If you give a mouse a cookie....

it might ask for a glass of milk.
And if you make Ariana your running partner, you might find yourself running up a mountain in the middle of a November rainstorm. Or walking, in my case, as she danced at the top.
Honestly, it was amazing. I kind of woke up at 2 thinking, "it will be fun to run in the rain today." Ariana was possibly ecstatic. We ran around the lake and up this mountain nearby which is very small but very steep.
It rained all day today, and let me tell you. Everyone at the hospital was so excited about it yesterday- the patients, the doctors, everyone. It was a beautiful rain, and we were both totally soaked at the end, but it's the kind of thing that makes you feel lucky to be alive. Happy December everyone!!

Christmas Kicked In

We hung up the Christmas decorations today. Oh, how exciting. So the last two Christmases I spent with my roommates in Boise, whom I totally love to death. Together, we went a little overboard for Christmas, hanging gads (a word? I think so.) of lights everywhere, down the hall, under the fireplace, across every entryway. We had beautiful vaulted ceilings and a plant shelf on which we laid cranberry garland wrapped in icicle lights. We had 4 big stockings, one for each of us, and two baby socks for the fish and the bird. Together on Christmas Eve, we gathered around the couch and Jessica, Tara, Craig, and occasionally another friend or so graciously indulged me in the Christmases of my childhood (not that anyone really minded. Christmas rocked at our apartment.) We read the Christmas story together and put together the nativity. We read The Polar Express and each shook a jingle bell. And we read "Jolly Old Santa Claus," the 1960's edition you can find only on ebay that is quite possibly the definition of a truly real Santa Claus. Then we all climbed into bed and took turns sneaking out and filling each others stockings.
So you can imagine that when I opened my Christmas boxes today I missed them all so much. I have everyone's stockings somehow (I need to find out if I need to send them back). If not, they are already hung on the fireplace. The garland is up, the books are on the coffee table, and Kenny G Christmas music is in the air.
Oh, and the snowflakes are up. The snowflakes almost deserve their own entry, as they definitely have their own stories. I got these 3 foot silver snowflakes from Target 5 years ago. (They were actaully Target's decorations). They have been loved by roommates, hated by roommates, and have ultimately gone up every single year. They have been tacked to walls and hung from ceilings in 4 different apartments. They have wrinkled "arms" and one is even missing, but they have character! And so, even though I swore I wouldn't do it again, the snowflakes are hanging.
Christmas is on its way :o)

Arizonians Love Their Winter Clothes, too

Last night was in the 50's. And today was a mere 65. And you should have seen the winter clothes. People are in sweatshirts, jackets, scarves, and hats. So excited to be dressed up in winter clothes. I put on my J.Crew hoodie from last year before going outside because Brad said it was so cold he was shivering. I found out later he was shivering because he was in a t-shirt. I was in my car with the AC cranked up so I wouldn't pass out. So funny.

Come See Me!

So...Phoenix is Southwest Airlines' featured destination until Dec. 3rd, so if anyone wants to start planning a trip....

So Many Babies!!

A list of the fun babies of friends that just arrived or will soon be arriving in this world.
Byron and Tara both just had their babies this month...close together enough that I got their pictures in my email on the same day.
Candice, my sis, is due on April 27th. It's a boy!
Katie, my best Texas Aggie friend, is due December 5th.
Chase, my Bay City 3 years younger than me friend, had his first baby yesterday. His little sister had her 2nd 6 weeks ago.
My grandparents will have 4 new great-grandkids by May.
So many fun cute little babies! :o)
Congrats everyone!

The Best Thanksgiving Ever

So...
Even though I worked on Wed, Thursday, and Friday, this Thanksgiving was still one of the best I can remember. First off, on Thursday I woke up at 4:00 just in time to watch the 4th quarter of the Dallas Cowboys beating the Jets 34 to 3. On Friday, Ariana brought me 4 different slices of pie from her family while I watched Texas A&M beat the Longhorns (Thanks to the Lord for letting these games both end at 5 before I had to go to work.)
Basically, I haven't watched a cowboys game in a while, and I always seem to miss A&M and the Longhorns and usually (sadly) they lose. So to have them both win while I ate apple and blackberry pie with blue bell on top was pretty much bliss.
And then on Saturday Brad and I went home, and my little niece Kaitlynn is always so excited to see me. Her eyes sparkle and glow so much with excitement when she hugs me and looks me in the eye that you think for a second she might explode. But she doesn't (whew!). So we all ate a really nice thanksgiving, and then Kaitlynn and I went into her room and took a nap together. She wrapped her little hand around my arm, sang me Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and went to sleep. I woke up sick (I think it's just a realy bad sinus infection), and ended up skipping out on church the next day, but altogether, it was really a great Thanksgiving.
I played guitar for my family on Sunday, and Kaitlynn played Jingle Bells, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and I am a Child of God on guitar. She is almost 3, so the guitar part sounded exactly the same each time......
Love it all.
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The Worst

I've spent a lot of time lauding the best of everything on this blog. For example, while cleaning the tub tonight I even thought how great Comet Spray is and that I should dedicate an entry to it. But then...
So first off, I am sick. Crappy, achy whole body, ears hurting throat sore kind of sick. And nothing seemed better than a hot bath. So I ran it, and put in this sweet little glittery bath bomb thing and crawled in. And thought, "This isn't quite warm enough." So I did that thing you do with your toes and let out some of the water and then turned the hot water back on. I did this 3 times. Then I sat up and realized that we were out of hot water. How, on earth, when you've been gone all day, do you get out of hot water in one small bathtub in ARIZONA? I had a decision to make. 1- I could get out and declare my bath a total disaster and go to sleep because it is 1 in the morning. or 2- Crawl my tired achy freezing cold body out of the tub and go boil some water for my bath. Which I did not want to do.
But I did.
And the water is boiling right now.
Adios.
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I'm Dreaming of a Warm Christmas

So last night at work I was hanging out changing the bandages on a patient who was listening to country Christmas music on his TV and I caught a little Christmas spirit. I actually don't really like country christmas music that much, but for some reason I got all excited and happy inside. Now, when the annoying Applebee's Christmas music came on every December 1st, I never got excited. But we didn't listen to a lot of Beatles in my house growing up.
And I realized something. When Bing Crosby sings, "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas just like the ones I used to know" he knows that the Christmases you grew up with are the best Christmases of all.
And for me that means 60 degree Christmases that I had for 15 years. It means biking down the street in my jeans and shirt on Christmas day and looking at Christmas lights with the AC on just a little bit.
And maybe that's why, unexplainably, two days ago I felt the Christmas magic that I wait for until December 23rd some years in Idaho. Maybe there I really am so focused on not freezing to death and trying to enjoy the coldness that I miss out on some of the giddiness of the season. But now, for my first Arizona Christmas, I can plan a Christmas party and dream through Crate & Barrel and wear my shorts and have a few little sugar plum fairies dance through my head in late November as I look forward to my first Warm Christmas in 12 years. Yay!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
Today I am thankful for:
all of you
my cute niece
my cool roommate
my gorgeous pregnant sister
our sweet dinner parties
the fact that none of my patients hit their call light once last night
my job
my sweet family who put off Thanksgiving dinner until Saturday when I could be with them
my amazing bed
the fact that my Altima's still chuggin' along
and...
peace

Kohinoor's Cuisine of India

Tonight Travis from my ward (he's commented a few times) took me out to eat at Kohinoor's Cuisine of India. As far as I can remember, I have never had Indian food. I mean- I've had curry, but never real Indian food at an Indian restaurant. And it was fantastic. I had lamb dopiaza. I felt like Cim, our friend in India. Just kidding. I don't really think I felt like Cim. She's probably much less messy when she puts the food on the Naan and eats it. Basically I ate a lot of food that tasted great and I had no idea what it was. Yum. I also had a drink that I think was called a Punjayi Lassi. But I'm not sure. I tried to memorize it for y'all, but you know.
Also, then we came home and watched About a Boy with Brad and Ariana 'cause we had never seen it and Travis really likes it. It's one of those movies I wanted to see for years and nobody wanted to watch it with me when it first came out, but two people told me this week I need to see it, so we did. And it was great. Besides the fact that Hugh Grant looks a little bit amazing in it.
:o)

My Favorite Food So Far

So we got so excited about the food this week, we forgot to take pictures. It was so good, though! It's from Rachel Ray:365. It's Turkey Cutlet Parmigiano with warm grape tomatoes, pesto, and fresh mozzarella melted on top. Jessica and I made this for Thanksgiving 2 years ago when we didn't go home for Thanksgiving and needed a fun turkey recipe. I almost forgot how amazing it was. In fact, I'm considering sending the recipe out with Christmas cards instead of a letter, because, well, you all know what's going on in my life, and it's very useful. I really think that when I have babies and kids and, you know, a husband, we'll still be having this for Thanksgiving dinner. Because I like it way more than plain turkey.
What else was fun? We had some brownies, I did a guy's hair, and there was just lots of love in the room, and that is what it's about
every
single
week

Testosterone is My Favorite Hormone

This week seems like it has been an exciting one. The dinner party last week was fun, and then oh, I had my date. We actually ended up going to Joe's Crab Shack, not "The Other Place". Lots of times I've been there and it wasn't great, but this time it was. This is what to get: Crab-stuffed mushrooms, Crawfish half and half, and Bananas Foster. Absolutely perfect. Ben was nice. We're very different people, but he was so fun to talk to and get to know. Brad's friend Bryan was here from Idaho which meant 24 hour testosterone in the house, and that was very fun. AND Brian from the ward stopped by last week and is being very nice AND one guy I met on the Internet finally called after a month and a half. And that whole thing seems a little iffy, but suffice it to say, this week has been pretty much way more exciting than most others. And I had a little head cold on Friday so I called in sick to work. And working only 2 days a week is very fun. Ohhh!! And we went to sushi (Brad, me, Bryan, and some of their friends) on Friday and I had Chilean Sea Bass, and it was great!
And, I went to Crate & Barrel today (which is positively DRIPPING in Christmas magic) and on my way in a guy yelled at me from his car. "Hey! You! You are so Hot! You are Beautiful! You made my day just by walking by!" And he was actually kind of hot. Now did I go over there? No. Of course not. Because that's not what you do. But still, it's kind of fun. And another reason why testosterone is my favorite hormone.

Perfect Day

Today is about as close to a perfect day as it gets so I thought I would share a little bit. First off, last night was my guitar lesson and I am learning to play a song Hallelujah, and I love it. I love it so much I have tiny little callouses/blisters on my fingers because I played it so much last night. When it sounds amazing I will make a little video and put it on here. :o)
Also, I've gained a couple not-cute pounds right around my waist the last few months, and some of it is because I haven't been running regularly, and some of that is because I don't have a river right next to my house that I can run to and around. So I talked to Jessica yesterday and Boise who said, "Isn't there anyone who knows where to run there?" So I called Ariana, because I knew she would know, and we went on a great little run (2 miles?) around Tempe Town Lake, and it was perfect. Yay!!
And...if you click back to June to the entry "Couple More Things" there's a picture of some little seedlings I planted. Usually I plant seeds and they all die in about a week and I'm okay with that, but these ones have grown HUGE. And the best part is that a couple days ago I noticed an actual FLOWER. Wow. And today there is a little white one starting! How cool is that! I've never actually grown anything from a seed.
And lastly, both Oprah and Glamour magazines came today. And nothing really makes my day like Glamour. So even if I'm about to go get in the shower and go to work, work will probably be okay, this weekend was fun, and things are good.
AND..one more thing..I have a date with the Elder's Quorum Pres. who is 22 and his name is Ben and we're going to a restaurant called "The Other Place" (I think) on Saturday. How cool is that?
Love y'all,
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See Jane Run and Bee Movie

First off, See Jane Run is a tiny exercise clothes company that I really like, so if you feel like supporting one, go to them. I just bought a green hoodie from them that I love that says "Super Jane" on it (they sent me a $20 of coupon in October. How could I not use it?). Anyways, they're seejanerun.com

Secondly, Jessie, the girl who does Jalloween, invited me to go see a movie today and we went and saw Bee Movie, and I totally loved it and everyone should go see it.

DWP Grilled Cheese

The other day I tied Brad down and made him watch The Devil Wears Prada. In it, the boyfriend eats this grilled cheese sandwich that looks and sounds amazing. And while shopping for cheese the other day, I found Jarlsberg, which is the cheese he uses. And I just ate a Jarlsberg grilled cheese sandwich, and it was amazing.

A crepe-making contest and two hot guys my age

Tonight's dinner party was a fun one, although I appreciate what a help Brad is. So...Brad is in Idaho visiting some friends. And I needed a cooking assistant. Well, when I very first moved here, I volunteered to help at the church's cannery/storehouse (not the syrup time..before that). And I met a guy named Mark who seemed nice and we talked for a while. (The one I asked to the luau who had already been asked. Anyways, so this seemed like a fun first date and he came over. He is a really cool guy (and cute!), and was so awesome of a help. This week was red apple, walnut, and stilton cheese salad, chicken with mashed carrots and potatoes, and crepes for dessert.
The other people who came over were:
Brian- who just moved into my ward and I met at softball a few weeks ago. He is also 28 and very cute and is the one at the table in the pictures not smiling. He got stitches in his lip on Saturday when his friend elbowed him and put Brian's tooth through his lip. It hurt to smile, so he had to try all night not to.
Allison- from Tucson
Brandon- a sophomore? from Oregon
and
Vanessa- who suggested the crepe-making contest, who nobody really won, but provided endless fun. This made for awesome pictures of everyone being very excited that they just flipped their crepes.
Afterwards, we all just sat around for a bit. Allison and Mark left (what? you're leaving? we haven't even kissed yet! ) Brian and Brandon were the last to leave. Brian took Brandon home and I'm helping him move later on today.
So much fun.
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I needed Stilton Cheese

The show got over about 8:30, and I went out grocery shopping for dinner. I thought stilton cheese was a pretty common one, but apparently it's not, because I went to 3 stores, and none of them had it. But I was right near a Whole Foods. Unfortunately, it was 10:04 and they closed at 10:00. So I stood at the exit (the entrance was locked) and got ready to beg. But the guy bagging groceries just looked over at me and could tell what was coming and said, "Just come in." I found the cheese in like 30 seconds, and grabbed 3 more things in 2 minutes (maybe 1). When I came up to the checkstand he was smiling, and I was like, "I love you!!" I love you too, he said.
Sweet.
I got the cheese.

The Fashion Show

On Saturday, I woke up about 4 and started getting ready for the fashion show. Of course, I had to look very good, because (at least in my mind) this was going to be every bit as exciting as the release of the Versace fall collection. I bought a designer shirt on clearance at dillard's last week and went with a girl named Mandy from our ward. She works at a boutique, and I call her my fashion consultant. She always tells me if I look fashionable at church. And I thought she would have a fun time.
This fashion show was held outside and lots of local boutiques bring their clothes and jewelry. And three of the boutiques are modeling their cothes, which is where Nelson came in. He was running around with all the hot little girls helping them to get dressed (rough job!) and lining them all up. It was very fun just to watch. One of the boutiques was a swimwear shop. Only in AZ do people parade around outside in bikinis in November. The pictures didn't turn out very well, but I'm putting some up anyways. Including 2 of myself being a dork in front of my computer. (I really liked my shirt, and I tried to do my eyes all smoky for the first time. hehee.) Plus, I was alone, and we all know I have to take pictures of my outfits when I'm bored and alone. :o)

Remnants of Last Weekend

Sometimes our weekends get really busy, and Brad and I seem to be cooking a lot. This is why last weekend we must have gotten a little carried away. I think every single dish we have was dirty. We spent a few hours in the kitchen on Monday cleaning it all up...

I did 2 Pull-ups!

So even though I haven't been awesome about working out here and have gained a few pounds, I have been doing a lot of assisted pull-ups. And yesterday, Brad hung up his pull-up bar and I did 2 in a row, which I've never done before. In fact, I can't really remember the last time I did one. So I did one about every hour all day long 'cause I was so excited. :o)

Quail and a little smoke

First off, remember how when Brad first moved in and I said 1+1 makes things easier? This is still true. However, if I didn't sleep during the day, I could have helped him on the quail hunt by telling him when I wasn't half asleep to check the Asian supermarket. Instead, this is how tracking down quail went.
First, I tell Brad to go to a meat market 19 miles away (on the freeway) because they said they had 10 for $2.99 a lb. So Brad goes on Friday, and they don't have any. So he comes back on Saturday and they say they have 2 and really they're cornish game hens, and they say it right on the package. So Brad calls a couple more places who don't have quail, and Albertson's and Albertson's distributor who sells them in packages of 100!! But even the 100 can't get to us before Tuesday. So he asks the distributor for a couple ideas and the guy says, "Maybe you could try the Chinese Cultural Center."
When I woke up Saturday afternoon, Brad was still in a state of shock from this place: the crowded fish tanks, the rattlesnake meat, the live eels. Totally crazy. But turns out you could buy 6 frozen quail for $10 and he bought 12. And I was a little bit scared to eat them but they were great.
So we had to get ready in kind of a hurry today because there was a baptism after chuch so we had about an hour. I was ripping apart a pomegranate for a grapefruit-pomegranate salad (I've always wanted to buy champagne vinegar because it comes in the prettiest bottles, but I never had a good reason (ok, any reason). Turns out this recipe calls for it. Which I found out too late. So we used raspberry white wine vinegar. So sad.) and Brad was tying little quail legs together (for some reason I know Jessica does not like this part..) Well, we made 14 quail (we found 2 expensive ones a month ago) and Brad had stacked them all up on a cutting board that he placed on a burner on the stove and then accidentally turned that burner on. Dinner was a little late 'cause it took a while for all the smoke to clear. I ran the salad into the living room so it didn't absorb the taste. So crazy.
Funny, though. It was the only catastrophe we've had so far..
We also had some figs that I had frozen last month (figs are a pain in the butt to find...have I already written that?...)
Anyways, Brad did an awesome job of sauteeing all the quail and the figs before finishing them off in the oven (doesn't that sound fancy?) He was really nervous, but they turned out perfect. And beautiful. We served white and green asparagus on the side. Turns out quail are totally messy to eat and you basically pick the whole bird apart and eat it with your fingers and feel quite carnivorous, but there really aren't any good options. It made everybody really comfortable and casual, though, and that was fun. We had Pear and Oatmeal "cobbler" for dessert. Brad forgot to get ice cream, though, but our friend Ariana brought over Toffee caramel ice cream, and most people wanted that. I put french vanilla yogurt on mine, and it was good. At 9 we all watched the rebroadcast of the CES fireside that we missed because of dinner. It was Elder Oaks, and it was really very good. It was a very fun time today. Lots of laughing, and, really, that's what it's all about...

Micah Did Something Awesome

So for really no reason except I'm not working out all that much (maybe), I felt a little stressed and overwhelmed about life this week, and I did not practice my guitar at all. And instead of getting pissed, Micah took me to Chipotle. And we got stuff for Jennie, too, and stopped at Starbucks, and then we all just sat around and talked for like an hour before I actually had my guitar lesson. It was awesome. How cool is that?
So I practiced really good yesterday. And all my patients hated me for the first few hours when I got to work. How not awesome is that? I won 2 out of 3 of them over.
OH!! And Micah might come out with his album by Christmas and then I can get them for you guys for presents. Whoo-hoo!
:o)
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