Yes, I do act like I'm 13 sometimes.

Remember how girls in middle school/high school (and college....) write their name with their crush's last name? 

Well, I kind of maybe took that a step farther.

Right after (or maybe right before? I don't really remember the exact time. We did know we were going to get married though.) I made a whole bunch of different email addresses with my new last name/variations on it.

I honestly don't know what my logic was..... I guess maybe naive little me thought that I should save them now in case one of those was the one I wanted later. haha 

Did I tell anyone about this? Nope. 

Did I wait to start using them until after we actually got married? Mostly...

Did David just find out about this two days ago? yes.

Chinese!

David went to San Francisco's Chinatown on his mission, so us making Chinese food has kind of become a regular thing around here. [Along with pizza and breakfast burritos for dinner...:)] Want to learn how to make it too?

We found a realllllly good wet batter that makes the chicken just like the restaurants do.

I'm going to let you in on one of our best discoveries of the year (that I now can't find the source for, sorry).

Here's our wet batter recipe:

½ cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg (beaten)
½ cup water (or as much as needed to make batter smooth)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
salt (to taste)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Cut the chicken into normal bite sized pieces and then put in batter.
We usually let ours sit for at least 30 minutes - usually longer.

We slice our beef really thin and coat it in cornstarch..

Let this one sit for a long time too - the beef soaks up the cornstarch and makes it extra crispy.

(Don't do the beef in the wet batter. We tried it once and it just didn't quite stick to the beef. Cornstarch is better, trust me.)

We use our smallest sauce pan to fry everything (about an inch deep with oil maybe? - we strain ours afterwards and save it for another time) and let it stay warm in the oven on a cookie sheet with a paper towel to soak up the extra oil.

We usually just pick whatever veggies we have and saute them. This time was red, yellow, and orange peppers, onion, and broccoli. 

It's pretty standard from what you find on the internet but here's our tiny spicy sauce:  (we only make 1/3 of it and it makes TONS)

• 2 tsp. sambal chili paste 
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 1 C ketchup
• 1 C chicken broth
• 6 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 C white vinegar

Place all the ingredients in a pot and cook on medium heat until sugar is dissolved stirring constantly. 

We actually like to thicken it up with a little bit of the  1 Tbsp cornstarch/ little bit of cold water trick.

We also wait until we are ready to eat to put our fried chicken in the sauce so it is still crispy when we eat.

I tried to find the recipe we used last night to make the Hunan beef (it was so delicious!) but alas, David made it, so I don't even know what to look for. I'll have to save that for another time.

That wasn't blurry on my phone.....

Now that I have written all about this, I am starting to get hungry!

Let me know if you want to make it and you have questions or if any of this didn't make sense. 

Because we really love this dinner and hope you do too!!

Sometimes v3

I watch guilty pleasures like Revenge. It's really not that great. But maybe I've watched almost all the episodes? just maybe....

I'm glad it's cold outside because now I crave a bagel every morning

I wish I could just pay someone good money to coordinate everything for us to move to Dallas. Sometimes I love thinking/planning it all out. Sometimes I just don't want to deal with it anymore.

I love discovering unexpected movie gems like That Thing You Do.  Well, correction - my family owns it, but I hadn't seen it for 5 or 6 years, until I re-discovered it one Sunday afternoon.

I feel like a 5 year-old when the whole bag of Tootie Fruities is almost gone because I've been mindlessly eating it on the couch while absorbed in netflix. 

I feel like it's one of the world's great injustices when I can't blow-dry my hair in less than half an hour. There are cons to having a lot of thick hair - like when I go to bed with my hair wet and it is still wet when I wake up.

I write a blog post and realize that sometimes it might not be as funny as I think it is. But then I push publish anyway.

I feel inspired to be a better person when I read stories like this about good people. If you don't read anything else today, at least read this. Seriously, I was bawling at work when I read it. 

linking up here today!

Questionssssss

I needed something else to do this afternoon, so these questions are in response to a blog from one of my coolest cousins ever, Rachel from Maybe Matilda!

1. Since she admitted her celebrity crushes, past and present . . . here are mine: Oliver Wood (Harry Potter's first quidditch captain)/ Sean Biggerstaff when I was like 17,  currently Harvey Specter/Gabriel Macht (from Suits!) and same as Rachel, Nathan Fillion (Castle/Firefly)

1.

2

3

2. What’s your favorite book?

Honestly? my blog reader.

3. What are your 5 favorite TV shows?

Suits! (I wish it would start back up already!!), Castle 

 I loved Lie to Me, we just finished Parenthood (seriously cried almost every episode... yes, I'm a weeper) and we are starting White Collar, which we really like so far.

4. Guilty pleasure?

umm, cheese? Castle? Ice cream cones?
Everything?

5. Any goals you’re currently working on?

half marathon - may 5.

am I ready? NO.

 am I terrified? YES. 

6. A trend or style you’ve wanted to try, but been scared to?

liquid leggings!
Confession: I have a pair sitting in my drawer right now. 

I have yet to wear them outside the house.

Also, if anyone wants to donate a pair of black boots to me, feel free. I will love you forever.

7. A skill you’d love to learn?

how to make a baby (ha!), how to fix a car, how to sew (the right way!), how to stand up to people

8. If you had a day to yourself with unlimited money to spend and no obligations, what would you do?

Vacation! - which would involve eating good food, friends and family, and relaxing

Turks and Caicos

9. A person (living or dead) you’d love to meet?

Some of my old ancestors?

Also, this question reminds me of Midnight in Paris. Just saying. 

10. If you weren’t doing the career you’re doing now (being a stay-at-home mom counts as a career), what would you want to be doing instead? 

stay-at-home-mom, personal trainer/professional athlete (who hasn't wanted to be an ice skater?!)

labor/delivery nurse maybe?

11. What are the names you want/wanted to give your kids until your meanie-pants spouse vetoed them?

Oliver

Camryn (for a girl!)

 Henry (which I'm still working on. I refuse to take no for an answer. Henry is just too cute.)



You should play along too!!!
Then let me know because I love reading things like these....

Fat Tuesday

I'm not Catholic, but Lent starts tomorrow.

I like the idea giving up a bad habit.

I thought I could give up (sugar, dessert, candy, tv, etc) but with March and April being full of birthdays, I changed my mind.

I think I'm going to give up soda [mostly diet coke/root beer].

(I'm typing this as I'm on the phone with a diabetes specialty clinic.ha)

I've been drinking it more and more lately and it is definitely something I can cut out if I want to be healthier.

So if you see me with my big Sonic cup, it'll be full of water.

40 days of no soda.

Easy peasy.

Day after.

Last night we ate too much pizza/cheesy bread, drank way too much root beer and looked at potential housing in Dallas for way too long. But it was perfect.

Anyone else have a v-day hangover? I think I've spent the morning talking myself out of bingeing (really? How do you spell that?) on all the leftover candy our office has.

It's okay to have pizza again tonight, right? [So much for being a good homemaker :)]

Valentine's.

We try not to go all-out  at Valentines because

 a) it is easier to get into restaurants/do things any other day of the year

 b) we like to celebrate love every day. cheesy? yes. 

c) it is cheaper. hello! college student budgets here.

Our tradition is to get a heart-shaped pizza and root beer and spend the whole evening with each other. simple. easy. peasy.

Also, when we have kids they will LOVE this tradition.

Then they will love us even more.

AND pizza is always good in my book.

Win. Win. Win.

Sometimes (v2)

(linking up here!)

****

I can't stop myself from when there is candy in our house. Or ice cream.
Or even frozen cool whip if I'm feeling desperate.

I want to freeze frame the weekends when I don't work and we have nothing to do and can just sleep in. Because someday these moments will be gone.

I want to soak up all of Provo, especially now that the leaving part is really happening. 

I decide to take the plunge and run a half marathon. (what was I thinking?!)

I find it mildly concerning when I get sick and can't train for said half marathon.

It really hits me that life can change so fast. And unexpectedly. 

I can't believe how lucky I am when I get my annual Valentine's cookie in the mail from my mom! and when I get to fall asleep every night next to my best friend.

I feel like I never, never, ever can be a morning person. No matter how hard I try.

I feel like a really good person when I can create something beautiful.

****

Impulse

Sometimes I have this irrepressible urge to chop off my hair. The only problem is that every time I cut my hair, I want to cry. (I know, silly and maybe even ridiculous. It's just hair, right??)

Last Thursday I decided I was sick of it and started browsing for what to do. I was DETERMINED to have a good experience this time. Friday afternoon, it was cut.

Pinterest had a plethora of pictures to go to for hair inspiration. But these were some of the only ones I could find that had the long layered style.

But, these pictures gave me the BEST haircutting experience I've ever had. I sat down, explained to her how weird my hair was - thick, lots of it, sometimes has a tendency to curl - then showed her these pictures and she basically said, "okay, you want this: _______________".
She just put everything I showed her into words and in hair terms. If I didn't understand something, all I had to do was ask (which I did, since I was more willing to talk to her since she let me blather to her all about my hair).

Talking to your hairstylist definitely makes the experience 100000x better. Plus when it took her 30 mins to dry my hair, she didn't even bat an eye.

I tip better when I'm happier, and I will even buy some product off you. Too bad I found someone I liked with reasonable prices right before we move.

February Photo Challenge

I don't have the real list of challenges handy, but this is today's.
#febphotoaday

"your view today"