Strawberry Shortcake

My boyfriend, Andy, and I met at one of his kickball games.  We had a lot of mutual friends who were on the team, and I always joined the fun on Thursdays for a little R&R.  Andy and my best guy friend, Michael, were fast friends, and one night Michael invited him to come to the Wade Bowen concert at Billy Bob's with us.  I didn't know Andy's name at the time, but when Michael told me that "a couple of the kickball players would be joining us," I kept my fingers crossed that "Cute Catcher" as I thought of him, would be one of the crew.  Lucky me, there he was at dinner before the show.  I was trying to get to know a bit more about him at dinner so I asked him where he was from.  "Wichita Falls," he said.  "Great," I thought.  "We're probably cousins..."  There are about 4 big families who are all related to each other in Wichita, and my mom's family happens to be one of them.  Quick text to my Aunt Rhonda who lives in Wichita Falls, "Hey! Met a cute boy from Wichita Falls... we aren't related to any of the Jenningses are we?"  Ding! A reply. "Nope! I do know them though." (Duh). "Great family- so sweet!"  

Andy, me, and Whitney at Wade Bowen 

Okay, so I'm not related to the Cute Catcher, he's talking back to me, offered to buy me a beer, and we have a lot of Wichita Falls friends in common.  Things seemed to be going well!  The concert was a lot of fun, and I asked my friend for Cute Catcher's phone number so I could "thank him for the beers."  Turns out he had a real name, Andy.   We texted a lot over the next few days, and he came to Mayfest with a lot of our friends.  After looking at pictures from my cousin, Kameron's, fourth birthday party, Andy texted me and said, "Hey so I do know someone else who you know from Wichita Falls."  Thinking he's going to say my cousin who is about our age or any one of her thirty friends in the birthday pictures, Andy threw me for a loop.  "How do you know Rosella Kemnitz?" Excuse me... Rewind.  Back up.  How do you know Rosella?  She is 70-something, and my Aunt Rhonda's mom.  She's practically my other grandma.  Turns out, Rosella used to keep Andy and his sister in their church nursery.  Wow, small world, right?  Of course I immediately text my Aunt Rhonda.  Rhonda's reply?  "Well it is a small world!  But that's not even the craziest connection with that family.  His dad is a social worker, and when your Uncle Richard adopted Chris (my cousin, Rhonda's son), his dad did the adoption!"  What! I'm still glad we weren't related, but it is pretty crazy that we just happened to meet at a kickball game in Fort Worth and had all of this in common.

May 4, 2010, was Andy and my's first date.  In between two of my classes, we met at Yucatan Taco Stand- a delicious little restaurant in Fort Worth known for their potent Frozen Screwdrivers.  It's kind of a cross between Fuzzy's Taco Shop's food and a Pei Wei atmosphere.  I was really nervous and probably way too chatty in an effort to overcompensate.  Considering I had to go to class after dinner, I couldn't have a frozen screwdriver to ease my nerves, and I know I was probably a total spaz.  Andy was leaving to go to Wichita Falls the next day because his sister, Carly, was going to have her baby, Greyson.  I asked Andy if he was planning to stay in Wichita Falls for the night, and his response was "No, I'm going to come home.  There is a pretty cute girl I'd like to hang out with, and I'm anxious to see again."  (Insert can't-stop-beaming-smile here!  Looks like my spaz-self hadn't scared him away!)   The rest, as they say, is history.  Well- one year of history, anyway.

Greyson's First Christmas, December 2010

On Saturday, Andy's parents hosted Greyson's first birthday party.  The theme was barnyard- there was a barnyard/farm cake, sheep and cow and pig cupcakes, and barnyard plates and napkins.  Mr. Jennings had the grill fired up and was cooking hamburgers and hot dogs for all of the guests- family and friends of Carly and Slate (Andy's brother-in-law) and Greyson.  There were two year olds and 80 year olds- it was nice seeing everyone together and celebrating such a sweet boy's birthday.  Greyson is absolutely adorable, and he just started crawling.  He was moving around that party like an ant on a mission.  He wasn't too crazy about the cake part of his cake, but he sure did like the icing.  I think he ate about 3 tablespoons of it off of my finger.  Oh and also, to add to the small world concept- turns out Andy's stepgrandmother went to church at Our Lady Queen of Peace with my Granny Poirot.  Her children and my mom and aunts and uncles were all friends.

We ended the weekend by celebrating Mothers Day at our lakehouse.  Per tradition (see post here), we stopped to watch the sunset and remember the moms who couldn't be with us.  After the sunset, we had dessert- Strawberry Shortcake.  I love this dessert because it is light, low fat, and low calorie- not to mention, super easy to make.  Whether you're celebrating a first date, birthday, or Mothers Day, try it the next time you need a quick and easy dessert.

Strawberry Shortcake
Servings: 4

• 1 package of strawberries (appr. 4 cups), sliced 
• 4 bowls/saucers
• 4 Angel Food (or likeness) dessert cups
• 2 c Cool Whip
• 2 tbsp sugar (optional)

1. Place one dessert cup in each of 4 bowls
2. Top with strawberries (as desired)
3. Top with Cool Whip (as desired)
4. Optional: Sprinkle sugar on top (as desired- strawberries may be a bit tart until around June or July, so the sugar helps cut the bite, but I prefer to leave it off)