Gardening

I planted some herbs.

I grew up in a house with a large yard. Our backyard had a peach tree, two apricot trees, a nectarine tree (my favorite), a navel orange tree, a blood orange tree, a mandarin orange tree (my 2nd favorite), a fig tree (the dog's favorite), three plum trees, a pear tree (sans partridge), grape vines, and berry bushes. Such a large yard required a lot of upkeep--at least two hours worth each Saturday. Our front yard had about 18 different rosebushes, which were my responsibility. I pruned and weeded for $3 an hour--which even after I successfully argued for a dollar raise was still a measly amount. At the time I heartily disliked the intrusion on my weekends. Maybe it was the pay scale, or perhaps the summers I had to spread chicken manure in the rose beds. Of course, after I moved out and started living in itty-bitty student apartments, I really missed having a yard and even gardening! When we lived in our basement apartment I never bothered with attempting to grow anything because I was sure it would die from lack of sunlight, but ever since we've moved I've been excited to try. So, despite a small fear that I might still manage to kill them anyways, I planted some seeds a few weeks ago. And they are growing! I'm sure that one day we'll have a big yard and I'll perpetuate the cycle of chores. For now I am just happy with my herbs.

What I Made For Dinner

About twice a month (usually in the middle and towards the end) when the cupboards are getting spotty and the fridge is nearly empty, I enjoy putting off going to the grocery store as long as possible by getting creative with the remaining ingredients. Partially because I think it's fun to experiment, and partially because I get a small sense of satisfaction out of my 'resourcefulness'. Last night's invention turned out particularly well, so I thought that I'd share.

Stuffed Chicken Breast
Three boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 8oz package of blue cheese
4 small apples (firmer variety would be best)

Cut a slit into each chicken breast, being careful not to slice all the way through. Slice up the the cheese and half of one of the apple into thin slices. Stuff the chicken breasts with the slices; set aside any remaining cheese. Cut the remaining apples into large chunks and scatter on the bottom of a 9x13.  Place the chicken breasts on top of the apples. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. About halfway through the cooking time, place extra pieces of cheese on top of the chicken to melt.

Dreams

It's a little uncanny how your dreams can reflect what's on your mind. The other day I dreamed that we got a dog. It was a Pomeranian-Golden Retriever-Chihuahua mix. (I'm not exactly sure how the logistics of that breeding would work out outside of the dream world). Last night I had a nice dream where Dave surprised me with a trip to Disney World  and we just happened to run into all of our friends and family. In the dream Disney World was a water park, which was convenient because it was a beautiful sunny day.
I told Dave about my dreams this morning while we were procrastinating getting out of bed. His response: "Lately all I dream about is different scenarios, and then I apply the law to them."

Chili Cook-Off

On Wednesday our ward had the annual Halloween/trunk-or-treat party. For the dinner beforehand they organized a chili cook-off, and I won second place for best chili! I enjoyed the chance to try out a recipe that my mom used to make. It was the first time I've made it myself, and I tweaked it a bit to add some more spice. I didn't exactly use exact measurements when I was cooking, but I'll share the original recipe and try to describe my additions.

White Chicken Chili
2 Medium cans white navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 cube butter
1/4 c. flour
3/4 c. chicken broth
2 c. milk
1 tsp Tabasco
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
salt  and pepper to taste
2 roasted pasilla chilies or 2 4oz cans of green chilies
3 cups cooked chicken--shredded or cubed
1 1/2 c. Monterrey jack cheese
1/2 c. sour cream

Cook onion and garlic in two tablespoons of butter until softened, but not browned. In large pot melt remaining butter over low heat and whisk in flour. Keep whisking for about 3 minutes--do not brown. Stir in onions and garlic. Gradually add broth and milk, still whisking. Bring to a boil and then simmer. While stirring, simmer for 5 minutes or until thickened. Stir in beans and remaining ingredients (except sour cream) and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Stir often. Lastly stir in the sour cream.



I used one can of canelli, one can of great northern beans, and one can of garbanzo beans. I couldn't find Pasilla chilies at the grocery store, so I just decided to grab a few of whatever looked good. I ended up with one pablano, two Cubanilles, and one Anaheim chili, all of which I seeded and deveined before adding them to a crock pot with the onions, chickens, beans, and stock. After letting that cook while I was at work, I rushed home and created a roux in a big pot. I added the milk and cheese until it was thickened, and then dumped in the contents of the crock pot. With Dave as my taste tester, I added garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, and some sour cream. I liked it a lot more spicy than the original recipe called for (especially since all the milk and cheese and sour cream really cuts the hear anyways). I just hope I'll actually be able to duplicate it when I start to crave it again!

Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! We celebrated the holiday with some friends from the law school on Saturday. Dave was a leprechaun and I was a skeleton (both costumes were reprises from past Halloweens). The party was so fun that today actually feels a little anti-climatic--the only festive thing I've done today is allowed myself to snitch a few more pieces out of the candy dish at work than I usually do. Isn't it funny how holidays kind of get that way when you are older?

Not that they still aren't fun or silly of course. Just maybe a little less...magical.
Still Halloween has made me realize that the Holiday season has officially started. They always say that the Holiday season makes you a little more homesick and it came as a surprise to me that even Halloween made me a little nostalgic for some of our friends and family.

 Pictures from Halloweens Past

Anyways, I thought I'd include a picture of the appetizer I made for the party.

All you need to do is add some parsley, sliced up pimento stuffed olives, and paprika to your favorite deviled egg recipe and you have bloody alien eyeballs!

First Foray into DIY--Complete!

The table and chairs are done! (And have been done for awhile, but it took me much longer to remember to buy new batteries for the camera so that I could show off the finished product).

I am so pleased with how it's turned out, and slightly torn on what to do next--sand, paint, and get new hardware for our dressers, paint our bookshelves so that they aren't all different colors anymore, or reclaim the old seat cushions for our chairs by sewing a cover for them and turning them into a doggy bed (not that we have a dog yet, but that would bring us one step closer, right?). I've also considered doing a variation on this: Possible Next Project.

A Somewhat Lazy and Sickly Saturday and Sunday

Lately it seems like there is a bug going around all of Gainesville. Me, Dave, all of the lawyers at work, half of the little kids in nursery, and various other friends and acquaintances have all gotten sick in the past few weeks. Hopefully we're all just passing the same thing around and once we get better that will be the end of it. With all the people getting sick it's been hard to pinpoint who exactly gave it to me, but Dave's been sick since Monday or so and I've been sick since Wednesday. We both bravely slugged it out until the weekends, since neither of us could really spare time away from work or school.
Dave is already halfway through his first semester and finals are steadily approaching (gasp!). He is buckling down and working on his outlines in addition to all of his other homework. Yesterday he had to drag himself out of bed to go to 8AM mock jury duty on a murder trial (I wonder which is worse--real jury duty or mock jury duty. I bet if it was real jury duty they would have let him off for being sick).
I've been pretty busy with work myself. Just in the last few weeks, I've helped to launch a smart phone App, write, edit and shoot new commercials, and handle a bunch of new criminal clients. I like that it's busy though, since it makes time go by quickly, I get to learn lots of new things, and it means that the firm is doing well. This past week the Office Manager and the paralegal in the criminal department started a very long vacation, which has left me and the secretary (who is also a recent hire) to take care of things while she is gone. So far things are going well, and even if it is a little stressful, I like the variety and dealing with all of our interesting clients.
Still, with work and school and being sick I definitely wasn't super motivated to do much this weekend besides drink lots of OJ and take advantage of the fact the Netflix now has the series Wonder Years on instant play. I won't embarrass myself by saying how far into the 2nd season I already am, but suffice it to say, it's just as good as I remember it being as a kid.

Wild Life

One of the things I really like about living in Florida is all the nature. I know I've mentioned a little bit before about the different creatures we have living around our apartment complex, but I am still consistently surprised at how many crawling, creeping things I run across when ever we've outdoors--not literally of course, although the amount of dead armadillos I've seen out here have shattered my apparent (mis)conception that they only live in Texas. A few weekends ago we participated in a small service project with our church at a woman's shelter that was kind of off the beaten path. After splitting up into groups, our group was assigned to clean out and organize and bunch of outdoor sheds. Opening the doors of the first one revealed a practice menagerie of insects and reptiles. I saw tiny frogs, huge carpenter ants, a six-inch lizard, and lots of little half-inch lizards. The floor was covered in dirt and white ant eggs, which understandably grossed everyone out, but I bravely volunteered to sweep it out. It gave me that feeling that something was crawling on my skin, but I sucked it up for charity's sake. While I was in there the large lizard attacked and slowly ate one of the small ones. It was like the Discovery Channel, except inside of a shed. I wish I had a camera with me so I could gross you all out. I do have some awesome turtle shots, which I don't mind sharing. Not quite as scary but still neat.

P.S. when I first took these photos I thought it was cool that such animals lived in the pond next to our apartment. We've since met a couple from our ward that has two baby alligators that live in the pond by their apartment complex. They feed them bread, and I am excited to see them. Even though my Dad likes to lecture me about staying away from ponds because he thinks I will fall in and get eaten. Not like I ever fell into ponds or anything similarly clumsy as a child....

My First Foray into DIY

One of the changes we had to adjust to when we move here from Utah was the shift from a furnished to an unfurnished apartment. Our old apartment was generously (if not fashionably) arrayed with old furniture from our landlord, most of which looked like it had been purchase in the 1970s. When we moved in here the apartment was completely bare, so like most young couples we were faced with the prospect of furnishing our apartment on a shoestring. Rather than going for financing or buying cheap particle-board stuff from WalMart, we decided to go for some solid albeit well-worn used furniture with the somewhat ambitious plan of fixing it up ourselves. Well, three months later and I have finally finished the first part of our project--repainting our dining room chairs. Not exactly as quickly as I planned, but I ended up being a lot busier in the last three months than I expected, and repainting furniture turned out to be a lot more labor intensive as well. I still have a lot to tackle (two bookshelves, two large dressers, and the table) but I am super pleased with how everything turned out so I thought I'd share the results.

First I sanded the chair to rough up the surface and remove the original finish.

Then I painted the chair with two coats of a nice primer. 

After that came three coats of paint (the color we picked out is called Cracked Pepper), three coats of spray paint clear enamel (which smells awful but is necessary to avoid instant chips or scratches), and some new bright cushions.

Here is the before.

And after.

Settling In

So we've made it past the three month mark of living in Florida, and the three week mark of Dave's first year in law school, and so far it's been good. I suppose it was a little risky to move all the way across the country to a place where we knew no one and never been to, but mostly it's just felt like an adventure (in the Disney sense, where no one died and the ending was happy). Now that we've been here this long and Dave's actually started school it's really made living here seem more permanent, and it is a good feeling. Not that I don't miss my old friends and family (I do!) and even some things about Utah (I know it's silly but I still get all nostalgic about my old students and my Marriott Center co-workers). But I feel like there is a lot for me to be grateful about here. For instance:
School. I'm sure I am so biased, but Dave is doing really well at law school. He is pretty busy with school work, and I expect that will just get work as the year progresses, but he is usually excited about what he's learning and has been taking the stress and pressure in stride. Plus, it is cool to see him actually start out on his career path and see how well it fits him.
Work. Now, I'd be lying if I didn't say I missed teaching. I do. How couldn't I? But I feel so lucky to have found a , full-time job at a well-established law firm so quickly. It may not be what I went to school for, but I have plenty of chances to be creative and between marketing and helping with the criminal department I always have something to do.  Plus, I finally feel like I am getting out of the training phase (where I frequently have to ask what to do or correct a mistake) to where I feel more confident and comfortable with all of my responsibilities.
Our apartment complex. Now here is one area where we could have been shafted. After all, we basically moved into the place sight-unseen, unless you count internet research, which totally could have been misleading. However, instead of being conned we ended up in a really nice place. Gym, pool, palm trees, ponds, well-maintained--really nothing to complain about. There's even a bunch of wildlife that likes to hang out in the grounds. So far we've seen a bunch of different birds, fish, lizards, bugs, and even turtles. I like walking outside and feeling like I live in a beautiful place. 

So even though we are in a new place, with new people, and a new routine, it's nice that it's beginning to feel like home.

Cooking Like a Real Man

For the longest time now I've intended to write up a nice recipe post. I love to cook, (and eat), and I've even had the admirable if unrealized goal of trying out one new recipe a week. In our relationship, I certainly wear the cooking pants. Which is why I am surprised that Dave has preempted me and cooked something blog-worthy first.

For our anniversary (which was at the beginning of the month, by the way) I gave Dave a grill and a cookbook. Dave finds grilling to be a much more acceptable--or manly, if you will--way to cook. Personally I think it has to do with all the skewering, stabbing, and charring involved, not to mention all the fire and raw meat. Being outdoors probably has something to do with it too. (You'll notice in the pictures that Dave used this as an excuse not to wear a shirt). Anyways, we had a slight role reversal on Saturday as Dave prepared a new recipe he had picked out of his cookbook with me as a sous chef. It was delicious, and made me wonder momentarily if it wasn't a bit sneaky and underhanded of me to buy Dave a present that he would have to use to cook me yummy food with. Down below is the blow-by-blow of the recipe, for anyone who would like to try it. 

Grilled Sausages with Onions, Peppers, and Crusty Bread

Start out with raw sausages of your choice. Ours had cheese in them, but any kind will work. Prick them several times with something sharp so that later the steam will be able to escape the casings and you won't have to deal with exploding sausages. Then, put them in a saucepan with some thinly sliced onion and a mixture of three parts water to one part apple juice (or beer, if you want to follow the original recipe). Simmer for four minutes, remove from pan and allow to drain.

While the sausages are simmering, take the time to prep your onions and bell peppers. Onions should be quartered and skewered. Bell peppers are grilled whole. Both the vegetables and the sausages should be lightly brushed with oil before going on the grill.

Vegetables should go on the grill when it is hot, sausages when it is medium hot. Both get grilled four minutes per side.
For those of you who live in Utah, the author of the cookbook has a great show that airs on the PBS station on Saturdays. I'm very excited for Dave to try some more of his recipes.

Getting a Puppy

For those of you who have known/met me in the last three or so years, you might have heard me mention (maybe once or twice) that one day, when I graduated, I was going to get a puppy. There has never been much of a question that I wanted a dog. Sure, I am deathly allergic to cats---hives, runny nose, red itchy eyes, the whole allergy gambit basically--but even if I wasn't I would definitely still be a dog person. Doggie was my very first word. I'm pretty sure I even brought up the whole getting-a-puppy thing before Dave and I got married in one of those serious engagement talks about money and baby names and who is going to do the dishes. The puppy was even a major criterion in our apartment search in Florida. Seeing as how it was meant to be my graduation present, we wanted to make sure to find a place where we wouldn't have to hide it from the landlord.
With all of this, you'd think by now I'd have a puppy, right? We've spent a lot of time on petfinder.com, gone to visit puppies at the Petsmart on Saturdays, etc.. Surprisingly, the more we looked, the more nervous I've become. I know it sounds a little silly, but I've started to have all sorts of second thoughts. Am I ready to have a puppy? They are a big time commitment after all. No more late nights or waking up at the last second to get ready. Puppies need routine and predictability. Daily walks. Kibble. Water. Discipline. Could I really train a dog, or was I just setting myself up to come home to decimated furniture? The potty-training thing is perhaps the most intimidating part. If we had a yard, this would be no big deal, but an apartment certainly complicates things. How long can you even expect a dog to hold it? At least with a kid there is a diaper involved. Dogs have the charming trait of picking a favorite spot on the carpet. I suppose if worse comes to worse, I could always get rid of the dog--which is a clear advantage of dogs over children--but I know I would be guilt stricken if I did something like that.

So cute!

Obviously I've been putting a lot of thought (and maybe a smidgen too much worry) into this, and I've come to a decision. For now, I am going to practice with some houseplants. This should help me: A. Calm down a bit and B. Save up some puppy money. In the meantime I'm going to set up a meeting with a really nice breeder for Mini Australian Shepherds just south of us. I love the breed, and I want to talk to her and get the total inside scoop before I commit to a dog. I'm hoping she can find us the puppy that will suit us best (one with a relatively low level of energy I think) and I'm willing to wait for awhile until that happens.

It's worth a side note that as I write this Dave is arguing on the phone about American foreign policy--specifically isolationism vs. jingoism. So just in case you were wondering what is going on with him, now you know (although you could have probably guessed that one). Also he just started orientation today. Yikes! Where has the summer gone?

A Bit Belated

So apparently I was really busy during July (or maybe just really lazy) and I did not follow through on my goal to keep up with this! I could see this as a bad sign but I'm just going to write it off as a fluke. Honestly July was a little crazy. I started a new job, flew back to California for two weeks, and took a short trip to the ER after my digestive track decided that it only wanted to move in reverse for a while.  That last one was not so fun, and still hasn't been sorted out (other than being told several things that it is not). I just hope its not a food allergy to something I love. Like strawberries. Or anything dairy.
But on to better news: my new job! I knew before I was going to graduate that it would be very hard to find a teaching job. The possibility of coming across something to even apply to was going to be rare, and it would have taken a nice combination of luck and providence to actually get something. So the fact that I am not going to be guiding and shaping young minds was less of a shock and not too much of a let down--although I still get super nostalgic when I think about my old classes. Especially when I read election news and I think about how they're all going to be old enough to vote and voice their different opinions. Still I am really grateful  for finding the job I had now. I'm working at a local law firm doing marketing and legal assisting, and it is going nicely. I'm usually really busy, so I don't get bored at all, my co-workers are interesting and nice, and the firm has a really comfortable atmosphere. I think my favorite perk would be the paid vacation. Honestly, whoever came up with that idea is genius. Plus it is full-time, good paying work, which is more than can be said for a lot of people's situations right now.
As for our trip to California, I have an awful confession to make. I did not take any pictures. Not a one. I thought I had broken out of that bad habit but I supposed I still need to be more disciplined about taking out time to take a few shots of things. Which is not to say that no pictures were taken of me, since we went out there for two different weddings. So I will have to snag a few pictures from other sources, which is a pity because both of the weddings were lovely and I wish I had pictures to share right now.

This is what I spent part of my very first paycheck on.

I do at least have belated pictures and video from our 4th of July celebrations, which were very firework centered. I believe you can hear me laughing with glee in the video.

Moving Across the Country Completed

Road Trip Phase Four: The End of the Road
The last leg of our trip took us across the Mississippi. Our first stop in the "East" (at least, what seems like the east to a girl from California) was Memphis. The best part about Memphis was the food. No joke. We made a pledge not to eat any fast-food McDonald's type junk the entire trip so that we could appreciate all the local fare, and Memphis was the best pay-off. We stopped off at Leonard's for BBQ the night we came in, and then went over to Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken after visiting Graceland the next day, and both were awesome. I think I could have eaten about a million of the biscuits at Uncle Lou's. I am salivating right now just thinking about it.

Mmmmmm....ribs

Can you tell that I'm in love with that biscuit?

Graceland was an....interesting place. Before I went I imagined lots of pink and aqua and Formica and other 50ish things, but apparently it was all redecorated in the 1970s. Kitschy, but not my kind of kitschy. The best part was the free car show going on in the parking lot.

Paisley Carpet in the Kitchen? Honestly Elvis, what were you thinking?

I bet this monkey gave Lisa Marie nightmares.

One of my life goals is to buy an awesome Corvette when Dave and I are retired (or maybe as soon as my last child moves out). I figure it will be a very practical purchase, since it's a two-seater.

After Memphis we went up to Nashville and visited my Uncle Cleve. He took us to the Country Music Hall of Fame and to Andrew Jackson's house. I, of course, loved the latter and was super mad that I forgot the camera and couldn't take lots of pictures that I could potentially use in a class power point (yes, these are the types of things I think about on vacation). After spending a few days relaxing and taking at much-needed break from driving at Cleve's, we drove down to Gainesville in one day!

Here's us at our new place!

Our road trip really wasn't complete until we went from the Pacific to the Atlantic, so as soon as we could we drove out to beach and stuck our feet in the ocean, just to make it official. We have arrived!

So that's basically our road trip, and now that I'm actually caught up I can hopefully start writing about all of our Floridian adventures. In fact, if I'm to be honest, one of the reasons I've been motivated to catch-up is so I can write all about the fireworks I'm going to shoot off tomorrow! I love the fourth of July, and to paraphrase a favorite TV show my favorite way to celebrate my love of my country  is to blow up a very small piece of it. I am very excited, the ones they have here would be so illegal back home!