Chels and I have had a busy week! Last Sunday we went to brunch with our friends Erin & Ashod before going on a tour of houses for sale. It was great to see them! Ashod lives in Portland and Erin lives in Seattle, so when he comes up to visit we always like to get together and catch up. Ashod owns a house in Portland so he was giving us some tips. We're excited to be searching for a perfect little house for us :) When Chelsea's parents were visiting over Christmas we talked about the housing market in Seattle and how now is a great time to buy. Since then, we've had home-buying on the brain and have been going to open houses every weekend. There is so much to learn! I read "Home Buying for Dummies" and we attended a home-buying class, but still! We're having fun so far, but it's a lot of work. I feel a little more savvy after seeing 20+ homes--we're still trying to figure out what we do like (what we DON'T like is always much easier), what we "have" to have, and what we could compromise on. Very exciting!

After our open houses, we went to Sean & Claire's for a little mending party with some of our friends. It's nice to get together and do stuff with friends that you never want to do alone :) I had a sad mitten to repair, a hem to secure on a pair of jeans, and a hole in the shoulder of a sweater. I wish I would have paid more attention to my mother's sewing over the years--I made it through, albeit not gracefully :) Then Sunday night we went to Aunt Cathy & Uncle Sandy's for Steph's birthday dinner with the family. Her birthday was the Tuesday before, happy 30th Boo! We got her the most hilarious gift: cheese! Anyone who knows Stephanie knows how much she loves cheese--well, there is a sharp cheddar cheese made at Washington State University called "Cougar Gold" that is delicious. It's a big wheel of cheese that comes in a tin, which Chelsea knew would be the perfect gift for her sissy, and it was :)

This week we've been equally as busy--we've been celebrating one of my best friend Todd's birthday as well. Thursday night we hosted a sushi making party at our place for some friends in honor of his birthday, and last night we went over to his place and he made delicious pulled-pork sandwiches. Todd is currently in culinary school so it's always excellent when he cooks for us :) And my wife, the vegetarian, LOVES pulled-pork sandwiches! Isn't that funny? We're getting together with friends tonight for drinks to celebrate as well, whew! And then tomorrow the house-hunting continues before I have to work (inventory Sunday, my favorite Sundays of the year!). Wish us luck!

I also want to say "CONGRATS!" to my big sissy Bonnie for her recent promotion from associate designer to full-fledged designer for Target, a well-deserved promotion! Way to go, Bon! :)

It's Saturday and I'm Not at Work!!!

Woo-hoo! I've officially survived my first week in my new design training position! I have a few bruises, but didn't fall off any ladders so I think I'm doing pretty well :) I now have weekends off like everyone else (okay maybe not everyone, but like those who are not in the service industries) and I'm loving it! Apparently my plans for my first weekend off did not live up to the standards of some of my jealous co-workers: gym, laundry, and house-cleaning. I was told I need to "rage" and "get crazy!" to start this weekends-off thing with a bang... We'll see about that :) Chels also returned to work this week. I think she's thrilled to be out of the house and back among the living. She's working in reception until her work restrictions are less limited and she can get back into her vet assistant position again--her co-workers have been very supportive and understanding which is great! Alright, I'm off to enjoy my Saturday! :)

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

I guess the rain matches my mood: I'm sick, boo! I've been home from work sick the past three days and I'm going crazy! It's always the worst being cooped up at home and feeling crappy--the only nice thing is that Chelsea is still home from work so she's been taking care of me :) She's still home from work after her recent back pain episode that happened in mid-December, but has been going to physical therapy twice a week and is hoping to return to work next week. I'm supposed to be training my replacements at work this week so I can start my new design job next week, so I need to feel better ASAP! Send some healing thoughts our way!

Sushi Making Party!

Chels and I went to Sean and Claire's last Sunday night for a sushi making party! Sean and Claire got a sushi making kit from Chelsea's parents for Christmas, and we also have one from them that we've had for a few years. So we decided to try theirs out together! Here are all the tools we used:


The sushi dishes are ours, gifts from Chelsea's mom. The mandoline is Sean & Claire's newest kitchen gadget. Pretty neat, we might have to get one!


Here are the small and larger sushi-making molds we used.


Chels is excited to use the mandoline!

Edamame, yum!

Sean and Chels, hard at work making sushi rolls with nori

Stuffing the inari sushi

Fixings for the sushi

Sean's masterpiece

Chelsea's masterpiece

The smaller sushi rolls are hard to make! Too small to fit all the stuffings! :)

Claire's work of art

Ta-da!

The finished product

The final product was pretty and delicious! Thanks Cindy and Barry :)