Getting better at stuff...

There are a lot of things that I'm not good at, and that's fine with me. But there are several things that I'm downright BAD at. Such as:

1. Calling people

2. Trying new things

3. Cooking

4. Dieting & exercising

5. Keeping secrets from Philip

But, I've had a break through this weekend and this well kept secret is waiting for Philip when he gets home.

He takes his last final EVER today, and I couldn't be more proud. I wanted him to have something to really enjoy for the next 8 months as he finishes school with rotations. So inside the box is something he's been lusting over but doesn't think he's getting until Christmas...I hope he's excited.

Congrats baby! I'm so happy that you're mine!

*Edited to add:

It's an iPod touch.

He was pretty stinkin' excited. :)

Introductions and an Invitation

So as I introduce to you all these two people, it makes me realize that I should really make proper introductions to all members of Philip's family. Remember when I did family week? I need to do an In-Law week! Hmmm, soon. I will do it soon.

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But let me do a short intro to these two lovelies. This is Michelle and Wendi, two of my fantastic and very talented sister-in-laws.

And how appropriate that the picture I have of them is involving delicious food, because they make

THE. MOST. DELICIOUS. FOOD.

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That being said, Wendi has a cupcake business, and her cupcakes are to die for. She has all sorts of amazing flavors (I've tried almost all of them) and you can get a small glimpse of her incredible work here.

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And Michelle makes the most amazing chocolates, which I've also eaten way too many of. Basically when she makes her chocolates, all my dreams come true.

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With those humble introductions made, we now have an invitation. These two dolls are having a taste testing party!

Seriously, you HAVE to come. Your taste buds (and perhaps pants size) will never be the same after sampling their DE-licious creations, and I can assure you that you will not leave disappointed!

So come join the party!

Babysitting.

I'm currently watching Sara's boys, and have been quite entertained by these:

Don't be fooled, this was on normal setting, Reese's cheeks are just that fat. This also confirmed my suspicions that Photobooth is way funner for the user than the viewer.

My husband is smart.

And the dean is kind of a perv.

Upgrades

Since recently making our way out of poverty (read: two full time students), I've made a few upgrades that I kind of love.

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Upgrade #1:

New jeans. After a year and a half of wearing the same two pairs of jeans that were purchased from Charlotte Russe, aka, not the highest quality jeans, I decided that I needed new ones. Actually the mirror decided it for me, since I wanted to barf on my lower half every time I looked in the mirror. I found these little gems at American Eagle.

Super long, super comfortable, and super affordable, like $39.99 style, and when I went to find this picture online, they were $29.99. Let's face it, I probably will never be able to justify buying ridiculously expensive name brand jeans, and since I don't care about name brands anyways, I'm very very happy with this find. It's amazing what a new pair of jeans can do for my self-esteem and booty.

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Upgrade #2:

This swimsuit (not the girls in the swimsuit, though I wouldn't mind those either). I hadn't purchased a new swimsuit since before we got married, and since my swimsuit bottoms were turning kind of sheer, I thought it might be a good thing to get.

But I didn't get the high waist bottoms shown here, and actually, haven't found bottoms that fit me well yet, so I'm still sporting the sheer. Good thing I'm a slave to swim shorts...for your sake. :) But I like it. I wanted a tankini that wasn't a halter, since I hate those tan lines, and it needed to come in long. This one fit the bill. However, when I first got it I was super uncomfortable since I had never had a V-shaped neckline before, and I wasn't used to my sternum being exposed. It just takes a while to get used to.

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Upgrade #3:

Kirkland brand shampoo and conditioner. Okay, you're thinking, "What the? That's an upgrade?" Uh yeah, I had been using this really classy brand called Suave before, because I could get the scent I liked best in the big bottles from this really classy store called Walmart for like a dollar. Side note: Sara and I decided that you know your hair products are really cheap when you choose them based on scent rather than function.

So, I bought these and LOVE them. I feel kind of like Lindsay and Tobias Funke who use $70 conditioner and then say, "It's a small price to pay for self-esteem, Michael!" But mine isn't $70, it's like $7.98 for a two pack at Costco. Once again, LOVE THEM.

Upgrade #4:

Homemade strawberry jam. Mmmmmm, I love this stuff. All through school I ate PB & J sandwiches for lunch using the Welch's stuff, which was fine. But then my sister-in-law Natalie gave me a jar of homemade strawberry jam that she made, and I can't get enough of it. So this week I made my own little batch that will hopefully last me through the winter (because I'm a bear?) until strawberries are cheap again.

I was thinking that I should convert someone else by giving them a jar, but unfortunately since I'm rationing it, I'm not willing to part with any. Sorry to be selfish. Maybe next summer. .

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Upgrade #5:

Moisturizer. Okay, this one I'm not completely sold on. I had gotten a free sample of some moisturizer at one point and really liked it, but then it ran out. When I went back to purchase the same kind, it was like $18 for .5 oz. POINT FIVE OUNCES! I can go to QT 18 times and get 44 oz of Diet Pepsi for that! So, I settled on this from Costco. And you better believe that it came in a two pack. I think that this is the kind my mom gets and has been using since I've been alive, and since she is really pretty and young looking, I thought it would be good. Buuuut, I'm not in love with it. It kind of makes me a little too Oily and less Olay-ey, and then the weird spots on my face that get really dry, still get dry. So, you people that are smart with skin stuff, what do I do? Should I stop being the biggest cheap-o and buy the $18 stuff or is there something that you guys love and recommend?

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The next thing on my upgrade list is a new toaster, since ours mysteriously stopped working this morning, which is a blessing since I hated it anyways. It always burned one side, so midway through toasting you would have to push the bagel button so it would stop toasting the burned side. Annoying.

(Edited to add: my toaster still works. I tripped the breaker for the outlets in my kitchen and didn't think to check that until this morning when my waffle iron didn't work either. That means I have to keep this one. Waah.)

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I'm also thinking that I want all new house stuff, like bedding, pots and pans, stuff like that. Those are things though that I'll probably wait on until we get a house. I ask Philip all the time, "Hey, when we get a new house, can we get new ______?" And because he thinks I'm ridiculous for asking this far in advance, he always says yes. Bless his heart for putting up with me. :)

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Happy non-Laboring tomorrow! Um, Jones cousins, are we having a party? Jenny and Aly and I briefly talked about it, but nothing was set in stone. Do you guys have plans? Let's party!

4 months...

Happy 4 months until Christmas! I'm seriously seriously excited for this year...and maybe have been listening to Christmas music several times in the past couple months. I'm a nerd, I know. :)

And can you believe that it has been almost 5 years since this little gem was taken?

Stop looking at my stringy hair and weirdy neck please. Thanks. Anyhoo, happy 4 months!

Life: Post-school

Have I mentioned that I like being graduated? It is seriously the most amazing thing ever, seeing as how I feel stress-free like 95% of the time. Part of the 5% stressed was this morning when I woke up 5 minutes AFTER I was supposed to be at work, which is 25 minutes away. That was crap. But the other 95% is amazing. You should try it. Graduating and being stress-free. Both are great.

On a different subject, and in relation to the picture above, why did nobody tell me that stripes + bad posture = not flattering. Those things look weird.

Back to life: post-school. Remember at the beginning of the summer when I reported that I had a job? And how they flew me to California for training? And then a bunch of people asked if we were moving to California? (I wish.) And how I said I wasn't that thrilled about it, but left it at that? Well, now I will finally talk about a bit more about it.

I was lucky enough to get a job as soon as I graduated. It was for a corporation that is based out of California, hence the reason they flew me there for a day. Well, I realized on my first day of actual working, that I am NOT a corporate dental type of girl. To sum it up, I came home sobbing, somewhat convinced that I was working for the devil in corporate dental form. So, the next day I tried to give myself a pep-talk, and tell myself that "the first few days are always rough", but also decided to take my resume to another couple offices. The day after that, I was put in a situation that I felt was unethical, and knew that I couldn't keep working there. So I quit. On my second day. And I told them I was never coming back. Because I'm a quitter sometimes. Judge me if you will, but I haven't regretted it in the least.

Sooo, that puts me in the unemployed category again. Luckily for me, I already had a working interview set up with another office, and it all worked out for the best that they hired me and I'm now splitting my days between two different offices, but working full time. So I went from working for Satan Dental (I'm afraid to say their name since I think they are kind of Big Brother-ish and would probably sue me or have me killed if I slandered (is that a word?) against them.) to working for and with dentists that I love and trust. And believe me, I am counting my blessings.

Anyways, on Friday at work my boss gave me a thank you note:

Who cares if he can't spell my name...he adores me! And he included a gift card to Cheesecake Factory! Like I said, I'm counting my blessings. So, if you live in Tempe, Chandler, or South Gilbert, I know of some great dentists, and a hygienist with a "great attitude". Their words, not mine. :)

And lastly, my house is messier now that I'm working. I kind of don't get it. But tonight I cleaned my kitchen and wiped everything down with Clorox Wipes and straight bleach. It now smells heavenly. And to reward myself, I made myself some Good Dip. Maybe it looks like barf. And by maybe, I mean, I know it does look like barf, but it is delicious. For crying out loud, it is called GOOD DIP!

Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 can Mexicorn (drained)

1 can Rotel diced tomatoes (not drained)

Garlic salt to taste (between 1/2 and 1 tsp)

Seriously, it is good. I was skeptical when my sister-in-law, Natalie first told me about it, but have been craving it and talking about it for the past two weeks straight since the first time I tried it. You should try it. Today.

And just now as I was eating it, there was a giant hair on one of my chips, that I am telling myself was from my head. Especially since the bag of chips is almost empty, and that would be REALLY gross if it came from not my head. It was mine, it was mine, it was mine, it was mine. I love good dip. It was mine. There, I'm convinced.

Anyways, have a lovely week. And for all of you Project Runway fans...set your DVRs for this Thursday, and its now on Lifetime! Hooray!

This boy...

...is adorable.

But that is obvious.

.He's also perfect for me. But that isn't quite so obvious sometimes. I'm pretty sure we are the definition of "Opposites Attract". And I love it.

Recently I was talking to Philip on my way home from work and I was trying to describe one of my patients to him. The guy looked like an actor that I had seen on tv before. So here was my description for Philip:

"You know that guy who was on some tv show, and he has brown hair and a kind of jutty-outty chin, and his voice is like 'Maaah' (imagine a guy's voice being nasal-ish and that is the noise I made), and he's kind of chubby?"

He made a couple of good guesses, especially for the amount of information that I gave, but we just weren't on the same page. So when I got home I was going nuts that he didn't know who I was talking about so I spent quite a bit of time on google, since all I could remember was that he was on an older-ish comedy that might have been on in the afternoons. Yeah, I was a lot of help. I finally remembered that he was the hypochondriac patient on an episode of Scrubs, and when I said that, Philip knew exactly who I was talking about. His name?

Richard Kind. He was also on Spin City, which of course Philip knew. So yeah, I have a patient that looks and kind of acts just like him/he's kind of annoying.

Anyways, that is something that I love, love, LOVE about Philip. He reads my mind. When I say crap like, "Hey, you know that girl with the hair...?" He will laugh at my ridiculously bad description, but nine times out of ten, totally know who I am talking about. Life with him is awesome.

And did I mention? He's adorable. I hope our kids get his dimples.

And bless his heart, he is in his last quarter of actual classroom type setting, and he wants to die. Poor thing has been in school since age 5 and is up to his ears with ridiculous notes and teachers and information to be committed to memory. Only like two more months though, and then he gets to work for free (read: rotations) until he graduates! HOORAY.

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. . He's also super sweet for putting up with me being somewhat lazy these days. It seems like all I want to do when I get home from work is read my books in bed until I fall asleep...which is approximately 10-15 minutes after I start reading. So yeah, this boy needs a little recognition for being the funnest husband a girl could ask for.

. . That's all. I lub him. A lot.

Friends.

For the past six years or so, I have had this picture framed in my room.

In case you don't have the pleasure of knowing these lovely girls, they are:

Bekah, Stacie, Kelli, and of course, myself. (Not pictured: Alisse)

This picture was taken the night before Stacie left for BYU, where the other girls ended up also, basically abandoning me here in Mesa. It was lame.

Luckily for me, Alisse, Stacie and Bekah have moved back, and when Kelli came to visit a couple weeks ago, we decided to celebrate. With food. No surprise there.

And while my friends decided to all look adorable, I missed the memo and looked kind of like a garbage pail kid.

We went to Red, White and Brew and I got a year supply of pasta on my plate. It was kind of the most amazing thing ever though.

This could quite possibly be my favorite picture taken this century, because we like/thive on being awkward. Heaven forbid we scoot closer to each other for a picture. Is it just me or does it look like me, Kelli and Stacie's legs under the table don't match up with our bodies above the table? Weird.

Basically these girls are some of my favorite people on the planet and we laugh harder than is healthy when we are together. Thanks Kell for coming to town and showing us a good time, and for crying out loud, move here so that we can hang out awkwardly more often! You girls are all the greatest!

NYC: Part two.

Are you ready for another round? I'll just pick up where I left off. After a semi-exhausting first couple of days, on day 3 we had a very leisure/lazy day planned. We slept in late and then went to lunch at Harry's Burritos. It was good, nothing that we wouldn't be able to find here in Arizona. I almost died laughing though when I read this on the menu:

"Deep-fried like a giant egg roll!" Um, seriously? I think in Mesa you are born knowing what a chimichanga is. I'd like to believe that it was my first word. Those silly East-Coasters, they need a Filiberto's.

Anyhoo, Harry's Burrito is on the Upper West Side, which is the more family friendly NYC, and I fell in love with the houses and the neighborhoods. Have you seen "You've Got Mail"? It was filmed there, and it is as lovely as can be. So we walked along the streets and got ourselves some more treats from another Magnolia's bakery, then walked to Central Park to hang out and eat.

Central Park was AMAZING. We spent over two hours just walking around and sitting and watching people then walking some more and taking pictures...then I kinda got us lost, but it was truly lovely.

The castle was fun to go to, and super pretty.

The view from the castle, which I LOVE. Also, fun fact #1, Central Park is where everybody that owns a bikini lays out on Saturdays. I could not stop laughing at how it seriously looked like a beach because everybody was just chillin' on beach towels. Fun fact #2, the castle is where the weather in Manhattan is taken from every day. I know, intriguing right? I kind of want to marry this picture. I clearly couldn't get enough of how pretty it was. I'm really mature/my mom is shaking her head at me while she reads this. We then walked out on the East side of the park and walked down and saw all of the 5th Avenue shops. My favorite was FAO Schwartz. I should have taken more pictures, it was seriously the most amazing store I've ever been in! The whole time I was there I kept thinking, "Yes, of course I need a 4-foot giraffe for my future babies!" or "These baby dolls are obviously special since the nurses are taking such good care of them...I need one." Yes, they have a nursery for the baby dolls and workers dressed as nurses taking care of them! I seriously wanted to die it was all so cute. And Philip with Chewy was very adorable as well. And if you click on the Chewy picture you can see above the Clifford dogs that Harry, Hermione, Ron and Hagrid area also made of Legos! They were, however, in the middle of the escalators so it was hard to get a picture of them.

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. That night we went to Ray's Pizza (like on Elf) and it was poo. Don't go there. But later Philip wanted to try the Seinfeld cookie. "Look to the cookie!" Yeah, we're like ten years too late for this one. However, the cookie was surprisingly delicious.

Oh, and this is one of the two pictures we got in Times Square. I wasn't super impressed with it. Like there were lots of lights and billboards and whatnot, but not a ton of cool stores or anything.

. . Okay, now we are on to day #4, which might have been my favorite day. I don't know, they were all amazing, but this one was super amazing. We slept in once again and then went to lunch. After lunch, we went to this AMAZING place called Max Brenner's Chocolate Factory. Honestly, if you are a chocolate lover, this is how you will envision heaven. They have chocolate running through pipes (Philip said they just look like brown pipes) and like a 12 page menu of just chocolate options.

. Philip got:

. The Euphoria Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge Brownie Sundae.

The description from the menu reads: Deep chocolate peanut butter ice cream, Dulce de Leche ice cream, caramelized toffee bananas, pure chocolate chunks, milk chocolate sauce, warm peanut butter sauce and chunks of chocolate fudge brownie. Garnished with whipped cream and crunchy hazelnut bits. Served with extra peanut butter sauce, and very pure milk chocolate ganache.

And I got:

The Spectacular Melting Chocolate S'mores Sundae.

(and an awkward hand)

The description of mine is:

Decadent dark chocolate gelato, pure vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate fondue, pure chocolate chunks, mini-marshmallows, chocolate wafer balls & whipped cream. Garnished with toasted marshmallow fluff, and chocolate covered graham cracker cookies. Served with white chocolate cream and silky whipped cream.

We both got:

probably 12,000 calories,

clogged arteries,

type 2 diabetes,

and very full and happy bellies.

They were, to put it mildly, heaven-sent.

After our delightful desserts, we headed over to the Gershwin Theater to see Wicked! I was debating whether or not to see this while we were in New York, since all of the tickets were so stinkin' expensive, but figured that we may as well see the real deal. So after spending too much on tickets, I tried to not think about it because I didn't want to get my hopes up or set myself up for disappointment.

Um, disappointment did not exist. I loved it. A lot. So did Philip. A lot.

We even had like the worst seats in the theater, and this is how close we were to the stage! And yes is bothers me that the picture is blurry.

It was so small and intimate, and at the end when they came and took their final bow, and everyone was giving them a standing ovation, I was almost in tears! I wanted to go hang out with them and thank them for putting on such a fantastic show. If you haven't seen it, you need to. If you go to New York, see it there. I'd like to believe that it was extra special there. Seriously, it is in my top three New York moments.

We then just walked around thinking about Wicked, and I wanted to see the Rockefeller center in it's fullness, and of course, was hoping to bump into Tina Fey/Liz Lemon.

That night we went to the Empire State Building, and it was so so dreamy. It almost seemed fake how pretty it was! I said to Philip, "Doesn't it just kind of look like the tiny town on the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland?" Seriously, it looks that perfectly beautiful. Philip might have been tired of the pictures by this time. Our last day was kind of a bust. We tried to go to Regis and Kelly and that didn't work. We tried to go to this store that Sara told me about, and it no longer exists. Then we tried to go to the Met, and it was closed. So we sat in the park again for a while and people watched, went to lunch at Shake Shack (good burgers, fries taste exactly like Ore-Ida), then went to the airport. All in all though, fantastic trip. I've said it before and I'll say it again, EVERYBODY needs to take this trip, and when you do, let me plan it for you!