Spoiled...

Really, I prefer the term "well taken care of". Spoiled has such a bad connotation to it. Regardless, I have been called spoiled a time or two in the past. Really, it isn't my fault- I blame Daddy. (He always seems to get blamed for everything doesn't he?) And really, I am not spoiled. I promise!

Case in point: Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving was my very first away from home. I was able to spend it with Jordan and his family which was nice but it is never the same. Each family has their own traditions and ways of doing things. Anyways, Dad felt bad for me so this Sunday he recreated Thanksgiving for ME! :) Yup...all the way down to the homemade stuffing. He even put the stuffing in a cupcake pan so it would be nice and crunchy-just the way I like it. He also made homemade rolls that basically melted in your mouth. (Yea, they were THAT good!) And he did this all for me! Aren't I lucky? Okay...maybe I am a little spoiled...

Swedish Jerks

OK, raise of hands, who has gone to IKEA? I am usually satisfied by their prefabricated mass produced furniture. Like our table. We love our table. When I needed a desk that was a little less of a hand-me-down than the last one I... um... scavenged; so, we went to IKEA. There were some desks for $200, some for $160 and $75. and then the complete do-it-yourself (design and all) for $40. It in and of itself works very well. 4 Legs and a black table top very conveniently sized for our office. To make it more computer friendly, we went ahead and bought their keyboard drawer. All went fine till I noticed something very different between America and Sweden. That the Swede's definition of "anchor" is a little more lax than our own. Don't believe me? Take a gander ladies and gentlemen:

Alright, so I may not have the most expensive level ever, But I am pretty sure that this one isn't that far off. If you click on the photos you can see an enlarged version and will notice that I have outlined the offending pansy anchors in red.

Well, it looks like I'll be heading to the hardware store to pick up some expanding anchors to correct this issue. I really can't even begin to express to you all how thoroughly disappointed I was with the lack of quality I found in these parts. Damn penny-pinching Swedes.

Bad Wife

So, married for two months and I am already a bad wife. I don't mind cooking or even cleaning but laundry. Ew...laundry is the bane of my existence. Of course, this isn't new. Ask anyone in my family and they will tell you that I am more than content to buy new clothes rather than wash the ones I own. Now, my loathing of laundry has not changed since I got married but since Jordan and I have a deal, I do it. Well, I throw it in the washer and dryer.

For some reason folding clothes is lower then getting a root canal without novacaine on my list of favorite things to do. That is why folding clothes is Jordan's domain. Nice system huh? I wash (the easy part) and Jordan folds. I am good with that. And anything that needs to be ironed gets sent to the dry cleaner. Paying a buck for someone else to wash and iron a shirt is SO worth it to me. That is why I have even allocated part of the budget for drycleaning.

So does that make me a bad wife? Even if it does...I am okay with it.

My Darling Husband

I'm a lucky gal. I have a wonderful husband. The most recent piece of evidence is the rather large fish tank sitting in my classroom. My DH decided after my last class pet died of "unknown" causes that it was time to get a REALLY cool class pet. After spending quite a bit of time at various pet stores he became very excited about the prospect of a fish tank. He spent hours and hours of time on the internet researching the best types of fish for classrooms and every piece of information imaginable such as their scientific names and where they come from for a display board.

After much anticipation, yesterday was the big day. The tank had been running for a day and now it was time to get the fish. I am not sure I have ever seen my DH this excited. After an hour of just watching the fish I finally pried him away from the tank. And this morning as he left for work he actually said "If you stop by work today please tell the fish 'hello' for me. The sad part? He wasn't joking. I have my theories about him living out a childhood fantasy but whatever it is I am happy that he is so happy. I can't wait to see my student's reactions on Monday!

Introducing the newest members of Room 101...Copernicus, Pasteur, Bohr, Edison, Aristotle, Curie, Hubble, Hawking, Watson, Leeuvenhoek, Socrates, and Fahrenheit




The pictures aren't the best but they will do for now. Jordan is already planning the fish we will add after this nitrogen cycle and has informed me that when we are wealthy we will have a 1000 gallon tank taking up one wall...

Everything is better with bacon...

Don't believe me? Try it. I can't think of anything that isn't improved by a little bit of bacon. I even have a bacon ice cream recipe!!! World's best toast? After frying your bacon, throw some bread into the grease and let sit until browned. As Rachel Ray would say "yum-o!"

Well, in the spirit of "everything is better with bacon", Sunday I set out to use some of the stuff in my freezer. Result? Bacon wrapped roasted chicken. Let me repeat myself, bacon wrapped roasted chicken. Do I really need to elaborate? It was SOOO good and sooo moist. It probably isn't Weight Watcher's approved but dang!


These pictures do not even come close to doing it justice...

The bird waiting for the oven

.

The bird out of the oven...right before it was devoured.

So, tonight we are having carnitas with homemade tomatillo salsa. YUM! I have yet to get the hang of cooking for two so if you are ever in the neighborhood come on over for dinner. There is always extra...

New Year's Weekend

Since Jordan and I have been married we have been incredibly busy with well, life. School, work and everything in between. This past weekend was our first real vacation from everything. This weekend was even longer than our "honeymoon" weekend. It was all sorts of fun.

It started Wednesday night (New Year's Eve) at my parent's house playing Rummikub and eating all sorts of yummy-but-not-very-good-for-you treats.

Then Thursday we headed off to Bass Pro Shops to use Jordan's Christmas gift from my parents. We got there at1:30 and didn't leave until the sun was going down... I even got my own fishing pole!
Friday we went, or tried to go, to the Griffith Observatory. Tickets to the planetarium show go on sale at 12 noon. We were there at 12:08 and out of luck! So...we improvised. It was cold outside so we had an indoor picnic.









Then Saturday we went up to our new fishing spot "Frenchman's Landing". I caught a "jelly fish" (it was actually a plastic bag.) That was all we caught but we sure had fun.

Playing with our new toys...



Our new friend..Jack the squirrel!!!