2012 Thus Far

 Jeff turned 25! 

Jeff's long time friend, and our favorite couple to hang out with happened to be able to make it (THE BUFFINGTONS!). I don't think Jeff could have asked for a better birthday.

Ella joined the chess team, and helped break in our awesome chess set.

Sally, surprising, yet unsurprisingly, had something "off" about her face...

Which called for an emergency run to the store for Benadryl.

 This is what she is supposed to look like, in case you may have forgotten:

 

 All we can figure is that she must have tried to love a spider to death (like usual). Only this time it tried to love her to death, back.

We've had a lot of visitors, lately. After seeing about a million wild turkeys, Jeff mentioned how when we were in Yellowstone we barely saw any wildlife. We move back home, and it's everywhere.

And then there was the whim to make a homemade cookie monster...

 Now, a normal cookie monster is delicious (where we just buy everything that goes on it, and put it together). But a homemade cookie, homemade ice cream, homemade whipped cream, homemade hot fudge, and a homemade caramel cookie monster is monstrously delicious. And somehow took just about the same amount of time to make.

I've been thinking a lot about the past, lately. More specifically, the past before I was even thought of. I've been converting my grandma's songs from tapes to mp3, and just read a small book on my other grandma's family. Makes me want to move into the hills, and start a folk band honestly. It also makes me want to do a family history adventure, where Jeff and I track down old stories and places from our ancestors.-More to come on these projects in the future.

I've also been thinking about this pretty huge artistic project I've been building in my mind...oh, to be back in college, when I had all these weird connections and could pull it off...I'll have to see what I can do...

I think a lot. Too much, probably. I'm a dreamer.
Fortunately, Jeff got me a project planner for Christmas. It's been helping me keep my thoughts organized...
And I might actually get some done.
Goals. Goals. Goals.

New Years

 Sooooo, we really splurged for New Years/Jeff's birthday. First we walked around a little in downtown Cincy (which happens to be what we did on our first real date), before meeting up with Jeff's friends where we made reservations. We went to a Brazilian restaurant, where they come around with different cuts of meat, and it's amazingly tasty, and awesome, and yummy, and filling beyond belief. It was worth it. 

 ^sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hot^

 

 

Afterwards the night was still young (as in 6:45pm), so we went to see Mission Impossible. It was good...I think old people go to see movies on New Years Eve though, because we were definitely the youngest people there...and that's what my parents did too...

The guys were wanting something sweet afterwards, so as tradition for Jeff's birthday (or so it seems to be becoming), we suggested a cookie monster. At the pizza place back in Idaho, they had a little cast iron skillet with a freshly cooked giant cookie on the bottom, ice cream in the middle, and whipped cream, pecans, caramel and hot fudge on the top; which they referred to as a cookie monster....and what I like to recreate for Jeff...and his friends...at 1am on New Years. Makes me miss it just typing about it.

So, we rang in the New Years well fed, watching the modern Sherlock BBC series. We tuned in 10 sec. before the ball dropped...or in our case, before the fountain square sign flashed HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I leaned over and gave Jeff a kiss. :)

We are getting quite old though, because we had to roll down the window and sing as loud as we could the hour ride home at 2am to keep from falling asleep, where apparently my little sister (who got in a half hour after us) had a pleasant, non-groggy drive home...odd what a difference a few years can make...or is it marriage.?...We did see a movie on new years eve....  

We did happen to save my triple chocolate moose cake from the restaurant, so on New Years day Jeff and I ate it with some sparkling wild berry we were supposed to be home in time to break open the night before. I was much happier with how our plans ended up.

 And now today. The day resolutions arrive. We made goals.

 (New Years Eve: Green)

 (Today: White)

 

 Snow covers the old, and allows for the new to start.

I really like this song for today.

 

<3 from us

 

Knock Off Night

 While walking through the grocery store, Jeff and I noticed a rather tempting product:

 

We were sure not to pass up some quality food, and declared it "Knock Off Night".

We also found these winners:

I'm all about generic, but after ingesting this...I wasn't hungry, or had an appetite...for a couple of days. 

Knock Off Night was fun, but I don't think it's going to stay a tradition.

Is it too late to make New Years resolutions? Cuz I'm wanting to resolve to make at least one meal a day from scratch, and exercise at least 20min 4 days a week. Not HUGE things, but that's why I think I'm going to do it. I just wrote it here, so I'm more inclined to stick to it.

Happy Friday!

Thankful Even After The GRE

 The GRE was DUMB...and I (of course, considering I haven't even had to do a thing on the test since my high school days) did terribly. But thankfully I got to spend the rest of the day with some of my closest friends. The man of the Hour was Ashton, who we haven't had the pleasure of seeing for quite some time. Accompanying him would be the beautiful Anna. Whit and Aaron fortunately were able to grace us with their beauty. And CHRISTYN drove down for the event, after returning home the day before from being a Disney princess for the past eight or so months. I am so grateful I got to see such great friends.

 

Once my trip to Utah was supposed to end, a blizzard "hit". Apparently up north was getting hammered, so we decided to wait for it to pass...although it never really arrived. 

On our way back it took us a couple of extra hours to get there. Oh so slow going, but at least it was in good company (Jeff, Miranda and Ben). It was nice to have a couple guys in the back seat to jump out whenever we needed a push out of the snow, and wash of the windshield every hour or so.

It was beautiful after the sun slowly started to go down, and there was some almost-rainbow light caught in the sky. 

 

It was a VERY long drive, but we made it back in time to prepare for Thanksgiving. 

I was blessed to have a great co-worker who was out of town, and wanted someone to house-sit. It was the perfect place to be when we couldn't be with our whole families. Jeff's roommate joined us, and we had a wonderful evening of stuffing ourselves to the brim, and lounging around watching movies and playing Wii.

My first turkey turned out golden and juicy.

I'm grateful for so much, and this whole week reminded me of each of my blessings.

Friends

Family

Food

Shelter

BOOTS 

Sunshine

Employment 

Music

Pumpkin Milkshakes 

(^my new Thanksgiving tradition^)

The Arts 

Etc. Etc. Etc.

And is it just me, or does the formation of the above writings look like a cake platter?

Anyways, happy holidays! Three weeks until I am back in the homeland. :)

Oregon, Let's start in Portland

 What was my favorite part about Portland?

Roses.

There were roses of every color...

The purple ones smelled the best.

I even found a rose the color of my toenail polish! 

...and the rose garden was the start of Whitney's new hobby...

...flower diving... 

When it comes to food in Portland, I would start with a healthy dose of being offended from the crude name of the doughnuts from VooDoo Doughnuts:

 

For lunch, I'd grab a delicious, natural milkshake at Cool Moon:

 

And for dinner, go to Montage. Why? Because when you're done they make you something...

The food is great, too...Although I wouldn't recommend the Alligator Gumbo...It was a couple days before I could even stomach the word GUMBO. 

And if you noticed the big screen in the back, that would be in my corner view hotel room in the downtown Hilton...I got the hook-up.

Walking around the streets of Portland is enjoyable, with all the sculptures and art, but my favorite thing (besides the roses) was Powell's Bookstore. It's definitely a place to get lost..whether you want to or not...It's HUGE. 

 

Now, to the beach!

D.C. Eats

There is no shortage of delicious eats in D.C.

I tried to eat from a different country's cuisine every day, and I think I managed to do it. We had American, French, Ethiopian, Italian, Greek, Chinese, and I'm sure a couple other countries...



I was never disappointed.

Cooking Club #2

Cooking last week was awesome! Grilled pizza and stuffed zucchini were our new recipes. We are a little worried we might not be able to top them. The only thing I would change with the stuffed zucchini is it wouldn't be a stuffed zucchini. I would cut up the zucchini and put it in with the stuffing, and then put that on top of angel hair pasta. This time we only had one mishap. We locked the oven to keep the baby out...and then it wouldn't unlock. Steam was billowing out, while we were on our knees trying to pry the door open. Once we got it open, the food was perfectly cooked.

That afternoon I had a left over zucchini, and when I got home this is what I found:The oven is not the only thing that could use a lock.

I'm hoping to soon get links for all the recipes, so you can just click on them and they will be all together. Eventually it will be like a recipe tried and proven cookbook. Fingers crossed.

How You Know a Recipe is GOOD:

3. When you're sad you can't fit more in your stomach.