opportunities

Whew, what a week. Jeff and I both worked hard during the week, then Friday night got to spend some good time together, chatting over Mexican food (at one of our favs, Chez Jose). It was great to catch up! Then on Saturday morning Jeff finally left for China (Oh and can I please question the strong stubbornness of my husband who wanted to only take a tiny backpack with him across the world? Men are so funny :). His visit is part of a huge project he is finishing at work, and it involves making factory visits to check out packaging. Thankfully, I will have him back by Thursday morning!

Oh and did I mention that this week our furnace broke? A long time coming...it was 25 years old, and I have to admit, it's great to finally check that off the list. We hope to sell our house in the coming months, so are done with projects for the most part. Luckily, we were given the name of an older gentleman who does HVAC stuff, and he saved us a ton of money on the new furnace which was a blessing.

Back to China--Jeff finally called this morning to let me know he got there safe and sound (his office upgraded his work cell phone to an international plan so he's able to call me--yay!). After sitting on a plane for 15 hours straight, then being shuttled by car to a city outside Shanghai, he was finally checked into the hotel and about to get some sleep. Tomorrow sounds busy, with lots of factory visits in the (small?) town they are in. In a couple of days they will move on to Shanghai, and do some exploring.

Meanwhile, I am trying to keep myself busy this week while he's gone...seeing friends and getting things done for school. Almost at the end of that road!

busy busy

Whew--what a weekend! It was so great to be home again finally, and Jeff was super duper excited to get back up to the mountain and start snowboarding again.

Friday night we had a low-key night in with Thai take-out (our favorite chicken curry and pork fried rice) and the last episodes of FlashForward. Now we are finally all caught up! For all of you who have never watched...this is the latest show by the makers of "Lost", which we also love...it's completely sucked us in. The ten episodes of FF are on Hulu.com, until March when the show resumes on ABC.

Unfortunately, sometime late on Friday Jeff found out he was going to have to work Saturday AND Sunday. So frustrating! Saturday we got up early and I went to work; he headed to Mt. Hood to get a couple hours of riding in before arriving to the office at 1:00 to do a few hours of design. Luckily, we had Saturday night to look forward to--dinner at the Moormeier's (Maggie and Pete).

Sunday we woke up early and met our friends, Eric and Whit, at church, followed by a yummy "bagel brunch" at Noah's. Then, Jeff headed back to the office--grr! Poor guy. He was trying to finish a deadline for the huge "secret project" his team has been working on. Big reveal will be sometime this spring hopefully, and it sounds like his trip to China will possibly be happening this month. But who knows...

Sunday night the Scotts came over--Justin, Jess, and their cutest baby ever, Mackenzie (who just turned 1!). Good times...eating, playing games, and catching up. :) A fun weekend, but I needed Monday to just completely catch up on homework. I have three presentations in the next five weeks and I'm starting to get back in the swing of things...

can't get enough of those mushrooms

Today at the gym I was watching "30-minute meals"...really, the only type of show that can distract me from a grueling work-out. Rachel Ray made a yummy salad with mushrooms, so I went home and made the same thing. Just wanted to share this one because it was SO EASY, and had soo much flavor! If you like lemons you will love it.

Mushrooms, sliced thinly.
Lemon juice.
Lemon zest.
Dry fennel (either whole or ground).
Salt and pepper.

Just stir it all together, to coat the mushrooms lightly. I let the mushrooms marinate for about an hour, before topping them on a big bed of dark greens (you can also use spinach). So low fat, and so light and refreshing. Love the flavor of the fennel with the lemons! Gobbled up the whole salad.

it's a new year

It's a new year! I don't normally make new years resolutions (because they are almost never kept - look at the statistics), but this year I will be looking for easy ways to add more health to our diets (flax seed meal, whole wheat flour, eating less food in general). I picked up this lovely little new concoction from TJs...have to say, it's about as appealing as a pile of green grass when it's in the cup and ready to be drank. But, it doesn't taste too bad, especially when mixed into apple juice. Surprisingly I have no problem chugging it down every morning...just read the label! A 3.5 oz serving of broccoli has 900 ORAC units, and a cup of this stuff has 8000 ORAC units! It's a super antioxidant. PLUS, the lady at TJs said another customer said it was really good stuff, and normally is way more expensive. Ha, say no more - I am sold. :)

I was inspired by the book I got for Christmas, Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld (more recipes to come). She purees vegetables, stores them in ziploc baggies either in the fridge or freezer, then squeezes the purees into recipes so you cannot taste them! It's genius. The main focus of the book is on getting kids to eat veggies, but I think it's great for us adults too. I bought some butternut squash and some sweet potato, all cut and ready to go at Trader Joes, so I can begin my pureeing! Will let you know how it goes (and if I can sneak the veggies past Jeff :).

just purely disgusting

california. third stop: rosebowl in pasadena

Buckeyes are going dowwww....oh wait. Well, that's what we thought. Unfortunately, the Ducks played like crap (a more inappropriate word would be more appropriate here), and Ohio State never got to truly see how much better we are than them. It's really a shame!

All that said, however, we still had a fabulous day at the Rosebowl. The weather was in the 70s, and we started tailgating at 9 a.m. Who says you can't drink beer at that time??! Jeff and I tailgated with Matt and Robin, as well as Jeff's family who were all at the game too. What a fun little Duck party it was! It's funny the lengths some people take though to set up a "proper tailgate"...we saw everything from flat screen jumbo TVs with satellite dishes, to a table for 8 set with fine china and crystal. Crazy sports fans!

After the Rosebowl, we stayed one more night in Santa Barbara with Matt and Robin. Saturday we arrived back in San Francisco in the early afternoon; our last night we had a night out on the town with Andy, Brook, and Jeff's mom and stepdad...yummy cocktails at Alembic followed by a delicious dinner of thin crust pizzas...

california. second stop: santa barbara

On Wednesday morning we took a beautiful and sunny drive to the beach town of Santa Barbara. We went to hang out with our good friends Matt and Robin Long, who live there. Jeff and I had both been to SB in the past, but it was fun having more time on this trip. Matt and Robin took us up to the vineyard (Los Robles) they belong to for an afternoon of wine tasting on a sunny deck, which for us is an ideal afternoon! The four of us spent a low-key New Years Eve at a quaint, delicious Italian restaurant for a late dinner. We were in bed at the stroke of midnight! Perfect timing for passionate Duck fans who needed their rest for a day of Rosebowl festivities.

california. first stop: san francisco

We came home from a lovely Christmas in Seattle on Sunday the 27th, then literally left for California the next morning. Our first stop: In-N-Out Burger in Redding (it's always the first stop!). I swear it gets better each time (maybe it's because I never eat red meat).

We arrived in SF on Monday afternoon to a breathtakingly beautiful sunset, so excited to spend a few days with Andy and Brook. Jeff, Andy, and I grabbed cocktails at a cute little spot, then the four of us had a fabulous Italian dinner with Susie and Terry (Jeff's mom and stepdad) who were also in town. Tuesday we explored neighborhoods, ate Ike's sandwiches on the pier, grabbed my favorite honey-lavender ice cream from Buy-Rite, and ate another wonderful dinner with Andy and Brook. Our downtown hotel, Le Meridien, was so modern and had the most comfy bed in the entire world. We did not want to leave! I had an appointment with the German consolate on Tuesday to get my German passport, but unfortunately it was a somewhat traumatic experience as I was turned away for not having my parents' marriage license (something that was never on the required list of documents to bring). Bla. I was upset, as now I will have to come all the way back. The pigheaded German lady behind the counter was R-U-D-E. Lady, if you represent the Germans, then I'd rather just keep my proud US citizenship by itself, thank you very much. Nevertheless, we had a wonderful time in San Francisco! :) It is very easy to picture ourselves enjoying life here.

family

On the 26th, we spent the day just meandering around the little town of Snohomish. It was a perfect and sunny winter day; so cheerful that I almost forgot to notice that Christmas was over. :) Jeff and Alison got really into taking pictures of us on this old, worn concrete wall...so here are a few from the day!