First Dinner Party and Other Updates

On Sunday I hosted my first dinner party with the new house addition.
Here is a before picture-- taken approximately July 28, 2010

This is the "after" picture from the same view. The kitchen looks a little dark, which it isn't really. That is what I love about the addition-- there is so much natural light. It is hard to tell from pictures how amazing the new space really is-- everyone who walks in says "WOW!"



This is our first group picture. It has become a tradition to take a picture at each gathering.


For dinner I made chili. One recipe was from allrecipes.com called Boilermaker Tailgate Chili. I left out one pepper, put in half the chili powder and it still had a kick to it. I also made White Chicken Chili that won 3rd place at my sister's neighborhood chili cook-off. I liked it too. Everyone else brought sides, salads, and desserts. The Thackerays (and Clarks) are some good cooks!

I started to lose my voice on Sunday. I have spent all week in bed. I've never missed this much work in my life. I hope to be back to normal soon. On Monday, the doctor told me it was just a virus. I wished he was wrong. At least antibiotics would make me feel better.

For those of you following the "dear student" saga, I just got a mid-course evaluation back. The student called me "Nazi" and "crazy" and said "She teaches us uncorrect [sic] information, and other professors in our Public Health department tell us she is teaching us wrong." Whew. I have never felt so much hatred from a student.
Fortunately, the evaluations also included several comments along these lines, "In all honesty, Dr. Thackeray's class is one of the best classes I've taken at BYU. Not only is she a very likable individual with a vast amount of personal knowledge/experience, but she actually knows how to teach and sincerely wants us to learn how to be health professionals. I feel as though her class will be an important key to my career aspirations."

I still think "Life is Good!"