Thai Night- LemonWood and Cabbage Wraps

First of all, Brad did a very good job shopping for all the crazy stuff this night called for. He even enlisted the help of a Thai lady at the Asian store who helped him get all the right curries and the tamarind. He also bought the prettiest head of lettuce I had seen in a long time. Which turned out to be cabbage. Which didn't register with either of us until everyone else pointed it out. However, they are much sturdier in lettuce wraps than lettuce ever is, so there were no complaints.
So...this dinner party was crazy nutso.
The appetizer was marinated shrimp with lime juice. The lime juice was supposed to "cook" the shrimp. Like Peruvian "cerviche"- the fish version. It took about 15 minutes of that before I realized I was sauteeing those shrimp. Gray shrimp meat is not appetizing. In fact, it's about disgusting. So the appetizer was that shrimp mixed with ground pork, strips of cooked egg, and lemon grass. Which has the texture more of bamboo than grass. It went in the food processor pretty quickly once I realized how hard that stuff actually is. It was surrounded by "lettuce" leaves, celery leaves, and cucumber slices. It sounds weird as can be, but was very good. And it had a cool dipping sauce which is also complicated and involves citrus leaves, tamarind, and shrimp juice.
Out next recipe was Red Beef Curry, which also calls for citrus leaves. Luckily, citrus grows great here in December on Orange street, one block south so I sent Brad to steal a handful off our neighbors' tree. Actually, I told him to knock and ask. He didn't. Whatever. That turned out to be our main meal, served over rice.
We also had Siamese fried chicken- a lot like killer good chicken nugggets- which was easy and very tasty.
And we had banana splits for dessert. We were going to have fried bananas, but we ran out of oil.
This week we really didn't know ANY of the people who came over, and they were all totally fun. We laughed a lot- the guys especially were hilarious- so we had a very good time.
The food required so many burners that our kitchen looked like a tornado hit it! Oh well! It was great!
(The cute little ornament place holders on the table we got from Crate & Barrel. We are using them exactly twice, but they are so much fun.!)

Chestnuts Burning In the Roaring Flames...

So Brad and I threw our first party. It turned out pretty fun. It was definitely a mormon party and was pretty mellow, but fun for sure. Soo...Brian (from the two hot guys my age party. We hang out a lot. Nothing is going on there, tho. Which is ok. ) and I went shopping earlier for all the stuff. He told me I needed to buy lots of soda in case lots of people showed up. We have about 7- 2 liters left over. haha. We started sending people home with them near the end.
We also went searching for a chestnut pan. To roast chestnuts on an open fire, according to everyone on the internet, you have to cut little slits in them and put them in a saute pan with holes in it. You can order one on Amazon.com, actually. But that was expensive. So Brian and I looked a few places, and I was finally like, let's just go to Marshall's. Brian's like, "If Bed Bath and Beyond doesn't have one, Marshall's won't."
And I was like, "You never know; That place has random stuff."
And they had a copper grilling saute pan thing with holes all up in it for 8 bucks. Sweet!!
We had everybody bring an appetizer so we ended up with mozzarella sticks, buffalo wings, quesadillas, and veggie trays. We started the first fire in our fireplace, which was less scary than I anticipated. And roasting perfect chestnuts was way harder than anticipated. About 1 in 5 turned out good. They taste a little like sweet baked potatoes. No one had ever had one before, though, so everyone was excited to try them. Apparently, also from the Internet, in Thailand and England (and France) they sell them in the streets and they are amazing. So... Cim, while you are over there, could you please find out the magic tricks to make perfect chestnuts. Please?
Brad got the only mistletoe lip kisses. Vanessa O and Ariana. That livened things up a bit. I kissed three guys on the cheek, one who blushed like crazy, which was fun. Oh, and one couple kissed once. Ariana told Brian and I to, but that didn't happen. Who knows with that whole thing...
We all played Twister on my bed, but that ended up being not as popular of an activity as I thought it would be. I definitely had fun.
Also, Brad has a projector in his room so we all piled in and watched ELF and Polar Express. And then I read The Polar Express to the 9 people who were left at the end.
Overall, a very good first Christmas party. :o)

Do Something Nice...

So I don't put too my church stuff on here generally speaking. But today the 97 year-old President of the church said in a Christmas devotional, "Maybe 'Merry Christmas' is the wrong thing to say. Maybe we should say, "It's Christmastime. Is there anything I can do to help you?...Are your burdens too heavy?" I loved it, and it seemed very much in the true spirit of Christmas.

Mistletoe Party

On Saturday Brad and I are having a mistletoe party. That means: Twister, Polar Express and ELF movies in Brad's room, Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and about 6 mistletoes. Yay!!!!

I banned myself from Whole Foods

I realized the other day that I spend way too much money on groceries, especially on fun things I find at Whole Foods and Wild Oats. So I banned myself from going inside anymore. This led me to greatly appreciate Trader Joe's, which, it turns out, I didn't like so much my first trip, but this last time I bought a ton of stuff for like 40 bucks and am thrilled about it.

Heavy on the Antioxidants

Tonight's party went really well. A couple things:
Lychees- little chinese fruits that taste a little like fruit cocktail grapes. In a can. Not that great, but not bad
Cornish Game Hens- I've cooked these 3 times before, always one or two, and I've never defrosted them. However, if you're cooking 6, defrost them first, or dinner will take a lot longer than expected. Oops.
Brie- The first time I had it, GROSS- I hated it. But Trader Joe's Double Cream Brie is absolutely wonderful. Soo soo good. It's like $3.50 for a huge chunk. Sweetness.
So the appetizer was grilled chicken breasts on arugula with brie and blueberry sauce. Dinner was Game Hens with Raspberry Hens. Dessert was a coconut ice cream banana split with mango sauce and lychees.
Here's some pics!

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.
cc

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.
cc

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,
cc

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.
cc

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)
cc

Phyllis & Frog Prince

So the Institute had a fun little Halloween party last night. Mostly it was a dance, and mostly the fun part was dressing up and seeing everyone's constumes. I was Phyllis from the Office with a sign on my sweater that said "I love Vance from Vance refrigeration." (Meredith was also there with her lollipop, her 7-11 cup, and an ACE bandage on her pelvis with JIM HALPERT on it. Pam was there, too, and looked great.) Our friends Sam and Ariana were a nurse and a rebel. Brad was the Frog Prince, and looked great. He was sooo sad 'cause he was feeling sick and couldn't kiss all the girls so he handed out little rainchecks "for a life-changing experience." Good Times.

Ouch!!

This is a perfect example of why you should not iron your scrubs in a sports bra and shorts. I did this on Friday...

Shrimp Risotto

Sometimes when I make the meals for these parties, I think, "How does anybody afford to have 6 kids?" And then I remind myself that rarely do people have 6 teenagers at the same time. The shrimp risotto took 1 1/2 lbs of shrimp and used almost 2 bags of rice, and I think we all could have used a couple more bites!! It just amazes me sometimes.
Our appetizer this time was kiwi, grape, and apple fruit salad with rosemary syrup. I used fresh rosemary this time, which I usually don't do, and the syrup turned bright green, which was kind of fun.
Brad was in charge of the peaches, and they were good. A couple things to remember for next year:
Kiwis are totally in season this time of year. In fact, all those green fruits were on great sale.
Peaches are totally NOT in season this time of year. In fact, most stores didn't have them anywhere. No more peaches in late October on this menu!!
I think everyone had a good time. The girls especially were so cute and talkative this time. One is getting baptized next week, and is so very cute!

How To Make a Boyfriend

Last night while grocery shopping I met an Asian lady who asked me how to say sprouts in English. So I told her. Then I asked her a little bit about where she's from and how long she's been here. Turns out she's from Korea and has been here for 11 years. This is how the rest of the conversation went:
"You married" (her)
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"'Cause I have dated some great guys but no one I want to be with forever and ever."
"Oh, you know the Walgreens across the street."
"Oh, uh-huh."
"Next door. Is coffee shop. People go there. Drink coffee. Meet people. Maybe you make a boyfriend."

I laughed. Because what else do you do.

At least I know how to make a boyfriend. :o)

Sometimes It's Better To Just Stay In

So tonight I went shopping a little bit and bought a sweet shirt and decided I needed to go play. I was going to see Micah play, but I missed his show 'cause I was grocery shopping. (We did talk on the phone for a little bit though, and that was nice.) Anyways,, the point being that I needed to get out more, and Brad-o, little mister make out with the neighbors party all the time while I'm at work was making it very obvious I should go do something. So...I called Josh (my third, in case you're counting) who I met my second night here in AZ from my car when his friend was wearing a Boise State shirt. For the last four months, I hadn't returned any of his texts but tonight I figured the guys were probably out for halloween so I called. Turns out my memory isn't so awesome about his appearance AND HE WAS ALONE AND NOT WITH FRIENDS and I paid 20 bucks to go to a halloween party with a lot of sluttty slutttty girls and stand around talking for 45 minutes to a very drunk, very sweet lonely 34-year old somewhat overweight Mexican who thought I was gorgeous. So I took him home. Oh goodness. Sometimes when a girl is ovulating she needs a little more than this. It was an experience anyways. Brad and I are going to eat Chicken Cordon Bleu and watch Beauty and the Geek now.
Good-night!!
cc
p.s. Jessica..you know I can blame this on you for telling me to "not waste a pretty!!" (That means don't stay home when you're feeling hot)

Nelson

I met Nelson at a home evening on Monday night at church. Nelson is from CA and went to BYU and works in the fashion industry. This is fascinating to me. Nelson is putting on a fashion show on November 10th, and I will be going. So excited, although I have no idea what to wear to a fashion show.

Jalloween

There's a girl named Jesse in our ward who is about my age, and she's obsessed with Halloween. It's her totally favorite holiday, and she has events at her house all during October to celebrate. Last year, she was a piñata for halloween, and people hit her (softly) with a bat and she tossed candy up in the air. hahahaha
After the dinner party, we carved pumpkins at her house. Mine had a cactus, a coyote, and a pumpkin. Brad is going to her "camp in" on Friday. And he's making me a jalloween shirt.
Her blog is jalloween.blogspot.com.
Good times.

Dinner Party #2, Mandy, Randy, Christin, Tristan, Brad, and Julie

Making salmon for 6 people is absolutely terrifying. I have made salmon only for myself and it has about a 50% chance of turning out bad. Truthfully, maybe sometimes it's been in the freezer too long. And sometimes I think Albertson's salmon just isn't that great, but I was so nervous. I bought some beautiful salmon form Fry's, though, on a good sale (thank heavens!! I think I bought a whole fish!) and marinated it with ginger miso on Saturday night. We also made stuffed mushrooms that were fantastic and had little cheesecakes for dessert. It went so good. The girls loved the salmon- one said it was the best she'd ever had, and one had never had it before and liked it! We also had orange cauliflower, which Brad hated, but it didn't taste any different to me, and it sure looked cool.
The conversation went good again, and we even flirted a bit and talked about kissing and all that fun stuff!
Fun fun fun!!

How Christin got Her Groove Back

On Saturday night, there was a luau and I didn't go. This was a very cool girl-ask-guy church thing that they spend boo-koo bucks on and like 800 people came. Brad went. I asked a guy named Mark that I met a few months ago working at the church cannery who is not in our ward. He had already been asked.
The point being, though, Brad was listening to my phone call and was like, "Christin. You sounded like a dork. You did not sound like the confident sister you usually are." (Mark still asked if he could program me in his phone, though...:o) ) Later, I realized there were some truly decent guys in my ward who did not go, so I felt kind of bad, but I was not about to ask someone I didn't really want to go with just to go. I AM almost 28 so I figure I don't have to go if I don't want to.
But I think I had lost a little of my mojo.
I hadn't even painted my toenails in 3 weeks!!! That is so not me!!
So I went grocery shopping for the dinner party. And then I got my groove back.
I painted my toenails hot pink. Then at 4am I picked out my outfit for church, which was a khaki skirt and a Kenneth Cole shirt I almost never wear that looked great with that skirt. And my big hoop earrings. Brad said I looked cute. And two girls stopped me in our ward to say I looked absolutely beautiful that day. And I introduced myself to 4 guys. I felt so much better.

A little update

HI! So just thought I'd take a minute to fill y'all in on a little happenings here in AZ. First off, my schedule has finally become consistent and I work on Wed, Thursday, and Friday nights. This means, basically for sure, that nothing new will be on my blog on Thus, Fri, or Sat. Maybe Saturday night, but I doubt anything that cool will happen while I'm at work. Secondly, I am learning how to play Brown-eyed Girl on my guitar which is great. Third, I finally wrote a to-do list today and hopefully soon I will be working out awesomely instead of keeping the weirdest hours ever and not working out. Brad right now is selling his Lexus that he bought for a very good deal with the sole intention of selling. It took much longer than he thought and is very relieved.
K- on to the fun stuff...

Tonight I will miss a concert.

LIVE and Collective Soul are playing here tonight for $20 and I will miss the concert because I am working. Gross. Have a good night, y'all!
cc

Dinner Party #1

THE DINNER PARTY WENT SO GOOD!!
We've included pictures of the appetizers, but it might have been weird to take pictures of everything else.
We had:
Green Pears wrapped in Serrano ham with walnuts on the side
Tarragon Chicken on Spring Greens and Mashed Potatoes
and
Spice Cake with Cream Cheese frosting.
We actually had 3 guys and 2 girls over and everyone got along really well. The conversation flowed and everybody was just so pleasant and excited. Everyone stayed and talked for about 45 minutes, and it was just fun as could be. I guess I don't have too much else to say, except the chicken got done right as everybody finished their appetizers....whew!!!

Brad Made Macaroons

Brad was bored on Friday night while I was at work so he and our friend Ariana decided to make Hazelnut Macaroons. The first line of this recipe says, "Choose a day that is not humid to make macaroons." Needless to say, this was quite a time-consuming undertaking, but definitely worth it. And definitely beautiful.

Brad turned 23 on Wednesday.

He had an awesome birthday. Because he spent it with me. And it was fun.
So...first he opened his presents. Which was a penguin of death birthday card, an avocado bath bomb, some shave gel, and a gift card to the buckle.
Then...we went on a field trip adventure. You see, when Brad lived in New Jersey there were these places called Rita's Italian Ice which he absolutely loved. Well, about a month ago I was reading "Phoenix Woman" magazine and they had an article about a lady named Teri who had moved here from Jersey and opened and Italian Ice place. So I surprised him and we had delicious Italian Ice on the patio.
Then...we went boating. Rafting, I guess some would call it. But not the people at Tempe Town Lake. Many of you do not know that a few years ago now I bought a big (medium, 4 person) inflatable raft to raft on at the little lake by our apartment complex in Boise with my roommates. This led to many wonderful memories, although we never really used it nearly as much as we should have.
Anyways, about 6 years ago, the city of Tempe created a Lake. It is obviously their pride and joy. So much so that we had to get a boat permit for my raft. A BOAT PERMIT. For a $60 raft. :o) The permit is only $5 for the whole year, and, actually, we were laughing so much about getting it that it didn't really matter at all. They also gave us the boating rules and about 5 brochures on activities to do in and around the lake. One of the pictures is me happily reading a brochure. I think next time we might actually back my Altima down the boat ramp and slide the raft off the top just for the fun of it. :o)
We also went out to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. I don't love this place, but Brad really does. And he LOVES their bananas foster. Unfortunately, they had just run out of bananas. So we waited for them to go to the grocery store and get some. And it was worth it. Good good times.

Brad Drank the Milk

Brad thinks this story is hilarious, so I will tell it. The other day, I got up before work and poured myself a bowl of Special K fruit and yogurt. And then looked in the fridge for the milk. Which was gone. Because Brad drank it all. So I looked around the fridge for options and all I found was whipped cream. So that's what I had for breakfast. Special K with whipped cream. It was still a little dry because I couldn't justify the fat grams necessary to actually saturate the cereal. But it was enough. :o)