Dude! We Can All Hear You

So I'm standing in line in the cafeteria at work (have I mentioned that I have soup and salad from our cafeteria almost EVERY SINGLE DAY!? I bore myself to tears just thinking about it...) But anyway, I'm standing in line and this guy gets in line right behind me. He's on his cell phone (which I find pretty rude to begin with, can't he just wait till AFTER he's paid for his food... is his call THAT important that he has to share it with the whole line?)

In a perfectly audible voice, with no apparent regard for the rest of the people in line, dude has the following (half of a) conversation:

Well, we're both crazy. (...pause...) crazy about each other. (Wait what? Did I just hear that right?)

This whole thing is crazy. (Yes, and you, sir, are crazy for having a mushy conversation in the lunch line.)

I miss you so much... I just miss you all the time. (Oh gag, if he starts in with 'no I love *you* more' I'm ripping that phone out if his hands.)

Yeah, it's hard. It's really hard. (...pause...) You have no idea how hard it is. (Please God let him be referring to a level of difficulty and not sometime ENTIRELY inappropriate for a LUNCH LINE!!!!)

I know, I know... I just wish you were here right now. (Funny, I wish I were ANYwhere else.)

I just want to put my arms around you and hold you and... you know. (NO NO NO!!! I don't know. Please stop talking.)

You know, my friends think I'm nuts. Maybe I am nuts. This whole thing is just so nuts. (YES! You are most definitely nuts! Please please get off the phone!)

You're all I can think about these days. (Obviously...)

Luckily it was then my turn to pay. So I paid and I ran away and I was thus spared the remainder of the conversation, which, as I glanced over my shoulder as I left the cafeteria, appeared to still be going on several minutes later. Seriously, what the heck was wrong with that guy?????

Yum!

Just a quick post today to share an amazing (and quick!) recipe that my friend Susan discovered. (I always love love love when bloggers share easy tasty meals with the rest of us... so I am trying to re-pay the favor.)

Anyway! Here goes:

Salmon Skewers
(makes approx 7 skewers... serves 2 for dinner with leftovers for 1 lunch)

Ingredients:
1.5 lb Salmon (2 steaks)
1 large zucchini
1 red bell pepper
1 carton of white mushrooms (~15 mushrooms)
1 onion (red, white, yellow... doesn't matter)
soy sauce (I use the low sodium stuff)
olive oil
black pepper
salt
powdered ginger (I suppose this ingredient is optional... b/c it's not all that common, but if you have it, use it!)
garlic powder

You'll also need wooden skewers and a large Pyrex dish... and an oven.

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to Broil. (Or as high as your oven will go.)
2. Cut up salmon into 2" x 2" x 2" (ish) cubes. (I bought salmon steaks... cut the skin off... rinsed the fish... and then cut into chunks... salmon fillets would probably work too, but might be a bit thin... will probably need to reduce the cook time or at least fold thinner pieces in half before skewering.)
3. Cut up the zucchini, onion, and bell pepper (zucchini should be ~ .5" thick coins, onion should be cut into chunks... i.e. cut the onion half, and then cut each half into 6 - 8 pieces, bell pepper pieces should be approx 2" x 2")
4. Load veggies and salmon onto skewers (veggie, salmon, veggie, veggie, salmon, etc... I put 2 - 3 pieces of salmon per skewer)
5. Place skewers in a single layer in the Pyrex dish. (Use a second dish if necessary)
6. Pour olive oil and soy sauce all over the skewers... don't be shy... just dump it on there, make sure everything is coated.
7. Pour a little more soy sauce on, trust me.
8. Rotate the skewers in the dish to make sure the sauce gets on all sides.
9. Sprinkle on a decent amount of black pepper and a small amount of salt (remember the soy sauce is already pretty salty... even if you use low sodium.)
10. Sprinkle on the garlic powder and the powdered ginger.
11. Rotate the skewers again to spread the seasoning onto all sides.
12. Place skewer filled dish(es) in oven for approx 7 minutes. (Will vary depending on how thick you cut up your salmon pieces.
13. Use tongs to flip the skewers over (bottom side should now be up)
14. If the mood strikes you, pour on some more soy sauce. (I swear I don't own stock in kikkomon.)
15. Cook for an additional 7-ish minutes.
16. Using pot holders, remove skewer filled dish(es) from oven and say "Viola!!!" (I find this really helps me feel as if I've accomplished some sort of cooking feat... good for the ol' ego.)

Serve with rice or cous cous. Delish!!

And Then BAM! Right Into The Side Of A House

Kyle and I played in Tahoe this past weekend and I just have to say it was a.maz.ing. Some of the best snowboarding I've ever enjoyed.

We hit the road from SF, bright and early, at 6 am Saturday morning. By the time we got gas and breakfast, and sat in Bay Bridge construction traffic, and made the 183 mile trek to Kirkwood, it was 10 am, which was later than we hoped for, but still ok. The weather was unbelievable. High 40s... maybe even 50 degrees... and not a cloud for miles. Sweet home Alabama had NOTHING on this awesome blue sky. And yet, even with the warm day, the snow was still beautiful. A bit slushy, but not nearly as wet as I would have expected, and still totally fun to carve around in. AND I had a total breakthrough on my board. I FINALLY FINALLY learned how to really flow from being on my heal edge to being on my toe edge (which I realize is just Greek to anyone who doesn't snowboard, but for me it was HUGE DEAL! Something I've been trying to master since last year.) It was so exciting for me!

Unfortunately, I was so excited that I sort of stayed out on the mountain way to long and rode way too hard. By the end of the day my whole body was exhausted and all my muscles were shaking. On my last run I just could not go one little bit further. I had gotten myself stuck in a gully and needed to get out in order to make it back to my car. I was half way up one side of the gully when I decided to just take my board off and walk the rest of the way up. I sit down, dig my board in a bit and then unstap my left foot. I then unstrap my right foot, take a deep breath, and remove my board. I relax for a minute, working up the energy to stand up and carry my snowboard the rest of the way over the hill. Feeing ready, I reach for my board... and it ever-so-slooooowly sneaks down the hill a bit. I pause and think for moment, oh this can't be good... "No no no", I tell the board as I point in its general direction. And it then starts sneaking a bit more... so I stand up and start walking behind it, still pointing, now demanding, "Hey hey hey! You... board... stop right there." And then it starts moving faster, and I start running down the hill thinking I might actually catch it... well then it just TAKES OFF! The sides of the V-shaped gully we were in kept the board on course and so it was able to just pick up more and more speed. Foom! Down the mountain it went. Whoosh! Just missing another skiier. ("Sorry!" I yelled). Wheee! Up over an embankment at the bottom of the mountain. And then BAM! Right into the side of a house. (D'oh)

The board survived, and just missed a window (by about 6 inches!!) so I was able to laugh about the whole episode.

Sunday was more of the same, blue sky, great snow... but with less running into houses, so that was good.

I Knew It!!!

MY BABY SISTER IS ENGAGED!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Her and her boyfriend fiancé, who, by the way, I ADORE, have been in Costa Rica on vacation for a week and a half now. Last night, in their fabulous hotel room in the middle of the jungle, he surprised her with champagne and a proposal! :) :) :)

I could not be happier for her!

p.s. I TOTALLY predicted that he would propose in Costa Rica on Valentine's day... in fact I almost blogged about it yesterday, but was afraid I'd jinx it.


Drew and Caitlin
:)
Could they be any cuter together????

Loving

Loving...

... that I get to share this Valentine's Day, and every Valentine's Day for the rest of my life with the most wonderful man I have ever met. (Gag, I know, but he's just so very cute!)

... how cuddly my three cats are when it's chilly outside.

... the glorious snow in Tahoe this winter, not only for the awesome skiing/snowboarding it provides, but also for the streams and rivers and reservoirs it will fill in the Spring, providing some much needed water to our parched state.

... my kelly green, kate spade rain boots. A Christmas present from my sister. I wear them anytime I see a cloud in the sky, you know, just in case.

... that I am exactly 4 homework assignments and 1 final exam away from having a Master Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. (Eeeeee!)

... the excitement of this primary election and how many young people I see getting involved.

... that my wedding is only 226 days away!

... the (now canceled) TV show Arrested Development. I don't really watch TV, but Kyle and I have been cuddling up to watch an episode or two here and there (they're all on DVD now) and we mostly just laugh ourselves silly.

... the google homepage today.

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

Big Mutts

If you don't already frequent icanhascheezburger.com, you should really start. It's just so very awesome.

Case in point:


You are welcome.

Sometimes I Think I Might Actually Be Five Years Old

Kyle's dad sent us some random pics of my FIRST EVER sledding adventure! The pics were taken when we were back in Michigan for Christmas. Thought I'd share.

(Check out the jubilation in my face. I'm like a little kid!)









I'm nothing if not easily entertained.

Another Thing Off My List

YES!!!!!!!!!! Kyle and I *just booked* an AMAZING photographer for our wedding. I am so excited! He's young and fresh and artistic and just an awesome guy that I actually look forward to having around all day on my wedding! And he's... drum roll, please... AFFORDABLE!!!!! Woo-hoo!

Don't get me wrong, he's providing a wedding service, so he's still stupid expensive. BUT he's only like half as stupid expensive as some of the other photogrpahers I've been drooling over lately. And we get an engagement session! And we get to keep all of our negatives!!! I'm so excited.

And the craziest part? Waaaaaaaaaay back in August, like right after I got engaged, a friend reccommended a photographer to me... a photographer that I LOVED, but in no way could afford. Well, it turned out that *that* photographer, Mr. SuperPricey, was booked (over a year in advance!) for our wedding day, so regardless of how expensive he was, I couldn't have him anyway. (Which, really, was sort of a relief.)

ANYway, when we met with our photographer just last week I noticed a "thank you" page at the end of his sample album... on this thank you page? Mr. SuperPricey! Turns out they worked together! I think my photographer probably picked up a lots of his skills from Mr. SuperPricey himself (or hey, maybe vice versa!)!! So while they each have their own artistic eye, their styles are definitely similiar. And now I can have that style for a (relatively) reasonable cost! Isn't that awesome!? Yay!!!

Check out my photographer's amazing work:
http://www.hawthornephotography.com/

I heart him!

Stupid American Independent Party

I think it's a conspiracy. I can't be the only person to have made this mistake.

14 days ago I RUSHED, frantic, to the post office, on the very last possible day, making myself very late for school, so that I could re-register to vote. (Having moved and whatnot.) Being the hip chick that I am, and wanting be a part of that "very sought after" chunk of the voting population, I decided to go the independent route this time around. No official party for me, thank you very much. Go ahead candidates, fight over me. My vote could either way! I was ready to relish the tug-of-war.

So I filled out my name, address, birthday, blah blah blah... and then I got to the little section of the form where you state your political party... Republican? No. Democrat? No. Green? No. Independent? A-ha! Yes! I colored in the bubble, signed my name, and ta-dah! I was registered to vote. Woo-hoo!

I got my little yellow voter registation card in the mail today. Next to my name it said "AIP". AIP? What the heck is AIP??? According to wikipedia... AIP is American Independent Party! Which is not at all "independent". Rather, it's a whole other official political party that exists in California. Gahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! So now the only primary I can vote in is some worthless American Independent Party one.

This is like the BIGGEST PRIMARY EVER!!!!! And I'm totally missing it. >:

Consider me so annoyed.

At the very least, I will share this. If you haven't made up your mind yet, please feel free to vote for this candidate in my honor. I'll be sitting at home, missing out.