Days 279-285

Hey guys,

Sorry for the incredibly, ridiculously, embarrassingly late posts.  Hopefully I'll get back on track with these pretty soon.  This is a great indication of how I get easily overwhelmed and shut down.  It's amazing that I've made it this far on the project without giving up entirely. :)

The following pictures are for the week of March 7-13.

Day 279: Playdate?

Some cute cards my friend Kimmy gave me for my birthday last year.  They're so cute, I don't have the heart to use them. I know it's silly, but I'm weird like that.

Day 280: Pre-spring sunset

One day I might count how many sunsets I took at work during this photo challenge...I bet it's in the double-digits.

Day 281: I'm toast

Trying to get creative with bland-looking food by putting pretty plates underneath it.

Not sure it worked.

Day 282: Reading Party!

We like to have reading parties in our family.  They mainly consist of us all sitting around in silence, reading different novels.

...It sounds cooler than it is.

Day 283: Snow-capped Mountains

Some days I'm just struck by the beauty of this place!

Day 284: The Chocolate!

Coolest little bakery I've ever been to!  I'm going back.  Soon.  Who cares about that stupid, "no sugar" rule anymore.  Life after this place will never be the same!  There is so much I want to say about it...the awesome pictures on their website, the quaint atmosphere of the shop, the friendly staff who know how to joke around with customers, the AMAZING vanilla cake with chocolate ganache, the TO DIE FOR hot chocolate with spices in it that really make you feel like you're drinking Christmas in a cup all year round...

SO GOOD!

Day 285: My Triumph!

Inspired by that awesome bakery from yesterday, I decided to make a cake of my own...

After a fiasco with the first cake, Christine made a great red velvet from scratch so I could still use all of the awesome decorating stuff I got for my birthday.  This is what we made as a result!  I'm so proud!  I can't believe it looks almost presentable!  Cake decorating is easier than I thought it would be!

Day 267: Lunch in Cabo

Ryan posing for a shot.

Today was our second excursion day in Cabo!  We decided to forgo the excursions for a casual day of shopping around town.  We heard about this restaurant called Mi Casa from some nice ladies we met at breakfast one morning, and decided it would be fun to try a local dive.  It wasn't so far removed from the touristy section of the city to feel scary, but it still had an authentic feel which was awesome.  The food was very good, and we all ended up getting the same thing, which was fun.

We also hit a flea market on our way to the restaurant, and I forgot until after I was robbed blind by the first merchant I came across, that you have to haggle at a flea market to get a good price.

I'm not very good at haggling. I spent too much money.

Here are the runners-up for today's picture:

Day 263: Hometown America

Lunch

My favorite parts about today's road trip to San Diego:
 - Lunch at Hamburger Patty's in Parowan (and checking out the awesome retro signs they had)
 - Rocking out to They Might Be Giants in the car
 - Riding the Desperado at Buffalo Bill's in Primm
 - Quietly rocking out to Free Bird while Ryan was sleeping
 - Driving through the Fallbrook hills in the rain

Day 251: Kitchen Experiments

Pasta Alla Norma

A few days ago Christine and I saw this awesome episode of Kitchen Boss where Buddy taught us how to make two Sicilian dishes: Pasta Alla Norma and Steak Pizzaiola.  We had just finished dinner when we watched the episode, and we were starving by the end of it.  He made the food look really appetizing.  

So tonight, Christine went online and found the recipes for the dishes and got all of the ingredients.

I have two things to say of the experience:

1. Buddy makes EVERYTHING look way easier than it is
2. Christine is an amazing cook

These recipes were so much harder than they looked and Christine tackled both of them simultaneously, without any help (I was there at the end of the prep and was dismally absent for the most stressful part, but I did pitch in a tiny bit by the end).  And even though she was sure all of it was going to turn out horribly wrong, both dishes were AMAZING.  We were both dying over the food as we ate it and freaking out at how yummy it was!

Day 250: Breakfast for Dinner

My dinner (part of it)

I don't know what's wrong with me lately, but I am so stressed out!  It's not like I have a great excuse as I did at Christmas when everything was hectic.  I mean - yes - I'm swamped at work, and I have my church calling that I'm behind on, and my vacation prep that I'm behind on, and my household chores that I'm behind on, but all of that is the result of me being stressed to begin with.  I'm behind on everything because I couldn't face half of it at the time - for no good reason - so, of course that means that I'm even more stressed now because I've let everything slip and because I'm just playing catch-up on everything.

But how did it start?  What made me so wary of my every-day tasks in the first place?

It's things like this that unnecessarily keep me up at night.

Day 249: Errands

Some salsa, and my glass of water

Today was such a busy day!  We are gearing up to go on our cruise in a few weeks, and Christine and I had to run a bunch of errands in preparation.  In the middle of our crazy day we stopped to eat at California Pizza Kitchen.  It was a great break to be able to sit and relax for a while before the craziness started up again...

At least, that's what I thought at the time.  But, then we got home to finish our chores and found we had no energy left after our busy shopping morning.  So, even though we started the day at gun-shot-pace, we really kind of ended the day in a spluttering fizzle. 

But at least we had a productive morning!

Day 189: Food Deliberation

My dinner

I was supposed to get a bunch of things done tonight, but I didn't do a thing.  Instead, Christine and I sat in the living room for a good 30-45 minutes deliberating on what we should do and where we should go eat because neither of us felt up to doing anything.  It was laughable how long it took us to decide on a restaurant.   Once we decided (Goodwood), I had to go shower and get ready to leave the house because I was still in my work-out clothes.  We ate at record speed once we got to the restaurant because we'd waited too long to eat and both of us were starving.  But when we got home, the apathy continued.  Should we try to catch up on our TV shows or go straight to bed, or maybe just sit on the couch and space off for an hour?  We basically missed our entire evening because neither of us could make a decision.

It was awesome.

Day 177: Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Yesterday may have been a bit of a nightmare, but I was worth it just to be here with the family.  We had a great day today hanging out, watching a little football, watching some movies, and eating our yummy turkey dinner!  The food was so good and I ate way too much, as happens on Thanksgiving, and I loved the whole day.

Today I'm thankful for cars that work, safe journey's, and the ability to visit family - even in tough economical times. :)

Day 166: Cake and TV

Sugar-free cake that Mom made

I spend most of my afternoon and evening in bed today because of this weird leg pain that I've had for...ever. Some days it's just a dull ache, and some days (like today) it hurts so much that I can't concentrate and it makes me writhe and to try and ease the pain.  When that happens, I've found that the best thing to do is to take a few (or more) Advil and lay in bed with a heating pad on the aching muscles.

So that's what I did after church today.  I took some Advil, set myself up with books and remotes, and stayed in bed with my heating pad.  After a while I got bored and turned on my TV (something I don't normally do on Sundays anymore).  I watched this show called "Amazing Wedding Cakes."

I'm a big fan of "Cake Boss" on TLC, so I thought this show would be fun, but it just made me like "Cake Boss" even more.  The people on "Amazing Wedding Cakes" are understaffed and not quite as talented (in my opinion).  Aside from solidifying my status on Team Buddy, it also made me in the mood for some cake - obviously.

Lucky for me, Mom decided to make some cake tonight, so when I went upstairs to refill my water bottle, there sat the bowls of home made cake, drizzled in melted sugar-free frosting.  It was SO GOOD!  What a great way to sate a craving!

Day 158: Omelette's

Christine's Avocado Omelette.

This was my lunch today.  Christine made up this omelette recipe last year and it's AMAZING.  It's got a little bit of cheese, salsa, avocado's and sour cream.  It's really rich and none of us can eat more than a half at a time, but it's so good!

Day 145: Pani Popo

Rolls baked in a coconut pudding.

Christine made our favorite rolls for dessert tonight.  She first discovered these when she went to school in Hawaii.  They're called Pani Popo (I think that's how you spell it), and I believe it's a Samoan dish.   We all just love this stuff!  It's too rich to eat more than one serving at a time, which is good because they're not exactly healthy.

Sorry that I was late on the posts again this weekend.  It's becoming a bad habbit of mine to put off posting Friday and Saturday pictures until Sunday.  It's just that my weekends are so full lately, and by the time I get to my room each night I'm too tired to stop and take an hour to write my blog posts.  Plus, I usually have a bit more quiet time on Sundays to work on them.  Still, I shouldn't be slacking off like this so I'll try to be better.

Day 134: Short Order

The kitchen at the State Street Grill in AF.

Christine and I grabbed some food at the new State Street Grill in AF tonight on our way to the temple.  The place opened up just a few weeks ago, so everything's shiny and new.  With the sunset streaming through the windows and catching the smoke from the burgers, I thought it was a nice picture.  

Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as cool on film as in my head, but I still like it.  The guys there were really nice, and gave us extra fries because they cooked too many.  They aren't like McDonald's.  Their fries were FRESH!  

Anyway, good night.  Nice change.

I'm sleepy.

Day 77: Let Them Eat Cake!

The last piece.

So here's the story about the cake.  To avoid confusion, I'm going to change the names of some of my colleagues since two of them in this story have the same first name.

I bought a mini cake at Dippidee today to have one last hurrah before going back off sugar tomorrow.  I kept it on my desk most of the day, but finally caved and pulled it out to eat late afternoon.  Once I opened the box I realized, "mini" cake or not, it was too much for me to eat by myself.

I walked over to Todd's desk and asked if he wanted any of my left over cake.  Of course he said yes, so I cut a hefty portion of the cake for myself (one quarter of the entire cake), and handed the knife to Todd.  He took a large piece as well, but there was still half the cake left.

In my head I was hoping he would take the whole thing, so when he only took a piece I was puzzling over what to do with the rest of it when Beth showed up to drop something off.  I offered her a piece, and after a little persuasion, she gave in to temptation and left to get a plate and fork from the break room.  As she was returning, I heard movement from a few feet away.

Todd and Beth and I were just commenting on the tastiness of the cake when Dan came around the corner and announced in mock innocence, "I was just picking something up from the printer," as he waved a piece of paper in his hands.  He was obviously sneaking around when Beth was getting her slice, and his thinly veiled printer paper story made us all laugh.  I quickly offered  him some cake since Beth took a mere sliver.

I was just finishing my offering question when Dan blurted out a quick "Yes!" and headed for the break room for a plate and fork.  As he was walking out of the break room, he ran into Erda.  Since he didn't know if I wanted to share any more of my cake, and since Erda is known for his love of food in large quantities, Dan again waved his piece of paper at Erda and again stated obnoxiously, "I was just picking something up from the printer."

But the printer was no where near the break room, and Dan was walking out with an empty plate and fork, so Erda decided to follow him back to his desk in hopes of discovering what was really going on.  This made Todd and I laugh through our mouthfuls of cake (we heard the whole interchange through the cubicle walls). Dan quickly broke down and headed back to my desk for his serving with Erda hard on his heels.  I offered some cake to Erda (since Dan was also conservative with his portion and there was still a quarter of the cake left), but Erda refused claiming he was "full."  Unusual for Erda, but he mostly stuck to his guns aside from taking a small taste with one fork full.

At this point, I had three guys hanging out at my desk, all eating cake and merrily talking about how good it was.  That's when I noticed that Layne had walked by my desk twice.  Even though it didn't look like he was paying attention to us, I raised my head and asked over the cubicle walls if Layne wanted a piece of cake as well.  Again, I barely had the words out of my mouth before Layne was headed to the break room for a plate and fork.

So now there were five of us all together, standing around eating cake at my desk and still there was a piece left.  How is it that it took five people to eat one "mini" cake?  Especially when two of them took half of it.  None of them took that last piece either.  So I finally broke down and emailed the remaining three people in the office (it was close to quitting time at this point) and offered the last piece to whomever got to my desk first.

Within 15 minutes the cake was finally gone, but not before I got a few photos of the last piece.  What a great way to end the day!

Day 22: I Heart Fry Sauce

This is Ryan...holding a container of fry sauce with a heart shape on the surface of the sauce.


We were at 5 Guys tonight, grabbing a quick bite before our movie, when I saw the fry sauce in front of Christine and made everyone stop eating while I tried to take a picture of it.  Ryan helped me out by modeling with it.  I'm sure he had not idea I would actually use this picture in my blog.

Sorry Ryan, but you never said I couldn't use it. ;)

A Haiku
Oh, heart-shaped fry sauce
You're yummy in my tummy,
Make me salivate

Day 16: Snacks

Some snacks I've packed for my camping trip this weekend...HAPPY CAMPER!

I'm heading up the canyon for the annual camp-out with my office.  Two days and two nights out in nature, hanging out with my co-workers.  Some may think that sounds like a match made in hell, but I'm actually really excited!  Then again, I love camping and I have great co-workers, so why wouldn't I be excited?  The only down side is that I won't have access to the internet to post my picture for Day 17 (well that, and the bugs...I hate bugs with an unnatural tenacity).

But don't worry (in case anyone actually made it this far in the reading), I will still take my picture for Day 17, I'll just have to post it with Day 18 when I get home.

Now, off to the wilderness to get lost in nature!  Well, hopefully I won't actually get lost in nature, but I'll get caught up in nature.  Not that I want to get caught up in anything dangerous, like poison ivy (do we even have that in Utah?).  So maybe the better choice of words would be...

Now, off to the wilderness to get absorbed in nature!

Oh, never mind.