3.14

Happy Pi Day!

We celebrated by eating

homemade chicken pot pie

made with sweet potatoes and lots of veggies.

Maybe next year I'll attempt my

favorite dessert: homemade peach pie.

29 for reals

January 21st came and went again this year.

This is the ONLY year I'll be able to say 

that I'm 29 (that magic number that people pretend

to be every year after they turn 30) and mean it.

Since Jake and I celebrated my birthday last year in

New Orleans, we decided to have a 

New Orleans style celebration again this year.

We made beignets and hot chocolate for breakfast

(notice the cute bouquet of flowers from Jake).

Jake surprised me with dinner at a fancy

New Orleans style restaurant at Universal's City Walk

called Emiril's.  I enjoyed some delicious seafood.

Jake was a good sport and accompanied me

to get a pedicure, the only thing I really

wanted for my birthday.  

I wish I had taken a picture of Jake taking

a nap in the massage chair next to me!

Anyway, it was a great birthday.
Thanks to Jake for making it so special, 

and thanks to all my friends and family

for the phone calls, cards, and gifts!

Lights up on Washington Heights...

...up at the break of day

I wake up and I got this little punk I gotta chase away

Pop the grate at the crack of dawn, sing

While I wipe down the awning

Hey ya'll good morning

These are the opening lyrics to a musical

called "In the Heights".  Jake and I are HUGE

fans.  I'd seen it in New York back in 2009,

but Jake had only listened to (and memorized) 

the soundtrack.

So when we found out that "In the Heights" was

ending its Broadway run, we immediately (or should

I say impulsively?) bought plane tickets to 

New York and tickets to the show.

The show was amazing.  

I think that seeing it helped us get the music out of our 

system a little (let's just say that Jake has finally picked 

new music to sing in the shower in the mornings).

While we were at it, we enjoyed checking

out the sites in Manhattan.  I had never

been there at Christmastime before, and it 

was fun to see the changes that the 

holidays brought to the city.

Like Times Square...

And the Rockefeller Tree...

The skating rink (Aw, we witnessed a 

happy couple get engaged)...

The Macy's holiday windows...

And even the annual SantaCon pub crawl.

Only in New York!

Not only did Jake get to see "In the Heights,"

but he had another dream come true when

we found Pommes Frites, a tiny hole in the wall

that specializes in french fries and sauces.

Jake was in heaven!

We taste tested many sauces, and ultimately

picked Dill Lemon Mayo, Pomegranate

Teriyaki Mayo, and Curry Ketchup Especial.

Another food highlight was wining (with

complimentary sparkling water) and dining

at a little Italian restaurant that we happened upon.

It was the perfect place to rest our feet after 

walking all day and enjoy a hot and delicious meal.

We capped off our weekend by going 

to church downtown and then grabbing burgers

before heading to the airport.  

Almost missed our flight home, but that's another story...

Welcome to Miami

Oh man, I knew I would quickly

get behind in the blogging world.

Especially now that I'm working (I finally

found a nanny job in Orlando, hooray!).

Anyway, in December Jake and I drove 

down to Miami (3 1/2 hours away)

for a weekend getaway.  

Dr. Deines had a free 2-night stay at the Marriott 

left over from his interview trail last year.

It was a quick trip, but we fit a lot in. 

We tried Cuban hamburgers for the first

(and probably last...) time.

Jake finally got to see Dolphin stadium.

He's been a fan since childhood.  He had

to pick some NFL team to cheer for since

Utah doesn't have one.  Why Miami, you ask?

"Because the colors are cool."  

I got to see the newest Norwegian ship, 

the Epic, which was docked in Miami that day.

Wow, what a monster!

We walked along South Beach,

and I found a particular BBQ salmon salad

that I had tried there 4 years ago, which was exciting.

It was just as delicious as I remembered.

After that, we weren't quite sure what

else to do in Miami, so we took it to Google.

We were led to "Coral Castle," a weird but 

interesting historical site built in the early 1900's 

by an eccentric man named Ed Leedskalnin.

He apparently worked alone, at night, to move 

and position slabs of coral (each weighing several tons)

and create this "castle," (complete with 

furniture), in which he lived.

When asked how he did this, he claimed he knew 

"the secrets of the pyramids," which he never shared.

There are a lot of theories people have come up with 

to explain how he created Coral Castle,

but his methods remain a mystery.

Kinda strange, but we enjoyed it.

Hoping to get down to Miami again

during our time in Florida.  

3 for 3

So far, Jake and I have 3 favorite places
to eat in Orlando. We also love seeing friends and family
who travel through Orlando.  So during the fall, we teamed up 

some great friends with some of our favorite joints.
A perfect combination!

1. Earl of Sandwich

This is a sandwich joint located in Downtown Disney.  

During the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, 

they have a delicious toasted  "holiday sandwich" filled with 

shaved turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.

We LOVED seeing the Kaleta's (my former employers in Virginia)

and having sandwiches with them in November.  

We're so glad they have family in Florida so we can 

see them periodically and watch Reagan grow.

2. 4 Rivers

There are no words to describe just how delicious 4 Rivers is.

Our favorite meal is the pulled BBQ pork (although

their brisket is also renowned), with tasty sides like 

fried pickles, okra, and green beans.  

So we were excited when Owen
(a friend from my cruise ship days) 

came to town and was up for some BBQ.  

4 Rivers is located just minutes away from our favorite

frozen yogurt joint, so we couldn't resist 

topping off the evening at Yogurtland.

3. TWIST Asian Fusion

We are lucky to have this restaurant right across the street 

from our apartment (this picture was taken from our balcony).

Not only do they have a hibachi grill complete with salad, soup,

grilled veggies, fried rice, AND noodles 

(plus your choice of meat, chicken, or fish), 

but we have become friends with the chef, Bruno, 

who supplies us with entertaining jokes 

and unlimited "yum-yum" sauce!

We are always looking for excuses to eat here, and 

so we were excited when Haylie and Bryan Belnap 

(high school friends of mine) came to town.  

As always, the food was great, and so was the company.

We finally got the internet!

So now that we are connected at home,
you should see more blog posts soon.
Happy New Year everyone!

Thanksgiving festivities

Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital was a little

unforgiving this year and scheduled Jake to work all 

day on Thanksgiving, plus all night. 

So we celebrated Thanksgiving in other ways.

Thanksgiving decorations from my mom, including fall leaves from Utah!

On Monday, we had the missionaries over with a new convert
and her family to teach them about
Family Home Evening.

After the lesson and a fun game, we made
turkeys out of junk food.

The kids thought that was pretty great!

Me with the missionaries and some of the Haitian members in our ward.

Proud of our little turkey creations.

On Saturday, Jake and I had a "re-do" Thanksgiving,
with all the trimmings.  I got a bunch of recipes from my
mother and grandmother, and spent the whole day cooking. 

I must say that things turned out pretty tasty!

The only glitch was that my stuffing turned out more like
croutons (I didn't know it needed to be covered in the oven),
but luckily we had a spare box of StoveTop in the pantry,

so we whipped that up at the last minute.

We did our turkey breast in the crockpot, and it was delicious.

The spread, compliments of two hands, one crockpot, and a very busy oven.

Jake with his feast (note the cranberry sauce that is still in the shape of the can).

 Because of the excess amounts of food, 

 we had the missionaries join us, which was nice
(although not pictured).

So despite the crazy work schedule,
our first Thanksgiving was still pretty great.