Catch up

Blogging just hasn't been on my mind lately, but I have been keeping up with all of yours!  Here's an update...

Jen - You need to tell me how you lose all the baby weight so fast, you're seriously a twig and you JUST had Greyson. You know, so I can prepare for when Ry and I have a baby.

I got into UMass Boston for grad school!  I'll be starting this fall for my masters in special education.  Can't wait to be back in school (never thought I'd say that).

I've been watching the Holiday 1-3 times a week.  I do this thing and it's bad, but take Christmas music for example.  I begin listening to it in like October, and come December, I'm sick of it.  I don't want to do that with the Holiday, but I seriously cannot stop.  I did this before Ryan and I were married with How the Grinch Stole Christmas and I couldn't stand watching it for a good year or so.

I got a really bad haircut and it's growing out finally.  I'm also taking prenatal vitamins to try to make it grow faster.  Ugh it's like super 1990's layered.  I asked for half an inch off, and she cut 4 (plus layers) off! I need to find a good hair person.

Last night was Willa's wedding!  I'll post some pics below (there are a ton to chose from.  It was definitely bitter sweet, and I was constantly looking for Bev and Maddie to make sure they were okay, even though they both had their awesome guys there to comfort them.  Willa was just glowing, and she looked beautiful.  I'm very happy for Willa and Mike! And my mom did all the flowers, bless her heart, and they turned out beautiful.

Ya, ya..

I'll blog sometime this week, I promise..

And I'll update my background.  I think I was mid-change and stopped, hence the ugly colors haha

I'll be back!

Summer in February

You know, I'd like to consider myself a giving person.  I put thought and consideration into everything I give, especially when I give to people I love.  For this Valentine's Day, I wanted to give Ryan something that would last longer than a day, unlike a box of chocolates or anything edible.  I thought long and hard about what to get him.

And so, I gave him my cold.

He usually likes things I give him.  I was shocked to see how disappointed he was when he got this from me!

Oops  :)

But honestly, I have felt absolutely terrible that I got him sick.  My cold lasted from Thursday until Tuesday, causing me to use two of my sick days at work!  If Ryan's cold lasts as long as mine did, he should be through with it on... hmmm... Sunday.

For Valentine's Day, I made him his FAVORITE dinner: Southwestern Egg Rolls with Chipotle Dipping Sauce, and I bought him a slice of Chocolate Nightmare cake from a little Italian bakery down the road.

However, I still didn't feel like I had made up for the fact that I gave him my cold!  So tonight, I went to the store and bought ingredients for strawberry shortcake, a summer favorite!  My hopes behind making strawberry shortcake are that his body will get excited for warm weather and kick this cold virus's butt!

Ryan's all about presentation, so I made sure it looked like it was served from a 5-star restaurant before I gave it to him.  It looked so yummy I HAD to take pictures!

Pasta Creation

I really enjoy being in the kitchen.  Unfortunately, working three jobs does not allow a lot of time during the week for me to cook.  Ryan has luckily learned how to make grilled burritos from his father on our panini maker, and he is also successful at making himself macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and reheating leftovers.

That being said, Sundays are my time to cook and experiment in the kitchen.  Above all, I love experimenting with pastas.  Pasta can be a great blank canvas to have fun with.  Yesterday, Ryan and I were planning to head downtown for the evening, but needed some lunch quick before we left.  So, I threw together a dish with what I had.

And it turned out delicious.  Ryan said that it tasted like something you'd get in a restaurant (probably because I usually don't cook with butter!), and I have to agree that this recipe is pretty fantastic.

Today, I recreated the dish but made it so I had leftovers for the week.  I also wrote down how I made it so I could share it with all of you!

Ingredients:

1 lb. pasta (I prefer shells or rigatoni, but you can use whatever)
4-5 Tbsp butter (depending on how much you'd like to use)
4-6 cloves garlic, minced (depending on how much you like garlic! I like garlic, so I used 6)
Salt and pepper
18-24 oz of your favorite tomato sauce (The only sauce I ever use is Francesco Rinaldi's Sweet and Tasty Tomato)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan and Romano cheese
1/8 cup red wine (you can add more or less of this, depending on your preference)

Directions:

Cook pasta as directed on the package in salted water.

While the pasta is cooking, melt butter over low-medium heat in a large heavy-bottom skillet.  Once butter is melted, add garlic.  Watch garlic carefully; do not let it brown.  If necessary, turn head down a bit.  While garlic is cooking, add salt and pepper to season.  Cook garlic until it is tender.

Add in tomato sauce.  Stir until fully mixed with butter and garlic.  Add cheese and wine, stirring to blend it all together.

Strain water from cooked pasta in a colander.  Rinse pasta briefly with cold water.  Add pasta to tomato mixture.  Toss to coat.  Add additional pepper to season.

I used ziti today when I made it, only because that was the only pasta I had in the house, and I do not recommend using ziti.  Use a pasta that has the grooves in it.  That allows the sauce to stick to the pasta.  Today, my noodles were too slippery because ziti doesn't have lines on it to make the sauce stick.  Yesterday I used medium shells when I made it, and it was fabulous!

If any of you make this, please let me know how you like it so I can make any adjustment necessary to the recipe!

Missing things

Most of whoever is reading this has probably heard me say at one point, "I can't wait to live in New England again," during the 3 years we lived in Utah.  But, now that I'm here, I find myself missing Utah more than I thought I would.

I love our condo.  Luckily we still own it, but I miss living in it.  I miss walking up the three flights of stairs.  I miss the smell of our condo (I thought it smelled good... but if it had a weird smell that I didn't know, don't tell me).  I miss the jetted bath tubs!  And the central air conditioning.  And the granite counter tops.  And the vaulted ceilings, and the ceiling fans, and having a washer and dryer.  I know I'll have a house that has all that some day, but I still miss it all.  And I miss my Utah friends.  I know we're all still close, but we're all so far away... from Los Angeles to Dallas to Salt Lake to Boston.  That's a lot of miles to travel.

I miss the park in Orem behind Orem High School that I'd run in, and go to play with Jen and Jersey while Rob and Ryan would play tennis.  Jen.. remember that crazy thunder storm that came while Rob and Ryan were playing that summer evening?  And the skies suddenly turned black?  That was awesome.

I think I miss the memories most of all.

Going to San Diego and Las Vegas with everyone

Yoga and Zumba Thursday nights and Saturday mornings with Jen

Staying up till 3 a.m. with Jed and Jess during our sleepovers

"Buddy stories"

Jersey's cuteness

The excitement of family visiting from Connecticut

Park City outlets on Black Friday

How the sky looks over the mountains when it storms in the summer

One word: Bailey

Christmas parties with the friends

Maybe the reason I miss all of this is because it is where Ryan and I started our lives together.  And don't get me wrong; I love Boston.  And I'll miss Boston one day.

But right now, I'm missing Utah.

Sigh.

Oh, and guess what..  I've stopped biting my nails!  I know I say this every 5 months or so, and then go back to biting, but I'm hoping this time it's for good!  Thought I'd throw that in there :)

So sweet!

When you make plans, God laughs

"When you make plans, God laughs."

Bev told me that about a month ago during one of our walks along the beach.

Am I crazy for having a bucket list of things I want to accomplish before I have my first child?  I mean, seriously, am I nuts for actually having an excel document with each year planned out: when we'll buy a new car, when we'll get a house, when we'll start trying to have kids, and so on?

Every time I think about my "parenthood bucket list", does God look down on me and laugh?  Kind of like He's saying, "Ha, that's what YOU think...".

Oh, no.

Tips, please.

This post is really just for those who have been to Europe before.

We are WICKED excited to announce that we are starting to plan a trip to Europe with two of our best friends, Jed and Jess!  Here's what we have so far... We would like to stay for a minimum of 2 weeks, and we would like to do one of two trips: France, England, Scotland, Ireland, all those places up there, OR Italy, Spain, Greece, all those places down there.

After FaceTiming tonight with Jed and Jess, we threw around some really great ideas, but still don't know where we want to go.

With that said, we need advice.

Should we devote a whole 2 weeks to just one or two countries? If we do Italy, should we do the entire trip in Italy?  Hostiles or hotels? European cruise or no? And so on.

To anyone who has been to Europe before, what tips can you give us? And obviously, we will research beyond the advice.  But advice will give us a good place to start.

A New Era?

Oh. My. Gosh. How have I lived for so long without a Mac?

My wonderful husband has paid attention to my griping about my HP laptop that I hate so so SO much, and for Christmas he got me a MacBook Pro.  Knowing that I don't have to ever (except for when I'm at work or at my parents' house) use a PC again is incredibly comforting.

Never ever again do I plan on owning anything but Apple computers.

Apple, I love you.

A Letter

To my Margie,

This weekend was a hard one.  Everyone kept telling me to be relieved that you aren't suffering anymore and that you are out of pain, but when I heard that, it made me cry harder.  I'm not upset that you aren't in pain anymore, or that you're in a better place.  Simply put, I miss you.

They told me it'd be closed casket, so you could imagine my shock entering the funeral home and seeing you there.  Gramma said Larry wanted to keep the casket opened because you looked so good.  Margie, you were beautiful.  Gramma picked out a beautiful dress with soft pink roses on it.  Your casket was a pearly pink; I'm pretty sure you would have picked out that exact one if you had the choice.  Besides, who knows style better than Gramma?

I met Larry for the first time.  Well, he told me he met me when I was very little, but I don't remember.  He misses you so much.  I also saw your parents again.  They looked the same as they did on Easter.  I am going to send Larry and your parents letters, because I didn't have any words yesterday.

What am I going to do without you here?

I promise I will do Relay for Life every year for Margie's Angels.  I wish there was a way I could raise enough money to find a cure for cancer. Do you think we'll find a cure in my lifetime?  I hate cancer so much; I think it's the only think I really actually hate in life.

I promise to be less passive in life.  I will really work on speaking up.  Remember when you and Gramma visited me in Utah when we moved into our condo?  And our diningroom table was being delivered?  And the delivery men were going to leave without assembling the chairs, and you gave them an earful, so you and Gramma ironed my shower curtain as you watched them assemble the chairs.  You did the right thing, because I'm pretty sure the three of us wouldn't have been able to put even one of those together.

I promise to be more involved with politics.  I even watched last night's debate.  Did you?  I think Rick Perry is a joke. 

I'll never forget how you always added an "s" onto the end of "Walmart".  I've always secretly thought that was funny.

Does Larry know how much I love you?

When I have children, and they are crazy and run around like I did to you when I was little, I'll think of the stories you'd tell about me as a child. I'd like to officially appologize to you for being a hyper kid.

You were so beautiful, Margie, inside and out.  Part of me wishes I had visited you between Easter and when you passed, but I have great memories of you at Easter.  And that is how I'll always remember you.

I promise to visit you as much as I can.  You're in Enfield now, and that's a little far, but I'll try to visit every time I'm in Connecticut.  And I'll take Aunt Carla with me.  And Gramma, since she doesn't like to drive a lot.  You're burried by some beautiful trees, and it's towards the back of the cemetary, so you won't be bothered by a lot of cars and people walking all over you.

When I cry because I miss you, please hold my hand and comfort me.

I'll see you soon, my dear friend.
Love,
"Katie"

If tears could build a stairway
and thoughts a memory lane,
I'd walk right up to heaven
and bring you home again.
-author unknown

Everything Since August...

What's happened since I've last posted?

1. Ryan and I both started our new jobs.  He does something for Columbia Management with RFP's and fixed income that I honestly still don't understand.  And I am a teacher at Pembroke Hospital for boys with diagnosed behavior problems.

2. Jed and Jess came to visit back in the beginning of September!  It was so much fun.  It was nice to see that they haven't changed a bit :) There wasn't any awkward "Hey, haven't seen you in over a year... (silence)..." or anything like that.  Now, we are working out a time to go visit Texas next year!  Or... Utah reunion cruise, anyone?

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3. We redid our bathroom.  Probably not the most exciting news, but I'm glad it happened!  I know I took "before" pictures, but I can't find them!  Anyways, picture a blue shower curtain, blue bath mats and, nothing on the walls, and no wood cabinet next to the toilet.  It was an ugly bathroom before.  Ryan and I installed a new "green" shower head to make our bathroom Eco-friendly :) And we recently installed a curved shower curtain rod... now the inside of our shower is very roomie!  The picture of the shower curtain didn't come out too well, it looks plastic in the picture but it's a shimmery satin.  Very pretty!

4. Ryan and I tried Ethiopian food for the first time.  We loved it!  It's not like Indian food where you have really strong spices.  We found that the food was very rich-tasting and incredibly flavorful.  Nothing like Indian food at all.  Don't get me wrong, I love Indian food too!  But this isn't like Indian food.  And the plates are crepes, and that's what you use to eat the food with!  You use your hands, and I find that really unique :)

5. A HUGE storm hit New England (mostly Connecticut) around Halloween and our parents were without power for a while.  Ryan's parents only lost power for 3 or 4 days, but my parents lost power for a whole week.  Any my grandparents, too!  It was very sad to drive into town the following weekend when we went home to help clean up, and see the devistating scene.  Trees down everywhere.  I can't even imagine what it's like for those families down south where the tornadoes hit.  Here are the before and after photos of my backyard.  The before pictures were taken in the morning, and we worked SO hard and even neighbors and their pastor came to help!  Finally, around 4:00, our yard was ...better.  I don't have pictures of Ryan's parents' yard, but Ryan's mom blogged about it and posted pictures here: Click here.

6. Ryan's grandmother, Renee, came to visit last weekend with Ryan's parents. It was really nice having them all together here.  We all had a lot of fun!  Thank you Tamara, Neil and Renee for everything!

Oh! And I got my Christmas Eve dress!  I'm not a fan of the lace stockings with the dress on the picture though.  I've been watching this since FOREVER for it to go on sale!  Finally, it did :)

photo

I'm back

I know it's been since August since I've last blogged. Nothing much has happened... No, we aren't pregnant. No, none of our neighbors threatened to kill us again and made us move. And no, we aren't pregnant.

The truth is, I hate my computer. I desperately need a new one, but can't seem to save up the money specifically for a new one when there are so many cute boots to buy and so many Christmas presents to get during this time of the year. But UGHHHH I hate my computer! If only there was some way for me to find out my blood pressure at this very moment and let you know. It keeps freezing, and it's selective in which letters it'll show of the ones I type. Occasionally it'll restart, or it'll say there's no more memory left, and there's this thing? This stupid thing? It pops up every time I open my computer and I have no clue what it means or how to get rid of it. Going to Best Buy for them to look at it is a waste of my time because (did you know this?) Geek Squad charges now! At least at the Best Buy I go to... lame, huh?

I'm going Mac, for sure. I have two Nano's and an iPhone, and that's the extent of my Apple products, but their customer service can't be beat. Right now, I wish there was like some HP store I could bring my computer in to and they'd actually care enough to look at it!

Sorry, this is a rant.

So, what I've typed so far has taken about 43 minutes (quite unnecessary) and caused me to bite two of my nails out of frustration. One day, when I can save up the money for a new computer, I'll blog more.

But for now, this will have to do! :)

Oh, and isn't this nice, I want to highlight everything I've typed just now and change the font size... but my computer isn't letting me highlight.

I hate you, PC.

Bev's Wedding!

This post is incredibly overdue! On July 16th, Beverly Elizabeth Bulkley and Richard Anton Herb became husband and wife, and I couldn't be more happy for the two of them.
BEFORE "THE PROBLEM": The morning started out great. I spent the night in the hotel room with Bev, her sister Maddie, and their mother Willa. We all (Bev, Willa, and all 8 of her bridal party) woke up, grabbed breakfast downstairs, ate on the deck outside on the water, and then went to get our hair done. We then came back to the hotel to get dressed and do our make up. It took 3 of us to get Bev's dress on and button all of the tiny buttons that went up the back of the dress. I can only image the frustration Ricky felt at the start of his wedding night with all those buttons...
"THE PROBLEM": We went out to the docks to take pictures, and then got into our limo. Let me map this out for you first. The hotel was in Scituate, Massachusetts. That is where we all got ready (it's the town over from where they live). The church they got married at was in Providence, Rhode Island (the chapel at Providence College... where they met and went to school). That's an hour and 15 minute drive, depending on traffic. So we leave in the limo from Scituate, on our way to Providence. In the limo was the bride, the mother of the bride, and the 8 members of the bridal party. About 5 minutes into the car ride, we realize the air conditioning isn't working. We shout up to the driver to turn it on (our make up was melting down our faces), and he shortly realizes it's not working. He pulls over in a parking lot and comes back to fiddle around with the controls. When he's done, he goes back up and tries to start the limo. AND IT DOESN'T START! He calls his boss, keeps turning the key, and eventually it starts. Bev finally exhales and we are on our way.

We get to the town over, about another 7 minutes down the road, and we realize the limo is slowing down. The driver pulls over on the side of the road (a very small, busy road) and immediately everyone starts screaming at the driver that, in Maddie's words, "It's a fucking boiler in here!" Bev kicks the door open and piles out of the limo. After her goes Maddie, and then Willa. I am behind Willa, but as she got out of the limo, something fell on the ground. She turned around to pick it up just as I was getting out of the limo, head down, and her nose smashes into the top of my head. There was a large cracking sound, followed by Willa grabbing her nose and screaming! At that moment I swore I broke her nose. That triggered her anger, and she turned to the limo driver and began yelling. We soon found out that one of the limo's two batteries had died.

Picture this on the side of the road: A bride in a giant dress holding her bouquet with a terrified look on her face, holding back the tears to save her Chanel makeup, 8 bridesmaids in navy dresses holding bouquets and calming one another, the mother of the bride screaming at the limo driver, all next to a broken down limo at noon on a hot summer day. It was like something out of a movie.

LUCKILY, the photographer had been following our limo "just in case anything were to happen" (thank GOODNESS!). Bev, Willa and Maddie got in the back of her little station wagon and began the drive to Providence. As they pulled away, Bev screamed through the closed window "Katie, you're in charge of Octavia!" I was left with Bev's two cousins, her three college roommates, and Ricky's little cousin Octavia. People were driving by honking at us.. we didn't know if they were congratulating the bride or telling us to get off of the road and stop holding up traffic. The photographer's son and friend were about 30 minutes out and turned around to pick up 3 of us. Those 3 were me, Octavia, and one of Bev's cousins. I still had the three roommates and the other cousin that had to get to Providence. Oh, and Bev had to walk down the isle at 2:00 exactly because there was another wedding at 4:00 and they were doing a whole mass, not just a ceremony.

It was about 1:00 and the limo driver was still working on transportation for us. He arranged for a van to pick up the remaining bridesmaids from the hotel and drive them to Providence. A nice stranger drove the 4 bridesmaids to the hotel to wait for the van, while the 3 of us got into the photographer's son's car and headed to Providence.

Around 1:30, I called one of Bev's roommates to see if they were picked up yet. Still no van, and Bev still wasn't at the chapel yet. Finally, around 1:45, a van arrives to pick up the rest of the bridesmaids. We were all officially on our way to the chapel! Bev got to the chapel around 2:00, and we got there around 2:15. We couldn't wait for the rest of the bridal party, so the service began without them. Once Bev saw Ricky waiting for her at the front of the church, she forgot all about everything that had happened and knew she was about to marry the love of her life.

AFTER "THE PROBLEM": We lined up behind the giant glass doors of the chapel. Out went the ring barer, followed by the flower girls, then Octavia, then Maddie, then me, and then Bev. I cried the entire time I walked down the isle. It was the combination of adrenaline from what had just happened, rushing around, and how beautiful Bev looked.

It was a lovely service. Unfortunately, the roommates and other cousin missed the majority of the service, but got to the chapel and came in the side door just after the vows. After the service, even though we ran way over time, everyone hung out outside for pictures. Then, we all got into limos and headed down to the lighthouse for pictures!

Then it was time to celebrate! They announced us as we entered into the reception room. My "date" for the whole day was Ricky's little brother Danny. Here's us, doing some dance Danny wanted to do together, as they announced us.

It was a fabulous day, and I am so happy for Bev and Ricky!