Weekend Wonderland

Jason and I spent the weekend with our friends Don and Tiffany near Jenner. Some friends of theirs have a beach house, and invited Don and Tiffany to stay the weekend there. Don and Tiffany then invited us. (Whew!)

We had a great time. Tiffany is a fantastic cook, and she brought all the ingredients for homemade lasagna, cheese platters, and lots more delicious things. We pretty much spent the weekend eating.

On Sunday morning, Jason and I dashed home to make it to church so we could teach Sunday School, but Jason kept saying "There's something we were supposed to remember to do today...", but neither of us could figure out what it was. It turns out that "something" was Stake Conference, a meeting of all the congregations in the area, which meant that instead of our church meetings being held at their usual 1:00, they began at 10:00 instead. In other words, we missed church completely. Our one consolation was that at least we didn't leave our Sunday School class teacher-less, because Stake Conference doesn't have separate meetings for children. OOPS!

Also, we recently put in a bid for another house--this one is much more a fixer-upper, but again has a great, spacious lot. It's a probate sale, so it'll be a while before we hear back on our offer.

Here is the location and you can click on street view to see it. (Hint: rotate to the left a few times and you will see it.)

Allison's 26th Birthday

Boy, am I behind.
Okay, for my birthday this year, instead of having a traditional birthday party, I went backpacking. This was in part because the first date I could get reservations for Point Reyes was the week of my birthday. It was also because I signed up for a 6 week summer chemistry course. What a mistake that was. The class almost killed me! I studied night and day the entire 6 weeks, and barely passed the class. But I did pass, and that's the most important part of the whole fiasco. But anyway, it meant that I did not have time to plan a get together aside from the trip I had already scheduled.
On the backpacking trip were 3 good friends of mine: my mom, Janet Nelson, and Whitney Peterson Lynch. We had a blast, and my mom and Janet somehow sneaked a cake up too, so they all sang to me and had me blow out the candles on the cake---the whole nine yards. It was a blast.
I don't have any pictures myself, but I'm hoping to be given copies by my fellow hikers. Anyone hear that?

Yeah, It's Been A While...

Ugh. Finals again. I met with my counselor today and found out that the math class I'm taking isn't required for my course of study. That sucks. On the positive side, I found out that I can get rid of all my bad grades from when I was 18 and better at ditching than attending classes, including an gnarly F in a class titled "Study Skills". Ironic, eh? But anyway, I can do academic renewal after this semester, and get rid of all those bad grades that have been dragging my GPA down. Since I returned to school at 22 I've gotten mostly A's, and it will be nice to see my GPA reflect it.
Also, I am thrilled that my sister will be visiting soon! (I am posting this on my blog because I know Lesley is one of the three people who have ever read my blog. Hi Sis!)I also want to give her a birthday shout-out, because my phone battery died this morning before I could sing her the Birthday Song. Love ya Pook!

Driving to Arizona

Phew! We got through all the busyness of the last few weeks, and Jason and I have actually had time to talk to one another and eat dinner together again. It's wonderful.
On Easter weekend though, we were in different states. I went to Arizona to visit my grandparents and check out their remodel, but Jason's work schedule wouldn't permit him to come with me, so he went up to Modesto for Easter.
My mom and I drove together to see her parents, and it was a really fun road trip. On the way back, we ate soft-serve ice cream cones in Wasco, a little town that has a bunch of old fashioned hamburger and ice-cream joints, with names like Dari-Freeze and Jolly Kone. Cute, huh?
Lots of other fun stuff happened, but I'll have to tell you about it later, because dinner is done, and I'm starving!

So Sue Me

I admit it. I have been terrible at this blog thing. I started out with the best of intentions, but you know, blogging is really hard. And it's very time-consuming to write an engaging, witty blog. Or at least I would assume so.
I have been looking at some more houses on redfin.com. House-hunting is my new hobby. There are now a lot of cute houses in the $350,000 and $400,000 range here. I can't wait to see how much lower house prices go!
In addition to surfing real estate websites, Jason and I have been traveling quite a bit--to San Diego a few weeks ago, and then to Mt. Hood, Oregon last weekend.
In San Diego, we enjoyed perfect, sunny, warm weather, in the midst of a gloomy Northern California February. I am convinced that San Diego is heaven on earth--how else can you explain buying 20 avocados for only 5 dollars!? We also had a wonderful time with Michael and Lindsay--they were great hosts, and let us relax completely. We enjoyed the weekend Southern California style: on the beach, and watching dolphins. Amazing!
Then last week we went up to Oregon for the wedding of Jason's niece. The ceremony was at the beautiful Timberline Lodge. Jason gave a really eloquent speech during the ceremony that made everyone tear up. During the reception it snowed, and made a perfect background to the stunning decorations. In other news, Justin, Melynda, Judy, Jason and I went to Ikea. I bought some lovely new dishes, a bath mat, and sundry other things. We also went to Multnomah Falls with Jan, our lovely hostess. The Falls are really amazing, and I'd like to go back again sometime.
Once we got back from Oregon, Jason started preparing Credit Line for their move to Pleasanton. This has used up all of Jason's free time this week, but he should be finished moving soon. He is busier than I could ever handle!
Whew! So in a nutshell, that's what we've been up to.

I Know a Rock Star!

This is my cousin Ben's website. He played some of these songs at the last family reunion talent show (sounds like a chintzy venue until you realize how many members of my family are musically talented--the talent show is the best part of the reunion!)
Anyway, I really loved these songs that Ben played--if you like Jack Johnson and John Mayer, you'll love them too. Here's the site: jamwave.com/benhawkes

Jedis, Meal Planning, and Sunday School

Well, I'm kind of surprised that the post including the Neti Pot didn't get any comments--if that isn't sensational reporting, I don't know what is! Don't any of you have questions/want pictures?

Last night, Jason showed me a clip from "The Making of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed". It's a video game where you get to be one of Darth Vader's buddies, and use the Force to crash through doors and stuff. You also get a light saber. Apparently, this will be coming out on the Wii later this year. Jason already wants a Wii, but this particular game put his Wii fever into overdrive. Now, he can be the Jedi he was born to be. :)

I have been working on planning meals a week at a time. This is a great way to budget, reduce food waste, and eat healthier, less-processed foods. I did this when I was a student at BYU Idaho, and got pretty good at it, but I have really let my skills atrophy. Planning meals keeps me from panicking about what to make for dinner at 8pm in a kitchen FULL of food. So we also eat at a more reasonble hour. (For anyone interested, I will be posting almost a month's worth of meal plans on my recipe blog. I am archiving them month by month, so I can use them to find recipes seasonally.)

Jason and I are still loving teaching Sunday School. For the New Year, instead of getting a new class, we moved up with our Sunbeams. They will be turning 5 this year, and they are so cute. Today Jason taught a lesson about making good choices with a lot of cool activities to illustrate his point. As class was winding down, we had the kids color pictures showing themselves choosing the right. When one of the girls swiped a boy's crayon, he retaliated by shouting "Teacher, she didn't make a good choice!" It's nice to know they're listening to the lessons. :)

This Means War!

Last night, Jason taught me how to play the card game "War". It's really fun, but he whupped me every round, mostly because I have so much trouble remembering the order that face cards go in--you know, like Joker, Queen, King, Ace. I am nowhere near fast enough to beat Jason, but I had a good time.

I love having company over!

In the past 2 weeks we have had more overnight guests than in the six months previous. It was really fun. I enjoyed shopping for shampoo and soap for the guest bathroom, puttering around arranging magazines, and grocery shopping for yummy dishes to make for our guests. (A side note: I recently filled out a questionnaire that asked my hobbies. I replied that grocery shopping is a hobby of mine. Strange but true!)
Lesley and Scott agreed to come stay with us so we could have the pleasure of hosting them overnight. They stayed with us after Italy night, which in itself was a blast. We watched a movie Jason made of clips from our video camera, including snazzy chapter markers announcing which town we were in when the footage was shot.
We ate year-old fruitcake (it gets better with time) that Jason had imported from Sienna, via his luggage. In fact, I think we almost ate ourselves sick, with Italy-related foods, including pasta with pesto, and homemade pizza. No one could stomach the pannetone (an Italian bread studded with candied fruit), because we ate too much of it a year ago in Venice. We had to consume it when it would no longer fit it in our luggage, and in trying not to be wasteful, made ourselves verifiably ill.
After dinner, I gave Ian a tangerine to play with when he got fussy, and he cracked me up by squeezing it between his hands and making fierce muscle-man grunts. I am not kidding, the boy can actually pulverize a tangerine.
Mom and Dad Brown came to stay with us last week. They wanted to see our Christmas tree, and take some pictures of us. Jason introduced them to "The Office" while they were here. It was so fun to see them, and I love finding new ways to be a good hostess.
All of you who live out of town, if you're ever in our neigborhood, let us know!

She's back!

Sorry folks, I realize it has been too long since I last posted here. After enjoying time with my family over the holidays, I have been spending a good bit of my blogging time at my new annex blog: http://allisonsrecipes.blogspot.com
I love having this site! And as I begin using it to decide what to cook (I search for recipes by how much time I have to cook), and what to shop for, it just makes me think of more recipes to add. Right now I am working on crockpot recipes. Finding vegetarian crockpot recipes is surprisingly difficult, but I posted one today for crockpot mac and cheese that I think I will try tonight. It looks really easy, and only requires 3 hours of benign neglect.

Family in Town

It is so great having all these people I love so close together! My grandparents and Lesley and Scott and Ian are in town. It is so fun to see them all.
My grandparents are sooo funny (an example: my dear, sweet grandma, who likes--quote-- "shoot 'em up novels, spy novels, and books where people carry at least two guns and a knife." And my grandpa, who teases that the Crystal Light packets he's been putting in his drinks are "sex powder". There is no one like my grandparents.)
Also, it is fun to spend time with my nephew Ian, because he is so cute, and of course, I like Lesley and Scott because they brought Ian (okay, and I like them for other reasons too).
We all went to church together today because Dad and I are in a choir together that is touring the local wards (not like we're famous, we're just touring the wards of choir members). I got to see a few old friends today who were home visiting their parents. I saw Stephanie LeFevre, Joe Strickland, Tori and JJ Bell, and a few other friends who have moved back to the area and live here permanently.
After singing in my parents' ward, Jason and I went back to our ward to teach our Sunday School class of Sunbeams (the 4 year-olds). Our ward has a crazy tradition of combining the kids Sunday School classes with another ward the Sunday before Christmas. This meant we had 16 4-year-olds, to keep an eye on for 2 hours. Luckily we had another couple to help us this week. The kids were actually very good, all things considered. We taught a simple lesson about the birth of Jesus, using our little nativity set from Italy. The kids were so into it. And why not? It's a great story, with a baby, a mom, a bad king, some farm animals, and God. So cool. I love Christmas!

Also New: Allison's Recipes

Yes, it's true! Allison's Recipes, a creatively titled new blog, is available for your consumption! It's full of wittily titled recipes, like "3 Bean Salad". Hahaha, oh, that was a good one.
Okay, so it's not funny. But it is a site of all the recipes my friends and family ask me for frequently, as well as family recipes, and even some recipes I'd like to try, but haven't yet. You can find the link to the site in the sidebar, under "Blogs I Love".
If you have an Ogden, Buchmiller, Searles, Huff, Brown, or Avilla recipe you'd like to submit, e-mail me.
Also, I got my grades back for last semester--A's in Nutrition, Political Science, and Weightlifting, and a B in Math. I am very pleased.

New: A Slideshow!

Jason and I just added a slideshow of pictures from our Italy trip. (If you would like to see the pictures in a larger format, I think you can just click on them, and it will take you to Flickr.) We are planning an evening to remenisce about Italy while Scott and Lesley are here for Christmas, so we are thinking about our memories a lot. It is also almost the time of year that we took our trip. We are so excited--we have set out the tiny nativity set that we bought in Rome, and got out our two little Bufanas (Bufana is the Italian Christmas witch, for those of you who don't know).

Mmm...Indian Food

I wanted to write a review for a local Indian restaurant. It's an idea that's been kicking around in my head for a while now. But I just got an e-mail from my friend Joyce John that made me want to get around to reviewing it today.
That's because Joyce was the one who introduced me to my all-time favorite Indian/Pakistani restaurant: Naan'n'Curry in Berkeley. That is also where I got to know naan--a delicious bread that kind of looks like a gordito. (You know, those thick tortillas that Taco Bell made up?)
They have the best naan. But the closest Naan'n'Curry is about 20 minutes away in Berkeley, so it's not convenient for a quick fix.
Jason and I had been eyeing this new Indian restaurant about 3 miles from our house, called Monsoon Masala. We went there for date night about 3 weeks ago, and Oh my goodness! It was amazing. Even their naan was comparably pillowy. Also, the restaurant itself is a beautiful place (check the website for pictures, reviews, a menu, and lots of other fun stuff.)http://www.monsoonmasala.com/
I'm thinking that when the Larsons come up for Christmas (that's my sister Lelsey's married name, for those behind on their Ogden family trivia) I'd like to get them to go with us. I always think of Indian food when I think of the Larsons because I know Scott's family enjoys it. And actually, I think about Indian food whenever I can.

Allison Is the Most Glamourous Wife in the World

(Okay, this isn't from her haircut, but I like the picture of her striking a pose in Florence, Italy)

Here are some shots of her haircut.

Running Into Things At Gottschalks

I got up this morning before 5 am. It was 4:30, in fact, when I rolled out of bed and got dressed. And I was probably the last person to get up. We were at Kohl's by 5:30, ready to shop. (This is an unusual state for me to be in.)
Jason and I scored an Aerobed for 55% off, to replace the guest bed that takes up so much room year-round. Jason stocked up on jeans for $11 a pair, and got some sweaters for the same price. (His new job is much more casual, so clothes like this will be very useful.) I bought a fabulous $250 leather jacket for $70 (Good timing, because my previous jacket broke on the way home from the store.) And I also got a set of velour lounge pants and a hoodie, my official self-reward for studying a few weeks ago when I wanted to do anything else.
We finished at Kohl's by 7, and then went to Target, Costco, Game Stop, and by 10:00, we were ready for lunch. We stopped at a Mexican place in Modesto called El Rosal, and I got this yummy layered quesadilla/chile rellenos thing.
Then we went to Rite Aid. And after that Gottschalks. By this time I was getting pretty tired--it was only 12:30, and I had already been up 8 hours. I was bumping into displays like a slowmoving zombie, and my reaction time was such that when I bounced off people, they were gone before I could get together an "excuse me". Pretty sad. Jason eventually started steering me around the tables stacked with merchandise for my own good.
After that we went home, where I spotted a newspaper article I was really interested in reading, so I lay down on the floor to read, but despite my interest, I could not even stay awake through a paragraph. I went and took a nap, and was out cold from 1:00-3:30. It's nice to feel human again.

A Late Thanksgiving Night

It is late in the evening on Thanksgiving. Late being after 9 pm, on a night when we will be leaving the house at 5 am. Yes, welcome to Black Friday preparations. While we were waiting for the turkey to cook, Jason's sisters, niece, mother and I ripped apart the ads section of the newspaper for deals. Mervyn's has men's sweaters Buy One, Get 2 Free! Amazing.There are also really good deals on things we were planning to buy eventually anyway, like an Aerobed for our guestroom. This is pretty fun, despite the vague feeling that we are involved in a military campaign.
After a yummy dinner at Jason's sister Jeanne's house, we introduced the Brown family to Apples to Apples. It's a really fun game that the Ogdens play whenever our family gets together. Although some people were reluctant at first, we eventually got everyone to join in.
I'll update you all later on how my 5 am shopping debut goes.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Jason and I will be heading to Turlock/Modesto to spend Thanksgiving with his family. I am excited to see a Brown family tradition for the first time: Black Friday. You know, when mobs of people go out shopping for insane deals. Really, with some of the prices, I'm surprised my family hasn't been all over it (Ogdens are so cheap). I've heard about this Brown tradition for quite a while, and am looking forward to seeing Jason's sisters elbowing people to get to the good stuff at Kohls.
This will also be my 3rd Thanksgiving with Jason. The first one was when we announced our engagement to our gathered families, and the second was last year with my family. It is awesome to think of the time we are racking up so easily--it has been over 2 and a half years since our first date. And it has been so smooth and easy. I'm not saying it hasn't involved work--it has, but that all the work we've put in has been well worth it.
I love you sweetie!

European Dreams

This blog thing is really cool. I stayed up late one night just fooling around with templates to make it look pretty (in an un-girly way, of course. This blog is for Jason too.) The only problem now is what to post in it.
I am lobbying for our Europe group (Mom and Dad Ogden, Lesley and Scott, and Jason and I) to start saving up money to travel again. When Jason and I were over at Mom and Dad's for dinner the other night, we started talking about where to go. I hear that Prague is very cheap right now, with nice amenities, so that gets my vote. I loved the planning part of going to Italy, and it would be so exciting to do it again. :) Our only problem might be whether Lesley and Scott want to go with a small child, although Rick Steves says it's not too bad traveling with a kid, especially if you knock them out with Nyquil or something on the plane ride. Hey, Rick said it, not me! Quit giving your computer screen dirty looks. If you have any travel tips, post them in the comments.