Thanksgiving Week

The week of Thanksgiving sure was busy! Scott's brother Andrew was in town for the whole week, so we hung out with him as much as we could with our busy schedules.  It was fun to get to know Andrew a little bit better and he is a pretty funny guy.

While Scott worked Tuesday night (22nd), I went and saw Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 with my mom and sister.  I thought the movie was fine.  I've read all the books of Twilight and the 4th one wasn't my favorite.  There were awkward things that happened in the book that, of course, were shown in the movie.  So, there were things that I didn't care for in the movie, only because I didn't care for it in the book.  The second part should be more exciting since that's when all the fighting happens between vampires and the wolves.

Thanksgiving Day started early for us.  We ran our very first turkey trot run together!!  We probably didn't train for it as much as we should have, but we did well considering that fact.  The race was 4 miles and Scott ran the race in 33 minutes and I ran it in 36 minutes.  We were so exhausted afterward and my legs are still a little sore, but it was fun.  It was a little cold and we didn't really train outside, so our lungs were burning!  Oops.  I picked up our shirts the day before the race, so we were able to wear our shirts while running, which was fun.

Before the race. 

I'm about to cross the finish line!

After the race. We were so tired.

 After the race, I got going on making a banana pudding pie.  It turned out yummy and despite the large number of pies we had at dinner, half of it was eaten.

 Next up was dinner with my extended family up in Salt Lake.  I have a pretty large extended family, so there was a lot of food.  It was delicious and fun to spend time with them.

It was a very happy Thanksgiving.  I am so thankful for my awesome husband, Scott.  He does so much for me and works so hard to provide for us.  I am thankful that we found a great apartment to live in with great neighbors.  I am thankful to be in a ward where, even though everyone is much older than us, they are super nice and really want to get to know us.  I am thankful for how well off we are financially.  We have been married over a year and have not really struggled with money issues, but that is because of the great jobs we both have, which I am also thankful for.  Lastly, I am thankful for family-immediate, extended and in-laws.  It will be so great when we start a family of our own because we will have such great love and support from our family.  It feels so good to be thankful and we should probably be this thankful all the time, not just one day a year, but it is nice to be reminded sometimes.

Fletcher Family Visit

Scott's mom, dad, 1 niece and 1 nephew came up the week before Thanksgiving.  Scott's Great Aunt Helen passed away so they were up for the funeral.  It was a sad reason why they came up, but it was nice that we were able to see them since we won't be going to California for Christmas.  Another sad thing happened and I really didn't take any pictures while everyone was here.  I did take a picture of the giant bag of oranges they brought with them from California.  Seriously, it was huge.

Pretty sure you can't find a bag of oranges that big here in Utah. 

Anyway, we went to the viewing and before we took his parents to Cafe Rio, thinking they had never been there before.  Apparently, there's a Cafe Rio pretty close to their house in California.  Either way, you can't go wrong with Cafe Rio's pork salad.

Scott's brother Andrew came into town at the end of the week and instead of going out to eat, we decided to make a nice dinner.  I was in charge of dessert.  I am sad that I didn't take pictures of my cherry cheese roll and gooey cookie pie bites.   The cherry roll is a family recipe that I need to re-type and re-make (didn't turn out as pretty as I'd like) again.  Like I said, I forgot to take pictures of my dessert, but pretty sure my cookie pie bites looked just like this:

Everyone except Scott's brother Andrew left to go back to California.  Andrew was here for Thanksgiving.  Scott and I went in with Brita and Lane (in-laws) for Andrew's birthday and Christmas gift.  His Christmas gift was the flight to come out to Utah and his birthday gift was going to a hockey game.  I did take pictures at the hockey game, which was a lot of fun.

Andrew turned 16 and the sign says 'Ladies He's Single'

Jocelyn wearing Uncle Robert/Scott's hat.

We would take Jocelyn up to high five the players as they head back to the locker room.

We bought her ice cream.  Best aunt and uncle ever.

 

 

 

 

This guy loves hockey.

GOAL!!!!

Andrew holding the sign upside down while being seen on the big screen.

We won 4-0!! Take that Las Vegas!

Posing with the hockey statue after the game.

 All in all, it was fun to spend some time with Scott's family.  Since most live in California (Brita and Lane are the only ones who live in Utah), we don't get to see them often and I always love getting to know my in-laws a little bit better.

LaCaille Food

Wow, it's been a while since I've blogged!  School work for Scott, work for us both, Scott's family came into town and Thanksgiving festivities have taken place since the last time I posted.  There are going to be several posts updating on everything that's happened, so make sure to read them all!  First up, a continuation about LaCaille. 

The food is delicious at LaCaille!  I got super excited this time and took pictures of everything we ate.  Here we go:

1st Course: Escargot!! (snail)

 The snail really isn't all that gross.  It has the texture of a mushroom and is covered in so much garlic that you really can't taste anything "snail like".  I always eat it on the bread.  The students are funny to watch when the snail comes out.  Some are excited to try it and others are so grossed out.  I say to live on the edge and try it once.

2nd Course:  Lemon Sorbet

This sorbet is to cleanse the palate from all that garlic that was on the snail.

3rd Course: Salad
 Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the salad, although I could have sworn that I did.  The salad is not fancy at all and could be a salad that you would buy out of a bag, so it's a little disappointing.

This is not a course, but we got bread after the salad and this bread is good and it comes with a cute ball of butter.

4th Course: Entree--Chicken

I've had the chicken before and it's been good, but this time around, the chicken was delicious!  I don't know what the sauce is made of, but it was delicious.  I cleaned my whole plate.  See?

5th Course: Dessert--Bananas Foster--flambed
   It is fun to see the dessert get lit on fire every time I go.  I love to see the student's faces as well and see how excited they get.

What a delicious dinner I get to have for free twice a year.  Being a Family and Consumer Science teacher isn't all that bad sometimes. :)

LaCaille

I am so lucky to have the teaching job that I do.  For one, I am at a really nice school--we have money and really good kids with parents who care (although sometimes too much).  There is this nice, fancy restaurant called LaCaille up in Salt Lake.  Our school is one of many that get to participate in the program that the restaurant offers.  Our students can have the opportunity to go eat a 5 course meal at LaCaille for $28.  Pretty good deal if you ask me!  Being a teacher over some of the students, I get to eat there for free each time!  LaCaille happened just recently and for some reason, it was more delicious this time than any other time I've gone.  Oh, did I mention that we go twice a year?  And the food doesn't get old.

Scott didn't have to work the night we went, so he got to come along with me!  Scott has actually been a total of 3 times now.  Let's take a look at pictures from past times:

 This was when we were still dating, but got engaged soon after.

Eating escargot (snail)

Scott's first time eating escargot

These are the only two pictures I took our second time going.  Scott with a snail again and our dessert on fire!

This is what the outside of the restaurant looks like.  We got there right as dinner started or else I would have taken more pictures of the building and the grounds.  It really is quite pretty.

Picture at the same place our first time we went.

So, this has been dubbed the "Boob Wall" by the students.  As you'll notice in the next picture, the women wear outfits that sometimes show off their, well, boobs. 

I tried to get a picture of one who really showed it off.

The students get a kick out of it and it goes the whole length of the wall right next to the bathroom.  Who needs something to read while waiting to use the restroom when you can have a "boob wall" to look at! Haha.  It is quite hilarious.

 My camera's batteries were really low, so I used Scott's phone to take pictures of the food during dinner, so stayed tune for a post all about the food! 

Praxis Test

I had a Praxis test that I had to take today before I can get my tenure for teaching at the end of this school year.  These Praxis tests are long and hard.  The test was 2 hours and had 70 multiple choice and 2 essay-like questions.  The multiple choice was fine, but the essays are what got me.  I had to rush a little bit on answering the last one, but at least I got it answered.  I heard the lady next to me saying that she didn't even answer the second one.  She'll definitely have to re-take the test and hopefully I answered mine well enough to not have to re-take it.  I'll find out in a month if I passed or not. 

Funny story during the test:  So, they give you time before you actually start the test to fill out basic information like your name, what test you're taking, etc.  On the test packet, in big bold letters, it says the name of the test.  I was taking one on teaching, but they had some people in the room taking one on world history.  There's definitely no way to confuse those test names.  A few minutes after the test officially started, the girl next to me raised her hand and told the person that she probably didn't have the right test.  They asked which one she needed and she said world history.  She had been given the same test I was taking.  I thought for a minute after she said that and wondered why in the heck did she not notice right away that the test she was given was the wrong one?  Seriously, the name of the test is ON THE FRONT, plus we had to re-write the name on the front of our answer sheet.  How?...I have no idea. 

I just had to share that story.  It still baffles me...but also still makes me laugh because it happened.  Haha.

Yummy Recipe of the Week

I LOVE these food blogs that I have found.  I know that there are a ton of other ones out there that I should probably check out, but I have so much to try from the ones I have found so far.  I made another delicious recipe from Kevin&Amanda.com.  They are called Antipasto Squares.  Super quick, easy and delicious.  I want to post the recipe here, but if you want, you can go to her site here to look at the recipe. 

Antipasto Squares

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
1/3 lb sliced ham  (I didn't measure to see if any of the meat was 1/3 lb, I just bought a package of that meat and then layered as much as I wanted in the dish)
1/3 lb sliced provolone cheese
1/3 lb sliced Swiss cheese (I used Mozzarella instead and it was good)
1/3 lb sliced salami
1/3 lb pepperonis
3 eggs
3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp black pepper
Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9×13 baking dish with Pam. Unroll one package of crescent rolls and spread in bottom of dish. Layer salami, provolone cheese, ham, Swiss cheese, and pepperoni on top of the dough. In a measuring cup (or bowl), beat the eggs lightly, then stir in the Parmesan cheese and black pepper.
Pour 3/4 of this mixture evenly in dish. You should have a little less than 1/4 cup left. Unroll the second package of dough, and place on top of the meat and cheese. Brush with the remaining egg mixture. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove foil, and bake another 15 minutes, or until dough is fluffy and golden brown. Cut into squares and serve warm.

Another recipe success!  I love it when new recipes I try turn out well.  It affirms my cooking ability and the credibility of the recipes from these food blogs.  I love the internet. :)

Turkey Day Run

I have signed Scott and I up for a 4 mile run Thanksgiving morning!

This totally means that we can eat as much as we want that day without feeling guilty.

This also means that we need to get cracking on the running. 19 days left!

I am wondering why they chose 4 miles instead of a normal 5k race like everyone else.

I'm excited for getting a t-shirt and having this experience with Scott.  Future tradition? Hope so!

Halloween and Spider Cookies

So, Halloween was very, very low key for us.  We had no trick-or-treaters, but that is because we live in the basement of a house (it's actually very nice; ask anyone in our family who has seen it), so no kids are going to come knock on our door way in the back.  I was fine with that because I didn't have to spend money buying candy, which meant no extra candy at the house to snack on and become fat from doing so. 

Also, I know dressing up is pretty much the main thing to do on Halloween, but it's just not my thing.  I have never really liked dressing up.  During high school, I played the violin in the orchestra and we would have a 'Monster Concert' close to Halloween every year.  We would be able to dress up in costumes and play scary music.  It was pretty awesome.  There was one year that I did not want to dress up at all and one day while walking through Wal-Mart, I found a shirt that said 'This Is My Costume.'  It was perfect!  My mother was mad, of course, but I loved it because all I wore was that shirt and a pair of jeans.  Best costume ever.  :)

I honestly think Halloween is 10x more fun when you have kids that you can dress up in cute costumes...and then it kind-of forces you to dress up as well.  Until then, I probably won't be dressing up for Halloween.

I did, however, make these Chocolate Dipped Spider Web Oreos.  Another great site I found online for lots of yummy things to make.  Mine actually turned out pretty well.  I did ruin my first batch of white chocolate though by putting in some gel orange food coloring.  I thought it would make it look more festive, but all it did was harden up my chocolate.  Boo.  Other than that, they were super easy, delicious and a fun Halloween treat.

Weekend Fun with the Family

This past Halloween weekend, my dad and step-mom Roberta came into town for a visit.  All of my siblings are out here in Utah, so everybody was available to play.  It was a busy weekend packed full of fun!  We first went to a place called Thanksgiving Point, which had a corn maze and a ton of activities to do as well.  It was Scott's first time going to a corn maze and I think he had a blast.  We spent a few hours and it was well worth the $10 for all that we were able to do.

A lot of fun times at the corn maze.  I'm keeping this last picture bigger because I like it and think we look good.

We also played games, ate some good BBQ, saw the movie 'Puss in Boots', got frozen yogurt and even went to IKEA for the first time.  It was Scott, my brother Andrew, sister-in-law Rebecca, and my first time going.  Scott and I are glad that we never went there to look at furniture for our new apartment or else we would have spent way more money than we would have wanted to.  The bro and sis-in-law were there to get beds for the girls and Scott and I just had fun window shopping and thinking of ideas for our future house.

It was a good weekend had by all.