Thursday, November 4, 2010

We're alive!

Just so you're aware, we are still fully intact and doing well.

Patrick started his own business in the middle of July. He is focusing mainly on British motorcycle repair and custom work. He, of course, is also doing anything needed on any kinds of motorcycles, as well as vehicle repair. He has remained busy from the very start! I love how happy Patrick is as his own boss. :)  My friends really enjoy having a good connection to get their vehicles in working order, too.  

In August, I was promoted to Assistant Manager at Thaifoon. The last few months have FLOWN by!!!  It has been very rewarding and full of opportunities for growth.  I'm learning a lot and having fun doing it.  

We signed another 12-month lease at our apartment in September, so we'll be here for awhile.

The kitties are also doing well.  We haven't had any kitties climbing in swamp coolers, sneaking out in the rain, etc., so it's been quiet for the most part.  They are getting along better and better, and keeping us entertained with their playing.  Lunch is infatuated with dumping water out of their bowl.  It doesn't matter what kind of container we use, she insists that the kitchen floor be wet.  Mopping it up with her fur didn't do anything... She's adorable, though, so I forgive her.

I hope you all are doing very well!!!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Awesome and QUICK meal!

I was lucky enough to get to keep leftover homemade bruschetta (made by my friend Rochelle), and I put together a really tasty and creative meal. I had a hamburger to cook, but no buns!! So...I used an english muffin instead. Here's what all I threw together:

english muffin
hamburger patty
bruschetta
cheese (colby & monterey jack is what I had on hand)
lettuce

I opened up the english muffin and stacked grated cheese on one of the halves, placed them both in the oven for a bit to melt the cheese and warm the muffin.

I threw the hamburger patty on the Foreman and cooked that sucker!

Put cooked burger on cheesy half of muffin, topped with bruschetta and lettuce, topped with other half of the muffin.

YUM, YUM, and YUUUMMM!!!

Patrick loved it too. :) So, I'll have to make this again! Maybe next time I'll take a picture before I devour the whole thing...

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Friendship

Among intelligent people the surest basis for marriage is friendship - the sharing of real interests - the ability to fight out ideas together and understand each other's thoughts and dreams.

~Kahlil Gibran, quoted from MaryHaskell's journal, dated 26th May 1923


I really like this quote. I registered on scribd and searched out Paulo Coelho and Kahlil Gibran, two of my favorite authors. I found Kahlil Gibran's Love Letters and started reading. He says things in such a beautiful way.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Family Visit in February

I'm playing catch-up on the blog today.

In Febraury, my parents, my sis, and her boyfriend came to visit us for a weekend. It was nice to have family visit.

My Mom and Dad hanging out on our couch just after arriving.

Par for the Mecham Course, we ate a lot. We had Indian food one night, my dad filled my fridge with groceries, we snacked, I introduced my mom and sis to Costa Vida, we all ate at Thaifoon, etc. Soooo much food.

On Friday and Saturday that weekend, we girls went up to Ogden to Time Out For Women. Patrick's mom was able to attend the event as well, and we stayed the night at her house. It always amazes me how hard it is to be away from Patrick overnight. Even when it's just one little night. What can I say? I love snuggling with him!

Time Out For Women was amazing. I know I got a lot out of it, and I hope everyone else did to.

My dad and Kosette's boyfriend, Matt, went skiing on Friday and toured around Salt Lake City on Saturday. Patrick unfortunately had to work during both days.

On Sunday, Patrick and I spent some time with my parents, and we went to the library so my dad could take some architectural photographs. I love watching my dad look at awesome architecture. It's when I see the passion for what he does for a living, rather than the day-to-day lethargy that we all kind of develop towards our careers. My dad is a great architect.

The view from the top of the Salt Lake City Public Library.

I've lived in Utah for almost 8 years, and I finally got a library card. :)

My parents at the top of the library. It was a bright and windy day!

These little books are hung in the shape of a head in the library. It made me think of the tv show, Reading Rainbow that I watched allllll the time as a kid. And then the song was stuck in my head for the remainder of the day.


There you go...now it can be stuck in your head all day. :)



Kosette and Matt (sitting in a tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-G...)

The last night we were together, my sis and her boyfriend made a vegetarian feast for us. I think they thought we were feeding 10 more people. I had leftovers for a week! It was a great meal, though. I really enjoyed sitting around the dinner table and just enjoying conversation and time together as a family.

Thanks, Mom, Dad, Kosette, and Matt for visiting and staying with us. I'm so grateful for a wonderful family!!!

Playing with food

The kitties have been at it again:







What talented kitties we have!!! :)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Dear Phoenix, You Are So Beautiful!

Patrick and I just returned from a much needed vacation to Phoenix, where most of my family lives. It was almost 5 days of beautiful sunny weather and fun times spent with family (and quality do-nothing time).

We flew in on Thursday and did a whole bunch of nothing. We watched movies and spent the day with my mom, Philip, and my dad when he got home from work.

On Friday, we went shopping with my mom and Philip and got the ingredients for the amazing feast that Patrick and I prepared with the help of the fam. We made shrimp summer rolls as an appetizer, and Patrick made a pork dumpling soup that was absolutely delicious. We ate entirely too much that night! :)

Saturday, we went to the open house for the new water treatment plant where Jeremiah is the Superintendent. It's a really nice facility. We went with my dad and my grandparents, Grandpa Jones and Verla. It's so strange to see my grandpa aging. He's 90 years old now, but when I think of Grandpa Jones, I think of an ornery old fart who is a gruff teddy bear, full of life. In my mind, my grandpas will always be around, since they always have been. I've had 7 grandmas, so it really is strange to see my grandpas getting oooolllldddd.

After the open house, we went on a double-date with my brother, Jonathan, and his wife, Ashlee. We went bowling and ate pizza. I was bowling left-handed quite a bit to be nice to my right arm (old injury from July), and still bowled mostly over 100. Not too shabby! Patrick and Jonathan were the star bowlers of the night, and Ashlee consistently kicked my butt, too.

That night, we hung out with Jeremiah and his kids, then stayed up way too late talking with Jeremiah and Christy. They were sweet enough to stay up past their normal bedtime to hang out with us. Unfortunately, their daughter got sick that night, so they didn't get much sleep.

Sunday was more family time. Jonathan's family came over to my parents' house for dinner, and it is always fun to spend time with them. Grandpa Mecham came over, too. I'm glad we got to see him on this trip. My mom's friend, Susan, came over for dinner, too, and she let Patrick take her Harley for a ride. I loved the grin on his face when he came back in the house. I could tell he needed and appreciated that little bit of therapy.

Today, we spent the morning hanging out at my parents' house. We spent some good time sitting on the porch swing soaking in the sun. It felt so amazing to have some warmth, knowing we'd be coming back to nasty freezing temperatures in a matter of hours. We also had sushi for lunch. My dad met us at the restaurant, and we ate again, entirely too much. It was so good!

My friend, Jenny, picked us up and took us to the airport. I try to visit her when we go down to Phoenix, so even though it was a short visit, it was entertaining and quite nice. That girl can talk!

And it was 28˚ when we arrived in Salt Lake City. Yuck.

We're contemplating moving down to Phoenix. Year round motorcycle and softball weather is very appealing.

Thanks for the great visit, my wonderful family!!! I love you all, and I love seeing how much your kids have grown.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Back to my roots

Ah, the new year...

Weight to lose, debt to eliminate, trips to go on, money to make, etc., etc. It is a little bit overwhelming to think about all that I would like to do this year. And all that Patrick would like to do. And of course there is also the list of things we want to do together.

So, I will return to my roots and find comfort in food. :) I found some great lists of recipes that are healthy (a lot of them, anyway), and quite affordable.



Did you know baking was so sexy? :)

I really like the idea of getting a meal going in my crock pot before I go to work and voila!, dinner is ready when I get home. And I love the idea of making great recipes, freezing servings, and having meals ready to be heated up and devoured at any given time. Do you know how many unnecessary trips to Taco Bell, McDonalds, the grocery store, and the number of frozen pizzas we eat will be vastly reduced?!?!

This would be a great transition to make in our kitchen at home. It will save us time and money, and help us trim our waistlines too! Apparently one of our Christmas gifts was an extra inch or so in the belly-area. I'm not so happy about that, and would love to exchange it for a better gift...