Best Date so Far

Saturday November 26, 2011 was a great day. It is my favorite day with Scott so far. We spent the day in the Salt Lake City area. It started off with an early matinee of Breaking Dawn-yup I saw it and I liked it!

Both of us are looking at purchasing a car. We test drove one and sat in many. We laughed over the persistence of car salesmen. We skipped lunch. We were starving! And the salesman would not let us go! We finally escaped and went on the search for food.

I saw McGrath's Fish House.

Scott ordered an appetizer sampler. It had shrimp crostinis with balsamic reduction, crab cake, chicken kabobs,  and hummus. My favorite was the crostinis and the crab cake!!!!

Scott ordered two items that were new to us. The above is Halibut with a pear glaze and pear compote, veggies and penne. DELISH

Below is their Bay City Salmon-stuffed with a crab mix and covered in some kind of sauce that was completely wonderful.

Scott ordered a raspberry lemonade. It was so good that my plan was when our amazing waitress Rebecca brought refills I was going to change my drink order. Well she was so on it that she brought a vanilla lemonade for me to try. It was a new flavor combination that I really enjoyed. 

After dinner we went to Temple Square and checked out the lights.

I was touched so much by the reflection pool and the manger scene there. I cried.

After seeing everything Temple Square had to offer we were walking and noticed a particularly energetic horse pulling a carriage. He did not want to wait for other cars, he was ready to go and prance and have some fun in the brisk evening air. His personality was priceless.

Scott and I walked to The Melting Pot for dessert! It was his first time being there. I ran to the little girls room and came back to champagne glasses full of sparkling peach and passion fruit juice! It was so romantic and I loved it. We had the bananas foster for dessert. It was a perfectly spiritual, romantic, satisfying, comfortable, thoughtful, day I have had with Scott yet! I am oh so very lucky!

Side note: Scott talked to my dad alone for about an hour. . . . He is the first man to ask my dad for my hand. I am so happy! and scared. . .  and happy. . . . and scared. . . . .

Happy Thanksgiving

What a wonderful Thanksgiving I had. 

Here is our table. Complete with Grandma Mabel Jones china set. It was so nice to see the print and eat the lovely dinner on the dishes.  

My niece Shay and a great stuffed turkey!

There was a personal family debate about the turkey and as usual my mom gave up what she wanted in lieu of what her children wanted. Regardless-it is a great turkey-gobble gobble as my nephew would say!

I am so thankful for my family and the great people they are. We have our hard times and we have our fun times. I try to see everyone and sometimes get my feelings hurt when things dont turn out the way I thought. 

I am still thankful for them.

Happy Birthday Jo

Let's start this party with a shot of the leaves 2 days before I left Portland. Later this day a large storm came in and blew and rained and smashed the leaves to the ground in one afternoon. The resulting gutter clogs and slippery sidewalks that followed were epic to behold. I do love the red leaves though. They were picturesque and serene!  

Shortly after getting to Utah I was met my Scott. We spent Friday together just being together. It was wonderful being with him again. Saturday was a short lovely funeral of my aunt. It is great knowing I will see her and all my other loved ones again after my time in this life. 

Fast forward to Tuesday 11-22-11

Jo Ann's birthday!  

She planned her own party. What a champ huh?  

We were treated to spaghetti tacos! Yes i Carly is the inspiration for this birthday feast. Our brother Daniel was quite skeptical. 

Here is proof I ate them also. After taking a bite I commented to the party that the tacos were like Jo--Good but a little bit weird! 

After tacos we made turkeys out of cookies and candies. My niece and nephew both needed their tongues to help create their holiday treats. 

Shay finished hers and was quite proud that it survived the nibbles! 

I had knitted Jo Ann a head band wrap thing. Everyone is wearing them this season. She had sent me a picture of what she wanted on facebook. I found a pattern and proceeded to learn to knit. After several attempts I finally finished it and I am quite proud of the result. It is quite cute! I love the button in the back and the cool button I got form moms button bucket for the flower! It was so fun to try something new!

It was a great great great first days of being in Utah!

Stone vs. Silpat

You know me and my experiments with cooking. I had recently purchased a silpat from Demarle and a stone cooking sheet from Pampered Chef. I had to test them out and determine which pan baked the best. 

Above are the cookies baked on the stone.

Below are the cookies baked on the silpat.

My Findings:

Above are stone. They are flatter and crispier and cooked longer.

Below are silpat. They are thicker, chewier, with crispy bottom.

Depending how you like your cookies there is a pan for you. I liked the silpat!

Hippie style

I love having flowers delivered to me at work. Well who doesn't?  Last Tuesday, the day after Scott left he had these calla lilies delivered to me. 

This next picture is of a tree I can see from my opertory window. 

I am fascinated by Oregon's fall season. It is November 8th and there are still many trees that are mostly green. I know many are all yellow and many leaves have fallen, but I still see green. In less than 10 days I leave to spend Thanksgiving in Utah. It seems weird to have green leaves still on the trees this late in the year. I am not complaining at all. In fact I love it. I love that fall is such a long season here in the Northwest. I love the crisp days especially when those days are dry. It has been wonderful to experience life hippie style!

Even though I still laugh inside when my patients plop down in the chair with their coach handbag, gucci glasses, prada shoes and their legs are full on hairy!

Surprise!

Saturday morning Scott surprised me by showing up at my front door. I kinda knew he was flying out. He did cover his tracks pretty good by saying he was sleeping in so I would not be suspicious when he did not text back. 

With Scott in town and the sun shining I took full advantage of the fun and we went through the fruit loop. I enjoyed it so much the second time-I am sure it was the company. 

The picture above is of Mt Hood. Covered in snow and a lone cloud on the peak. Many of the stops were closed for the year and there was so much less traffic this weekend. I introduced Scott to Honey Crisp apples. He is a huge fan as many of you are.

Scott gave me an ice cream ball for my half birthday. We filled it up and were rolling it around

It was so much fun and delish!

I had a wonderful weekend and was spoiled to death by Scott. I am not accustomed to having whatever I want. I think I could get used to living with someone again. I worry I am not ready. So I will slow down and take my time and enjoy this part of the ride.