Singer Update

New Car

2010-09-08T09:26:00.000-06:00

As you all know (since most of you were tricked), we bought a new car just recently.

We are so happy with our purchase! Here's a stock photo so you can imagine us inside.

The Announcement You've Been Waiting for...

2010-09-02T08:15:00.002-06:00

JJ and I are adding a new member to our "family"!

An Acura MDX.

We're supposed to pick it up in a couple of hours.

Pardon My Post

2010-07-29T00:59:00.000-06:00

... it's almost 3 in the morning. Am I crazy? I have to be at work in 9 hours (my average per-night sleep time), and I'm writing a blog post.

Oh well.

I'm just too excited/nervous/what's-the-word-for-have-a-lot-to-do-but-it's-not-overwhelming... yet?

JJ and I have been having some very serious conversation lately. We all knew that he was going to be.... going... somewhere... for a while... (see: I'm not supposed to be talking about it online) because of work in the near future (for 4 months). What we didn't know, yet, was what I'd be doing.

I thought I could be a tough girl and work a lot and be fine. Then he went on a couple of work trips and, well... I'm not a tough girl. The funny thing is that I was totally fine being across the country from him (for 9 months) when I had other people to hang out with. Now that I have... maybe.. 4 friends, if we stretch it... in DC, I find that my time off is dreaded, and I can't STAND when JJ is gone.

So there we have it. I am wussing out. Sometime soon (Yonny--not a word of this at work) I will be packing up my apartment, hopefully fitting everything I need into suitcases, and moving.

TO UTAH.

again.

And I'm excited about it!

I've spent the last couple of nights thinking about what I can do to make this move easier. Here are our conclusions:

1. Get some kind of relaxed job--maybe my resume can wait for a little while, and I can just do something mindless for a while? Where I *maybe* have holidays off?

2. Fly. I know this sounds ridiculous, but... We're just going to buy a car when I get out there. We were thinking about getting something new around Springtime anyway, why not just push the date up a schmidge to Fall?

3 (&4). Live with my parents. I couldn't believe how much I missed them in the last couple of months. So much, in fact, that I actually went home for a few days just a couple of weeks ago. I came out of that trip with no pictures (except the ones TJ has still failed to email me), but I loved just being with my family, even if the "annual" crawdad trip was a near-failure. So this will simplify both rent and loneliness.

I guess you never know about the good things 'til they're gone.

What're Ya Doin?!

2010-07-01T14:21:00.000-06:00

Not much, that's the answer to that. I'm thinking about doing another "Day in the Life of" so you can watch me go to work, come home, watch tv, sleep, go to work, come home, watch tv, sleep....

This post is just going to be a bunch of thoughts about what I do on my days off.

I have 3 days in a row off. HOW WEIRD IS THAT! So yesterday I organized some more stuff. Wrapping paper and cards and stationery. That's right, folks, I have a problem. A paper-buying problem.

In my future home, I will have a deluxe gift-wrapping station. It's just got to happen. Because I like it.

After organizing the paper, I went to buy some more things (with JJ). I needed some more work clothes that are summer appropriate (aka lighter, since I found out that summer + humidity = sweaty me = nasty!), so we went to Tyson's Corner (aka one of the biggest malls ever, it's gotta be!). I got some pants at Old Navy for only $6/pair (awesome), then some stuff at H&M, then we decided to eat some Panda Express while we were there.

The weird part about living in a city with convenient public transportation? We NEVER eat fast food. EVER. So I miss things like Del Taco and Panda Express and the occasional McDonald's.

PANDA EXPRESS IS YUMMY.

And induces comas, apparently. I slept from 8:30 PM last night to 6:45 this morning, with only a slight break during the middle of the night to take off my jeans and stuff.

This morning, I was up early, so I watched JJ eat some yogurt (ew it was so gross) and then went to the DMV. The DMV here opens at 8 AM, which was awesome, since I made it there by 8:30, so I only had a 20-minute wait once I got my number... but then the lady that called my number didn't speak English hardly at all and didn't understand my question so she left her station and just went away somewhere leaving me with no car title or registration or forms or ID, or I would've just left (the lady next to her didn't have a customer and answered my question in 10 seconds flat).

Then I found a Target I didn't know existed and bought some shoes, undershirts, and a cute dress.

Then I went to JJ's work and picked him up for lunch, where I found out what he had found out: He got a raise! WOOOOOOOOOT!

We ate lunch across the street from his office, I had beef stroganoff (yum!), and then I went to Harris-Teeter.

I WAS SO GLAD I DID! It was like a Harmon's grocery, which I love! And I miss that about Utah. And it's only 2 blocks further than the Giant I've been going to (which is depressing like Albertson's was).

So anyway. That's all I've been doing. I'm boring.

TOMORROW>>> JJ is getting Lasik!

Puerto Vallarta

2010-06-11T12:49:00.001-06:00

JJ and I went to Puerto Vallarta with my family during the first part of June. We really loved the trip! I was so glad to see my family, and we were able to spend a lot of time relaxing, despite some big plans on the trip.

When we got to Puerto Vallarta, we went to our hotel and went to eat some "Mexican food" at the on-site restaurant. We were all too tired to go anywhere, so we stayed around and ate rice and beans... which we all know isn't really Mexican food.

In the afternoon of day 2, we went down to the pool for our first SCUBA lesson. That's right, y'all, Me, JJ, Micia and Stewie all SCUBA certified. Our guide's name was Erik and we really really liked him.

Taking a taxi to go get some dinner (JJ, being the only Spanish speaker in the group, sat up front most of the time and took pics and translated and haggled).

JJ and Stewie were both really excited about the Coke with real sugar in it.

The next two days, all of us "kids" went off in the morning to the SCUBA shop, then took a boat about an hour out to Los Arcos, which would serve as our dive training site.

We got all suited up, then jumped into the water.

Then the big moment came! Down, PERISCOPE (I have no idea what that really means, but it has something to do with submarines)!

We saw a ton of interesting sea life, but, unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of the best thing we saw: a HUGE Manta Ray! I'm talking, like, 25-foot wingspan! It was amazing.

Here are some pics of us with creatures underwater. There were animals down there, too.

It was suuuuch a fun trip! Let's see what kind of adventure the Roby family comes up with next year!

Room Remodel

2010-05-26T09:29:00.003-06:00

When we got to DC, it was painfully obvious that we needed to re-vamp our bedroom. Not only did we need about twice as much storage space as we had, but our room seemed so.... blah.

Before:

After:
We're still trying to organize the stuff on the top, but I think we did pretty well so far.
The other weird thing about our apartment is that we don't have any overhead lighting in the living room or bedroom. Don't ask me what the architect was thinking... So we added some of these:

Thanks, IKEA!

2nd Anniversary

2010-05-26T09:24:00.004-06:00

Something else we did during our trip across the country?

Celebrated our 2-year anniversary.

Yay us!

We didn't really do anything specific... just hung out with my family in Vegas (it was Mother's Day), where we ate at a Korean BBQ and saw Iron Man 2.

Insert gushiness [here].

Our Trip Across the Country

2010-05-26T08:46:00.007-06:00

As you might be able to guess by my absence, we have been busy people!

I recently graduated from UVU, (go 'head and dust your shoulders off:)

And then I went to Las Vegas for a week. I didn't take any pictures there, but it was fun. I stayed with my sister, Micia, and we did a lot of eating out and I relaxed a lot (she didn't, she was still in school).

JJ came out to meet me, and we travelled across the country. Here are some pics from the road:

Hoover Dam:

Route 66:

The ultimate road trip snack:

Us:

Largest cross in the Northern Hemisphere:

Flattest land I've ever seen:

Perhaps the biggest bird poop ever:

Memphis!

Other highlights that we weren't able to record?

> Seeing an SUV with a casket in the back
> Having good weather the whole way, despite the storm in Oklahoma
> Driving 5 extra hours to find a hotel room (due to the same storm)
> Finding out that La Quinta isn't a bad chain, after all
> Eating at a restaurant called Stoby's in Arkansas--They gave us free cookies :)
> Breakfast at a Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives restaurant called Sophia's Place
> DIABLO BURGER(!) in Flagstaff, AZ. SOOOOO GOOOD! I could eat their fries every day. And then be obese. And still like it.

THE STATS:

Gas: $294.94 (we have to use premium in our Jetta)
Highest price per gallon: $3.38, Chambers, AZ
Cheapest price per gallon: $2.72, Albuquerque, NM

We somehow didn't see any tolls, and didn't have to rent a moving truck. It was awesome.

So here we are in DC for permanent! More posts to come (today)

It's Official

2010-05-06T13:07:00.004-06:00

Grades came out. I'm graduated!

I walked, JJ was able to come! His parents and Jaime came, too.

We ate dinner at Bambara.

I don't think it hit me until after I had walked that I never have to go on that campus again. I never have to take a class again to get my diploma. I never have to try to park in that ridiculous lot, nor walk into class in the freezing cold weather just to find out that my professor is sick and walk right back out. Ever.

I also realized that my life is suddenly going to become so different. I have a job set up for me in DC, which is intimidating, but exciting. I finally will live with just JJ, alone, all the time.

Last summer, when I moved to DC, I knew in the back of my mind that I was coming back to Utah (and it seemed awful). As much as I like all of my friends and family, I never thought I really fit in there. Now, as I'm leaving for good, I realize that I'm going to miss life there, as well as all of the people I know.

The adventure has already begun. Yesterday morning, I woke up at my parent's house in a room that looked like it had for months--I hadn't even started to pack. By 2:30, I was loaded in the car, sitting in the driveway, ready to go.

It took me until I got to Cedar City to realize that I will never be in the same situation in Utah ever again. I'll hopefully never live with my parents again, and only have a rental car (if any) when I'm there. How STRANGE!

As much as I love DC (and JJ), I'm kinda sad to be leaving my home -town, -state, -area.

After all, I'm a legend in Salt Lake ;)

Almost....

2010-04-21T14:48:00.002-06:00

I'm almost almost done with school! My final final final (final for the class, in the semester, and of life as far as is predicted*) is tomorrow at 8:30 AM, but there's NO POSSIBLE WAY that I can flunk out of school, so I'm pretty much DUNZO!

Don't you love it? I do.

P.S. JJ will be here for graduation now :) Happy!
P.P.S. I have a new fragrance, and it's delicious, if I do say so myself.

* I'm still "thinking" about grad school. Maybe in 10 years?

22 Days

2010-04-08T14:24:00.002-06:00

22 days until I walk across a stage, grab something worthless (they mail the diplomas weeks later), walk straight to the exit, and on to my freedom.

I could fail everything from this point on out and still graduate.

Just sayin'.

Mathy math math

2010-03-25T11:09:00.004-06:00

Today I was asked what 15% of 125 is, and the answer begged the question:

HOW DOES YOUR BRAIN WORK?!

This is what my thought process was (and I said it all out loud):

1) It's 15 + 15% of 25, silly.
2) Probably like 20ish?
3) Wait, it's more like 19.
4) Dang you, infernal math!
5) Well 10% of 25 is 2.5, then 5% is half of that.
6) 2.5+1.25=3.75
7) 3.75+ what did I say? 15. 15 is.... 18.75
8) Yeah, so 18.75. So pretty much 19.

Apparently "pretty much" doesn't work in math.

Big Buns

2010-03-19T09:12:00.004-06:00

Last night, we got together with Joe and Britt and their friend Mark (spelling?) and ate at Big Buns. It's a cute little burger place near the Ballston Mall.

JJ said for us to keep eating and not look like he was taking a picture. Joe is deaf. This is what happens:

The burgers were good, I LOVED the Orange Dreamsicle soda JJ made me.

Obligatory self-take pic:

Yesterday was Heaven

2010-03-18T12:24:00.001-06:00

Oh, Heavenly. 70 degrees out, sunny, and JJ got off of work at 3 o'clock.

We decided to take a walk down in Georgetown. Right before I left DC, JJ took me to Georgetown to hang out and have dinner. We were reliving that date a little bit, and I loved it!

We rode the metro to Foggy Bottom, where they have an epically long escalator: I swear it's like 4 stories tall and takes like 5 real-life minutes to ride up.

We got down to the waterfront and walked through Georgetown Waterfront Park to the harbor. In the summer, there are dudes with boats trying to pick up on young college girls always parked around there, but it was just peaceful and sunny yesterday. No cat-calling or loud stereos.

I must admit that I was weak on the picture front this time. I'll try to be better. You see, there were people getting their wedding pics taken down at the park, so we didn't want to rush them.

See how nice and sunny it was?

Unfortunately, during the spring, "they" have to put up a temporary wall to prevent flooding in the little restauranty area at the harbor. They also turn off the fountain. This is what it looks like from the inside, sitting at a table at Farmers and Fishers:

Oh well. We may not have had an ideal view, but we had a lot of fun. The restaurant was tasty, and we had a good time just being us.

That is the obligatory waiting-for-the-metro picture, as we seem to have a lot of those sitting around.

SPRING BREAK!

2010-03-15T10:18:00.004-06:00

I'm so excited to be on Spring Break. It's a little early, and I had to take a couple of tests and turn in some assignments before I could fly out (we only have Wed-Friday off at UVU), but I'm so happy to be here with JJ during the evenings and lazing out on the weekdays. I don't really have anything amazing to write, but, since I'm kind of treating this blog as a journal:

On Saturday, I did a little stage at a restaurant I really love. We'll see how much they liked me.

I think I broke my Amazon Kindle. I'm going to be talking to tech support sometime soon :(.

Also on the homefront: I decided to walk in convocation, but not commencement. It's on April 30th. I think JJ will be missing it, but he wanted me to walk, so... I will. I'll post pics if I don't look too goofy in that stupid hat.

Last night, I made corned beef and cabbage to celebrate St. Patty's day (early). I served it with roast potatoes, horseradish sauce, and carrots. It wasn't too bad, if I do say so myself.

Well, I'm boring, but that's about it!

2 Things Found...

2010-03-08T13:44:00.004-07:00

My mom found my headphones (that I was so worried about last night I almost cried), they were in her office... don't ask me how they got there. She thinks it has something to do with how she sometimes wears my clothes and I sometimes leave things in my pockets. Anyway....

JJ found his little tiny iPod that he uses for the gym! You'd never guess where it was... his gym bag!

Let's just say I have a forgetful, loses-things-all-the-time husband.

Which is why he's not getting prescription sunglasses 'til right before he absolutely has to have them (for work).

It's also why we only have 1 car key and he's had to get new keys for our apartment (where he's lived for 10 months) twice.

Silly boy. I love him.

Oooops

2010-02-28T14:34:00.004-07:00

I totally forgot to post my favorite pic of us in NYC! Here it is:

Start Spreadin' The News...

2010-02-22T19:26:00.009-07:00

When I got to DC, not only did I have pretty pretty flowers, but there was a SURPRISE looming.

JJ has never pulled off a surprise... until now. I've guessed every present that he's given me, I knew when he bought the ring.... he pretty much fails at keeping a straight face.

I got to DC on a Wednesday. He said I'd have a surprise on Friday after he was done with work... and boy, did I have a surprise!

He told me on Thursday night. WE WERE GOING TO NEW YORK! For those of you who don't know about how we met, here's a brief recap:

I had recently been dumped
He was moving to NYC (well, Hoboken, NJ, but... same thing) to go to The French Culinary Institute
We got set-up
We liked each other
He moved
I cried (don't tell, it's a secret)
He wanted to keep dating me
I went to Jersey for 2 weeks to visit my bestie, Katie (holla)
JJ was conveniently in NYC
We hung out a lot
We fell in lurve
He moved back

TA DA!

Since then, JJ and I have always thought that New York was "our town"...well, sort of.

So I was pee-my-pants excited about going to "our town". And rightly so.

We took Greyhound (4 Hours from DC to NYC... $20. Can't beat it), which was only slightly scary. I packed a picnic (PS I went a little picnik happy with our photos, in case you can't tell) lunch of french bread, gourmet cheeses, veggies, berries, and apples, and off we went! Unfortunately... we went off without our digital camera.

"No worries! We'll just stop and get one of those disposables!" he says.
"That'll take $#!+ pictures!" she says (pardon her French).
"It'll be fine, we never look at pictures anyway," He says.
"BUT WHAT ABOUT MY BLOG?!" She says.

Smug boy... too bad all the pictures did end up... well, you know.

We got there Friday night at around 6, checked into our BEAUTIFUL hotel room at the Hotel Mela, and JJ told me that the biggest surprise of all was going to be at 10:30. I was so excited! I knew it involved food (my favorite thing), and he had told me I needed to get dressed up, and I just so happened to have a dress burning a hole in my closet. That's not a saying, but you know what I mean.

We got all gussied up, thanks to my 2 favorite J things of the moment: JJ and J.Crew:

Not so bad, if I do say so myself.

JJ called a cab (with the help of the door man at the hotel), and he whisked me off to LE BERNARDIN, as in, one of the only Michelin 3-Star restaurants in NYC. As in, delicious delicious fish. As in, Eric Ripert. As in... google it. or you could click the link I just provided.

We decided on the $20/per person more expensive, but not highest expensivity(it was so delicious I made up words) prix-fixe menu. I feel like I'm speaking French in this post, because I'm pretty sure not very many of the things I'm talking about are things that normal, not-food-obsessed people know about. And because that was French.

A prix-fixe menu is a menu where you pay a certain price and then get a certain amount of food. These can range from starter-entree-dessert things (think 2 for $20 at Chili's) to 9 course chef's choice menus. This restaurant, being very un-Chili's, served the latter.

It was 9 courses of deliciousness. My most favorite was the first course, which was a thinly-pounded fillet of tuna served raw over a super-thin slice of baguette with foie gras patee spread on it. Dee. Lish. Us!

Here are some pics of the greatness that occurred:

Tiny Desserts (including a tiny donut) / Gelato, mange blanc, and liquid pears / Surf & Turf / Someone Cute

Oh, it was so legendary. And it reminded me of how I found another food weirdo (also pictured above) to share these kinds of legendary moments with me--and he also thinks that they're legendary! What can I say, I'm in lurve. With food? Yes, but also with that guy.

We had all of Saturday and half of Sunday to laze around, eat, walk around town, eat....

Highlights of the rest of the trip: Eating at Balthazar (ordered the raw oysters, they were ultra fresh and not at all scummy), walking around Canal Street and not buying anything (except a coat and some gloves, but those were not on Canal Street, per se...), and eating at Stage's Deli:

I had the Matzo Ball Soup and a Salami Sandwich. JJ had an Open-Faced Roast Beef Sandwich and a Cel-Ray Soda, in honor of his late Grump-pa Balish. Everything was so delicious.

On Sunday morning, we decided to go back to where Stage's Deli is, so that we could get some of the street food we had seen earlier.

We stood at Port Authority eating a Gyro and a mixed Gyro plate. Yuuuummmmmm.

When JJ and I got back to DC, we went and got chicken at Pollo Rico with Micah, and then JJ had to go to bed--some people have to work.

When he got back from work on Monday afternoon, he looked like this:

Poor, tired, little guy. I guess our weekend wore him out. After all, it gets tiring falling in love all over again.

She'll Be Mad That I Hijacked Our Blog...

2010-02-08T21:23:00.017-07:00

Even though this is our blog; aside from an occasional comment, I let her run with it. I am too irresponsible and undependable to be trusted to post regularly.

If you read this blog from somewhere other than the east coast, then you may have heard that DC was recently hit with some snowfall totaling 20-30 inches. To put that in perspective if you live in UT and say "so, what's the big deal?"--that's like about 7 feet to you. Here, people have been known to cancel school on the mere threat of snow; half an inch, and it's a sure thing.
So after being snowed in for almost three days with no work or internet to entertain, I decided to go venture out and see what was going on. Here is what I saw:

This "sidewalk" is actually pretty good. Apparently there is no obligation for businesses that own a piece of sidewalk to clear it...ever. It seems that someone needs to fall, break their friggin neck, sue, and win a large settlement to teach them. Good luck with that.

The Key Bridge: a scenic way to get into Georgetown.

The spires of the Georgetown cathedral are pretty iconic. Also, if you see these on your right when driving--you are on the GW parkway and will be heading north for awhile, whether you wanted to or not. Just sayin'.

This area has been suffering an epidemic for many years now. It's a serious condition called "jogging." Infected people look outside at two feet of snow, sketchy roads, temps in the low teens, and say "I think I'll go for a jog." I literally have recently seen joggers darting around traffic as it skids on ice. At what point are the health benefits outweighed by increasing odds of getting hit by a snowplow?

DC "skyline", if you can call it that. Washington Monument on the far right.

You can't build tall buildings in DC, but you can across the Potomac in VA. So whenever movies want to show a gritty urban high-rise shot, set in DC, to build the drama of a bogus conspiracy plot...they actually show Rosslyn. (Also home of a great pho place and a condescending burger joint, btw.)

Georgetown is one of the older parts of the city. It has gentrified beyond belief (3 million dollar townhouse anyone?) But it retains some of its charm as one of the few neighborhoods with "character" that is also safe at night...I think that's all I'll say. Oh, and those are the stairs from The Exorcist. I used to think that was the scariest movie ever made. Now I think of it when I eat pea soup.

There is also a shopping epidemic. This is mostly due to the demographics of the place; but still, it's outta control. VA and DC are currently in a snow emergency status. Things are borderline disaster here but when you need some $300 jeans, I guess you just need 'em. M Street was hopping!

Georgetown has a cool canal with locks for boats, I guess. They are obviously not in use and have been kept around for purely historical and aesthetic reasons (and to make your townhouse more expensive if it's nearby, I presume).

The Kennedy Center from across the Potomac. The scene of our "we welcome ourselves to DC" date. The pier where I took this pic is, in summer, quite a scene. It's quite a party, replete with pervy old dudes in houseboats and yachts trying to get cute girls on said watercraft. And by "party", I mean gross. I guess that is what rich people around here do.

Nothing to say about this. Just though it looked cool.

After this I walked to the metro and went home. We are supposed to get another 20" of snow tomorrow. That will be interesting. And by "interesting", I mean suck. At least I have my internet back, so I will be streaming a netflix marathon.

The end.

Simmer! Simmer Down Now!

2010-02-01T17:15:00.004-07:00

Okay, I get it. I'm super interesting. Or y'all are so bored with your lives that you read my blog all the time and try to match it with stuff I say on Facebook.

In my defense:

I'm busy.
I work full-time at my dad's office and have 9 credit hours this semester (my final semester, might I add).
I travel. A lot. 'Nuff said.
I have friends.
I'm sickly. (Current news: Sinus Infection. 'Tis the season.)

Yes, I am aware that I:

Was surprised with a trip to NYC
Had fun with JJ
Went to a 3-star restaurant
Ate at Stage's Deli
Rode on Greyhound

Yet I'm also aware that I took all of the pics on a crappy disposable camera because I forgot the digital.

I'm aware that you get these developed and then you have physical pictures.

And I'm also aware that posting with no pics is boring.

Which is why you're going to have patience with me. I will post when I can.

Thank you, and good night.

Chicken Enchiladas

2010-02-01T16:26:00.008-07:00

Ahh, another recipe. This one if for one of JJ's favorites, and was pretty well-documented, if I say so myself.

Any time I ask JJ what he wants when I go to Arlington, he always says enchiladas. I think it's boring to eat the same thing over and over, but he doesn't seem to mind (I guess that proves that he really likes them). Whenever I make them, I make another batch and put them in the freezer so that he can just bake 'em up one day and feel like he gets a home-cooked meal. I'll modify the recipe so that it's just for one batch (7-8 big enchiladas), but you can double, triple, quadruple... whatever you want! The pics will have large amounts though.

We go to Costco and get rotisserie chickens--1 for each recipe. They're bigger and cheaper than the ones that you can get at the grocery, although I have used a roasted turkey breast in place of the chicken before.

Thoroughly pick the chicken, taking off all of the skin and fat. I leave the white meat in chunks and shred the breast meat finer.

Mix together:
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup (it actually makes a delicious difference if you use Campbell's here)
1 16-oz tub of Sour Cream
1 or 2 cans of green chiles, if you do 1, leave the sauce, if you do 2, drain the sauce from one
1 TBSP hot sauce (we use Tapatio, but any kind is fine)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Divide the sauce--Put about half or 2/3 into the chicken, depending on how much it needs. It should look pretty saucy:

Put some of the chicken mixture onto a burrito-size tortilla (you'll need 8ish), and wrap as shown:

First, fold the burrito into a funnel shape (I learned this from a show about Taco Bell).

*MIGHT I ADD: When I was making enchiladas, JJ was supposed to be the photographer. He was.... indisposed.... when I was folding them, so I decided to take these pictures by balancing the camera on my chest and pushing the button with my chin. NOT BAD, if I say so myself.

Fold the large end of the funnel and tightly wrap the filling in the tortilla, burrito-style.

Put the burritos into a well-buttered casserole dish, making sure they're in there tight.

Cover with the remainder of the sauce and like half of a small bag of shredded cheese. JJ likes the Mexican blend, but I find that all of those shredded semi-soft cheeses taste the same. JJ gets what JJ wants, as you can see:

Bake in a 325*F oven (bottom rack) for an hour to an hour and a half, or until the top is golden. My favorite part of cooking it at a low temp for a long time is that the bottoms of the tortillas get crispy.

We serve this with hot sauce and a green salad. JJ makes the salad. I forgot to take a pic until I had already eaten like half of everything. Notice that I have 2 beverages--One is water and one is JJ's new homemade ginger ale. I also bogart the hot sauce.

I asked JJ if I could take a pic of him eating... here is the result:

What a weirdo.

To Those of You With Private Blogs:

2010-01-21T11:30:00.002-07:00

PLEASE ADD MY PERSONAL EMAIL (marikarsinger@gmail.com) to your blogs! I'm phasing out the older one. Thanks!

Flowers

2010-01-21T11:00:00.002-07:00

My husband is the best!

These were waiting for me when I got to Arlington last night:

How To Make Curry

2010-01-10T17:47:00.006-07:00

Many of my friends have been surprised by how open to eating new things/making "ethnic" foods I am. Therefore, I decided to **OCCASIONALLY** post "ethnic" recipes for the benefit of those that want to branch out!

This time I'm posting on how to make Massaman Curry. This curry is a Thai curry that is generally mild in spice (good for curry beginners).

* I get my Jasmine rice cooking when I first start this recipe *

First of all, I see no problem with using mixes, ESPECIALLY for curry. I use this kind, which can be obtained at most Asian/Oriental markets:

Once opened, it has to be refrigerated. The blue lettering says, "Massaman Curry Paste".

Mix about half a cup of the paste with one can of coconut milk (I use the kind in the picture, but only because it's inexpensive. Just make sure to not get coconut cream or coconut water) and whisk together.

Bring the mix to a boil and simmer until you have the following ingredients chopped, or 10 minutes.

2 medium white or yellow onions (I use whatever I have, but prefer white because of the stronger flavor).

Dice, um.... I don't know how many carrots that was, but probably like 5? And 2 or 3 large potatoes. This recipe is obviously not exact.

I didn't take a picture of the skinless chicken thighs I used because raw poultry looks NASTY. You can use any cut of chicken, but should probably have about 3 lbs. for the same size recipe.

Use broth or stock of any sort to cover the ingredients, like so:

Bring this all to a boil, then cover and simmer for as long as you have time for, or up to 8 hours. It can be eaten immediately after the chicken is cooked through and vegetables are softened, but the flavor will deepen the longer it simmers.

Add salt to taste. It'll probably take more salt than you expect.

Finally, mix about a tablespoon of cornstarch into half a cup of water.

This part is sort of an art. You want to add your cornstarch mix slowly, until the curry thickens and starts to look glossy, like so:

Serve this over Jasmine Rice, sprinkled with Peanuts or Cashews. I also like to sprinkle fresh green onion on it, but I don't think that's traditional.

Thai food has taught me that flavor is a balance of sweet, salty, and spicy. Adjust these as you wish with ground chilies, soy sauce, honey, salt, white or brown sugar, and pretty much anything else you'd think would fit!
To make spicier curries, you can just use a different mix with the rest of this recipe.
You can change out the meat or vegetables as you like. I also love bamboo shoots and pineapple in my curries.

*STRANGE TIP OF THE DAY*: If you make your curry too spicy (other mixes can be quite piquant), you can add applesauce to the mix. This is something I discovered when I made what was perhaps the SPICIEST CURRY EVER, and didn't have any other ideas on how to save it.

We're Way Cute

2010-01-10T17:35:00.004-07:00

These are pics that have been taken of me and JJ lately. I don't know why I never posted them...

Here we are getting ready to go out... somewhere... probably to eat. I'm not sure. But it's in Arlington.

This is in Vegas--Aug '09.
This is also Vegas '09--My birthday! We ate at Le Cirque. It was so fun!

This is us taking a nap after Shady Maple and before leaving for Florida at Christmas.

So yeah, we're cute.

Thanksgiving

2010-01-10T17:32:00.003-07:00

Boring, boring post ahead. I know. Because I read this blog, believe it or not. But this is as close as I get to writing a journal, so I might as well write what we did in case we forget.

For Thanksgiving, JJ came out and we stayed at the Roby's. We had the traditional dinner, and it was delicious. Nothing amazing happened, just sitting around and having fun. Jared and Jaime came, as did Grandma. No surprises there!

There ya go. That was our Thanksgiving.

Geno's

2010-01-10T17:20:00.003-07:00

JJ and I one time did a comparison of Pat's and Geno's Cheesesteaks when we were in Philly.

As much as I hate to admit it, JJ and I like Geno's more than we like Pat's. Don't hate us. I know that they're obnoxiously flashy...

& ethnocentric.....

but I can't help how retardedly excited I get when I'm there.
I actually DO look kinda retarded in that picture. IT WAS DANG COLD, mmmk?

In case you're unaware, Geno's was not featured in the Rocky movies, and Pat's was. Maybe we're just not celebrity enough to go there.

This was the first time we got our "steaks" to go. So I did a drive-by on the way out.

They use some crappy cut of meat that makes the sandwich taste deliciously meaty (some people like to say umami, but, come on now... it's a cheesesteak. Don't get all hoity-toity on me!). JJ and I usually order 3 whiz-wits (That's a "steak" with Cheese Whiz and onions). This time, I only ate one, as opposed to my usual 1.5, but I promised someone that I wouldn't tell who ate the other 2 (I'll give you 3 guesses!). The cheese is so gluey, which is awesome, and the onions are usually not quite cooked through. The roll has this delicious texture (that hoity-toities would say is "unctious"), it's chewier than you'd expect, but not crunchy. All in all, it makes for a great sammich!

We also got the cheese fries, and all I can say is GET THEM. If you go to Geno's, that is.

Christmastime

2010-01-10T17:00:00.005-07:00

So, I've been playing hookie for, like, a long time. Therefore, I'm going to have to write a LOT to get caught up. Prepare for stimulation overload.

I just decided to go backwards, chronologically, so... there's a good chance you're reading this after you've viewed that there are about a million posts. Oh well.

I was supposed to go to DC for pretty much all of winter break, but the "blizzard" in DC totally ruined my plans. I ended up getting there 2 days late, but that's still better than nothing, I guess. JJ and I ran up to his parent's house to meet up with the rest of the family because....

This year for Christmas, JJ's parents took us all to Disney World in Orlando, FL!

I have a feeling I'm going to be a woman of few words on this post, because long-winded explanations of the rides and things we did are NEVER fun to read.

One of my favorite parks has always been Epcot. JJ's family didn't really agree, but I was glad that we got to go.

I think everyone else liked the Magic Kingdom, which is also fun.

JJ and I were just happy to be together!

I just couldn't get enough of Epcot....even though everyone else looked/seemed bored.

One of the lowlights was when we got turned away from Test Track after waiting for like 40 minutes... dang you, technical difficulties! I was obviously NOT pleased.

One of the highlights, however, was when we took hot tea on the new ride at Animal Kingdom. We had to try to hold it upright and not get it all over ourselves while riding.

PS You probably wonder why we had hot tea in Florida. It was only like 50 degrees, which is cold when you don't bring more than a sweater!

The family vacation was a success! It was good for me to get to know JJ's brother, Jordan, who returned from his mission recently. We also had a lot of good food, and I tried German food for the first time. I liked it! We're so grateful to his parents for taking us.

After Disney, we went back to JJ's parent's house. Of course, that involved a day at the outlets (no sales tax, beat that!). After shopping, we had fun bringing in the New Year at Brad & Amanda's house. They're always so nice to host get-togethers when we're there, even if "Rika" lets Addy eat too much candy.

Positive Affirmations-0* Edition

2009-12-09T10:39:00.003-07:00

A while back, when I was at a Young Women's church activity thing, I remember talking about self-esteem. This actually must have been a LONG while back because it was before I started zoning out every time the words "self" and "esteem" were used in the same sentence. ANYWAY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We were talking about techniques used to raise self-esteem. One of the leaders volunteered that you should compliment yourself, aka, 'positively affirm' yourself. She said that she likes to say, "I am a genuinely nice person" to herself in the mirror when she doesn't feel so hot. Tyra Banks once said that she likes to say, "I look fabulous in the morning" on bad hair days. That's when I learned that positive affirmations are usually just little white lies, but can sometimes be facts.

I thought this was all bull....pucky...

This morning, when I woke up and looked at the weather, I was shocked. It said 0* F. WHAT?! If there are no degrees, what am I supposed to do?!

As I was getting ready, I positively affirmed myself:

I will not crash my car, I will not crash my car....
My Uggs and fleece jacket are super warm...
I have seat heaters, I have seat heaters...
I will not literally freeze my bum off...

As I drove to school:

Accounting is important, accounting is important...
The parking lot is not THAT far from the building...
My nose is still there, my nose is still there....
My hair will be fine after I take my beanie off, I swear...
There will be doughnuts...

As I practically ran to class:

He won't notice I'm late...
My grade will not suffer because of the cold...
I didn't need my back pack anyway....
My toes are still there, my nose is still there, my ears are still there...
These mittens are not silly...

Then I got to class, ate a doughnut, sat there warm, and then realized I didn't hear a WORD the teacher said. NOT. A. SINGLE. WORD.

And now, as I sit at my desk waiting for my mom to bring me new pants, I think...

No one can actually see my underwear...
No one can actually see my crotch...
New jeans won't be too expensive for me....

Seriously. Thank goodness for desk jobs.

You're Dying...

2009-11-09T15:29:00.003-07:00

That's right, you're all dying to know...

I'm almost fully recovered! However, this is the saga after I started feeling better...

Friday: My fever definitely made a return. JJ and I had a fun date anyway, though, in SLC after picking him up (they lost his bag) and before picking up my mom. We ate at Pat's BBQ (waaay delicious, if only I could've tasted it better) and then watched a movie... something about Paris, at the Broadway.

Saturday: We got up semi-early (late for a weekday, early for a weekend) and drove to Vegas to visit Micia. Fever was still there, but most other symptoms were pretty improved. We all (Mom & Dad, Mish & Stewart, JJ & I) went to see LOVE at the Mirage. Mikkel was being a poop about working and came down on Sunday. GREAT way to celebrate Halloween, and it was such a good show! I'd recommend it to anyone--definitely my favorite Cirque Du Soleil show so far.

Sunday: Fever broke! We ate dim sum for brunch. Micia's white coat ceremony happened, which was really similar to a graduation, but at the beginning of her med-school career. They had really tasty almond brittle for "refreshments" there (it probably wasn't good, but I could taste it and I was starving, plus I think that only Mormons use the word "refreshments"). We then went to dinner at a Korean BBQ, which was tasty, as usual. After that, we drove back to "the valley" so that I could make it to class by 7 AM and Stew could go to work by 10 AM.

I woke up late or early, depending on what you think, with a BAD fever. I was so bummed! It was definitely back with a vengeance AND meant that I was going to miss my Accounting class again; in which homework was due and there was a quiz. I'm not an "Always {A}" student, but I definitely get stressed as the homework piles up while I'm sick.

Monday: I pretty much just sat around and coughed stuff up. All. Day.

Tuesday: Sick day, except when I went to work for a few hours. Went to Tucano's for dinner with cousins and family.

Wednesday: My cough started getting stinky and really really colorful, but it was more productive and I was feeling otherwise better. No big! Or so I thought.

Thursday: Almost normal. I took my mom and JJ to the airport (boooooo), then worked for like 6 hours, late into the night. I HAVE TO CATCH UP! You see, since I'm the only person that works in the front office (for those of you who don't know, I'm my dad's "Office Manager"), when I'm not here, none of the billing info gets put in.

Friday: I called my family friend, Dr. Bill, to get a note for school. I had this huge frustration about my doctor's office not returning a call, etc... It was very lame. And then I remembered that my Uncle* Bill would probably fax me a note, anyway. While we were on the phone he told me the stinky, colorful coughs show that I probably have a minor case of pneumonia, and that, if my cough doesn't go away by tomorrow, I should probably go into the doctors.

*My "Uncle Bill" is actually just my dad's friend from High School, but I thought that he was my Uncle until I was like 14. When I put it together, I felt like an idiot.

ANYWAY>>> It's now Monday, and I'm feeling mostly fine. I'm still coughing, but it's not stinky nor is it colorful :)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H O W E V E R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Last night, JJ started getting chest congestion. Then was getting a sore throat. And then a dry cough... and then a fever. I guess it's his turn to be a piggy!

I feel really bad, since it was me that got him sick, but he knew that I was sick and I offered to change his plane ticket for him, but he said it's best to get it now before it evolves into a super bug.

He just texted me, as I write this, that his cough is definitely worsening.

The other reason I feel bad is because he doesn't have the best part of being sick: A cooler on his balcony full of assorted juices and diet coke with lime, courtesy of his daddy. He does, however, only have to walk 20 feet to get a drink or something from the fridge, which I guess is almost as good.

Everyone go wash your hands! I bet you got it just from reading this!

Pig Wrestling

2009-10-29T15:25:00.003-06:00

So, here I am, sitting in the same place I've been since Saturday night. At this time, I'm enjoying some EasyMac and a cup of Apple Cider, looking forward to picking up JJ and my mom at the airport tomorrow, and thinking that all might be right with the world.

You see, at this same time yesterday, my fever was back, I was coughing up all kinds of colors, I had just thrown up (into a bowl of soup I had just started consuming), my voice was gone, I was shaking, and so weak I couldn't lift said bowl up to put it somewhere other than my lap.

Right NOW, however, I have NO fever, only a slightly sore throat, a man voice, the coughs are mostly controllable, I'm not nauseated, and the swelling in my armpits and throat is completely gone!

Take that, swiney! In this pig wrestling match, there's a VERY obvious winner. *ME*!!

Reader Shout-Out

2009-10-27T19:54:00.003-06:00

This is an *official* shout out to my favorite reader, Aunt Joni!

Okay, maybe you're my favorite reader, but I'm really writing this because

A) I got your message
B) I don't think you know how to text message
C) I've mostly lost my voice so I can't answer the phone
and...
D) I'm fine! I haven't thrown up today :) I'll call you if I need anything! I think I'm on the upswing though.

I lost my voice, but my temperature seems normal now and I'm keeping down food (my favorite)!

My brain is falling out of my nose, however... in liquid form. And sneezeys galore.

Oinky Oink Oink

2009-10-27T09:38:00.004-06:00

That's right, y'all... it's official. I have the Swine Flu.

I thought that I'd write about the progression of this illness, so that you will know if you're getting it:

Day 1. Saturday: I start to feel like I'm getting chest congestion as I drive home from hanging out with Jill. I assume it's just because I was out late (again) after a long day. By the time I get home, I have chest congestion, stuffy nose, and, as I'm sitting on the toilet, I realize I'm going to barf. Just like that.

Day 2. Sunday: I wake up at 6 AM to feeling like I have a flu and a cold at the same time. The nausea isn't as severe as with the flu, but the sore throat and chest congestion begins it's butt-kicking. I stay in bed all day, drinking juice, theraflu, water, and soup. I went to web-MD to try to find out what's wrong. Suggestions are: common cold, flu virus, H1N1 virus, as well as some other crazy things, like mumps, parasites, etc.

Day 3. Monday: I wake up at 5 AM, feeling slightly better (I think it's because I was still high on NyQuil). I can't go back to sleep because of my dry cough--new addition to the list. I notice that the glands in my armpits and throat are swollen as I shower (trying to shave swollen armpits while on NyQuil proves to be quite the adventure), but I still have to make it to my 7 AM Accounting class to turn in my take-home quiz and homework. I call my doctors as soon as they open, and SURPRISE! I have Swine Flu. After going to Target (yes, I'm one of those people that spreads germs around that everyone hates...we all need food and more medicine at times, right?), I go home to officially start my quarantine. I drink a cup of Theraflu, fall asleep around 10 AM and don't wake up until 6 PM. I'd say it was the best day of having Swine Flu ever! Unfortunately, I start having more "productive coughs" with blood involved.

Funny anecdote: When I'm on drugs, I often lose my sense of grip. I was drinking a glass of Diet Coke, but totally dropped it all over the comforter I was using. As I stand up to gather it up and put it in the washer, I barf. Right on the same spot as the Diet Coke. I was surprised I didn't then pee my pants, I laughed so hard at myself for not knowing I was about to throw up. Then I started coughing really hard (I think that might be why I threw up in the first place), and it all got a lot less funny.

Last night, my sleep was horrible. I kept waking up due to wind outside and someone coughing loudly... Oh, that's me? Hmmm... at this point I'm so groggy I forget that I'm way sick and just keep wondering what's happening...

Day 4. Today: I feel a lot more sick as far as the coughing and sore throat go. My lungs feel mostly the same, and I don't quite know if I'm nauseous. I DO know, however, that it's been snowing all night. Because of the snow, I feel like I've been sick for ages.

I'm supposed to start feeling better tomorrow and be able to pick up JJ from the airport, and then my mom, on Friday. I sure hope I can! We're all going to Vegas to watch Mish get her white coat. I'll update on how the rest of this goes when I get over it.

Living the Cross-Country Life

2009-10-20T10:21:00.005-06:00

As most of you know, and, if you don’t, you’re an alien (or new to my blog)…

JJ and I have been living in DC and Utah, respectively, since the end of July. We’ve found ourselves missing one another, yes, but we’re SO BUSY! JJ goes out of town (his town, DC) probably at least once every 3 weeks, but he makes sure to be there when I am there (which has been every other weekend, when we expected probably once a month). In the last month, actually, I’ve made 3 trips, including the one I’m on right now.

Flying cross-country often may seem glamorous, but I promise it’s not. Take my last flight as an example:

There was turbulence. All across the country. I would know. I somehow scheduled myself for a flight that went from Baltimore (about 30 mins driving or 1 hour metro-and-bus-riding from our apartment) to Charlotte, North Carolina, where I had a 2-hour layover. On this leg of my awesome trip, there was turbulence, but I luckily slept through most of it. In Charlotte, I walked around the airport and then thought about buying magazines. I just thought about it, because I couldn’t find any good ones. OH, by the way… I was trying to walk my pants dry. That’s right, the man next to me on the flight spilled his ENTIRE beer on my pants—at 7:30 in the morning, no less. I had left ALL of my stuff that I had taken to DC (except my carry-on, which was a purse this time) with JJ, so, even if I could’ve claimed my luggage, I wouldn’t have had anything to change into.

I then boarded my next flight. Because US Airways is such a quality airline (gag me ragged), I went straight from Charlotte to…. PHOENIX. Yes, it took me across the country, but I would still have another hour and a half flight after this one. It was turbulent, as I stated before, and the poor old lady in front of me was throwing up. Not just spitting up, but THROWING UP as LOUDLY AND DRAMATICALLY as a CARTOON! I had loaded up on ginger before flying, so I could hold down my…. Wait, I didn’t eat breakfast, because of beer smell. Anyway, the 2^nd time she started throwing up, I started to laugh. I didn’t mean to. I just did! Then the guy next to me started to laugh… and then it spread throughout the cabin. Pretty soon, the whole airplane was bouncing up and down with laughter. Poor lady.

In Phoenix, I bought a ten-dollar salad (dang airport), and then enjoyed watching the wildlife for the remaining 2 hours. Here’s where this very long story gets good.

As we boarded the plane, there was a boisterous man in line. After take-off, boisterousness turned into extreme drunkenness. Now, I’ve been to my share of parties (as the designated driver), but I’d NEVER seen someone that drunk on a plane. He started to head back to the bathroom as soon as we had gotten off the runway. I was seated in the back back of the plane, in the aisle. This man almost fell over, and then decided to take a breather on my armrest. Reaching for the call button, I said, “Sir, I don’t think you’re supposed to sit there,” to which he replied: “I’m just waiting to use the bathroom...” I pushed the flight attendant call button, but it took him a while to get to my seat (I think he was obeying the fasten-seat-belt sign)...by the time he got there, the drunken man was SITTING IN MY LAP! The flight attendant assisted the man in standing, which was to no avail, as this man chose to fall into the kitchenette, or whatever they call that area. He stayed there as the attendant took everyone's drink orders, then the attendant called the other 2 male flight attendants (what, that's not sexist, it's super weird!) and they lifted the man and put him in the bathroom.

Upon landing (yes, 1 hour later), the man was lifted from the bathroom and promptly arrested for public intoxication. SUPER WEIRD!

I never said I wasn't a slacker....

2009-09-21T11:18:00.004-06:00

So there's no need to accuse me of being one (especially you, Joni)! I'm VERY aware that it's been FOREVER since I last posted. Here is a list of the reasons why, and what I've been up to (in chronological order): CAUTION: Very long post with nearly no fun follows this warning.

1. My BFF Katie Rieske (Moravec) had her wedding reception, and I was the Maid of Honor. After that, the wedding party went to Las Vegas, where I celebrated my 22nd berfday. Thanks to Josh and Brit for the Margarita-Extra Virgin with salt, just how I like 'em, and JJ (and Mish) for the dinner at Le Cirque, and JJ for the Cirque Du Soleil show, Mystere. My birthday was fantastic. I'm thinking that I should probably write a different post about that trip. We'll see.

2. I started school (again). I have only 2 actual classes this semester, although I'm getting credit for 3 (my internship, which I completed over the summer, is being graded this semester, so I can just pay for tuition for Fall, not Summer, which is the most expensive semester). Anyway, Accounting is never my favorite, and this 7:10 AM Hospitality Managerial Accounting class kicks my butt on a Monday & Wednesday morning basis.

3. JJ came into town for a work trip, so I don't waste time with things like silly blogger.

4. My Uncle Tom passed away. He was really sick, so it's good that he isn't suffering anymore, but it was a very sad/stressful time (I was the funeral planner. Micia, who usually plans everyting, has moved to Las Vegas, Mikkel is too busy with her job/dogs and didn't really want to do anything, my mom was still in Cambodia, my dad is way too busy/has no idea what to choose, and my Gramma seemingly didn't have an opinion, until after decisions had been made and contracts had been signed) ANYWAY... I have to give a shout out here to Ron Christensen at Larkin Mortuary, he was super helpful and didn't act like he was super sad, which helped.

5. My cousins and Uncle were in town, which always ends up being an adventure.

6. I'm still working on getting used to the office and all of it's little nuances.

7. My mom was back from Cambodia, and I had a lot to help her with, since she left for Michigan 2 weeks later (she's there now).

8. JJ was able to stay for the funeral, which kept me busy with him even longer.

9. I went to Blanding for a day with my mom and dad. It was fun, but not a very long visit.

10. My iPhone got stolen. I was really really scared that my identity would get stolen, as well, because my phone had access to my email without having to type in a password, which had a folder in it containing all of my names and passwords to everything. Not just most things. EVERY THING I've ever had access to on the internet. I had also texted JJ my SSN that same day, because we were applying for a car loan. Yes, I'm an idiot. Don't worry, I've made changes. I was luckily up for an upgrade, and had to fork over $200 for a new iPhone 3GS, but I got some awesome info: My phone was stolen and the SIM Card was taken out within 10 minutes, so... the person knew about iPhones, but didn't steal my identity. That was good.

11. I was way freaking busy playing Phase 10 with Jill and Jordan. 'Til like 3 in the morning.

12. I came to DC. I'm still here as I write this post--JJ is at work. I was sent with plenty of projects from my dad, which I haven't made very large strides on. JJ's parents came down and took us to Charlottesville, Virginia (the next place we'll be living), to check out the territory. I really liked that area! It's slightly country, but mostly rock-n-roll. No, just kidding, but it IS just country enough that natives have cute accents. There is plenty of outdoor eating, shopping, and fun east-coasty "hiking"(walking in the woods, not uphill-utah-type hiking) to keep a girl happy.

13. When we went to breakfast at the BlueGrass Grill in Charlottesville (awesome smoked salmon florentine, btw), I dropped my 9-day-old iPhone into the toilet. Yes, into. I quickly turned it off and put it in a sealed container of dry rice for over 24 hours (until the camera lens dried out) and it seemed to be working fine. Until I realized that the power button wasn't working. At all. That's also the lock button on the iPhone. JJ was afraid that this was just the beginning of a very long iPhone-related-frustration/drama, so I took it to the Apple store, and, I'll admit it. They let me get a replacement phone, for just 1/3 of the original price.... $200. That may not sound like a deal, since that's what I got it for in the first place, but, when you're not up for an upgrade with AT&T, they charge you the "retail value" of the phone... or $599. UGH. Luckily, I had some birthday money, so I used that. Thanks, mom and dad. Life is hard when you're trying to save up for a house and a car and hold on to your phone (it was in my jacket pocket, but my jacket seems to be almost as disabled as the author) all at the same time.

14. My sister's little wiener dog, Milo, passed away a day after I got here. I feel really bad for her--He was her first doggie, and he was really cute, despite being a little bit slow :). I really liked watching his silly face and crazy antics. He will be missed.

K, so that's what I've been doing. No, I didn't take any pictures, I'll get better at that some day. Sorry that my life is boring as all get out right now.

UGH, Y'all...

2009-09-08T23:47:00.003-06:00

So, I have had updating my blog on the list of things to do for quite some time, however...

I have to think about what to write about for at least one more day. For now, all I can think about is how...

I was at the Provo Towne Center to watch Julie & Julia with the 'rents, and I seem to have dropped my iPhone there.

For those of you who don't know, there is WAY too much info that I DON'T want getting around. Email, notes, facebook, etc.

The saddest saddest saddest thing is that whoever picked it up (in a theatre with 7 people in it, and no one sitting behind us... it shouldn't be hard to figure out where it had gone) has already turned off the power. Which means that they know enough about iPhones to know they can be traced whenever they're on.

I already went back and looked through the whole theater. It was a lot cleaner upon my return.

If anyone you know randomly has a black iPhone 3G with a red case and a screen protector show up... you know who to call (me, except I don't have a phone anymore...booooooooo). Call my office at (801) 225-5451. Leave a message, I will get them. THANKS!

A Little Known Fact

2009-08-01T11:39:00.003-06:00

When I feel icky, or when I feel good, or pretty much at any time at all, one of my favorite foods is a sweet potato.

Right now I feel icky. My Uncle (who has some disabilities) is really sick, as in... in the hospital sick. He doesn't really understand what is making him sick or the way this sickness will effect him in the future. Makes me sad. I'm sick, but just chest congestion sick--which doesn't seem so bad at this time, but it means that I can't go and visit my poor Uncle.

JJ is in PA with his family (including Uncle Jack, Mona, and the girls), which also makes me sad and kind of jealous.

My mom is in Cambodia, so the house is... not... clean, but not way disgusting, but the dishes bug me, and make me miss JJ.

So, for now, it's just me, sweet potato, sour cream, and brown sugar. All by our lonesomes. At least my favorite comfort food is somewhat healthy.

Moving (Again)

2009-07-25T13:57:00.003-06:00

The move (again) to Utah is over. Well, mostly. I found out some things that I didn't expect:

1. I have more than 50 shirts. I went to buy hangers (I decided not to trek across the country with them), and bought 5 10-packs. Not enough :-( .

2. Utah is beautiful, and I did miss the mountains.

3. The water in Utah tastes great, and runs oh-so-cold from the tap.

4. 40 hours is a LOT of time to work per week. I've worked 6.5 hours since I got here, and it's felt really really good.

5. I am a normal human who only sleeps 8 hours a day. Not 12 like I was usually trying to do in DC. I think this has something to do with going to bed when I feel tired and waking up...whenever.

6. PEOPLE NEED TO LEARN TO DRIVE. The Metro got rid of most of my travel-rage. It's back with a vengeance.

7. If someone next to me barfs on a plane/train/bus, I'm actually NOT going to throw up, as well. I thought I'd be more sensitive, but the guy next to me was throwing up the WHOLE way to SLC from Denver, and I didn't even get nauseated. Super Mario might have just saved my Panda Express.

Of course, I've learned other things, too. These are just the ones that stick out right at the moment.

I miss JJ a lot. We've gone through work trips and other things, but this is totally strange. It's really weird to go into my closet to get...whatever... and know where it is (yes, he puts all my laundry away), without having to push his shirts or suits aside to get to the shelves. It's also really weird to go out with friends and not have someone to talk to about it when I get home (and it's usually too late on the East to call him).

I'm so glad that we're now less than 3 weeks away from seeing each other! It helps that I'm with my family, so I feel horrible that he's going through this time by himself.

So what has he been up to, you ask?

Working out--two-a-days. And he'll be going to a conference soon, so it should help.

I Had A Really Good Day Yesterday

2009-07-14T08:34:00.004-06:00

...despite some bad news.

I got some bad news yesterday, but that's not something I really want to blog about. Actually, I did want to blog about it, but then I took the post off, because it was potentially offensive. For those of you who were lucky enough to check my blog at like 12:35 PM, you were blessed with my ranting and raving.

I spent all day yesterday (my day off) boiling about this situation while watching crappy TV.

After that, however, I had the best talk EVER with JJ (as soon as he got home from work). We finally agreed on how we feel about the situation, which we hadn't before, and had quite the fun time laughing at how ridiculous the whole thing is, and how it's something that would only happen when completely contrived on some kind of awful British sitcom.

Following that, I decided to take a bath to go out with JJ and forget about our situation. JJ then surprised me by jumping in the bath with me (mind you, we're both not tiny people, and our bath is one of those bath/shower combos that 1 person barely fits in)... and then he got stuck! I almost peed the bath, and he got out. I'm sure it was meant to be kind of romantic, but it ended up just being way hilarious.

After that episode, I got dressed, and we headed out. We had decided to take a walk and then go to dinner. We rode the Metro to Rosslyn, then walked across the Key Bridge, down on the riverwalk, and then ended up going back up to M Street and picking a restaurant at random.

We ended up eating at a place called The Guards. It was pretty good, but they were out of both the salad and pie that I wanted. The Crab Cakes, however, were GOOOOOOD!

We then walked to the Foggy Bottom Metro stop and rode home, where I fell asleep watching a new episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

Such a good day. I'm going to miss days like this when I go back home--8 days from today.

Things That Scare the Poop Outta Me

2009-07-12T18:58:00.003-06:00

Homeless people

Suffering when I die

JJ secretly hating me

Those big garbage cans... which is actually a fear of homeless people that live in them

But MOSTLY....

Frequently Asked Questions

2009-07-09T09:40:00.005-06:00

I've recently been receiving a lot of questions about how our lives are going to go in the next few months, both as individuals, and as a couple. I'm hoping to be able to refer people to this blog entry, so that I don't have to keep answering the same questions over and over. I also get kinda sad when I hear some of these, so I'm hoping it'll give answers to the questions I don't like hearing. I'm also going to write it in the 3rd person, so that you know exactly who I'm talking about at all times.

1. What exactly are you guys doing?

Marika is going back to Utah to finish school. She has 2 semesters left, but it's only 9 credits. Because her program is one of the smaller ones at UVU, not all classes are offered during both semesters, so she has 6 credits this semester, and 3 next semester. While going to school, she will be working for her dad (as his assistant), which should be 20-30 hours a week, and is flexible enough that she can come out to DC whenever she wants, which is where JJ will stay.

JJ will continue with his job here in DC, which he really enjoys, and is a great opportunity for upward mobility.

2. So is Marika just going to get a little apartment?

No. Marika's parents have plenty of space for her to live with them for this small amount of time and save money (she'd rather buy plane tickets with her dollars).

3. Don't you think it'll be hard to be married and seperate?

First of all, we're not having any kind of marital issues. Please don't read that into our short time apart--which we don't like to call a "separation" for obvious reasons.

Of course it will be hard. We're in love! However, Marika has always been very goal-oriented, and school was not a goal she was willing to give up. JJ also supports her in everything that she does, and wants her to be satisfied with her life. Getting her degree will be worth this small amount of time, so that we'll be able to feel accomplished and at-peace with everything when it's finally over.

*EDIT* JJ can do his own laundry and is a pretty darn good cook. I'm not worried about that, either.

No, this was not an easy decision. It will be hard.

4. Isn't it about time that you guys got settled and had kids?

HA, HA. Very funny. Let's talk about this when we're not kids ourselves (means NO). Finishing school will help Marika feel like an adult. We can talk about it in a few months, then.

5. What can I do to help?

Thanks for the offer, but really... acting normal around us will be just fine. It'll help us get into the swing of pretending this time is normal, in the first place. So, going to lunches, game nights, movies, everything that you would have invited US to do, feel free to invite one of us to do.

6. When will you see each other?

Marika already has plane tickets to be in DC 1 week of September and 1 week in October. JJ is planning to be in Vegas one weekend in August (Marika's birthday) and in UT one weekend in August (Walker's wedding). JJ will also be in UT for Thanksgiving, and the couple will be spending Christmas with HIS family this year (in PA or somewhere else, no one knows yet). We haven't planned anything for January-April, but it's so far away that we'll be able to get it planned in plenty of time.

In the mean time, we're going to Skype, call, text, email, send presents, and do all that cute stuff that we do anyway. We're dang cute.

SEE? There's really nothing to be worried about. We'll be just fine, as we want to be strong, independent people who are married and love each other, even when we get to live together. We've always tried to keep our friends, have time for others, and make our own decisions as a married couple, anyhow, so we think we'll function just fine.

Being apart will probably help us to be even stronger, as we'll start to appreciate being with each other even more.

Never Before Seen ish pics

2009-07-06T21:11:00.005-06:00

This post is pretty much just of pictures that I haven't posted. Some of them were because I look ugly, or because it was before our blog got started. Some of them are on Facebook, but I figure not everyone has it. Well, not QUITE everyone.

HAHA. This one is from Vegas (Dec. '08). I didn't look good in any pictures, so I started making faces like I was going to throw up or something... since that's way cool.

Tavernacle with the buds

This is a pic from our engagement session in PA (with JJ's "uncle", who is really his mom's cousin).

We went to Yellowstone with my family 2 summers ago. It's so strange that this was that long ago! I still remember the whole trip like it was yesterday.

I think this is my 20th berfday. It's almost my 22nd now! It's at The Blue Boar Inn, Midway, Utah.

OOOoooh this one is old! It's from when we very first started dating. SO CUTE!

Same here. I'm not sure, but I think this pic was when we first decided to be exclusive. I used to have a camera in my purse at all times.

JJ's bro, Jared, took us out to do engagements in the fall leaves. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that the settings on the camera were all jacked up. This is the one that would've been on the invites, had "Uncle" Greg not saved us. And yes, one or both of us looked goofy in all of the ones that had okay coloring/lighting/contrast.

Hershey Park, Summer '06. It was like 115 (does anyone know where the degrees sign can be found) outside, we went on water rides over and over.

On a totally-not-related note, I miss Taco Amigo. I also miss having fast food nearby--a burger sounds DELISH right now. And yes, Taco Amigo has delicious burgers.

Sadly...

2009-06-28T22:27:00.004-06:00

Just as I get used to life here in DC, start to feel like our apartment is home, start to get used to having such a crazy schedule at work, use the metro like a pro, feel comfortable walking past the homeless man (who screams stuff like "I like yer dress!" and "You've got pretty hair!", but still makes me jump) to get groceries, memorize the grocery store, know relatively where the streets and metro run, and how to get places without glancing at a map all the time.....

I buy a one-way ticket back to Utah.

I'm excited to see my fam-damily, friends, even acquaintances, eat at Cafe Rio and Bangkok Grill, drive, shop at Harmon's, have a doctor, finish school, and work somewhere I can sit down, but there seem to be a lot of cons.

I'm going to miss JJ a LOT. I'm going to miss laughing with him, cuddling and watching the Food Network, meeting up for dinner, even talking about work and bills--but I'm also going to miss how much he does to help me with every day life.

Marika Singer might be the most spoiled wife in the world. Not only does JJ have a great, stable job, which makes it so that I don't have to worry about how much I'm contributing to the bank account, he also is the perfect house-husband. I can't honestly say that I've done a load of laundry, from start to finish, since we got married--and even before that. Sure, I've put wash in, and folded on occassion, but he usually does the larger part of the laundry. He also does the larger part of loading the dishwasher, and I just have to put the clean 'uns away. He'll run me a bath if he knows I'll be home soon, and gets me a glass of water every night when we're headed to bed. He lets me just do the chores that I like--Grocery shopping, bill paying, and cooking a little more than half of the time. He's the BEST!, and I haven't even mentioned how he's always making me smile with little anecdotes and jokes, hugging me right at the right moment, and encouraging me to accomplish more and more.

Okay, now that I'm getting all emotional...

I'm flying in on July 22nd, then I'll be helping my sister move that weekend. JJ will be out in UT for Katie and Andrew Moravec's reception on Aug 15th and my birthday on Aug 17th, then he'll probably be back for his friend Walker's wedding on Aug 29th. I'll be in DC September sometime and October for UEA. He'll be in UT for Thanksgiving, I'll be in DC/PA with him for the Holidays.

The next 8-ish months are going to be hard, but I know that in the end, I'll be happy that I'm graduated and then we can start our "real lives".

I'm just going to miss him :'(

Our Apartment

2009-06-17T12:26:00.006-06:00

As promised, here are the pics of our apartment:

We have a few common areas in the building, including the "games" room:

We bought a new TV when we moved here (one of the many fabulous deals we got). JJ's been pretty happy with it. Note that it's tuned to our favorite channel:

We also bought a new couch just days before the move. We got it at the RC Willey outlet, and would recommend that place to just about anyone!

It's so different living here! Here's the bathroom:

And our walk-through closet (between the bathroom and the bedroom).

Our bedroom is pretty plain, and I think it's going to stay that way for a while. We're not really sure about where we'll be living next, so I don't wanna personalize anything until we know how it'll be.

We also have a nice patio here. JJ keeps his bike on it lately (there are AWESOME bike trails around, I guess.... do I LOOK like I bike?), but this pic was taken before. Also, notice the large somewhat-2001: A Space Odyssey-esque roofy thing (just above the trees). That's the Metro station.

And now for the living/dining/kitchen area:

So that's it! I hope you enjoyed it.

On an almost unrelated note, I'm truly enjoying iPhone's new software.

My Meaty Man

2009-06-03T21:32:00.003-06:00

This story was just so funny I had to tell it.

Today JJ and I decided to go to Costco and stock up on some meat. We grabbed some backpacks and off to the Metro we went! For those of you who have never lived in a big city without a car, you'd know a trip to Costco as something pretty different. We get on the Metro, go 3 stops, get on the next train, go 2 stops, get off the Metro, walk 2 blocks, then we're finally there.

So we go shopping, and, since we were there for some meat, we headed right to the back of the place. We go to the meat coolers, and I leave JJ to look for some steaks. When I look back, I see that he's struck up a conversation with a man that was very well-dressed and neatly trimmed. Hmmm....

Apparently, the conversation went a little bit like this:

"Excuse me, is this a good price on this meat?" says the stranger.
"Yeah, it looks like a pretty good deal to me." responds my husband.
"I just usually shop at a butcher's in Dupont Circle"
*Note that Dupont Circle is where most of the gay bars are located*
"Oh, yeah, well Costco generally has really high quality meat at a good price... for example, this is a USDA-Certified Prime New York, at a price that you could pay for Choice somewhere else."
Then I walk up just when the stranger says.....
"Well, I'll get them then... You look like a guy who really knows his meat!"

.......Gay guys love us.

And yes, JJ really does know his meat. As in steaks. What a dirty mind you have.

I Avoided This Until Now

2009-05-29T17:15:00.003-06:00

but Rachel tagged me. Here goes:

8 Things I am Looking Forward To:
1. Graduation
2. Getting the time we have to live apart over with
3. Christmas! Who's not?
4. Buying our first house
5. Getting a real job
6. Seeing the house in Vegas my parents just bought
7. Seeing my famiry (I miss you people)
8. The next vacation (again, who's not?)

8 Things I did Yesterday:
1. Got dressed
2. Worked
3. Turned my suit into the dry cleaner's
4. Napped
5. Chatted
6. Went to dinner with JJ
7. Got red in the face when the lady I thought was cat woman was actually a belly dancer who tried to make me dance with her. UGH. Yucky and embarassing (even though I didn't dance).
8. Watched a very sweet little girl who is staying in my hotel win the National Spelling Bee!

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. Buy a house (it's a recurring theme)
2. Graduate without taking my last 10 stupid credits
3. Win the lottery
4. Eat a banana just to know what it tastes like (without dying)
5. Go eat Pho with the family
6. Relax! I've been high-stress today.
7. Get JJ a car to have out here while I drive his VW in Utah
8. Go to Thailand

8 TV Shows I Watch (I chose to just say the religiously watched ones... I like TV):
1. Jon & Kate + 8
2. Intervention (haha)
3. Charm School
4. Jacques Pepin (I like Fast Food My Way, but Jacques and Julia was good while it lasted)
5. Throwdown with Bobby Flay (or anything with Bobby)
6. Trading Spouses
7. I Didn't Know I was Pregnant (because I'm an idiot)
8. Hell's Kitchen

8 People I Tag
Ummmm.....
1. Britt or Joe (or both)
2. Diana Anderson
3. Rochelle
4. Britt Beardall
5. Tabitha
6. Jeffiner
7. Rachael Noxon--You haven't written in forever
8. Ummm... Sandi.

Sorry for tagging, I guess you kinda have to? I won't be offended if you don't do it.

Oh, herro....

2009-05-22T08:41:00.006-06:00

Welcome to a day in the life of the Singers (I'm still not used to being a Singer, even if I've been married for a year. In fact, when I was filling out my paperwork for the new job, I had to ask for a new W4. I'm no longer Marika Roby)!

I guess this is a day in the life of Me, mostly. So here goes:

4:30 AM: Alarm clock #1 rings. I get up, and get into my uniform. It looks like this, except it's brown with a blue shirt, but I'm not supposed to take pictures of uniforms, etc (so this is what I interviewed in).

Then I go across the street to the Metro. I have to catch the very first one (or else I'll be late), so I show up there at about 5:10 AM.

That person actually isn't me, but she looks close enough, right? I wait for the first train, then get on, and show up at work.

7:00ish AM: Alarm clock #2 rings. JJ doesn't have to be at work at any time specific, as long as he puts in his 8 hours. Lucky ducky. He also only has to go 1 stop on Metro, as opposed to my 7. So he gets on and then it's like 3 minutes' ride for him.

I stand in a VIP Lounge all day and make sure everyone is happy. JJ sits at a desk all day and... does a bunch of secret things.

Then we both get on the Metro and come home. I try to stay happy and up-beat, since some people on the metro are grumps.

This is unrealistic, but it's a pic of us going... somewhere. I don't remember. But I'm sure it was fun! I think we were probably going to the mall.

Then we eat dinner, which, on Cinco De Mayo, was fish tacos:

JJ is always very accommodating of my hectic schedule. He usually makes dinner, or at least really helps.
I'm really tired by the time I get off of work, since I'm not good at going to sleep early.

As for today, I'm training to work the night shift, so I don't have to go into work until 3 PM, but I also don't get OFF of work until 11 PM. Oh well, I guess that's what you do to get school credit while doing almost nothing but work. In lieu of dinner with JJ, we're going to lunch at noon. I better get dressed and go on the short little Metro trip.

More blogging later!

By the way... I do know that I still owe you pictures of our apartment. I'll do it. I should've done it yesterday, when JJ had tidied up everything, but, alas. I'll do it when I get a day off (which is most likely Tuesday and Wednesday of next week).

Dinner at Komi

2009-05-15T10:00:00.004-06:00

For our anniversary, we were supposed to go to Cabo San Lucas with my family. Unfortunately, swine flu happened, canceling our plans :-(. JJ made reservations at Komi, a restaurant in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington D.C.

When JJ got home from his 4th day of work, we got all dolled up, then crossed the street to the Metro (it's SO convenient, especially since we didn't bring a car).

This is Apres-Metro, and it's also the only pic we took besides the one below (of food).

So, I'd never had a tasting menu. For those of you who don't know, at some restaurants, they have a menu that is selected for you by the chef, made up of many smaller dishes, so you can get a taste of their style--In this case, JJ warned them about my allergies to bananas and scallops.

Dupont Circle is a really cute neighborhood--there are tons of brownstones and the roads are pretty much 1-laners. We had to walk a few blocks to the restaurant, but the weather has been gorgeous lately, and so it was a good walk (except that I hadn't really eaten anything all day in anticipation).

We entered the restaurant, and I immediately noticed that there are only about a dozen tables. It was simple and calm, especially compared to the rush of traffic outside. We were seated NEXT to each other at a table--which JJ usually doesn't like. At least it was on corners, not directly next to each other. The restaurant is so small that we couldn't really be across.

We opted for the "degustazione", which is more dishes and includes cheese before the dessert.

The first course came, and it was 2 bites of raw fish in a smoked turbot broth for us to share. It was delcious! Now, I realize that most people probably don't wanna hear about the next 9 small bites that were served, as courses, so I'll just write about favorites. My favorite of the first 10 courses was probably a steamed brioche bun with homemade creme fraiche and caviar. Perfect flavors for me, and I'm a sucker for steamed buns--I like my buns steamy :-). JJ loved a lot of things, but I think his favorite was probably the steak tartare with black truffle ice cream, or the date stuffed with goat's cheese with fleur de sel.

I can tell you one thing--we actually really hated one dish. It was like a shrimp paste, and was the grossest texture I've ever put in my mouth. I had to wash it down with plenty of sparkling water.

The most interesting dish was probably the deep-fried liquid Caesar salad. I don't know how they do it, but it really was just that. A crunchy shell filled with liquid salad.

The cutest thing, was, for sure, the animal crackers, shown here:

I got to eat the elephant (JJ always gives me first picks). They were cheddar and chive flavored.

After the first 10 courses came the pasta course (these are still chosen by the chef). JJ got the cheese ravioli with chorizo sauce. I got the tagliatelle with morels, prociutto, and ramps. My dish won for deliciousness. It was so smooth and buttery, I almost melted right into it, but then it was time to switch (we always switch halfway through).

After that was the main course--roasted suckling pig, served with homemade pitas and 6 tasting sauces. The skin was SO crunchy, and the meat was perfectly tender without being greasy. JJ liked the habanero hot sauce, and I liked the salt with oregano.

The cheese course was delicious, and then we got 3 desserts. The first one was definitely my favorite dessert--A lemon gelee with strawberry-rhubarb sorbet. Then we had an "anniversary" themed dessert, which was tapioca with passion fruit sauce. JJ commented that it was perfect for us, since we got married in Hawaii. Then I got a mint and fleur de sel ice cream sandwich, and he got greek doughnuts with a spiced chocolate milkshake. His definitely won on this one--it was SOO delicious.

The check came, and they included root beer lollipops, I think to distract from the price. Sales tax in D.C. is 10%, which really doesn't help when you're somewhere expensive.

We then went outside, where it had been raining, but it stopped for us to get to the metro (it always rains when we go on dates, or we always go on dates when it rains, I can't decide which). The walk home was peaceful and romantic.

All in all, best date, best meal, ever.

BEST WEEK EVER!

2009-05-14T13:20:00.005-06:00

Best week ever, and it's only Thursday! Here are the things that made this week amazing:

It was our anniversary--JJ made delicious lasagna

JJ started his job and really likes it

I had a final interview for a job, and was happy with how I did

We ate at Zola

Our 40" HDTV showed up

I got the cutest jacket ever

I got the job I really wanted

We played billiards with Joe and.. Pete?

I made 7-layer bars

We had time to cuddle and watch a movie

We got a settlement for the damaged mattress (from the move)

I fixed the damaged mattress (we think)

*WE SOLD THE BLUE CAR!*

We're going out to dinner tonight at Komi for our anniversary

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Everything seems to be going so much better than we ever expected. Love y'all!

Chicago-Style Pizza

2009-05-08T18:12:00.003-06:00

So, after our deliciousness at Lou Malnati's, I decided to recreate the experience. It was yummy! Wanting to share in the wealth, but having no body around (except Joe and Brit, they're busy), I decided to post the recipe (it's more like instructions):

This picture is not my own. I forgot. But you'll get the basic idea.

Marika's Chicago-esque Pizza Deliciousness

1. Preheat'cher oven, with the rack at the very bottom, to 400*F.

2. Roll out a pre-made pie dough into a pie pan, 8x8, 9x9, or other dish that you think is appropriate, I think a spring-form would be ideal, but the move seems to have lost ours. I used a 9" pie pan (PS You gotta use metal).

3. Spread about half a pound of RAW Italian Sausage (hot if you like) into a disc or square or whatever. This recipe makes me sound stupid. But the sausage should cover the bottom.

4. In a couple of teaspoons of Olive Oil, sautee some mushrooms (I used about a cup of Creminelli, sliced) with 2 cloves of sliced gaaahlic (I'm Italian now) until the garlic begins to soften. Add 1/2 an onion, diced into large-ish pieces, and sautee until the onions begin to soften (you want them kinda crunchy so they don't melt in the pie). Spread this over the sausage, pressing it into the layer a little bit.

5. Drain 1/2 a loaf of fresh mozzarella (it comes in one-pound loaves, if you have a Costco, it's cheap there) and put it on top of the veggies in slices. It'll seem like a lot of cheese, but... It's not supposed to be THAT healthy, people!

6. I put some of our Jimmy John's pickled peppers on top of that, slightly chopped. I'm sure you could use other kinds, but JJ's is the BESTEST!

7. Cover with chunky tomato sauce (I made my own out of diced Italian stewed tomatoes, but you can just use some chunky Ragu or whatevs. Some of you have jobs/kids! The sauce should be pretty thick in consistency.)

8. Sprinkle Parmesean (the dry grated kind) or Pecorino Romano on top. Brush the part of the crust that still shows with some oil or butter or egg yolk or milk.

9. Bake at 400*F for 40 minutes. It's a pie, so let it rest until the juices get sucked up (I'm still not sure where those go, really), about 15 minutes. Slice (that's the hard part) and ENJOY!

If you make this, let me know! I'll come right over!

The Move is OVER!

2009-05-03T19:58:00.008-06:00

Saturday, April 25th was the big day. We had already loaded up the truck, so all we had to do was jam our suitcases in, and we were off!

The truck was pretty cumbersome, but I luckily have a JJ to do stuff like... driving, dishes, and folding laundry. We took a final picture in our "old" apartment, and then we were officially homeless.

Our first stop for food came in Wyoming. We knew where we were when we ate there, but can't think of what the city's name is now... haha. Oops. BUT! If you ever see this restaurant, and like Thai food, you should eat there, it's way better than expected:

We then paid homage to the land where my ancestors (C.Y.) come from:

I ended up being lame and doing a lot of eating and a lot of this on the drive:

We saw a lot of this:

For those of you who have never made a cross country drive, and are curious, this was our route: I-80 through Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, DC, Virginia. I was excited to get my first view of the Mississippi, which was cool, I guess, and the Mid-West, which was... not cool. It was all very flat and boring, except the weather was somewhat entertaining, but has now caused some drama... more on that later.

We stayed the first night in Grand Island, Nebraska. It's not fun. Don't be jealous. We "slept in" as JJ likes to say (woke up at 9 AM, that's NOT late), and got on the road by 10 (after biscuits and gravy... gotta remember the important parts). We had scheduled a night at a Holiday Inn Express in a west-side Chicago suburb, but realized that we were going to make it there way earlier than expected, so cancelled that, and decided to eat at Lou Malnati's Famous Deep Dish Pizza for dinner, which took us about half an hour out of our way. It was the BEST pizza casserole I've ever eaten, and yes... I think it's delicious, but you can't compare it to NYC's thin crust--it's just not the same.

After dinner, we got back in the car and just started driving. We didn't know how far we were going to get, and just said we'd drive until we got tired. Now, I'm not going to say I have a good tolerance for caffeine, but we stopped for an energy drink anyway. I was awake and driving until about 4:00 AM, and we were so close to JJ's parent's by the time I was tired, that JJ(who somehow slept through me being a Rockstar--it was all the drink--to Sheryl Crow-esque music the whole time) thought we could make it the rest of the way.

We got to Ephrata at 9:30 AM (Can you billeee 'dat?!), and slept until about 3:00 PM. Then we woke up to have dinner with JJ's parents, Aunt Debbie, and Grandma. The next morning (This is Tuesday) we got up and drove to Arlington to get settled.

Our apartment is potentially cute, we just need to finish unpacking/organizing. I'll get it done someday, and that day will be the day I take pics for y'all.

OH! The drama that the weather caused is the following: We went through the hardest rain storm ever, and a leak caused our mattress to get wet. Wet mattress=mildew=something nasty I've never dealt with. We put in a claim with Penske, and we'll see how that goes.

On Friday, JJ had planned a "I hope you like that we moved to DC even though you don't know anything about it" date. We went to eat Dim Sum at a place in China Town called Tony Cheng's, and found out that they don't serve Dim Sum at dinner, but ate some good Chinese food anyway. Then we went to the National Symphony Orchestra (at the Kennedy Center). They performed Haydn's The Creation, which would have been cooler if it was in English, and wasn't an Opera, and had more Orchestra solos, but it was still a good introduction to the arts of the area. Here's a pic:

On Saturday, our friends Joe & Brit, who we have missed so much since they moved here... a year? ago, met us at the Embassies to look around. I saw my first real DC-style demonstration:

It's about not killing North Koreans. I probably should care more, but I didn't really get it. They shouted some hilarious things, and then you could hear other people saying "I don't think anyone's listening" in the background. LOVED IT.

We were supposed to be flying to Cabo for a week in the sun/relaxing/getting tan, but I guess that the pigs of the area really didn't want me to crispify myself, and infected everyone with the flu. We got a refund on our tickets, but are still sad. Even though we bought a 40" LCD HDTV with 1080p and all the things JJ was looking for for just more than the plane tickets cost (which makes it free, if you think about it.... almost).

So now we're getting settled. I really like having a metro station right across the street, living on the 6th floor, and having time and space with JJ, but I really miss my family. Especially today (Sunday Dinner), even though they're not having it. I know I'll be home soon enough to finish school and everything, but it's my first time away! Gimme a break. I'm a wuss.

This Week

2009-04-20T08:58:00.003-06:00

This week is ridiculous.

Monday: Class, work, pack.

Tuesday: Classes (1 of which there is a big presentation in), work, class, pack.

Wednesday: Class, work, pack.

Thursday: All homework due (notice that I have no time to do it this week, and I'm almost half a semester behind in most classes), Classes (1 of which will contains a final), work, class, pack!

Friday: Take all remaining finals (early), go back to Salt Lake, where JJ is supposed to have the moving truck loaded, relax for a couple of hours, maybe get some dinner, sleep on an aerobed.

Saturday: Get up early, get in the moving truck, and try to endure 4 days of driving to move to Washington DC.

Wish me luck.

If you know anyone...

2009-03-29T13:28:00.005-06:00

We have to part ways with Stella. JJ's set on keeping the Jetta, which, I guess makes sense, so we're going to be selling the blue Hyundai.

We're listing at $8,999, but let's just say we're flexible. It's only got 34,450 miles on it, and has never been in a wreck! We have a CarFax thing on it... It's got cruise control, 5-speed manual, gets like 35+ miles/gallon, has a good crash test rating, electric windows and door locks, good airbags... it's been a good, reliable car--no mechanical errors thus far!

If you know anyone, PLEASE send them our way! We're trying to get this thing gone ASAP! Have them email us at marikaandjohn@gmail.com, or call us, or whatever.

Remember... we're flexible! Haha. Thanks for your help!

BIG OL' NEWS!

2009-03-24T10:28:00.003-06:00

It may not be the news you were all hoping for.... but, we're MOVING! It's official. There's a moving truck reserved, and I'm getting ready to face my fear of driving it. Boxes will soon be stacked in our apartment and we'll be making a big donation to D.I. (we're getting rid of a lot of clothes... if you want some, come on over! WARNING: they're mostly from high school (for me) and mostly bootcut jeans (from him)).

And the date is..... APRIL 25th.
A week before real finals, so I'm taking all m'tests early.

JJ TOOK THE JOB!!

2009-02-13T19:02:00.003-07:00

JJ TOOK THE JOB IN DC!!!!!!!!!!

He accepted this morning, and told them he can start in Mid-May. I'm very proud of him, and excited for the opportunities that this job provides (Master's Degree, higher pay, more chance of being promoted, he'll work close to where he lives, etc.)! As in the rest of life, there are always some downfalls (2 semesters living apart is really the only real one). There are so many things to do before we leave!

I also was planning to do my internship this summer, which means that I have to find a summer internship in a hotel/bed and breakfast/restaurant/institutional culinary management, so that we can be in DC for the summer, and start our sad 2 semesters apart in fall.

If anyone has a contact that could hook me up, lemme know! I'm having a hard time even getting started--I have this fear:

DC isn't just a summer tourism place. It's a year-round tourism place. So it's not like people are generally hired for 3 months of the year.

I need to get 450 hours between May 15-Aug 25... ugh. SOMEONE HAAAAAALP! I'm willing to do just about any job in a hotel, except laundry/housekeeping. I just need something!! Please just comment/email me and I'll love you forever and like you for always :-).

JJ's Sad Finger

2009-02-02T21:40:00.004-07:00

We were having a superbowl party at my parent's house, and were innocently preparing the guacamole, when all of a sudden, THWACK!

. . . . . . . .JJ chopped off his finger. . . . nail. . . . . well. . . . part of it.

It's so sad/gross! It's literally just a chunk out of his fingernail. EEEEEEEW.

It looks even gross-er close-up. I feel so bad for him! I'm sure it's painful, but he's got a problem with his machismo, where he can't admit that it hurts. Whatever.

I'll let you know if it turns green and falls off.

EW, it's so gross.

January Madness

2009-01-26T18:20:00.003-07:00

So, there have been some things that have happened this month, but none that we have taken pictures of so far.

1. I got my grades from last semester. I may or may not have done well. It's all going to remain a mystery for the rest of your lives.

2. I started school again. I'm taking 15 credit hours this semester. Should turn out okay.

3. JJ got a job offer! The job is in Washington DC, but will be moving locations sometime in 2010. We've decided that he'll take the job, which means that we'll move out there sometime around the beginning of summer, then I'll move back and finish school--Fall and Spring, graduating in May 2010. It'll be hard, but the job opportunity is awesome.

4. The Eagles choked.

5. We got new tires (ugh).

6. JJ's mom is in town right now, working on their Provo apartment. We've been able to hang out quite a bit.

Sorry no pictures, but now you all know what's up with us!

CHRISTMAS!

2008-12-29T00:01:00.006-07:00

We decided to spend Christmas with my family this year (we spent last Christmas with his), and we had a lot of fun! My family is really big on Christmas traditions. On Christmas Eve, we have a fish and unleavened bread dinner and read the Bible.

We don't always get Christmas PJ's, but we did this year (just the 3 girls)! They are super comfortable and cute. My sister Micia really went all out this year (again). The Christmas tree and presents all looked so coordinated and everything was perfect.

It was JJ's first Christmas with my family, and I was excited. He seemed to have a lot of fun.

We got a GPS (my parents couldn't find it for a while, but then it turned out to be in plain view in their mudroom--we got it a couple of days after Christmas), a breadmaker that's on our return list, I got some clothes, JJ got hunting gear, and lift passes. I gave JJ some nice brown dress shoes, pocket squares, a tie, and some cuff links. He gave me a panini press, a jewelry box, and the iPhone headphones from Skullcandy that I wanted really really bad.

After we opened presents, we played a lot of rockband. Notice the matching pants:

We then ate Prime Rib for dinner and then saw the (whatever) Tale of Benjamin Button. It was meh. When we got back from the movie, we played more Rockband and then got ready to leave the next day(Friday).

When we woke up, it looked like this outside, except you could see tons of snow falling at the same time. My sister took good pictures, so I'll upload them later. We definitely wouldn't be able to make it out of the driveway, let alone all the way down the mountain where my parents live.

So we decided to stay and have some fun with my family (we had brought our PS3 and Tiger Woods '08, too). It was actually fun to be stuck in the house, eating Christmas treats and drinking hot chocolate and not feeling one bit bad about stuffing our faces.

We played this funny board game called "Would You Rather...", in which one of the challenges is that you have to let someone draw a moustache and glasses on you and leave them on for the rest of the game. JJ got to draw on me, and everyone thought it was really funny.

He tried to make me look like my dad:

And I decided to kinda act like him:

Later, my dad got to draw on my mom, which ended up so funny that she almost peed her pants when she saw a picture of herself:

On Saturday, we decided to just stay through Sunday night, since we go down every week for Sunday dinner anyway. Micia and Stewart had already planned a party for the UFC fights that night, so we joined them at Stewart's house and it was a lot of fun. Then we came back to my parents and went to sleep.

On Sunday, we were lazy. We woke up extra late, played some TW'08, and then watched the Cowboys (Micia's team) get beat by the Eagles (JJ's team)... it wasn't a major loss for the 'boys, though... just 44 to 6 ;)

Dinner was delicious, it was my mom's homemade clam chowder, which is better than your mom's/favorite restaurant's, and Steak 'n' Everythings (they're sandwiches like philly cheesesteaks but with onions, mushrooms, and peppers. And tomatoes that JJ and I don't eat during the winter because hydroponic=nasty) .

Overall it was a way fun holiday, and I was glad to be at home. There really is no place like home for the holidays, and, even if you try to have a lot of fun, it's not the same. Next year is JJ's family's turn, which made me appreciate my family extra this year. Thanks everyone!

A Very Shady Maple

2008-12-22T17:40:00.009-07:00

Every Christmas Eve, JJ's whole family goes to a buffet in Pennsylvania called "The Shady Maple Smorgasbord". This year, we're going to be at my parent's house (side note: This blog may be called marikaandjohn. etc... but I think we've all realized that JJ likes me writing, he never gets around to it) for the Holidays, and JJ said the day he'll miss the most is Christmas Eve.

That's what got my new brilliant surprise plan in the works. I decided to make our own version of Shady Maple for dinner tonight (he always gets up too early for me to surprise him with a breakfast). So I went to the grocery store, bought all of the stuff, and got started at 3--since JJ was going to be home at 5.

I made biscuits and gravy first, then I made the bacon (a whole package, because Shady Maple is all about eating copious amounts of fatty meats and eggs). Then I got working on the pancakes. One of them became quite a pain in my rear.

Here's the story of the epic pancake:

Number One: I'm allergic to bananas. Like, eat-a-banana-and-die type allergic. But JJ's favorite is banana and walnut (I'm also allergic to walnuts). After figuring out how to get a banana open, I started making a GIANT pancake, pictured here:

The pancake filled up the whole pan! I swear I didn't start it this big--It GREW. Good thing I have a GIANT pancake spatula:
It's almost as big as m'face! So I go at the pancake with the flipper, and....
I think you can tell how I feel about this:
I decided just to put it in the oven with everything else while I made another of JJ's favorite pancakes, Peach and Brown Sugar. I made a peach, brown sugar, and pecan one for myself.
Then I decided to make our house look more like Shady Maple...

Seeeeeeee? Almost as awesome as my Christmas decorating scheme.

JJ was very happy with the dinner, anyway, and here he is after he ate his first course, a biscuit and gravy with eggs:

This picture is of the bacon after we were done:

And JJ after he's done eating 2 giant pancakes, a few strips of bacon, and 3 biscuits with gravy... and more than half of the 4 eggs I scrambled:

It was so much fun to see JJ happy! It wasn't the same as regular Shady Maple, because there weren't any whoopie pies, shoo-fly pies, doughnuts fried in LARD (which is a word you hafta capitalize always), plethora of soda machines, or millions of fat people, but... I made it feel more like Shady Maple by wearing a soup strainer on my head (like the Mennonites that own the place...okay, they wear traditional hat-thingies. But they look like soup strainers!).

...I'm officially Shady Maple Crazy.

Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas!

2008-12-20T14:20:00.004-07:00

Everyone has been showing off their Christmas decorations on their blogs, so I thought I'd show off our lack thereof.
Our mini-tree came from my parent's basement. The presents are real, though. We're not bah-humbugs! We are just spending the holidays at my parent's house, and thought it'd be silly to go all out in an apartment we plan on not living in next Christmas.

Vegas, Again!

2008-12-14T16:39:00.005-07:00

I feel bad that I haven't written in forever! Here is a general update about our lives:

We spent Thanksgiving at my (Marika's) parents' house. It was a lot of fun. We ate, played Rockband, decorated for Christmas, played Rockband, and ate.

My school is going well, even though I did fail my first class ever halfway through the semester, and then found out that I didn't even need it--and then found out I can't graduate until May 2010. UGH. Oh well. I'll get 'er done.

JJ's work is fun, he's traveled twice since we last wrote--to New Orleans and to Vegas. He can write about N'awlins if he wants, and there will be more mention of Vegas in the near future (I have this feeling it might be in this very same blog entry... hence the title). He also has been going through an interview process to try and get a job elsewhere--we're hoping nothing comes through 'til I graduate, but it's looking like he might get offered a great position in DC, so we may have to live seperately for a few months... sound familiar, Joe and Britt?

We've eaten at a couple of good restaurants lately, including the Hong Kong Tea House in SLC. It was IMPRESSIVE dim-sum!

So, let's talk about Vegas. JJ was going to Vegas Dec. 1-5 to go to a nerd-conference (that's what he does for work, be nerdy), and I was invited! But I couldn't go, because I had 2 presentations on the 2nd and was supposed to have a test and a presentation on the 4th. When I went to school on the... whatever the Tuesday before Thanksgiving was, I was told that my test and presentation for the 4th were moved around and I didn't have to do anything on the 4th! I was so excited, so I picked up my phone and called JJ. He didn't answer.... so I decided to be sneaky-sneaky and surprise him!

After my presentations on the 2nd, I hopped in the Jetta and drove, all sneaky-sneaky-like, to Vegas! Here's proof:

Sooooo sneaky-sneaky. I ended up calling JJ when I got to his hotel and telling him that I was there to surprise him. We walked the strip that night (the other work guys hadn't been there), and ate at the Seafood Buffet at the Rio. It was sick. Don't waste your money.

The next day, I stayed in the hotel and filled out the take-home test that was supposed to be due on the 4th, and then I mailed it to my teacher. After JJ got done with his conference, we went to the buffet at the Wynn--where else?! We wanted to make up for the yuckiness that we had experienced the day before.

The Wynn Buffet was not as good as it had been the other time we went, but we still ate copious amounts of crab legs--which made both of us extremely happy.

We also checked out the golf course at the Wynn. If you hate golf-talk, skip this paragraph. It was AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS! We want to play at it someday, but... it's $500/person for 18 with a cart, which is maybe just slightly out of our price range right now. Maybe if they gave us a 90% discount we'd play.

I then realized that I hadn't taken any pictures of the trip at all... and we only had one day left! Luckily JJ got out of his conference early (I had an ETD of 5 PM), and we went to a late lunch at BLT Burger, which is new in the MGM Grand--it's located where the Lion's Den was.

We ordered the fried dill pickles and the BBQ nachos for appetizers, which were both delicious, although I'm partial to fried pickles. JJ had ordered the Shaft's Burger, which had blue cheese, caramelized onions, and mushrooms, and I ordered the Lamb Tandoori Burger, because that's how I roll. We also got the "skinny fries" to share, since we'd already had our fried course. I mean appetizers.

It was a LOT of food! When you add my Diet Coke and JJ's milkshake to the list, it was AMAZING that we ate even half of it.
I thought I'd give y'all a bird's-eye-view.... cuz... that's how I roll?

We split the burgers, which were both cooked perfectly! I don't care how you think a burger should be cooked--they're meant to be served medium!!!! I also benefit from JJ's hatred of cucumbers--see how I got both of the pickles? They tasted really fresh and delicious.

Other than that, I guess the only news about Vegas is that I'm $1.81 up! I played penny slots while we waited....

Overall, good food, fun surprise, but mostly classic Vegas--lots of walking on the strip, lots of clangy noises, and lots of chilling in the hotel. We didn't want to spend the money to see a show this close to Christmas :).

We're so lucky to be able to take little vacations--we're grateful that we've so far been okay enough financially to have fun while we're young, pre-kids, and married.

What exactly....

2008-11-12T20:01:00.006-07:00

What exactly did Zack and Miri do? I don't know, because I live in Utah.

Yes, this was actually outside of the theatre. UGH. Let's move, JJ.

Tee Hee

2008-11-12T19:22:00.005-07:00

I took this picture of JJ trying to figure... something... out with the dishes, and I think it's funny. He's the best husband ever because he always does the dishes and I love that! Dishes are icky.

Also, I finally figured out how to add a list of friends, which is actually really easy. So if you have a blog and you come here a lot you should tell me to add you to the list so I can blogger stalk you, too!

Staci and Garrett--Your blog won't add to it! I don't know why. :(

6 Month-iversary!

2008-11-09T15:00:00.005-07:00

I can't believe it! We've already been married for 6 months! Sometimes to me it feels like longer, because we got the hang of being a married couple pretty fast, and sometimes it still feels like we were in Hawaii yesterday, riding around in the sweet minivan my parents rented doing last minute pre-wedding prep.

I'm not going to get all gushy or anything, because that's gross. This report is going to be a pretty dry report on what we did last night to celebrate... If you want to read gushy stuff, pull out a book or something. We're not into that.

We got dressed up all cute to go out to dinner. We both knew where we were going, so it wasn't much of a suprise, but JJ was suprised that I can do my own makeup pretty well.

Then we made our way over to.....
That's right! Steaks and more steaks for us to celebrate. JJ and I have both been wanting to go to Ruth's Chris for a while, and our 6-month-iversary seemed like a good excuse. :)

Oh my goodness, y'all! The food was SO good. We started out with the Seared Ahi Tuna with...sauce? and the Ruth's Chris Chopped Salad. I liked both, JJ was not such a fan of the Tuna--He thought the sauce overpowered the "delicate flavor of the fish itself"... now you know why I love him (okay okay that was a little mushy)!

MY STEAK WAS HUGE! This is all I could eat of it, seriously. The steaks there are cut like 2 inches thick and served in a puddle of sizzling herb butter. I had the Cowboy Ribeye with a side of Au Poivre Sauce (which was AWESOME!) and JJ had the New York (his usual) with a Bleu Cheese Crust (his other usual). They were both done to a perfect medium-rare and had the best crusty outside. I'm in love. With a steak. And it's a Cowboy!

For sides, which are served family-style there in large portions, we opted for the Broccoli Au Gratin (which our server annoyingly corrected JJ's good pronunciation for the fakey-American "og rotten"), which we thought had too much cheese on top, and the Sweet Potato Casserole with Brown Sugar and Pecan Topping. K SERIOUSLY?! This was the freaking best thing ever! I know it probably was more butter than potatoes, but we didn't care--we were celebrating!

Last, the restaurant provided us with a free dessert--we chose the Chocolate Duo--molten chocolate cake and a "light" chocolate mousse, with berries and sweet cream. We loved it, but the mousse definitely wasn't light! It tasted like pure milk fat solids. Which we love. But are bad for us. But we were celebrating. But now we're chub-chub. It's okay though. We're married.

Overall, it was an awesome experience. Don't look way close at this picture or you'll see that both of us are so full we're going to up-chuck.

We definitely recommend this restaurant if you don't think about calories. And you've gotta get the sweet potato casserole or you'll miss out on the best thing eva!

Let us know if you eat there--and, in almost the words of Jacques Pepin, "Happy Eating!"

GUH!

2008-10-29T21:55:00.003-06:00

Here's the good pic of the caramel apples. YUM! See the post below and you'll know why it's here.

October Fun

2008-10-29T21:18:00.009-06:00

Oh my goodness, y'all. JJ and I wake up on OCTOBER 12th and THIS is what's outside our window! Good for skiing, bad for just about every other reason.

I figured out something in the recent... hour. I have a handicap: I'm horrible at Blogger! So... here's pictures that were supposed to be in later that somehow ended up right here:

Caramel Apples with Peanuts for Punkin Carving Festival at our apartment. We also had worms and dirt (if you don't know what that is, your life is sad), and Roasted Chicken and Veg. DANG IT I JUST DELETED THE BEST PICTURE OF THE APPLES!!!!!! I'll post it later.

We went to PA October 15-21. The leaves were just starting to change colors and it was AMAZING! Here's what it looked like on the drive from DC-PA. P.S.: "We" (Marika) forgot our camera, so these were all taken on my phone....which is why we don't have many pics.

Next stop... GOLF! What else would we do? Brad (one of JJ's best friends... actually, probably JJ's bestie) was able to get us on to golf at the Hershey Country Club, where he works, for FREE! We loved it, even though both of us didn't play well.

It was such a beautiful old course. Thanks Brad!
JJ's parents took us to spend a day at the Renaissance Fair. Now, if you're reading this and dig renaissance fairs, look away, or go put on a costume and talk all nerdy, because that's what you enjoy anyway. I was surprised by how many of the people that went there were WEIRDOS! Well, now we know what happens there... so we'll never choose to go again :). Thanks anyway, in-laws! This pumpkin guy was the coolest part of the fair (for me). Besides the turkey leg that tasted like ham.

Last stop? Chinatown (DC), o'course! WHY? TO EAT, DUH! We had dim-sum, and it was delicious.

OKAY, now you get to see what we did today! The punkin carving fest:

JJ was very methodical in his carving. He drew the face on his punkin first, and then cut. Jaime and I had a different style: Jab and do whatever. Jaime thinks hers looks like it has a hat on. She demonstrated:

Anyway, I think all of our punkins ended up so cute! Jaime's has a unibrow,

Mine (Marika's) kinda looks like Shrek?

And JJ's is like a skull. Of course, methodical ended up more awesome. OH WELL!

It was a really fun thing, I'm glad we did it! It was the first holiday JJ and I have celebrated on our own (since we're not doing anything on halloween night, this was it), and it makes me realize how much I love being married to him. Starting our own traditions is so much fun, and I'm happy that I'll be able to do the same stuff every year, even after it gets old, because a tradition is a tradition, and we'll have to do them together every time!

Blogging is DUMB

2008-09-24T15:26:00.002-06:00

I decided that blogging is dumb when all you do is school and work. Seriously. So don't look forward to anything new from us until we do something.

We'll be in PA from Oct. 15-21. Maybe I'll think of something to write then. :)

TTFN--Until we have something to blog about.

Crawdad Dinner

2008-08-31T14:47:00.006-06:00

I somehow messed up and deleted this last part of the last post, but, you'll get the idea:

I was way happy that I got up, but mostly happy that I didn't feel like I had frostbite, and that a minimal amount of water got up my nose. Here's proof: We went ashore and had a crawdad dinner (again). Here's me and Micia being proud of my wakeboarding skills. And Stewart trying to make a Burt's Bee's commercial.

YUMMY YUMMY IN MY TUMMY!
It was such a fun time! Thanks Mish and Stew!

We Went Wakeboarding!

2008-08-31T14:29:00.014-06:00

We had another adventure this weekend. We went to Scofield Reservoir (again) to catch crawdads and go wakeboarding. Micia and Stewart had been trying to get us out for a while, and we finally got to board! It was so much fun. Here are the highlights:

The morning was pretty cold, so we just hung out on the boat for a while. JJ's sister, Jaime, who lives with us now, got to come. It was super fun.

It warmed up pretty quick, so we decided to hit the (freaking cold) water.

Stewart went first to show us how it's done. He made it look super easy, so we all felt confident.

Then JJ flopped around in the water for a while, which made me and Jaime really really scared to try it... and he also made it pretty obvious how cold the water was, he started shivering.

Micia then took a turn, and she did really well! I think this made me want to go again, even though JJ didn't have such a fun time.

Jaime got the hang of it pretty quick! As soon as she got up, she lasted for a long time.

I was so scared of the chilly water! It was overcast as soon as I got to go, too. Micia gave me a little advice, though and....

After a couple of tries....

I got up! I couldn't believe it!!!! YAY!!!

Viva Las Vegas

2008-08-24T13:24:00.005-06:00

This is us on our drive to Las Vegas for my 21st berfday. It was a very fun weekend--Here are most of the highlights!
We stayed at Treasure Island. When we arrived, we got a complimentary upgrade to the top level, and since we're "obviously newlyweds", we got a free bottle of Martinelli's, haha.

For our first meal, we decided to eat dim sum. However, restaurants don't really serve dim sum at 9 PM, so we ended up just getting "Modern Chinese food" at a restaurant in the Palazzo called Mainland. WORST SERVICE EVER, even worse than at Carvers in Sandy, Utah. Our server took a long time to come get our drink order, then said that the bar tender was too busy, so our drinks would take a while (bad idea to say when you can fully see the bar from your table), then our entrees came out probably a real-life 15 minutes apart. The food ended up being good, but we wouldn't ever go back, and don't recommend it, unless you can see that it's completely empty, therefore, not busy.
This was the view from our window. AWESOME!

The next night, after a long day at the pool, we decided to eat at the buffet at the Wynn. This was the line we waited in,
And this was the copious amount of crab legs that we consumed :)

Lunch the next day (after, once again, hanging out at the pool) was at Mesa Grill (by Bobby Flay). No sign of the chef, but I did learn a new fact... JJ can not aim a camera.

Then we went to the "Bodies" exhibit at the Luxor. It was super cool! I liked the siamese twins fetus, and JJ liked the body of veins. If you get the chance, see it! I hear it's coming to SLC in the fall.

We then went to Craftsteak for dinner. We had the Wagyu (American Kobe) Tartare (yes, we like raw meat) and shaved fennel salad, followed by JJ's New York (perfect) and my braised rib (most awesome), with sides of han-shi meiji mushrooms and a great blue cheese potato gratin. It was very filling!... and then we ate a free birthday cheesecake. BEST MEAL EVER! We don't even care that it beat out our other meals for most expensive, it was SO good.

All in all, it was a great vacation! I was glad to turn 21 with JJ around. I feel strange being a "real adult", and, to answer everyone's burning question, yes... I gambled. I spent a whole dollar on slots and won back... $0.00 . Oh well, I just did it to say that I did.

Crawdads, Aug 16

2008-08-24T13:09:00.008-06:00

My family has been meaning to go fishing for crawdads for a long time, but we finally did it on Saturday Aug 16th! Mark that day in history, I think our lives have been changed--We're going to go a lot more now!

Micia's boyfriend, Stewart, brought his boat out just for fun. It was great to get out on the water, even if JJ's head got really sunburnt (it's peeling now, I swear it's not just dandruff).

JJ looks really cute on the docks :)
My dad bought some traps for us to use... This is how many were on the traps the first time we put them in. We soon learned that tying a piece of chicken to a string is actually the better plan.

Just drop the string into the water (avoiding mating bugs, ew).

Leave it for a few minutes, then pull it up (keeping in mind how awesome my mom's hat is),

AND TA-DA! Okay, it took a few pulls, but we did get a TON of them.

Boil 'em up with potatoes, corn, sausage, and spices

Dump 'em on the table (or into a box to be more sanitary)

and then comes the best part... these guys were YUMMY! and huge.

Sadly, all good things come to an end. I think we've got the next date set already, though, and I'm excited! It was so much fun.

Sushi Go Round

2008-08-11T21:53:00.003-06:00

There's a new sushi-track restaurant in SLC, I'm excited to go, but for now, I'm SUPER SICK. I've been throwing up all day :-(. It's the worst, but... at least I have been playing this sushi-track game to entertain me.

http://www.miniclip.com/games/sushi-go-round/en/

It's super fun. Don't play it unless you plan on being at your computer for a while, it's one of those things where you'll be playing and then WHAM! It's later than you expected.

Golf

2008-08-04T15:20:00.007-06:00

For those of you who don't know, JJ has been golfing (avidly) for a few years. He finally convinced me to come out with him, and I loved it! So, after the wedding, he got me a set of clubs and stuff, so I could come, too (don't worry boys, I still let him go out with the guys, and don't always make him bring me) :) .

This picture is proof that I actually do golf. Me, clubs, cart. Is that enough evidence?

The cute pink ones are mine (on the left).

So, we're golfing at Sleepy Ridge, and we got partnered up with two other guys we didn't know. They ended up being probably worse than me (which is an accomplishment), and one of them actually WHACKED A BALL STRAIGHT INTO MY KNEE-PIT--and the day before our "my family" reunion, too! ugh. Here's proof:

Boo. : (

Honeymoon Pics Are In!

2008-08-01T16:17:00.010-06:00

Okay, so we've had the pictures on our camera all along, but we just downloaded them right now. Here's what we were up to the week neither of us touched our cell phones:

One of the first things we did when we got to Kauai was go to a lookout point. Actually, we just decided to get in the car and drive around and follow signs, and this is where we ended up. It was fun, and there was an older couple at the top that asked to take our picture... They were funny.

This was the view from our B&B. JJ made the best choice; we even had a private balcony! It was nice and out of the way of all the major tourist-y areas, and felt like we just had a house with a person who made really disgusting breakfasts. But that wasn't the point. The point was that it was research for my future hopeful career (owning a B&B).

JJ wanted to go on a hike, so he bought me these hiking shoes before we left. I like them! I know they kinda look like water shoes, but they served the purpose.

I made JJ carry the pink bag. Tee hee!

The view from our hike was pretty cool. There was an arch and waterfalls. It was called Wai-Pu (why poo?) Falls. We chose it because the name was awesome.

There was another newlywed couple there, and we took turns taking pictures of each other--Theirs probably ended up much better. Bad form! Anyway.... The water was super cold so I didn't go all the way under, but JJ was happy.

After swimming at the falls, we got this pic on our hike back. Little did I know, the way back was AWFUL! It got warmer and more humid, we ran out of water because I kept drinking it all... and my butt was getting really sore.

I feel bad--We did a lot of eating at nice restaurants and didn't take any pictures of us while we were there. But we did get some awesome pictures at Polihale Beach State Park on the way to the airport. The surf that day was FANTASTIC! It was huge and fast. I was glad we were leaving or else JJ would have tried to brave the waves--He's a little scary-adventurous sometimes.

Awwwwwwwww. I love us.

The first of many?

2008-07-24T14:21:00.001-06:00

We don't really know how to blog very well, because we've never gotten into it, but, here goes:

John (JJ) and I got married on May 9, 2008 (a mere 2 months and change ago) in the Laie, Hawaii Temple. It was such an awesome day! There were clouds looming, and it had rained that morning, but that was just a good sign: It's rained on every important day in our relationship, from our first date to the day we got engaged, rain pretty much means good things to us! Luckily, it didn't rain on us (okay, maybe a little, but we were in the car, so it doesn't count), but the clouds made our pictures look amazing.

I'm so happy to be married! By the way, this is Marika: I'll probably be doing most of the blogging for both of us, since I'm less busy for now. Let me introduce myself to those of you who don't know me: I'm the youngest of 3 girls, and a Business Management major at the newly-dubbed UVU (Utah Valley University). Cooking and eating are my hobbies, as well as my new-found-only-sport-I'm-coordinated-enough-to-play: Golf!

JJ is into golf, cooking, and eating also! He's got pretty much the same interests as me, except that he's so nerdy! :) He graduated from BYU with his BS in microbiology right before we met, and now he works for the government doing microbiology stuff at Dugway Proving Grounds. I'm happy to be married to him--He's the perfect "man" for me (even though I still think he's a boy), and he's C-U-T-E!

Anyway, we'll be using this site to update you on any news that we have... which doesn't seem like it'll be much, but we'll try to think of something.