WE LOVE SUSHI

Ummm it is just so yummy!! On Friday Joe and I enjoyed a fun date night to celebrate Valentines and our engagement anniversary ... we tried a sushi place in Columbia that I heard about from a law school friend who said he was a 'sushi snob' and this place is the best he had been to in Maryland. I was looking forward to it SO much for the day and half since I decided to go there (and Joe agreed). It totally did not let us down! I have been a sushi fan since my dad started taking me out for sushi a number of years ago (near the end of high school maybe?) and Joe has also loved it since I introduced him to sushi on our honeymoon (Durango actually has some amazing sushi!). It's the BEST!!
We chose 4 specialty rolls and they were all incredible. This one is the Samurai and I think it was my favorite ... shrimp tempura, tuna, salmon, and spicy sauce.
This gives you an idea of the assortment. It makes me laugh that I actually took a picture of this ... I would never have done so if I weren't planning on blogging about it later. We tried to be discreet about it so we wouldn't look like dorks.

Well what a treat for us! Since we pretty much only go out if we have a gift card or a buy one get one free coupon, this was a fun splurge. But it was so delicious and made me feel like we had done something a little bit special and out of the ordinary, which is the whole point, right?

Quote of the day ...

"Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy."
- George Carlin

Not sure what made me like this quote when I saw it on my google homepage, but I did. I think that's what I'll tell Joe next time he gets "lawyer" confused with "liar." You wouldn't believe how often he does that! At first it made me a little mad but now I've gotten used to it. I'm sorry for those of you who agree with Joe and think that lawyers are liars! I plan on being a good lawyer and never lying ... unless, of course, circumstances call for utilizing the second-best policy rather than the first.

Happy Valentines!!

Celebrating Valentines Day today didn't really work out for Joe and me ... it was a long day at school and we got home at 9. But we celebrated in advance on Sunday! We had so much fun having Eric & Tristina and Nate & Lori over for a yummy dinner of delicious breakfast food! Eric & Tristina have had us over for some amazing dinners in the past and so we were glad to finally have them over ... and for them to finally meet Nate & Lori. (Both couples are proud boxer owners and begged to bring their dogs but I said no way, you do that on your own time!!) Anyway, we had a yummy meal of my specialty breakfast casserole, Lori's overnight french toast and homemade syrup, and waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. We even had juice with heart shaped ice cubes!
It was so exciting to see Tristina's cute, growing belly! We are so excited for Caelan to come!Thanks to Lori's red plates and a little help from the dollar store, the table was a success. I was so excited to get into the Valentines festivities! Notice the pink ribbons on the light fixture. Happy Valentines Day everyone!

It's our engagement anniversary!!

Yes, it's true. Three years ago today my Joey proposed to me!! I'm not sure if everyone celebrates their 'engagement anniversary,' but it was such a wonderful day, how could you not? It's kind of nice that it is close to Valentines (not on Valtentines, that would be cheesy) so that we have two reasons to celebrate ... that way we're sure to actually do something special. Plus I love that it is on the 12th because that's my number! Here we are when Joe picked me up for our date. I just look happy but you can see Joe has a little bit of mischievousness in his eyes ... Although we had the ring picked out already (I insisted on choosing it myself), Joe had me convinced that it wasn't ready yet so I totally wasn't expecting anything. He also got me to kind of plan out the date so I wouldn't be suspicious ... I had been wanting to "redo" our first date so that's what we did.

Our first date was with a big group - go cart racing at Nascart and then dinner at The Pie in SLC. It was so fun to redo it just us ... and to think about the past year and a half of falling in love. On our first date, Joe got first place in the go-carts and I got last. I don't know how it happened, I was flying! Anyway, after dinner we went up to Sundance and walked around. It was so beautiful and Joe was being so sweet and I was thinking to myself "I can't believe he doesn't have the ring yet, this is a perfect time to propose - it's never going to get any better!" I still was convinced it wasn't going to happen, though ... until he told me he lied to me about something and then I knew! Anyway, it was such an exciting and perfect night. Great job, Joe!! I love you!

Something HAS to change.

Or I think I'm going to SNAP!! For two lovely years I had absolutely no complaints about living in our townhouse. We never heard a peep out of our neighbors, and our neighbors never heard us. Then one day one of them moved away and this Africian family with four (mostly teenage) children moved in. They each weigh in at about 300 pounds. But having to listen to them constantly stomp around like elephants is the least of our worries! They also talk and yell like there's no one for miles around ... or if there is like they want everyone to hear them. Needless to say, this substantially interferes with my evening studying and my Saturday morning sleeping. I mean I had no idea anyone could talk/scream/yell THAT LOUD. Sometimes we try to pound on the wall (or even yell) back at them but so far that hasn't been too effective. Yes, we have thought about going over there but it seems like that would turn a non-relationship into a very negative relationship. And frankly I'm also slightly terrified (I mean you should just hear the temper of the football player son). Thoughts??

A Divided Household ...

So let me tell you about a discovery I made a while back. I used to love, love, love peanut butter (mostly just with bread, I don't put in on everything or anything crazy like that). Then, since I was eating it almost every day (on a whole wheat bagel for breakfast!) I started worrying about the fact that it contains partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (whatever that is). So I tried this stuff called soybean butter I found at Trader Joe's. I don't remember whether I liked it right at first, but now I love it and the funny thing is I can't stand regular peanut butter!

So that brings us to the inspiration for this post. I made peanut/soy butter and jelly sandwiches for Joe and me to bring to school today and somehow got them switched in our lunches. Can I just say ... what a way to ruin a day. My sandwich was totally nasty - way too much peanut butter and jelly (Joe likes it that way). But it was a long day at school so I ate it anyway. Joe's was worse for him, I think. And I quote: "So disgusting. I don't know how you eat that crap, especially when you won't eat other things that are good."

Anyway, there's my post to my friend soybean butter (I usually just call it peanut butter but Joe knows what I mean). I am assuming it is a little healthier than peanut butter since it has less fat and no partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. It is a little more expensive but at a few dollars a jar I think we can still afford it. ;)

It's someone's special day!!

Well I'm going to do my first "birthday post." My sister-in-law Lori is the master of "birthday posts" - I love it when she does them. I am definitely not suggesting that I'll be posting every time a birthday comes along, but this birthday is extra special ... cuz it's my mom's!
My mom is one of my very favorite people and the best mom and friend I could ever ask for. I love talking to her and can't go more than a few days without hearing her voice! I also love hanging out with her and am so excited she is coming to see me in a couple of weeks! Let me share just a little bit about her with you ... My mom is a total nature/outdoors lover. She loves fresh air, trees, streams, and mountains, and isn't afraid to get dirty. I love that many of my childhood/adolescent memories are of hikes and outdoor adventures. Although I love nature too, I am a complete disgrace to outdoor adventurers compared to my mom (my fear of spiders and non-love of camping definitely did not come from her). Oh well.

My mom and I love to travel!! We have had so so many fun travel adventures together, starting with Amsterdam and continuing on to the Swiss Alps, Paris, San Francisco, Italy, etc. I am so grateful to have such fun and amazing memories of good times with my mom in such incredible places. (Thanks for sending us, Dad!) I told you she was an adventurer!

This is just a funny picture (taken in London) that represents the fact that my mom is pretty funny. A lot of times I fail to laugh at her "jokes" but other times I just can't stop. I admire the fact that she can laugh at herself. Another thing about my mom (sorry I don't have a picture for this) is that she really knows how to celebrate holidays. I love the fact that she goes all out for holidays every single year, and my friends can all attest to this based on all the spooky Halloween dinners they got to attend. She has so many fun traditions that have become a part of me that I can't wait to pass on to my own children. I just hope I can come close to being the kind of mom she is!

My mom is a happy, smart, determined and giving person ... I don't know anyone who doesn't just love her! So there you go! Mom and Dad, I hope you get to do something fun to celebrate Mom's birthday tomorrow! Love you lots.

My Wonderful Family

I have a wonderful family! Don't we look good? Since we were finally all together for Christmas, we took advantage of the opportunity to get a family picture taken. My mom really wanted one outside, so we bit the bullet and froze while this picture was taken. Not all of us were particularly happy about it (me) but it I guess it was worth it .... it turned out great.

The indoor one is cute but definitely not as much personality. Anyway, from the left we've got my younger sister (almost 16!), my oldest brother and his wife and baby girl, my mom and dad and my younger brother behind them, me and Joe, and then my second oldest brother, his wife, and two girls.

And here we have me and Joe! Two and a half years of marriage and we're still looking all right. What a cute husband I have. I wasn't really planning on this type of a pose so unfortunately my boots don't really match ... just ignore that. When you fly across the country and are going to two climates you can't pack every pair of shoes! Oh well. :)

Jesse, Tara, and Bella. Look at that little face ... priceless. What a darling little family!

Austin, Liz, Tyler, and Kai. Looking great! Kai was totally photogenic, happy, and adorable the whole time while the other two girls were a little more work.

It is fun having these pictures! It's been over a month since we were together and I am missing everyone ... see you in a year or so ... :(