Happy Easter!

Cake anyone?It isn't the prettiest duck-cake of all time, but I like it!

The Melting Pot

Last night Ryan and I went to the Melting Pot with some friends. I've only ever done dessert there. We had never done the whole 4 course meal thing at this place before so we were all excited to see what it was all about.

It was nothing like the usual chain restaurants that we frequent, as in, the food was not cooked when it got to the table (and we're not talking uncooked the way sushi is uncooked!). The pot in the middle is where you put your skewered meat/fish choice in for a (random) amount of time.

Here we are with Liz and Anthony once our dinner was served. As you can see, there were about 30 different things to dip the food in. She named them all, but after she named the lobster tail and the shrimp, I was completely lost. Based on Anthony's reactions of "Hmmm, that's edible, not good but not bad either" and "Okay, that's gross", I stuck to the basic, cook the food until it isn't pink and eat it. Every item she set on the table had an explanation! " Cook this unknown meat for this long, cook that fish for that long. This sauce tastes like this and is good with that one. These take longer so throw them in early. Don't eat directly off your skewer. The spoon will get really hot" and so on. We felt like we needed little flags for each food and a timer. It was all very interesting and there was lots of laughter at our table. I'm not sure I would do it again, but it was definitely interesting to try it once.

Here's Ryan's tasty drink. Neat!
And of course, at the end of our 4-course meal came the DESSERT! Flambeed chocolate! There were strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, rice crispy treats, marshmallows, some cake thing and brownies. Obviously, we needed no assistance in naming these or timing how long to dip. The formula was simple: pick a dessert, drown it in milk chocolate mixed with Bailey's and try not to lose a single drop of goodness on the table or your shirt. If it lands on your chin, don't be wasteful!

Life does not get any better than a fabulous dinner loved ones!

thoughts

Weekends are just never long enough. By the time I’ve caught up on as many sleeping hours as is possible without feeling too slothful, the weekend was halfway over. My alarm went off this morning and my first thought for the day was “Oh man, not Monday again.” I’m so positive in the morning it kills me! In an effort to start the day off on a better foot, I crawled back into bed after I was all ready for work and got my traditional extra snuggle (and snooze) before I battled the day.
Today is St. Patrick’s day! A bunch of people from work are planning to go to Beef O’Brady’s. I haven’t decided if this is a good idea or a very bad idea. I have zero intentions to drink, as I am on a bi-annual schedule for drinking; once for Rachel’s birthday every year and one other random time. I had the “one other random time” a couple of weeks ago and my stomach is still sadly remembering the vomitous affects. Considering its St. Patty’s day and my co-workers have chosen an Irish pub, I’m thinking it’s going to be a little crazy.
In other news, Ryan has been looking into a job on the other side of the country. Since I love to research trips and other cities, I have been scouring the internet for all things Washington. We played with the idea of moving to Seattle last year, but it sort of fizzled out when we realized how much would have to go into planning that kind of move. This time around, my search has been more comprehensive and now moving to Orlando just doesn’t seem as exciting as it once did. There’s an Ikea there, mountains, actual seasons, a different coast, and Seattle has become more environmentally conscious over the years. We’ve even talked about mini-vacays to Canada. I’ve never been to that side of Canada!


The trees in Florida just don't look this good.


We’ve spent weekends in Orlando more times than I can count. Though I still don’t know my way around per se, I already know what Orlando has to offer. I have loved every trip, but Seattle has an entirely different set of fun things to explore. Orlando may be the more responsible move, as it will cost considerably less to make that move, but in the long run, who cares if we spent a little extra on moving? It isn’t like that little bit extra is going to let me retire any earlier.

I think another alluring feature is city skylines. Yes, Orlando is a big city, but Seattle seems to be a taller city.

P.S. I found these pictures at Seattle Daily Photo.

FRIDAY!!!

Good gosh it's finally Friday. This week I tried to bring a new attitude to work. It's helped me get through much better than I expected. The days have gone by surprisingly fast considering that it was a full 5 day week for once (I've been taking Fridays off for various reasons). I'm still not loving the job, but I'm getting through. We're halfway through March. It won't be long before Ryan and I go into full planning mode for what happens after July 28.

We had Panera for lunch today and I am absolutely stuffed. I didn't go to Panera for nearly 3 months and then I go twice in one week. When it rains, it pours, I guess. I don't have anything really interesting to say, just wanted to say something. That is all.

blue mondays

Another 26 or so Mondays before this all ends. Another 26 or so Mondays of getting up and going to work after doing everything and anything fulfilling that I can possibly squeeze in before selling my soul again for the weekly grind. Working for the weekend. Gross.

140 days until my lease ends.
203 days before we depart for the cruise!
4 more hours before I get to go home again.
10 more lbs to lose before I'm anywhere close to feeling comfortable in my skin.

sigh.

What if I just did exactly what I wanted to do? What if I just wasn’t afraid, wasn’t afraid of anything? That question feels so monumental, I think I’ll repeat. What if I just wasn’t afraid?

Nora convinced me to watch this show, “Quarterlife” which can be found here: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=159457533. I warn you, small circle of readers, if you are as easily sucked into the miserable lives of fake people as I am, then you will be very sucked into this show. It’s “shtick” is that you can catch an episode in just 15 short minutes. There’s this girl who pours her heart out to you in this very raw why. I love her because she’s unsure of herself. And this girl asks the question that I haven’t been brave enough to ask myself seriously. What if I just did exactly what I wanted to do and wasn’t afraid?

There are so many things that I am afraid of. And in true, jennstarme fashion, I give you people a list. A list of things I’m afraid of (other than the dark):

1.Failure
2.Being to poor to provide me and mine with the simple necessities of life (and some of the more complicated, more useless things in life)
3.Never finding the right career
4.Disappointing my family, my friends, the love of my life
5.Giving up the things I value in exchange for what I think people want me to be or to have
6.Being fat
7.Being alone
8.Having a boring life

My latest obsession is teaching. I’ve actually let the idea of quitting my job and becoming a substitute teacher. What would I do in the summertime, you ask? I don’t know.

I waver on quitting and letting it all go to hell or being responsible and saving up as much money as I can to make sure that when I do eventually move to Orlando, I'll have enough money to last while I find a job. We all know I'll do the saving money route, but damnit I'll be kicking and whining the whole way.