one (through the proposal).

On the way to the airport in San Antonio my car got a flat tire. It was completely ripped open. Thankfully Edwin changed the tire and we were back on our way within an hour. It could have been FAR worse- the stretch between the valley and San Antonio is DESOLATE and we could've been stranded for days before a car passed to help. Ok, a slight exaggeration. But if we had needed to get towed/have the tire replaced, we would never have caught our flight. Thankfully we made it to the airport on time... but still nearly missed our flight. The line to AeroMexico's counter was moving painfully slow. We checked in at 1:00 for our 1:30 flight. And we still hadn't gone through security. EEK. Thankfully we made it through and still had time to get food (Quarter Pounder with Cheese + fries for me, chicken sandwich + fries for Edwin) before boarding the plane.

We arrived at our hotel at 1:30 am on Sunday morning. We had JUST closed our eyes when the alarm went off (at 5:00 am). We were picked up by Exploradores Outdoors for an all-day rafting trip down the Pacuare River. It was an awesome day, but incredibly exhausting! Edwin was pegged as the "strong type", so he got the most work and was in front of the raft. I was in the middle with the only other female, in a role I'm sure can be equated to the duffer. I'm pretty sure I held my own. We had to leave our suitcases locked up at the base camp, which was one reason I didn't think Edwin was going to propose. (I later would find out that all day he was thinking about the safety of the ring!)

We made it to Puerto Viejo around 7 pm Sunday night. The van dropped us off on the side of the road because they "couldn't get down the street" due the soccer game going on. I think they just wanted to go home. So Edwin and I lugged our rolling suitcases down the unpaved gravel road, up a large unpaved gravel hill, to our hotel. We were exhausted and went to bed immediately!

On Monday Edwin and I had the super plan of going to Punta Uva, which was 6 kilometers away. It is considered one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica, and was at the top of my list of things to do. Our plan was to ride bikes- but Edwin does not get along with bicycles- so he decided to walk. Being the compassionate person I am, I also walked. NOT! I biked alongside of Edwin. It was great..... for the first 5 kilometers. By the time we arrived at Punta Uva we were VERY hungry, and Edwin's legs were VERY tired. THANKFULLY we found food close to the beach.

We enjoyed the beach for a bit, but then hit the trail home in order to arrive back before dark. On the way back Edwin made friends with a pint-sized dog.

I promptly jumped on my bike to get away from it.

Monday night we went out to a great dinner at a vegetarian restaurant. When I was getting ready for dinner I had a necklace on, but took it off before we left. Edwin said, "I didn't want to discourage you from wearing the necklace, but the Travel Department advises not to wear nice jewelry in Costa Rica." AKA I DO NOT HAVE A REALLY GORGEOUS DIAMOND RING IN MY SUITCASE!!!!!! Or so I thought. He's a tricky one, this future husband of mine.

Tuesday was another amazing beach day- only this time at a much closer beach (1 km away). The weather was perfect, we both swam, read, ate, sunbathed.... A perfect day. In the early evening we went to dinner- Edwin "wanted pizza" and had heard about a great restaurant called Amimodo that was on the beach. I would later find out the owner of our hotel had suggested it as a great place to go pre-proposal. So we went! The food was awesome. We were practically the only ones there and had our own grass hut. I ate stuffed gnocchi (which we are going to attempt to recreate) and Edwin had veggie pizza. Near the end of dinner, Edwin went to the bathroom. Now, we had already said we were going to walk on the beach after dinner. So I began to think. MAYBE, just MAYBE, he was going to reposition the ring in the bathroom. Or maybe he just had to pee. I would soon find out.

We walked down to the beach. The moon was bright and the sound of the waves was great. Edwin gave me a hug and said, "This has been the vacation of a lifetime." I agreed. Then he said something to the effect of, "Speaking of lifetime..." He got down on one knee, pulled the ring out of his shirt pocket (I WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE BATHROOM SWITCHAROO) and asked me to marry him. I said YES. He put the ring on my finger, and then we cried (at least I did) and hugged for a few minutes. Edwin told me he had talked to my parents on Friday and gotten their blessing, which melted my heart. After a few minutes I insisted we take pictures to remember the moment. And here they are!

This is the spot where Edwin proposed! The water is where it gets black.

This is the spot during the day, looking toward the restaurant. You can see the grass hut where we ate in the background.

And there it is folks!! I am SOO happy to be marrying Edwin :) I'm going to be Chelsea Ochoa!

CHEDWO IS GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!

Edwin and I are engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are SO SO happy and excited about spending the rest of our lives together. Here is the (short version) story: On Tuesday evening in Costa Rica, after a wonderfully relaxing day at the beach, we went out to dinner at a restaurant called Amimodo. We had GREAT food (Edwin had veggie pizza and I had gnocchi stuffed with spinach and cheese- life changing) and were basically the only people at the restaurant. After our awesome meal we walked down to the beach, and under the full moon, Edwin knelt down and asked me to marry him. I smile just thinking about it. I love this man with all my heart!!!!!!!!!!

I promise I will blog the entire trip and proposal within the next few days. At this moment Edwin is in Denver for an interview and I am ready to fall asleep!!!

P.S. Adam and Andrea took this video of our Skype conversation the day after we got engaged. They couldn't hear us for some reason, so Andrea narrates the reenactment of the proposal. Check it out!!

http://www.youtube.com/aabarnes2#p/a/u/0/EUm89zx78uE

STAY TUNED FOR MORE NEWS FROM THE HAPPY COUPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Countdown to Costa Rica

Ahh, the good life. In 2 days Edwin and I will be in the little town you can see in this picture: Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. Needless to say it has been motivating us this week. And a stressful week it has been! I (Chelsea) still haven't heard from Colorado State about a possible assistantship (which would pay ALL of my grad school tuition- no biggie). My students have also been quite "energetic" this week. Just to name a few special behaviors- I've dealt with groin-kicking, swearing, fighting, and a student playing hide and go seek with me (He hid, I did not seek.) ALL IN 1st and 2nd GRADES!!!

Edwin got a call from the Colorado State Access Center that they want to fly him out for an interview- awesome news!!! Busy busy though, Edwin is flying to Denver for his KIPP interview about 8 hours after we get back from Costa Rica. Wish him luck- he will do an amazing job!!

We will get to San Jose, Costa Rica at about midnight on Saturday night. We are being picked up at 5:30 am on Sunday (don't forget daylight savings) for a rafting trip! Here's a link to the details of our whitewater adventure: http://geckotrail.com/tour.htm?tid=rpac1d

We are so excited for our trip- it will be a wonderful chance to relax!! We will take a ton of pictures and are sure to blog when we get back! Love you all!

The Daily Show clip

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-february-28-2011/crisis-in-dairyland---angry-curds

Please watch this clip if you have a few minutes. My jaw literally dropped as the Fox News anchors talked about teachers. Anyone who believes that teachers have an easy ride and are done at 2:00 is SORELY MISTAKEN. Appalling. Just appalling.

Colorado State!

I WAS ACCEPTED TO COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY!!!!!!!

As most of you know, I went to Fort Collins, CO last weekend to interview for the Student Affairs in Higher Education graduate program. Yesterday I got a call about 5:00 from one of the faculty members who had interviewed me. The phone call went like this:

Me: Hello? (I'm driving)

CSU: Is this Chelsea?

Me: Yes (Trying to remain calm at this point.)

CSU: This is ___________, one of the faculty members who interviewed you last week.

Me: Yes, I remember you, hi! (Trying to remain calm.)

CSU: Congratulations, we met this morning and would like to offer you a spot in our SAHE program.

Me: THANK YOU SO MUCH (Trying not to let my voice quiver. This lady had already seen me cry in the interview- that's another story- I didn't want her to think all I do is cry!!)

CSU: "....... Lots of info......"

Me: Mmm hmm Mmm hmm (Trying to actually listen to the info, but all I heard was YOU GOT IN YOU GOT IN YOU GOT IN YOU GOT IN!!)

CSU: "....More info......Accept by April 1st...You will get called about an assistantship within the next week.... More info...."

Me: THIS IS SO EXCITING THANK YOU SO MUCH!

CSU: "I look forward to seeing you in class"

ME: THANK YOU SO MUCH

That's pretty much how it went. I'm super excited!!! In other news, Edwin will be flying out to Denver on March 20th to interview with KIPP (the 5th grade teaching job.) He had a phone interview this week with the Access Center at Colorado State (and would be working with high school's to promote college readiness/access). Stay tuned!!!!!!!!

Apple Crisp

Hello fellow readers,

This is Edwin here. Chelsea has been in Colorado interviewing with Colorado State University. She was really excited and so was I that she got the chance to not only meet with the folks at CSU but also visit Colorado. She's been updating me regularly while teaching (if only my students knew!) It's been a lonely couple of days without my best friend. I haven't been cooking much BUT as a welcome back surprise for Chelsea I am venturing out into unknown territory: desserts! It's been something Chelsea and I have always talked about making. Having all this free time I've researched many recipes and finally decided on 1. It's a recipe for apple crisp. I got the recipe from foodgawker.com and the picture of the recipe led me to another cooking blog. Here is the recipe:

10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I used about 6 Granny Smith apples)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, nutmeg, and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples.
3.Combine the oats, 2 cups flour, brown sugar, pecans, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4.Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.
5. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

It's baking in the oven right now and should be ready by the time Chelsea gets in. This is a very exciting time for both of us. Our commitment to teach in the Valley is coming to a close. While Chelsea was interviewing at CSU I also interviewed with a principal from a charter school in Denver for a 5th grade math position. It would be a great opportunity to continue developing as a teacher, however, it would require me to travel 1 hour and 15 minutes each way every day. School begins at 7 and ends at 5 and I would have to teach 2 Saturdays a month from August to July. I'm not sure if it will be the right move, so stay tuned! Here is a picture of the Apple Crisp from the blog where I got the recipe from.



I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Chelsea's plane just landed!!

Don'tcha "GNO" cchi....

Edwin and I accomplished something great today. We got the foam in my latte to be in the shape of a heart!!!!!!! Just kidding, that happened on accident. We made gnocchi, which is a potato dumpling from Italy. As Edwin mentioned in his post earlier today, we had amazing gnocchi last weekend in D.C. and decided to try our own. Instead of writing out the whole recipe, we made a photo montage of the steps we took. This was quite the elaborate process and probably took us 3 hours from start to clean up. Clean-up involved picking up an entire tray of uncooked gnocchi from the floor after I knocked it off the counter. We are pretty impressed with our results.

We started our day with nourishment. Edwin bought a griddle yesterday, and it has significantly improved our quality of life/breakfast. AMAZING! Previously we made pancakes in a saute pan, one at a time. Needless to say, the first pancake was cold by the time we finished making the last one. Not ideal.

We started the gnocchi making process by putting 4 boiled potatoes through a potato ricer. Yesterday we had no idea what a potato ricer was. Today we are the proud owners of one ($8 at Bed Bath & Beyond). Edwin made the connection that this may be how to make hashbrowns- so that may be our next adventure!

After adding beaten eggs and flour to our potato mixture, we kneaded the dough and rolled it into ropes/snakes. (A new haircut is not necessary to make good gnocchi, although it can't hurt)

After making the snakes out of dough, we cut the gnocchi into small pieces and gave them texture by indenting our thumb in one side while imprinting it with a fork on the other. We had 3 trays of this stuff!

Time to cook the little buggers! We put 20 at a time into a pot of boiling water. They rose to the top when done, after about 2 minutes.

After cooking the gnocchi, we added them to a skillet with cremini and portabello mushrooms. The last step was combining the gnocchi and mushrooms with the delicious cream sauce Edwin made. The cream sauce was made with a base of heavy cream (this recipe did NOT come from Cooking Light!!) and vegetable broth. He added 4 oz. gorgonzola cheese to the cream base and a touch of cayenne pepper.

The results were delicious!!! We would like to try this again sometime soon. We also were happy with the realization that this is a very cheap dish to make. All you need for the gnocchi are a few potatoes, flour and egg. There are all kinds of sauces you can add to the gnocchi, so we have a world of possibilities ahead of us!!!

We really enjoyed ourselves and think the Italians are onto something with these putsy dishes (risotto, gnocchi...). Making great food with someone you love on a Sunday afternoon is pretty awesome!!!

P.S. Here are the links to the recipes/tips we used!

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/how-to-make-gnocchi-like-an-italian-grandmother-recipe.html

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/gnocchi-with-mushrooms-and-gorgonzola-sauce