New Car

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...

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

... 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?!

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

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

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

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

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

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....

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

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

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

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

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!

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...

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

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

Start Spreadin' The News...

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.