Weekend Update

Well, it has been a while since I last posted. Last week was wonderful for Doug and I. The week started out by celebrating the one year anniversary of our engagement. So much has happened in the last year - the biggest of those (obviously) being our marriage. But, we have grown so much together. We have been reflecting on our relationship and our marriage. We are finally getting used to living with each other and really making sure we are communicating. Luckily, communication has always been a strong point in our relationship (has to be when you are long-distance for two years), so we haven't had a ton of work in that area. Doug and I like to check in and see how our "love tanks" are doing which may seem silly but is really helping us to meet each other's needs. Work schedule is a bit hectic but we are really making the best of our time. Last week Doug worked days all week which meant we had part of the afternoon and all evening every day to relax and spend much needed time together. Over the weekend we sort of had a three-day celebration of our engagement/three month anniversary. Thursday night we started off the fun with a trip to the movies to see "Public Enemies." I had been reading the book so it was fun for me to see everything in action. I still support books over movies but found the movie enjoyable. On Friday Doug and I decided to go out for Thai food and walk around Saratoga. The evening was beautiful and we walked around the park for a long time. The fun continued into Saturday when we decided to try out a new Mexican restaurant in Saratoga (our search for good Mexican may finally be over) and celebrate our three-month anniversary. We also spent time shopping in Saratoga, but the real highlight of the day was sitting together on 'our' bench at the park in Ballston Spa. The weather was wonderful and we had a really relaxing time just watching people, being in nature, and being together. Sunday we drove down to Connecticut of the Baptism of Logan, son of friends Mike & Jess. On the way home Doug got to go to Cabella's for the first time - you would have thought he was a kid in a toy store (he basically was). The weekend was a wonderful end to a great week. I have been feeling very isolated from family and close friends, and although I still miss everyone from home, it was a nice reminder that my best friend is here with me.

Surprise Outing

Doug woke me up yesterday morning saying that he had a surprise for me. I made several guesses but couldn't figure out what he had planned. He had researched online and found a blueberry farm near here that does u-pick. I was so excited to go blueberry picking; it is one of my favorite summertime activities and a tradition my brothers and I did every year for Luke's birthday. Although I missed going with my brothers it was exciting to go here and even more exciting because it was Doug's first time picking blueberries. I told him all the family jokes that we tell every year, like how Levi eats so many we should weigh him before and after to see how much we owe. Or, how every year we would take the wrong road and get lost, while joking about how we got lost every year. Needless to say, we didn't get lost, but we did have a wonderful time.

Power Outage

Doug and I had quite the surprise last night when we got home - the power was out. We found out that over 30,000 people in Saratoga County lost power during a thunder storm. We aren't sure what happened but there were a lot of sirens so we assume there was some sort of accident. With the power out we couldn't make dinner here so we decided to treat ourselves to dinner out. It was a bit of a surprise but we were ready with the camping lanterns just in case. Luckily, the power came back on around 10PM so we had power for the night.

Saratoga County Fair 2009

Doug and I spent the afternoon at the Saratoga County Fair which is located in Ballston Spa. We went with friends Melanie and Jess. Jess has an almost two-year-old daughter named Alex and a 2.5 month-old baby Logan. It was really fun to go to the fair with kids. We watched Jess and Alex go on a few rides, saw lots of animals, ate some good treats, and even saw a pig race! Who needs the rodeo when you can see pigs racing? The fair was a lot of fun and a nice way to spend the afternoon.

The McKenzies Visit

Doug and I had a wonderful visit with the McKenzie family. His parents and brother were able to fly out to New York to spend a few days visiting us as well as traveling down to New York City. The weather wasn't quite "summer weather" but we are used to it and they enjoyed a nice break from the heat of California. We ate lots of great food, spent some time in Saratoga Springs, and explored Lake George. The Lake George area was especially beautiful as everything is very green and still in bloom. We were so happy to see familiar faces, let alone family! It was a nice reminder of home for me and got me even more excited about potentially living on the west coast and even closer to family.

Independence Day

Growing up the fourth of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. I am nostalgic over parades, a park full of friends I hadn't seen since school ended, swimming in the river with my cousins, bbqs, and fireworks to top everything off. I knew that this year would be different if only because of living in a completely new place and having to come up with new traditions. Doug was scheduled to work 11:30am to 11:30pm so we didn't have any real plans. Doug went in a little late for work after going for a walk around town with me. Ballston Spa didn't have anything going on for the 4th so we were about the only people out. After Doug left for work I ended up doing classwork and relaxing. To my surprise (shock actually) Doug came home at 7:30 instead of midnight. We ended up getting to go to a friend's house for a BBQ and watched the fireworks in Saratoga. Our night ended with a trip to Virgil's - a very fun coffee house lined with shelves full of books and games with a policy of no electronics - with the goal of patrons "being here when they are here." Although our 4th wasn't full of my traditional favorites, it was full of nice surprises and fun new favorites.

Garlic Lime Porkchops & Cilantro Lime Rice

I had some cilantro in the refridgerator that needed to get used. So, I decided that tonight for dinner I am going to make a recipe that Noelle passed along. We are having garlic lime porkchops with cilantro lime rice. Both are favorites of mine after I first tried them. There is just enough zest to really make the flavor delicious and the lime and cilantro really add a lot. This dinner is relatively quick and pretty easy to make which makes it even better in my book.

Masters coursework

I thought I would give a short update on my masters coursework. Although I initially wasn't certain how I felt about the academic level of the coursework I am taking, I am really beginning to enjoy my class. The reading is enjoyable and interesting, I am learning something new, and mostly I am back in an academic mindset. I hadn't realized until now how much I really do enjoy learning when the subject is something I am passionate about and engaged with. It feels great to be intellectually stimulated and it also feels nice to be performing well at a graduate level. So far, so good.