Weekending

Sorry for my lapse in posts recently. Every time I decide to post, I get distracted by facebook, pinterest, my friends' blogs and all other randomness on the internet.

Anyway, I've been loving our weekends recently. Today has been a lazy Saturday so far. While hubs watches the football play-offs, I get to piddle around my house {piddling is my favorite}. Tonight, we're headed out for a date at our favorite burger place and to watch a movie with some good friends once their kids go to sleep.

Last weekend, we had a great time hanging out with my SIL and her family. We went to the outlet mall, which is ironically in Commerce, CA {for those of you who aren't from Athens, we used to go to the outlets in Commerce, GA} to help find a pair of sunglasses for my brother in law. Afterwards, they came over for a delicioso supper of homemade veggie calzones. It was super fun to have family dine at our new table {more on that in a later post}. We played Bezzerwizzer after dinner - it's a trivia board game. We played with them a year ago and decided it was too hard, but it was much more enjoyable this go-round.

On Sunday we got to take our favorite little boys to church with us on Sunday. We loved getting to spend some extra time with them! I'm not sure if I've mentioned before that our friends from Georgia, the Lam's, moved here a year before us so that they could go to school at Fuller too. They have the best two sons - ages 4 and 2. It's been super fun getting to share life with their family.

The rest of the day we relaxed: watched some football {well hubs watched and I painted my nails} and Kung Fu Panda 2. Cute movie. Overall, it was a great weekend.

What are you favorite things to do on the weekend?

Merry and Bright!

We had the merriest of Christmases this year in Savannah. It was the first time I had seen my parents since our move. I loved spending time with them, eating good food, playing games, and seeing extended family {more details of our week in Southern soil soon}. Thanks, Mama and Dad for a fun trip!

Merry Christmas to you and your's. Christ has come. He has good news for us! He is our peace and joy. May you know the fullness of his presence this season.

Thanksgiving in Review

Random Ramblings 03

{My niece showing me a picture of a dog in Real Simple. She loved looking at all the pictures in that magazine. It's a sign that it's every girl's favorite!}

01:: We got to Skype with my parents on Thanksgiving day. It was the first time in months we’ve talked on Skype, and it was good to see them {even if it was through a computer screen}.

02:: I make these pumpkin cookies a couple of times to help me get in the Fall/Thanksgiving spirit. They were pretty good and much, much easier than the homemade version I made last Fall.

03:: Over Thanksgiving our sweet niece, Grace, started doing these double fist pumps when she really likes something. It’s completely amazing to see this little person with so much enthusiasm for life.

04:: I finished watching Brothers & Sisters this week. I started watching the show in July – shortly after we moved. It was my escape on particularly hard job-search days. {A cable line has never been installed in our apartment building and Fuller housing doesn’t allow you to install a dish so we have Netflix, hulu & an antenna to get by. It works for us – although I sure miss HGTV and hubs misses ESPN.}

05:: For the past four or five years, I have hosted an ornament exchange brunch over the Christmas holiday with my friends in Athens. I haven’t been able to decide whether or not to have one this year – new friends, new schedule….just not sure it would be the same. What do you think I should do?

06:: My most amazing husband went grocery shopping with me tonight. I HATE going to the grocery store by myself {or at all, for that matter}. It’s these little ways he loves me that makes him the best.

07:: I still haven’t switched over my summer clothes yet. It is finally getting chilly here, and my closet needs my warm clothes and some major reorganization.

08:: I bought myself a Coach purse on Saturday {from the outlet store at a deeply discounted price}. This summer I told myself that once I got a job my reward would be a new Coach purse. This is my first Coach bag, and I really like it. I have to admit that I’m feeling a bit of guilt about spending more money than usual on said gift {no time to go into all those thoughts right now}.

09:: I recently posted pictures to Facebook and realized how much K&G have been part of the past 6 months! What a blessing they are to us. We’re so thankful that we’ve gotten to grow our friendship with them, which is part of why we chose to move here.

10:: Hubs and I started a new running routine last Monday. We hit the road on Mondays and Wednesdays as soon as I get home from work for a quick run. I’m excited that we’re finally fitting exercise into our regular schedule. Since it’s getting a bit cooler outside, I’m definitely going to need some warmer running clothes {hint, hint}. :)

11:: To help with my commute to work, I’ve started listening to audio books. Last Monday I started Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and am enjoying it so far. Yesterday I finished loading all of the CDs onto my computer to sync with my iphone and realized that I completely skipped disc 3 – over 10% of the book! Only I would do something like this…

Big Bear weekend

Over Labor Day weekend {yes, I know I am way behind in updating my blog} Kim & Greg invited us to join them in Big Bear for the holiday. We rented a cabin together with some friends of theirs. It was a really fun weekend away from our usual routine. Hubs and I were both very happy to have something fun to do for the weekend. Usually we go to Oak Island over Labor Day with all of hubs’ college buddies, and we were missing them.

We dreamed about buying our own vacation home up there. Big Bear is a small mountain resort community two hour northwest of Pasadena. In the summer people spend time on the lake, and in the winter it’s a ski resort. For all of you Georgia readers, it reminds me a little of Helen.

We enjoyed hanging around and relaxing. We spent some time with our sweet niece and tried to convince her to walk. {She is now walking – or running – all over the place!} Quality time with that girl is the absolute best.

{Grace helping Uncle Mike choose his fantasy football team.}

We ate some delicious food – including a trip to Chick-Fil-A on the way home! I made a couple of special treats {cheesecake brownies and rice krispy treats} for all of to share during the weekend too. :)

We went on a 4.5 mile hike which had great views of Big Bear Lake.

Hubs went off-roading with our brother-in-law. They had a really fun time. It was the first time hubs has done something like that. I know he's looking forward to going again!

Thanks, K&G for the invite! We had such a fantastic time with y'all. Next time we'll make Blueberry buckle. ;)

Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving

This year my sister-in-law started a new family tradition for Thanksgiving and invited us to participate. We would write down the things we are thankful for from the past year. Each year at Thanksgiving, we'll make a new list, review our previous list and remember those things from years' past.

It was pretty difficult to write my list. Not because there aren't so many things to be thankful for but because I haven't had a very grateful heart lately. {That's a hard confession to make.} I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I want so many things for our home and our life here. I think I've been distracted by what I want instead of thankful for what I have.

It was good to reflect on all the blessings and good things in life. Here are a few of the things from my Thanksgiving list.

- Mike's unconditional love

{I'm sure there have been many times over the past few months when I made it really difficult for him to love me}

- Our parents' hard-work & help in getting us moved

- My sister-in-law & brother-in-law being so supportive of our move to Los Angeles and that they are so close by.

- Movie passes & sour patch kids

- Our niece, Grace...and the rest of our family. :)

- Leaving InterVarsity staff in a good place

- Moving across country & making the transition without using our credit cards

- My new job

- Diet cokes & french fries

- Friends both near & far who send love & prayers our way

- That God's grace & peace rules my heart.

Fish Tacos!

A couple of months ago {I can't believe it's been that long}, I mentioned we had fish tacos. It was my first time using tomatillos, and I was pretty pumped to try something new. Our friend Janna came over to hang out, eat good food, and play Mario Bros on the Wii. It was such a fun night with her! We've been friends with Janna for several years now; we worked together for InterVarsity in the Southeast. She moved to Pasadena this past spring to start her master's degree at Fuller and pioneer a new InterVarsity chapter at Pasadena City College.

I found the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens in May.

1 1/2 lb. cod or halibut fillets, but into 1-inch pieces {I used tilapia}

2 fresh tomatillos cut into 1/2-inch pieces {2 cups}

2 tsp. olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp orange zest

1/2 tsp lime zest

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl toss together the fish, tomatillos, oil, garlic, orange peel and lime peel. Season with salt and black pepper; set aside.

2. Cut six 12-inch-square sheets of foil. Place one-sixth (about 2/3 cup) fish mixture in center of each square. Fold diagonally in half in a triangle. Fold edges two or three times to make a packet. Place packets in single layer on a large baking sheet.

3. Bake fish 10 to 12 minutes, until packets puff slightly (carefully open a packet to check fish doneness; fish should flake easily with a fork). Meanwhile, in dry skillet warm tortillas over medium-high heat until soft, about 15 seconds per side.

4. To serve, divide fish mixture between two tortillas. Top with Cabbage and Chile Pepper Slaw. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.

I didn't use the slaw for ours, but am interested to try it. We just had ours with plain shredded cabbage tossed in vinegar and guacamole. The flavor of the fish was very light & tasty. If you like spicy tacos, I think the cabbage & chile pepper slaw would add it.