2009 In Review (Part 2)

In October, my friends gave me a fabulous shower in Fayetteville. We got even more great stuff for the baby! I have the best party-planning friends ever! The food was great and the decorations were so super-cute!

The nursery started coming together - we put together the crib and my friend Pam painted an old buffet for me to use as a changing table. It was the most gorgeous lavender color!

Our friends Scott and Ashley hosted a Halloween party. Trent and I went as Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. I thought our costumes were hilarious; Trent, not so much! He was just mad because someone asked him where his costume was!

In November, we helped host a shower for Scott and Ashley. It was a fun time and they got tons of great baby boy things!  I also helped with a shower for Kristi. Grayson is a very lucky young man - he received some attire worthy of a trip to Aspen next winter!



Each of our offices hosted a shower for us! Trent had so much fun opening baby gifts for the first time!

The first week of December, my doctor informed me that she was willing to induce me on December 8. Trent and I spent much time discussing the pros and cons of the induction and after doing some informal interviews of all of my friends who have been induced, we decided to go for it, mainly because it let us, with our Type-A personalities, have some control over the birth. Little did we know the surprise that lay in store for us! After seven hours of labor, I delivered a baby BOY! After all of our planning for a girl named Lucy Campbell, God blessed us with a boy we named Hayes Walker.

We celebrated Christmas with both of our families, and Hayes was the center of attention, of course! He wore his Christmas jammies and looked so cute.

(cuddling with his Aunt Jen)

He also surprised his daddy with his first fraternity T-shirt! This was Trent's favorite of the gifts that Hayes received.

We finished out 2009 with a party at Erin and Dennis' house. Hayes went with us and behaved himself fairly well, although he did get a little demanding around his dinner time! We didn't quite make it to midnight - how a baby changes everything!

2009 in Review (Part 1)

Despite my lack of posts, 2009 was an eventful year for the Thompsons.

In January, we survived The Ice Storm, which left many of our friends and family without power for nearly a week. Luckily, ours stayed on and Marty came to stay for a few days! We all enjoyed a few snow days. The Ice Storm convinced Trent and I that we needed a new 4-wheel drive vehicle. So we traded in the Jeep that accompanied me through law school and our first years of marriage for a new Jeep. It's the fanciest car I've ever had! To say I was excited is an understatement.

In February, Erin, Kristi, and I headed to Tulsa for a cooking class at The Savory Chef.  We learned to make amazing meatballs!  We were slightly disappointed to be paired up with a random old guy who was a little bossy for our liking, but the class was really fun.

March was not very exciting.  I worked a ton; therefore, we didn't do much of anything fun to write about!

In April, we found out that our family would grow by one in mid-December.  Tiny Thompson was on the way!  We decided to keep it a secret from everyone except the doctor until I was through the first trimester, which turned out to be a little tricky once the morning sickness (or in my case, all-day sickness!) hit around week 6.  I was also in a fashion show benefiting Peace at Home Family Shelter, which had its grand opening in April as well.

In May, Jen graduated with her master's degree in teaching and entered the world of a working woman.  Well, not so much a working woman, since it was summer break, but she did receive a job offer before the month was up.  She was a hot commodity among the Springdale principals! 

I blew a blood vessel in each eye, as a result of Tiny making its presence known!  Now, the secret was really in jeopardy!  I did not take any pictures to commemorate that event.

In June, my best friend Kayla gave birth to the most precious little girl, Ireland!  I was standing with my ear to the door when Miss Ireland made her entrance into the world, and I couldn't have been more excited!  I knew that she and Tiny would be fast friends.  Also, we were finally able to share our exciting news.  We gave each of our parents and grandparents a picture of Tiny (via ultrasound) in a cute frame. 

I spelled the news out for Kristi on petit fours.  Erin couldn't make our lunch date, so she recevied the photo below via e-mail.  She was sad to miss getting the news in person but pumped to find out that she would be an aunt (not biologically, but she holds the title just the same!).

In July, the Walkers went on our first family vacation in several years.  Grandma came with us and we had a blast!  My belly popped out on the trip, and I finally started looking a little bit pregnant, instead of just a little bit fat!

I had my 20 week ultrasound, and Trent and I were informed that Tiny was a girl.  We settled on Lucy Campbell as her name.

The Shrewd Shoppers reunited for a trip to Austin.  I got to visit my old stomping grounds at UT Law, eat some delicious food, and shop until I dropped (which happened much more quickly than normal due to Tiny's presence).  On the trip, Kristi informed me that she was expecting a Tiny Farmer (Molly Kate or Grayson).  I was so excited to find out that Lucy would have a BFF just seven weeks younger than her!

All of our shopping bags!

In August, I returned to Austin and met up with my law school friends Pankti, Janine, and Erin.  Pankti and I were roommates, and Janine and Erin are also dear friends who got me through law school!  We had a fun time eating and shopping and are planning a repeat trip in Dallas for next summer!

In September, Lucy attended her first Razorback football game.  I wasn't that great of a fan this year - leaving several games early and not attending some at all - but things will be back to normal in 2010.  We have a new little Hog fan to introduce to the excitement! 

James and Kristi and our friends Scott and Ashley both found out they would be welcoming little boys - Grayson Pelham and Parker William, respectively - in early 2010.

I had my first showers, one given by my mother-in-law's friends and one given by her family.  We got lots of great stuff for the baby!  Trent was a little overwhelmed by all of it - particularly the amount of pink clothes we received! 

Our last stop on our European adventure was Rome. It was so hot! Apparently, we visited in the middle of a heat wave. We stayed at Hotel Aventino, which was a little off the beaten path, but very nice and calm. It was located in a residential area on a gated property with a little garden. Once inside the gate, it really did not feel like we were in a big city at all.

After arriving in Rome, we checked in at the hotel and went out to buy tickets for a bus tour. I'm not a huge fan of these, but because the metro system in Rome is not all that developed, I thought it might be an easy way to get around and ensure that we hit all of the hot spots in our short time there. Here we are roasting on top of the double decker!

We got off at the Vatican stop. The line for the Vatican museums and St. Peter's Basilica was so long! We decided that a look from St. Peter's Square would suffice and headed a couple of blocks away to visit one of Rome's best shopping areas. You see, not only were we running out of time to purchase souvenirs for a few hard-to-shop-for family members, but one of my goals on this trip was to find a fabulous handbag. Rome was my last chance to do this! Anyway, I will pick shopping over touring a museum any day.

Mission accomplished! I found a beautiful handbag at Cocinelle. It was on sale, and it qualified for the VAT tax, so it ended up being a very good deal. The funny thing is that Kristi bought her Italian handbag at the very same store! We figured it out when I got home and we realized that our bags have the exact same lining material!

After a full day of sightseeing via the bus tour, we went to the Spanish Steps before dinner. Right around the Spanish Steps is some very exclusive shopping. These stores were all so expensive that I didn't even go in any of them. It was fun to see all of the people out taking their evening stroll, which is what the Romans do every night.

We ate dinner at Vinando, which was recommended by my work friend Heather. It was excellent - very cozy and full of real Romans. We had zucchini flowers stuffed with cheese and fried for an appetizer. So good!

TMT's eggplant parmesan. He loved it!

My pasta - it was rigatoni with shrimp in a saffron sauce. It was pretty good, but not my favorite meal of the trip. I think the waiters thought I was a camel that night. I guess the bus tour and heat dehydrated me, because I drank a good 2 liters of water all by myself at dinner! This was a restaurant where the waiters are very attentive and come fill your glass anytime it gets just a little bit low. Let's just say they were at our table quite a bit!

The next morning, our last day in Europe, we took a guided tour of the Roman Forum and Coliseum. We did this through a company called Through Eternity tours. I would highly recommend both the company and not trying to tour these sights by yourself. Our tour guide was able to give us so much information. Without her, it all would have just looked like a big pile of rocks!

After our tour, which took all morning, we walked over to the Piazza Navona for lunch and did some sightseeing on the way. We ate at Caffe Bernini, which overlooks the piazza. The food was really good and it was fun to people watch while we ate.

TMT's "pepperoni" pizza

My spaghetti carbonara - I'd love to learn to make this, but it is so unhealthy! I should probably just save it for special occasions at restaurants!

We bought a painting from this lady. I love to get artwork when we travel. There were lots of vendors in the piazza, but only this lady was selling original paintings. Several of them said that they had painted what they were selling, but I didn't believe them. This lady was obviously very proud of her artwork, and she was working on a new painting when we walked up. So I felt like she was the real deal!

We walked over to the Pantheon. Inside they were having mass with a wonderful choir. I love to listen to choirs and the accoustics in this church were fantastic. I did think it was pretty rude that there were tourists everywhere taking pictures and eating gelato while these people were having a church service. At one point, the priest even had to ask that people be quiet so that he could pray!

We went back to the hotel and rested for a little bit and then headed back out to find somewhere to eat dinner. We knew that we wanted to eat in the Campo de Fiori, so we just wandered around for a little while looking at all of the menus posted outside the restaurants. We chose one that looked a little touristy, but the food was good.

TMT had rigatoni al amatriciana.


I had penne alla vodka, which I loved!

After dinner we did the Rick Steve's walking tour from the Campo de Fiori to the Spanish Steps. Along the way, we saw this bride. Her wedding had just ended at the Pantheon. Everyone in the square was cheering and clapping for the bride and groom; it was so fun!

My last gelato! This is the most famous gelato place in Rome, so I had to hit it up before we left. It was actually really good gelato - a perfect way to end our vacation!

Our last stop of the night was at the Trevi Fountain. We asked some man to take our picture, and, as you can see, it really did not turn out at all. Behind us in this picture is the famous fountain. Oh well, it gives us a reason to return someday!

After spending the night (or a few hours) in Milan, we took a train to Florence. We decided to walk from the train station to our hotel because it didn’t look very far on the map. Let’s just say this was a bad idea. It ended up being about a thirty minute walk – we each had a big backpack and several shopping bags. By the time we got to the hotel, I was sweating more than I’d ever sweated in my life! The entire back of my shirt was completely soaked. We dropped our bags at the hotel and left for our cooking class – the thing I’d been looking forward to for the entire trip! We took a class from a lady named Stefania, who runs a company called Toscana in Bocaa, where she teaches classes out of her apartment in Florence or her parents’ home in Chianti. This is a picture of me and Stefania.

Here is what the table looked like when we arrived. Stefania had all of the ingredients laid out, and I could not wait to get started! In our class, we learned to make the following items: tomatoes stuffed with a mixture of ricotta, a cream cheese, and herbs; spinach and cheese gnudi; pear and talleggio cheese ravioli; pork tenderloin braised in milk, country potatoes, and an ice cream cake dessert.

Here I am mixing up the dessert. It was just ladyfingers soaked in run and then mixed into ricotta cheese with sugar and chopped dried fruit. You then freeze it for a couple of hours and it turns into something very similar to an ice cream cake.

The other lady in the picture was our classmate - Marilyn from California. She knew a lot about cooking, and it was fun to visit with her. She was definitely a talker!

Our next job was to cook the pears for the ravioli filling with some butter. I’d never cooked on a gas stove before, so this was a new experience!

After this, we got the pork ready to cook. We cut slits in it and stuffed them with sliced garlic, rubbed the whole pork loin in salt and pepper, and tied it up with twine. Then it went into a Dutch oven to be browned. After about twenty minutes of browning, we added milk and let it cook for about an hour.

By this time, we were getting hungry, so we finished up our cheese-stuffed tomato appetizer. TMT even got into the action.

Here is the only picture of both of us from the cooking class. At the bottom of the picture, you can see the platter of our tomatoes. These were so good, due mostly to the fact that Stefania’s dad grew the tomatoes himself. In fact, that is one thing that really impressed me about this class. Stefania got all of the food at the local market, and it was all so fresh. Very different from what we can get in the produce department at Wal-Mart! I mean I love Wal-Mart, but there are times when I would just like to be able to get a carrot that looks like it came out of the ground that same day!

Finally, we were ready for the part of the class I’d been anxiously awaiting – learning to make fresh pasta. I got more compliments on my skills here - for those of you who know me, you know that this made my day! I loved making the pasta and filling the ravioli.

The finished products!

This is gnudi - basically the inside of a cheese and spinach ravioli cooked without the noodle. Gnudi means naked, so these are “naked ravioli.” This was not my fave, but it is a good way to eat your spinach!

Here is the masterpiece of the mean – the pear ravioli. My friend Kristi had eaten this mean when she was in Tuscany earlier in the summer and raved about it, so I requested that Stefania teach us to make it. Kristi, Erin P., and I made it once I got back, and she says it’s just like she remembers.

This was our secondi or second course – pork loin and potatoes. I didn’t get any pictures of us making the potatoes, but they were really good. They had carrots, celery, onion, hot peppers, and tomatoes. All of the veggies came together to make a little sauce for the potatoes. The pork was also excellent. I usually don’t like pork that much, but this was the moistest pork I’ve ever eaten. I’ve also made this since I’ve been home, and it was just as easy to recreate in America as it was to make in Italy!

Despite eating a huge lunch, I could not pass up gelato. I’d heard that Florence had the best gelato, and we went to Vivoli, which was supposedly the best in Florence – so the best of the best! It was pretty good! And by the way, although I’m double-fisting the gelato in this picture, I didn’t actually eat both of them. Once was TMT’s; the store was super crowded and TMT doesn’t do well in tight spaces. I let him wait outside and I just brought his gelato to him.

Before dinner we did a little shopping at the market. We had not bought many of the gifts we needed to bring back and had only two days left in Rome, so I was feeling the pressure to start taking care of gifts. Most of what was for sale in the market was just junk! I did get a new shawl to replace the one I lost in our move from one train car to another during our ride from Villefranche to Milan.

We ate dinner at Trattoria ZaZa, which I first visited eight years ago with my best friend Kayla. I’ve recommended this to several people, and every one loves it. It was just as good as I remembered. My meal this night was comment and picture worthy because it had a truffle sauce. I had never had anything with truffles before, but had heard they are wonderful, so I tried the fettuccine with truffle sauce. It was good, but not as spectacular as I expected.

Our last stop in Florence before heading back to our hotel for the night was Il Porcino. We have a replica of this at the U of A, and there is also one in Kansas City. We may have missed two football games while we were on vacation, but we kept the Razorback spirit alive in Florence!