Bella's Mittens

Thank you Twilighter's for your patience. I just received word from the last recipient that she'd opened her Twilight package. Inside was this.

photo and link courtesy of subliminalrabbit.com

My Aunt Collie sent me the pattern after reading about it in Entertainment Weekly and thought I might be interested. I certainly was! And I knew four other ladies that would get a real kick out of it as well. Mom whipped em out in no time, but getting them in the mail and to the ladies took what seemed like forever!

You can find these and many others on Etsy for a small fortune. They are supposed to be made with wool, but mom made hers with regular yarn so that they can be washed and dried normally. She had to adjust a few things about them as well. I just love mine. Let me know if you're interested in a pair and I can try to work something out with my mom! :)

I'm baaaaack...

I know that all ten thousand of our readers were just dying to know what the heck was going on this past week. So I'll give you the quick run down...we have been BIZ-ZIE!!!!

Nate's mom got back from her visit to China and stopped in Ann Arbor for a night. Before leaving she gave Nathan this beautiful set of wooden chopsticks and pearl cufflinks. We had a great dinner at Zingermans (where else?) and just enough time before bed to see all of her pictures. China is such an interesting place...hard to believe that Nate's dad lives there!





This past week has been the first of two weeks of Spring Break for Nate. He's spent the time doing what he does best...training, job searching and loving on Sampson. He manages to fit the dishes in as well...nice, right?

Monday went as planned...work, dinner, Y and then relaxing with Nater Gater. While we were relaxing I decided to finish Nate's birthday present. Are you ready for this??? I registered him for the Green Bay Marathon!!!!! He's been training for it since December, but we wanted to wait a bit before we made it official just in case we couldn't work the timing out. The race is on May 17th...that's right...13 days before the wedding...yikes! :) We're super excited and I think my Green Bay fam will do a great job of cheering for Nate as he crosses the finish line in Lambeau Field! (I haven't decided yet what I'm going to be doing on race day. The marathon is not for me right now, the training is quite intense and the stress of an upcoming wedding doesn't jive for me. I'll update once I make up my mind.) Nate running up to 12 miles at once now...that's just KAH-RAZY!!!!

Sooo...Tuesday was a little different. After work Nate picked me up and we quick ran home to pack and hit the road. My boss gave me Wednesday off so I got to join Nate in Cincinnati for some wedding planning. He had planned to go alone unless I could get the day off. And I did! Wahoo! So we hit the road Tuesday night in order to use all of Wednesday for planning.

Here's what we accomplished on Wednesday:
Ordered the boozie-booze (very important!)
Reserved a hospitality suite at the hotel (for the entire weekend so guests can congregate in a large space versus hotel rooms...plus we'll stock it with food and drinks for the weekend and have a brunch there on Sunday morning to say goodbye...pheew...that was a lot of information!)
Found the site for our rehearsal dinner...yum and yeah!
Met with our pastor and finalized some meeting dates, the organist and details regarding our reader and Nathan's family pastor being a part of the ceremony.
Had a tasting with our caterer at the Pohlmeyer's house...and finalized our menu (it's so delicious...can't wait to have it again!)
Completed the design process for our invitations and they were sent to print!
Drove back to Ann Arbor.

Gah...we did so much but we were both SO excited and relieved to have so many of the smaller things finalized!

Thursday it was back to work for me and then we joined Gaucher's for the men's basketball game versus Purdue. I'm not a huge basketball fan, but any excuse to talk to Meg all night and drink Diet Coke is fine by me. We aren't ranked, but Purdue was ranked 16th and we spanked 'em. Go Blue!

While we were there they played a song to get people excited and up and dancing...well it worked and they even projected the people dancing on the big screen. At one point they showed a little boy dancing all silly, he was maybe 11, and then all of a sudden he ripped his coat off and started humping the air. SO crazy! The whole collusium roared with laughter. Nate was instantly saying "what would you do if our kid did that?" First, I'd be in shock, and then I'd kill him.



Last night I joined Meghan at her church. The Rotating Shelter of Ann Arbor was placed at her church for the week. The Rotating Shelter is an organization in Ann Arbor that hosts up to 25 men each night and each week a different church within our community hosts these men at night. During the day they spend time at the homeless shelter of Ann Arbor. Meghan was kind enough to head up the food distribution for these men each night. I got the chance to help her on Friday night and it was quite rewarding. We started setting up around 7:30 after picking up some pizzas, spent time replenishing the coffee, cookies and other items. After cleaning up the food and drinks we got home around 10. After a long Friday I still came home full of guilt for taking advantage of all the blessings in my life and thrilled for each and every one of those blessings. Especially for the family that surrounds and loves me. I always get the most amazing high when I spend time volunteering. It's amazing how inspiring a few hours of simple labor can be. I really need to do it more often. Not only is it obviously helping others, but it reminds me to count my own blessings more often.

Today we spent the day indoors...except for the two plus hours we spent at the Y. Nate had a 12 mile run today so I spent time getting my own workout in. Can't wait to feel my legs in the morning. Oi vey.

So I'm back...a few days, a missed wordless Wednesday and multiple blessings counted later. Happy Saturday everyone...

GOOP

Have you heard of GOOP? It's a website run by a celebrity detailing the following portions of her life titled: make, go, get, do, be, see. Each of these titles holds a page devoted to that "thing" - for instance, under go there was a posting with a HUGE list of hotels to stay in, places to eat (both popular and super low-key), as well as her favorite things to see while in NYC. My favorite thing about the site is that you can sign up for her weekly newsletter where she addresses one of the "things" on her site: be, do, make, etc. I subscribed back in October and have really enjoyed the weekly updates. My favorite so far was the newsletter about her family Thanksgiving menu. Or maybe the cleansing she did after Christmas. Normally a very quiet celebrity, she shows so much of her "normal" daily lifestyle through her website. Anyway, I have truly enjoyed her views on life and living. Who is this private but HUGE celebrity behind GOOP.com you might ask? Why it's none other than Gwyneth Paltrom. So neat...

Lasagna Garden

My senior year of college I lived with 7 other girls in a house that we named "The Tree House" because it was surrounded by trees. One of those girlies was Alisa and after college she moved to Chicago to pursue her masters in Opera Performance. Very cool. Her older sister Eric also lives in Chicago and works for Oprah. She just wrote a very interesting article on Oprah.com about Lasagna Gardening. She points out very quickly that it's not about growing the ingredients for a lasagna but rather about purely organic gardening. She even includes pictures of the step by step gardening process. You can read the article here.

Congratulations Erin...your lasagna garden was quite the success!

Favorite Things - Week Eight

photo courtesy of Graeter's.

Do you know what this is? It's heaven on earth, that's what it is. It's my favorite ice cream - Black Raspberry Chip Graeter's ice cream. The best ice cream I've ever had in my entire life. And I've tried a LOT of ice cream. Nathan has converted to Graeters as well. We love it so much we're having it at the wedding with our cake.

Graeters is only available in Ohio and Northern Kentucky so we take advantage of it everytime we're in Cincinnati. Everytime. It's made in small two gallon batches by the French Pot process. They pour pure liquid chocolate into the ice cream and then have to break it up with a paddle so in every scoop you get these deliciously HUGE chunks of chocolate. Most likely we won't be living close to Cincinnati after we leave Michigan. so we'll have to take advantage of their shipping methods!

If you're ever in the Cincinnati area, try some Graeter's...I'm sure it will become one of your favorite things too!

Today, I love her.

Whether you love her or hate her, Rachel Ray has some great ideas on her website. The above picture is an example of the candy bar wrappers that you can make on her website and customize with your name and wedding date. Did I mention that you can do it for FREE???? Go here and make some of your own...there are a bunch of different combinations!

Mom...

If you're reading this...I would LOVE one of these...but I understand if you're not reading this...I wouldn't either if I were you. We both know my blog surfing leads to your incredibly long list of "could-you-make-this-for-me's??" Maybe if you have some of the you-know-what fabric left from the you-know-what project for the wedding you could find it in your heart to make me more organized! Nathan would appreciate that, I'm sure.



Idea and directions can be found here.

Speaking of my mom's long list...I am revealing my Twilight lovers surprise on Monday. The post office is just taking too long to deliver the surprise to a few ladies. Sorry for the delay...but I think you'll love it! Even if you don't, would you mind faking it for my mom? She spent too much time making these babies for the lovely ladies to not get some mad props! :) All nice comments are appreciated once I post about it!

Bookmarks

Found this cute idea here along with the photo.

My friend Tricia has three children; two girls and a boy. Michaela is one of the girls. And she loooooooooooooves paintstrips from paint stores. Once she had them out, cut each square and mixed the colors into new paintstrips. Tricia is just betting that little Miss Michaele will be in some sort of fashionable design industry. Well...I saw this and just instantly thought of Miss Michaela. For the rest of us who just have a random collection from past projects (i.e. which shade of chocolate tootsie roll brown should we paint the living room wall) wouldn't this be a nice way to reuse them instead of tossing them??

If I sent this to you...

...would you laugh or be offended?

I love them. You can find them here.

MOM

Think white. Think wedding.

The end.

Idea and image from Martha Stewart online.

Aren't these darling? So simple and so sweet!

Wordless Wednesday

Trumped.

I was trumped this Valentine's Day. Totally and completely trumped. Darn it.

Oh so many moons ago (3 weeks) I was trying to de-clutter our basement and happened upon a box of photos. Well, wouldn't this make a nice little Valentine's Day present. So I plotted out my course.

1. Hide said box of photos from Nathan. Didn't want him finding them and having the same great idea.

2. Rush to Target to find gorgeous (but manly) picture albums. Purchase three.

3. Cleverly place photos into albums in chronological order (starting with Thailand, then Africa, followed by Australia. Or does Cambodia come before that?) while wonderful fiance is attending night class.

4. Throw a fit - LITERALLY - when you realize you have NO idea what order to put the pictures in. Darn that fabulous fiance and his uber-confusing travels over a two year period that ended three years ago and now you can't remember what order he went in.

5. Decide to wrap said box of photos and empty picture albums in large box with bright red paper. Throw your heart-felt and oh-so-Hallmarky card on top.

6. Wait for Valentine to open his gift so you can start to put it together. With his guidance this time.

7. Realize you've been COMPLETELY trumped when you open your gift. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE being spoiled...especially in my new black jacket...but I just hate to be TRUMPED!

I love you, Valentine. :)

Sidenote: As if it couldn't get worse once the presents were opened, Nathan replied "I love you too. I'm so glad that we're getting married! I can't wait to be married to my Valentine." Again, this trumped my simple, yet to the point "I love you, Valentine."

Next year, it's on like DONKEY KONG!

Note to Self:

Elizabeth, please pretty please remember to try these amazingly cute things next year. And DO them!

Found this while reading this. Can't wait to make these homemade valentine's for my students next year. Except of course using my face, hand and door. (Look at me being all optimistic that I'll be teaching next year. Ahh...optimism is such a beautiful thing.)



These are healthy and so deliciously cute to look at (and I'm sure eat too!). Thanks to the Lavender Lilly for passing on such a cute idea for friends, family or yourself! She even included the instructions for making them!



And this would be so appropriately delicious and sweet to make for my husband's Valentine's Day breakfast...AHHHH...we're going to be MARRIED on the next Valentine's Day!!!!!!!!



I need to end this post. It's starting to get me all riled up. Married? Gah! Am I the only soon-to-be-newlywed that still gets a little over excited when she thinks about being married in less than five months???

Favorite Things - Week Seven

A long time ago in the land of Charlotte Nathan convinced me to buy a pair of Merrels. He was on his second pair and was convinced they were the world's best shoes. I remained unconvinced until one fateful day at the local REI when I was convinced to at least try them. Now, I am a believer and I'm looking to purchase my second pair soon. If you need to find a pair of shoes that are easy to walk in, look neutral and are comfortable just try a pair of Merrels. Sooo comfy all day long...and that's coming from a teacher!

Too Bad Davis

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

We've met the most interesting people while we've been here in Ann Arbor. Here are some just within our neighborhood.

Our next-door neighbor is a private chef that cooked for the President for eight years before living aboqrd a yacht as a personal chef. The family he currently cooks for met him on said yacht and gave him an offer he couldn't refuse. So, now he our neighbor...he has a soft spot for Sampson and tends to bring him all natural treats. (He's a natural and organic only chef!) He also sports an entire custom created Viking brand kitchen in his townhouse. Nate, Meghan and I all walk Sampson behind his place just to "take a peek." Don't worry, he's cool with it. I especially love his copper pot and pan collection...Holy Majoley!

Another friend that lives in our neighborhood has a dog Pete and two cats, Lilly and Tigger. When she and/or her husband walk Pete the cats come too. They all walk in a nice little line. It's really quite interesting to watch other people watch them walk the dog and cats...did you follow that thought?

Speaking of dogs, one other set of neighbors have a small dog named Gabbie. They absolutely loved Sampson when we got him. They used to stop by and let Gabbie and Sampson play together. Now, they cross the street before they get to our house and ignore us. Weird, right? We tried to stay nice and still say "Hello" when we saw them, but I couldn't take the ignoring anymore so now when I see them cross the street I just tell Sampson that I still love him very much. Big baby that he is.

One of my good friends lives right behind me. She's a total orchestra nerd and she knows all kinds of famous composers and conductors from her career in the orchestral world, like Yo Yo Ma (sidenote: I thought Yo Yo Ma was only something you yelled to your "Ma" when she was downstairs and you were up). And even though I had to look up how to spell orchestral, somehow our two worlds mesh oh so well here. I think.

One of the other partners here is a published author. Her book, Cinderella Was a Liar, made its debut last year! She has blog for the book as well as a personal blog. Right now she has an interesting entry about Valentine's Day. She's helped to cast a BAJILLION different t.v. shows. This summer she was casting the show "Mama's Boy" or some title like that and told us about it at our cookout. Basically, a bunch of Mama's Boys are looking for love, but the girlfriends have to pass the Mama's test too! So interesting to hear the behind-the-scene casting stories from her!

And to round out the interesting neighbors we've met I must tell you about "the recycler." He rides his bike around town all year long (rain OR shine) while also steering a shopping cart from Kroger. He picks up cans (there's a 10 cent deposit in MI for them) and ohter random items. He then makes things out of this so called "junk" and sells it...to who you ask? I don't know who. BUT, that is how he pays his rent. I should also add that he lives in a three bedroom townhouse that costs more than ours does.

Excuse me, I need to go buy a bike.

Fingers Crossed...

Here's to hoping this year's Valentine's Eve and Day is a LOT better than last years!

Check back...

Next week I'll be posting a little something for all of your Twilight lovers out there...thanks to my Aunt Collie and my mom...

But I have to wait for a few certain people to receive a few certain items...

Can't wait to share it!!!!!!!!!!!

Today the Post Man brought us a very special gift...



Just in times for Valentine's Day...but it's not SPLITS like last year...



A box of chocolates from Seroogy's...straight from Green Bay, WI...



I couldn't help myself. I couldn't wait a minute more. I poked three on the bottom until I found this one...sweet caramel deliciousness...



Thanks Dad and Mom!

Wordless Wednesday

Favorite Things - Week Six

Almost everynight after dinner Nate and I like to have a mug of hot chocolate. Nathan warms up our favorite skim milk from Calder Dairy (another favorite of ours), and then we add in the hot cocoa mix. About five minutes later we have a delicious cup of hot chocolate. I think hot chocolate is often overlooked - it's so delicious! It really helps settle my sweet tooth at the end of the day, it's fairly easy to make and I love that Nathan usually makes it! Bonus!

Weekend Recap

Sorry for the boring title. But that's basically what this post is so why not tell it like it is, right?





We started Friday night with a trip to Yost Arena with Gaucher's. Michigan was playing Lake Superior State and other the the first period, Michigan pretty much dominated. Thanks to Dave we had great seats, but they were just above the plastic wall so we were all a little paranoid...especially when a foul puck flew up over the wall about ten feet from us! Nathan came prepared for a long game with fruit snacks to share. Dave demanded a seat change after the first period so that he and Nate could have "Man-Time" as they called it. I was more than pleased to chat Meg's ear off for the next hour! We had just as much fun watching the undergrads across the rink as we did watching the game. Uncle Buck, the Turqoise Viking and the Nerdbomber were quite the entertainment when following the puck got old. We're really going to miss them...but that's for another post...




On Saturday I did our grocery shopping for the week (yahoo...NOT!) and Nate watched some of the Michigan basketball game at his friend Bryan's. Then Saturday night was the main attraction! Ross Follies 2009!!!! We were planning to drive to the show with Gaucher's but an unstartable car from the babysitter meant that only Dave got to see the show. (We missed you Meghan!!!) Two acts, lots of laughs and of course Nathan's generous sharing of fruit snacks later we found ourselves at Fraser's Pub. Fraser's is within walking distance of our house and they serve PBR on tap. FOr these two simple reasons, Dave and Nate are both big fans of our local dive bar. I went for the first time on Saturday, I managed to convince the boys to get a bucket of decent beer instead of PBR. Pheew...



Today we went for a nice walk outside. It was in the 40's so we took advantage of it! Sampson thought he'd died and gone to heaven when we returned home from an hour and a half later. We spent the rest of our day picking out registry items. Nate actually had some good insight and was WAY more interested than I'd expected he'd be. We're almost done which will be so great to have off our list of things to-do for the wedding!



Now we're going to run to Coldstone Creamery for some of these babies! I think we might end up fighting over a red-velvet cake ice cream cup...Yum!!!

Save the Dates

(front of the card)

(back of the card)

These were created by Sara at Less Ordinary Designs. They were just what we needed to get the word out about the date and the hotel room block! I just love using Etsy vendors for wedding items...thanks for the tip Carm!

25 Things

If you're a part of Facebook I'm sure you've seen the 25 things posts.

If you're not then let me explain...

People are "tagging" others and asking them to list 25 random things, facts, habits and/or goals about yourself. I have dodged the bullet for a few days, but since last night I've been tagged six times. I figured it would be fun to post my 25 things here too!

1. I love popcorn...especially at the movie theater...NO butter please!

2. I am the only daughter and baby of my family. This fact shows itself on a daily basis.

3. I would love to have the following dogs someday: Saint Bernard, Bulldog and Bernese Mountain Dog. Sampson needs a buddy!

4. I miss teaching everyday. Seriously - Every. single. day. There isn't a day that I think about how lucky I was when I was teaching a wonderful grade, to wonderful children with amazing co-workers and friends in Charlotte. I know that I didn't realize how good I actually had it until I left. Wonder if McAlpine would have me back...

5. I lack my mothers creativity...or at least the follow through of being able to actually "create" my ideas. Drives me crazy...especially when she pumps things out in no time. Ugh.

6. I'm very thankful for my Wednesday Night girls here in Ann Arbor. They continue to amaze me with their consistent and genuine friendship.

7. I was holding a baby once and it leaned backwards out of my arms and fell onto it's head. The baby was fine, I was not. It was horrifying. I can still see it happening in my mind.

8. I love sweet tea. Soooooooo much.

9. Everyone around me right now either has children, is pregnant or is planning on getting pregnant within the next 6 months. I'm hoping all those Fertile Myrtles stay away from us for at least another 10+ years!

10. I've been on safari in Africa. It was amazing. We slept in the middle of the Serengeti in a tent with a lion pride calling all night long. This will forever drive Nathan crazy because I bawled my eyes out due to the following: fear, sleep deprivation, fear, having my first camping experience in the middle of no where in the Serengeti and one more thing, oh yeah, fear.

11. I'm afraid to leave things in the crock pot during the day if I'm not at home. I always use it overnight if I need to cook something for a long time. The bad part about that is cranberry chicken never smells good at 7am.

12. I love Graeters ice cream. Black raspberry chip in a cup. Mmm...

13. I can't believe I'm marrying someone who drinks PBR by choice. Barf.

14. I miss living in North Carolina. I loved almost everything about it: weather, teaching position, apartment, friends and the restaurants...just to name a few things! I often find myself saying "Well, in Charlotte...."

15. I love watching movies. Nate and I try to beef up on films before our annual Christmas "Scene It" tournament with my family.

16. I fear that I am a product of my surroundings. I want to be my own person but still learn from others. Finding that balance has always been a struggle for me.

17. I can appreciate anything that comes in a blue box with a white bow. For any holiday. Or any reason. Whenever. I'm always up for the challenge!

18. I wish I could be someone to say they have no regrets. Emphasis on the wish part.

19. I am an avid blogger...I might not be posting but you better believe I'm reading other peoples blogs and commenting. Nothing is more exciting to me about blogging than learning tips and tricks from other people! In fact, I got hooked on something recently that I am just about to unvail on my own blog. Plus, I've been able to reconnect with so many friends and family through this little adventure in posting!

20. I love the idea of being a mother but actually going through the labor scares me enough to not want to be one. Hope that changes. In about ten years.

21. I love to cook, but it usually takes me twice as long to make a dish. I still can't chop an onion correctly, I always end up with long pieces that I have to chop separately.

22. I wish I was better at keeping in touch with people. I am always thinking of friends and family and wishing the best/wondering how they are. I think moving so much when I was in high school really affected my ability to keep in touch with people. I'm hoping to get better once life gets back to normal after this Grad-school venture is finished.

23. I am very insecure. I know. Shocker.

24. I love to get advice from people. About anything and everything. Refer to #23. I can only imagine how annoying this must be to others.

25. I wish I had a better and more consistent understanding and knowledge of God in my life.

Wordless Wednesday

So for one Wednesday and one Wednesday only I will explain Wordless Wednesday.

Basically I'll be throwing up a picture for ya'll to enjoy. It might be old or new but no matter what it won't have any words explaining it.

I'm going to try and do this every Wednesday. Notice I said try. :)

Secret Stash Begins

I've heard of people that have secret closets for future children. Although it makes me superstituous to do it myself, I have to admit I love the idea of collecting sweet little sussy's for our future children. This is something that's hard to resist buying. Then I remember how talented my mom and (oh-so-very-soon) mother-in-law-to-be are. I think instead of a secret closet I'll have a secret picture file on my computer labeled For Nonnie and Mimi's Eyes Only. How does that sound?

Weird or Wonderful?

I think they're wonderful. Others might not agree. Nate loved them too.

Brownie recipe:

1 15oz can black beans
1 box brownie mix

Open, drain and rinse black beans. Pour back into the can. Fill the can with new water to the top. Puree beans and water. Add puree to brownie mix. DO NOT ADD ANYTHING ELSE! Cook in a Pam sprayed brownie pan according to the package directions. Cool and serve.

Let us know what YOU think of it. The super-bowl crowd we served them to seemed less than thrilled to know the secret ingredient.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Gina.

Favorite Things - Week Five

SOMEONE told me today that he thinks Ann Arbor has turned me a teensy weensy bit Green. I disagree. Until right now. When I'm thinking about my favorite thing this week. My organic cotton reusable snack bags. Oh Lord. He's right.

I purchased three of them on Etsy.com from Evelyn Fields. I absolutely love them and use them every single day. One carries my baby carrots for lunch, one has a sliced apple for a snack and the other carries whatever else I need for the day.

photo courtesy of Evelyn Fields Etsy site

I put these three precious baggies inside of my custom made lunchbag. That I love. With all of my heart. Oh Lord. I'm getting greener by the minute.

I need to end my post. Now. Before he has more ammunition.

Goodnight my Green friends, goodnight.

Honest.

He's just a puppy.

And this is what he does when Nathan sits in the spot he wants. He just sits on top.

Please, I Beg of You...

Don't tell Meghan and Dave where we were last night. Please.



Nate's friend Bryan gave us his hockey tickets at the last minute. With a huge load of guilt we trekked to Yost. We have a date this coming Friday with Gaucher's for a hockey game. If they'll still have us.

Here's a photo of our dinner. I was so pumped to eat there...last time we sat in Bryan's swanky seats they were having a Fiesta and we had all kinds of yummy mexican food.

Bryan if you're reading this, stop here. Then again, I don't think you know this site exists. Nevermind.

The food stunk. BIG time. I think it was karma telling me I shouldn't have gone to the game in the first place. Major disappointment.



And our boys lost. That stunk too.



What better way to heal our wounds than a stop to this place.



Here's my main man ordering us a delicious chocolate malt which we drank at home. Watching the last of the three Bourne movies. It was almost like we hadn't eaten a crappy meal at a losing hockey game at all.



Looking forward to next Friday...I'm sticking to the concession stand this time though!

Sushi

When we lived in Charlotte we loved to frequent a restaurant called Sushi 101. Forgive me if I've already told you this a bazillion times. I think if I tell Meghan one more time she might stop talking to me. Seriously. Anyway, we'd go there so Nate could eat sushi (gross!) and I could eat chicken lettuce wraps (D-licious!). I would never repeat NEVER indulge in sushi. Not my style. Anyway, we've now moved to Michigan and sushi is far from fresh...at least compared to Sushi 101 like I tell Meghan every 30 seconds. So we never eat it. Until Friday night when I begged Nathan to take me out for sushi. Because. I wanted it. I was CRAVING it. So we went and Oh. My. Goodness. it hit the fricking spot!

Edamame. Oh how we've missed you.



Spicy Tuna roll + California roll + wasabi in my soy sauce = ONE HAPPY GIRL!



This is what a sushi lovah eats...I don't know what half of it is and I can't stomach the real stuff.



BUT....somebody that I love abso-freakin-lutely LOVES this stuff!



I love you Nathan. You're my favorite sushi lover ever. EVER.

It's Baaaaaaaaack!

This is Jenny.

Jenny looooooooooves Diet Coke.

I loooooooooove Jenny.

She looooooooves to give up things like Diet Coke. Then whenever she wants one she says a little prayer for someone or something specific. It's like fasting. But Diet Coke style.

Jenny prayed for weeks for her brothers girlfriends to get a job offer. Weeks I tell you, weeks! Well, guess who got a job offer????





The sweet taste of Diet Coke and the satisfaction that giving up something soooo good for someone you love can be a great thing!



Congrats Jen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!