Rah rah sis boom bah!

Yesterday Regan finished the second half of his first midterm of his second semester of his first year of law school. What a mouthful, haha. Can you tell I've been practicing that? Anyway, just felt like I should continue my duty as cheerleader. Haha. Ok, before I get into "Regan is R-E-D...H-O-T" I'll sign off...

But before I go, can anyone believe that we have lived in NC for 6 months? INSANE.

Coco is the cat's pajamas

Chloe's bday sleepover was a blast. I laughed my head off during karaoke... seriously, the kind of laugh that made tears roll down my cheeks. Someday, if you catch me in an uninhibited mood, I will reenact some of the best parts. The visit was short and sweet, but definitely worth the trek.

Update

Regan made me promise to go and see the puppies while I was in Richmond... he even went as far as to email my mom to make sure it happened. Luckily, I brought my camera to prove that I actually held those puppies!

I look freaky in the first picture but I'll chalk that up to being a little bit scared to hold the puppies. Why you ask? I have no idea... it just wiggled and made noises...but I have VERY little experience with puppies and dogs.




I don't know, I might be sold on a future dog...

Road Trip!

This weekend I am going home with my sister and my niece for a little girls time...hooray!

Money back guarantees:

-Laughing my head off
- Party food
-Dance/Karaoke time (aka, entertainment by Marissa)
-A romantic comedy
-Lounging in our pajamas
-Crafts with the kiddos

CAN'T WAIT!

who is this girl?

I am SURE that you will all be shocked to hear this but for the VERY first time... probably ever... I briefly wanted a dog. I know, the gasps can be heard 'round the world since I have been previously known as "the one who hates all animals" or the one with a "dog/cat/[insert animal of choice] aversion". (FYI: I don't hate them... most of them I am scared of and the others I'd prefer to just see from a distance) I was driving home from the Y on Saturday night and my mom mentioned that some people at church had a lab that had puppies. Regan and I have agreed that some day we will get a lab. (I am voting chocolate but he wants black... he has "compromised" saying we can get one of each, haha)

Regan has convinced me that if we get a puppy I will get to know it and learn to love it. (As opposed to being slightly afraid of it and very grossed out by the dog hair/smells.) "Someday" to me means when we have a house, a yard, a fence, and a child who is at least five years old. But somehow, when I talked to my mom I got a little excited about getting a tiny brown lab. And, how convenient that I am heading to Richmond this very weekend. I called Regan to tell him the prospect of good news... but unfortunately he called my bluff, haha. Or maybe I called his? Even later that night as I was sitting at home (alone watching a movie while Regan was studying for a midterm) I considered that if we had a puppy I would have someone to watch lots and lots of romantic comedies with whenever I wanted.

But really (and I really do hate to break this to all you dog lovers out there...) I don't want an indoor dog, nor can we afford one right now, AND I don't even think we are allowed to have one in our condo. Oh, and we are gone all day at work/school and that seems mean to the dog. I just thought it was a big step/accomplishment that I briefly even considered it, even half seriously.

Where to begin...

I guess I will start off with the cute cute cute vday apron that Regan's mom sent in the mail... I didn't really have anything festive out this year so this surprise definitely made my day. And it definitely inspired me to make a Valentines Breakfast. (Haha, like my props in the picture? I felt dumb taking a picture with out them :) I decided to make hot pink waffles complete with strawberries and whipped cream. I was psyched when I checked the Harris Teeter (my favorite local grocery store) ad and saw that strawberries AND whipped cream were on sale this week. Too perfect. Although, I can attest to the fact that hot pink waffles don't actually look as appealing as you might think. You win some... you lose some, right? I just think that everything should be pink or red at least one day out of the year.



The full table spread:




We spent a romantic dinner and Chipotle, haha. Gotta love a free burrito. We ran into our friend, Spencer, whose wife was working late so we included him and made it a "romantic dinner for three". We topped the evening off with a little shopping, brownies sundays, and our favorite TV show, Lost. And just so you know the kind of hopeless romantic Regan really is... He made a coupon for a free foot massage and then gave me a second coupon:



(incase you can't read it is says "1 free foot massage for the other foot." He's too funny.

Finally. My favorite day of the year is here...

And now, in honor of this day of love... a few of my favorite love songs. You're gonna want to turn up the volume for these babies.

















I could go on and on...

it is the little things that make life big...

ok, so we all know the big things help but I am just trying to embrace good things as they come... even if they seem insignificant in the scheme of things. its easy to recognize the big things (like tax returns and costco samples) so I thought I'd put a plug in for the small things. here are a just a few of my life's simple pleasures: (after all, I'm a pretty simple gal: )

an empty laundry basket. i love knowing that ALL of the clothes in my house are clean (and neatly stowed). this feeling can't last long, obvioisly... but it sure is nice in the interim.

emptying the dirt in my dyson. it is like a sense of accomplishment seeing all of the dirt I've sucked up.

left overs. not all left overs, mind you. just the good ones like pizza or lasagna.

freshly painted toes

brand new, cean socks... on the same note: folding laudry and not having ANY missing socks

clean, cool, unwrinkled sheets... but only cool when it is a reasonable temp in my room

those little individual floss things... never bought them myself but yesterday morning I thought they might improve my dental health.

unexpected emails from a friend in my inbox

running to the grocery store for that last ingredient that you forgot and finding it on sale

finding a perfect self tanner... haven't done this one yet but I imagine it would be great.

meeting someone name mrs. sunshine... I swear this happened to me last week.

and unexpected, "thank you" or some other sort of appreciation

when someone else empties the dishwasher or does some other chore I am planning on getting around to (hint hint)

panty hose that dont get runs... these are a rarity.

when your favorite song just happens to come on the radio when you get into the car

when someone you barely know remembers your name and uses it... I am SOO bad about this so I really appreciate it in others.

the noise that a can of diet pepsi makes when you open it... instant "ahhhhhh" moment.

My first REAL job

Its official... FINALLY. I was offered a regular, full-time position at Wake Forest on Friday after waiting what seemed like FOREVER. Yesterday at our staff meeting the dean of the department welcomed me and gave me these pretty flowers. I took them home but I think I would get to enjoy them more if I had left them at my desk... I sit there for a good portion of the day.

Basically, the only change from before is that I get benefits... and I think it would be a lot harder for them to fire me now. Oh, and I get 10% off at El Torero now. Awesome.

The other day one of my co-workers was asking what our plans were for after law school. Since we don't really have plans yet, I gave my standard generic answer that we will go where ever the best opportunities are, but of course we hope to be by family, etc. She told me that we would probably have to go where he gets a job but it was lucky that with my career I could work anywhere because there are lots of schools all over. I had to stifle a laugh because I would have never considered my job a career. Don't get me wrong, I definitely enjoy it more days of the week than not... and I feel blessed to have found this job... but it is never what I imagined I would do or really aspired to. I guess until I got a taste of that great place called CMS, that is. 

New Soul

You might recognize this song from the new Apple commercial. Regan showed me the music video the other night and I am loving it, right now. Makes me want to have my own barefoot parade in a beautiful field of flowers... so I thought I would share the wealth:

pizza pizza

We made home made pizza yesterday and it turned out great. I know, I was surprised, too. I found a recipe for pizza dough that I altered slightly and it was the best that we've made so far. The picture doesn't look very appealing because I didn't think to take a picture until I was putting away the leftovers. Next step: learn how to roll out my dough so that it is perfectly round.
Regan made the sauce, and to be honest I wasn't paying attention to what he put in it. I think there was tomato sauce doctored up by some canned tomatoes and some sauteed onions. Whatever it was... was good!

Here is the dough recipe:

INGREDIENTS
* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
* 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 3 cups flour
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons white sugar
* 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (i think i also added a little basil)


DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups bread flour, olive oil, salt, seasonings, white sugar and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine. Beat well until a stiff dough has formed. Cover and rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Form dough into a round and roll out into a pizza crust shape. Bake crust for 10 min. Cover with your favorite sauce and toppings and bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 12 minutes. (I also tried turning the temp up to 400 for the second round of baking.