Monday, December 29, 2014

Photo-A-Day December 22 - 27

December 22 - Shopping: I did almost all of my shopping online this year. That saved me. No pix, sorry.


December 23 - Baking: This was actually 'cooking' not baking. Omid and I made a double batch of Persian Pirashkis for Nas & Matty. Y-U-M!

 
 
December 24: Loved Ones - This photo is actually from Christmas Day, but oh well. This is the only photo I have of our festivities and everyone in the photo is loved.


December 25 - Aftermath:

December 26 - Busy: Actually, too busy to take pix. Ha!

December 27: Relax. We spent the entire day (no joke!) watching Breaking Bad. We missed out when it was on TV. Naseem told us about the show, so now we're digging it.

December 28 - Fresh:
 
December 29 - Early. Nas wrote this note at 4:30 a.m. before she left to go home to Seattle. Very sweet. ♥

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Photo-A-Day: December 16-21

Okay, this little project has actually been harder to commit to than I thought. Life gets in the way with so many items on the to do list, that the photo to dos were forgotten. I skipped December 12-15...maybe I'll get to them, maybe not. :/

December 16th: Bundled - If you look real close, you can see Remy all bundled up in his blankets.




December 17th: Gift - for my UP team members.

December 18th: Happy - Look at the smiles on those faces! These three are so happy to be done with finals and I was happy that I got to tag along to pick them up.

December 19th: Decorations - I haven't made the time to go up in the attic to bring down any Christmas decorations yet (lame, I know). I did have this garland in the hall closet and hung that over the fireplace. #scrooge

December 20th: Mail - Christmas cards! I love mailing and receiving them. With postage being sooo expensive this year, I scaled back and only mailed cards to those that have reciprocated two years in a row. It actually cut my list in half. I used to send out about 150 cards, this year only 75.
Economics, baby.


December 21st:  Front door - I purchase a Christmas wreath every year from our Boy Scout neighbor. I'm too cheap to pay the extra $5 for the bow, but his lovely grandmother throws one in for free anyway. #loyalcustomer

Friday, December 12, 2014

Photo-A-Day: December 6-11

 
I have been so busy that I may have actually taken a few of the photos below on the same night. Oh well! The project is getting done and that's what counts!! ☺
 
December 6: Sparkly - Still looking for something....
 
 
December 7: Dinner Time - Safeway had Dungeness crab on sale for $5.99/lb. I picked up two and Omid made Singapore chili crab for dinner. YUM!
 
 
 
 December 8: New - My friend Kumiko bought me this adorable lantern from IKEA. Love it!
 
 
December 9: Weather - sometimes December weather is beautiful and it feels like spring (63*!).

December 10: Cozy - Just a few seconds before I snapped this photo, Remy was actually sleeping very cozily on this most uncomfortable couch. #dontmovesitstill

 

December 11: Blessings - I am so blessed to be married to this amazing man!♥

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Photo-A-Day: December 1-5




December 1: Red & White - actually Crimson & Gray, but the Instagram filter made it look red & white. ☺


December 2: Errand - my boss sent me on an errand to the Starbucks kiosk on campus to purchase coffee for our team. The kiosk is environmentally friendly and doesn't stock coffee carriers. I left my cell at my desk & had to borrow a Priest's phone to call our Assistant Director for help to transport the coffee back to the office.


December 3: Candle: Jesus


December 4: Silver - a corner of my Advent calendar



December 5: ornament - I snapped this photo of an angel ornament in a gift assortment at a silent auction on campus.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

December Photo-A-Day!

I've been wanting to do this for years and I am going to try to commit to doing this one.
Sounds like fun!



Monday, November 10, 2014

Celebrity Sightings!

 
Did you know the University of Portland has its share of celebrities? One is a current student, two are alumni and one is the fabulously hip new President! So far, I've had my photo taken with two of the four.
 
 
Meet Kevin Chung!
Kevin is the star of Ping Pong Playa! Omid, the kids and I discovered this movie back in 2009.
We all fell in love with Kevin and his adorable character. I blogged about the movie here. Kevin also stars in the movie SPORKS which we haven't seen yet, but it's on our list.


Meet Father Mark Poorman!
Father Poorman is the newly inaugurated 20th President of the University of Portland. He is so adorable and approachable and is known for taking fun selfies with students/faculty/staff! I have tried on several occasions to get a selfie with Father Mark, but have been unsuccessful. Lucky for me, my boss is besties with Father Mark & arranged a one-on-one for me to get my photo taken in Father Mark's Presidential office! Thanks, André! By the way, having my photo taken with Father Mark was the absolute highlight of my day!

The other two UP celebrity alums are Raj (Kunal Nayyar) from The Big Bang Theory

 
 
and Erik Spoelstra, head coach of the Miami Heat.
 

I'm not sure how often these two visit campus, but hopefully, I'll be able to take a selfie with them too!

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Quince & Clams

 
Don't be mislead by the title!
 
Quince & clams do not go well together...well, at least I don't think they do!
 
We had a busy Saturday at our house. Up at dawn to prep a bag full of quince that a coworker had given Omid. Omid's grandma, Mamani, used to make a most delicious quince marmalade, so we just had to try and duplicate it.
 
We started out by washing & peeling the quince, then chopping them. Have you ever tried chopping quince? It takes brute force! The quince were rock hard, so Omid actually had to do all the chopping.
 
When he was done, he had about 9.5 cups of quince.  We used Fig & Quince's recipe for a start, then Omid decided to add orange blossom water to the mix. That must have been Mamani's secret ingredient, because when we both tasted the finished product, we were nostalgicly transported to Mamani's kitchen.
 
 
After the quince simmers for a few hours, it turns a beautiful ruby red!

Omid actually found this paper with Mamani's handwriting on it.
It says: Mateen Omid.
It accompanied some forgotten food item that she had made for Matty & Omid.
Omid though it only fitting that we take a photo with the marmalade & her handwriting. ♥
Mamani sometime in the 1920s.


After we cleaned up the kitchen, we headed west to Long Beach, WA for the razor clam dig.



On the way to the coast, we listened to the WSU-OSU game. COUGS WON!!! 39-32! We needed this win something bad. It's been a heartbreaking season for the Cougs.
Conditions at the coast were perfect! 60*, no wind, lots of sunshine!
 

Anxious to get our clam on!
We got our limits in 30 minutes and stuck around for a bit to stargaze. It was a beautiful night, and the sky was gorgeously filled with millions of stars.

This morning, we processed our clams. Afterwards Omid flash-fried the clams in butter, alongside a tasty cheddar & red pepper omelet.
 
All in all, a delicious end to a beautiful weekend.
 

Saturday, October 11, 2014

GO PILOTS!

This post is a bit backwards! Blogger wouldn't let me move the photo, so the photo above is the beam in place. Read below to know more!


Exciting things are happening on campus! The University of Portland is currently building a new student recreation center. Boss Lady Fay told me about a beam I could sign, so I did. 
Can you see my name in the exclamation point?
I thought it was only appropriate to sign it there.
Most everyone knows that I LOVE exclamation points!!!!!



Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Pullman Visit!

Last weekend, Remy & I got the opportunity to hitch a ride with friends and travel to Pullman! YAY! Those are opportunities NOT to be missed! Seeing Matty AND my favorite place? I'll take it!

Remy claimed shotgun. ☺

Feeling piggly wiggly while waiting for Matty to finish class!

Reunited! ♥
We got to see Matty for a tiny bit on Friday, as he had composite photos with his frat that night, plus a function. Accumulating points is a must if one is a pledge!
Early the next morning, I took Remy & Jack on a walk around campus, then all over downtown Pullman. We watched the sunrise come up over Sloan Hall.

Thompson Hall - my favorite building on campus.

These two were on a Duck hunt! GO COUGS!
By the time we came back from our walk, everyone else was up. It was time for coffee and breakfast! I was in charge of breakfast and brought 'omelets in a bag.' A tip I gleaned from my friend Michelle.
So easy! Assemble all your favorite omelet fillings in baggies (or bowls), give everyone a quart sized Freezer bag, write their name on it with a Sharpie, put in the fillings of your choice & pour in 1/2 cup of Egg Beaters (or 2 fresh eggs).



Massage the bag for a few minutes, add to boiling water, turn down heat and simmer for 13 minutes.

Massaged & ready for the simmering water!


Voila! Delicious omelets ready for consumption!
After breakfast, the menfolk went to TriState in Moscow, Idaho, the moms all went to visit our kids in the dorms. After spiffing up Matty's dorm room (ahem!!), I left Matty to finish his laundry and went to Ferdinand's to purchase Cougar Gold Cheese (I also treated myself to an ice cream cone!). Look who was in front of me in line: Cougar great Jack Thompson!
Celebrity sighting in Ferdinands! The Throwin' Samoan!!
Then back to camp to spend time with Matty before the game.
Spending quality time with my baby!

Late night stroll on campus after almost beating the Ducks!
We came very close, people!!!


I had a great time visiting Matty in Pullman!
It was such a treat to see him experiencing life at WSU!!!
GO COUGS!!!!