Calzone Night and Superbowl

It has taken me a little bit to get these pictures loaded from last weekend, but I'm finally ready to post. Last weekend we were celebrating Dan's birthday with a 'make your own calzone' night. Neither Kevin or I had ever made calzones before so we really enjoyed the process. They tasted delicious as well so that is usually a bonus.


I think we are going to have to make them again at our place in the future.
Happy Birthday Dan!
After watching a few episodes of Futurama (Dan's favorite show) we played several games. Apples to Apples was a blast,but somehow I managed to do terrible at it that evening. At least Kevin did much better.

Sunday was of course Superbowl Sunday. We decided to keep it low key this year which was pretty easy to do since none of us really cared who won the game. Moria, Colin, and I decided to root for the Cardinals while Dave and Brian stayed true to the AFC by cheering on the Steelers. Kevin remained neutral and never really took a side. Here is Dave after an amazing Steelers play.


Even though the Cardinals lost, we got over it pretty quickly and were fine while watching the hour long episode of The Office that followed. A great way to spend a Sunday!

This week we have been having car issues and is becoming somewhat problematic. Nobody is entirely sure what the problem is and we are worried this is going to turn into a huge repair. Hopefully we figure out the problem soon and are back in commission. Kevin has been so great about getting the car into the shop and talking with the mechanics. I know he is as frustrated as I am with the car, but he is on his way to the shop now to talk with the guys! Thanks Kevin!!!

Roberts Burns B-day

Many of you probably didn't realize it, but this weekend was Robert Burns' 250th birthday. For those of you wondering who on earth Robert Burns is...I will tell you in as few sentences as possible. He was a poet and lyricist and is considered the National Poet of Scotland. In addition, he is regarded as the pioneer of the Romantic movement. He also had somewhat of a reputation for being a 'ladies' man.

I bet you are wondering why we would want to celebrate this dead poets birthday huh? The answer to that is simple. Our friend Brian loves Scotland. He is in love with Scotland and all things Scotland. He spent 6 months there and revisited again for a month later on. Therefore, we had to celebrate Robert Burns B-day. He has been talking about having a celebration for as long as I have known him.

Here is Brian all decked out for the big day. (Don't worry, he is wearing something underneath the kilt)


As part of the tradition we required music from a tin whistle to be played during the presentation of the haggis. Thank you Dave for your wonderful musical talent.

Then the reading of the 'Ode to Haggis before our meal of Haggis, Turnips, Tablet, Potato Leek Soup, Olive bread, Scottish Beer, and more. It was a unique meal, but good, and I left stuffed.
We finished off the evening watching an episode of 'Chewin' the Fat' which is a Scottish Sitcom. Parts of it were funny, but only when I could understand what they were saying.

After this party, we headed to another party to celebrate Australia Day at one of the Australian's apartments. This party wasn't quite as themed, but there was plenty of Australian decor. I left my camera in the car so I don't have any pictures of this. We didn't stay very late though. It was a Sunday evening and work in the morning. Overall a fun weekend though.

Skiing in Tahoe

I took these pictures old school with a disposable camera so it took me a little bit to get them developed and picked up. We had a few ski pics from last year on the camera too so it was good to finally get to see them. Moria brought her digital so there are more pictures, but I will have to get them from her later.


The trip we went on was awesome. It was a Stanford sponsored event for graduate students. This 'Powderbound' trip was designed for those who haven't been skiing/snowboarding very much. Kevin has been skiing quite a bit so he decided to try out snowboarding. I've really only been skiing once last year so I thought this trip would be good for me. We took a big bus up to Tahoe early last Sunday morning and arrived to rent our gear. After that we all got lessons and our instructor was great. After that, we had the rest of the afternoon to ski on our own. The best part of the trip was the fact that it only cost us $45 each!!! An amazing price!! We only had to buy food the rest of the time.

It was pretty warm that day, about 50 degrees so our layers quickly came off. I really felt like I was improving on my turns and had a blast. Last year I took a lesson, but it wasn't very good so I spent most of the time just trying to figure things out on my own. I feel like I've improved so much and I am excited to go skiing again and do more difficult slopes.

I think Brian and Moria also had a pretty good time. Brian had never been on skis before so it was a great opportunity for him. I don't know if he loves skiing yet like the rest of us, but hopefully we can get him to come back again. There is another 'Powderbound' trip for beginner/intermediate in Feb or March so maybe we could do that. Kevin's lab group is also planning a weekend ski trip so we may do that instead.



My new job is going pretty well. I love my co-workers and it feels great to not just be a student anymore! Plus, I just got my first paycheck (just one weeks worth of work) yesterday and I was so excited. This job pays so much better than the bookstore!!! We celebrated by going out for Thai food last night.

New Job

I finally started my new job yesterday at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. It is such a relief to finally be starting my career and I realize how blessed I am in this time of economic crisis when so many people are losing their jobs in this country. It has been only orientation these last two days, but I've met a lot of great people already. Everyone has been so welcoming and I can tell that people really enjoy working for PAMF. I start in the lab tomorrow and I can't wait to meet more of my coworkers.

Other December Events

I thought I would go ahead and post a few other pictures from this last month since I finally go them loaded onto the computer yesterday. Here is our little tree we bought our first year out here. We have acquired many more ornaments since then so it doesn't look quite as bare as it did three years ago. You can't see all of them, but our tree topper is a pair of gingerbread men with our names on it that we got as a gift from Kevin's mom last year. We thought it worked perfectly.


Before Christmas we had Brian and Moria over for a ham dinner and I experimented with a new dessert. I thought the presentation was pretty good so I thought I'd show it off. It tasted decent, but there is room for improvement.



We exchanged gifts and our gift was "Ticket to Ride-Europe". Brian and Moria own the U.S. one and we really enjoy playing it with them so they thought we'd enjoy this one too. It was a blast!! We definitely recommend this game. It is great because it can be played with just two people but up to five if friends are over!


Moria came over the Saturday before Christmas so that we could make cookies. We decided on gingerbread cookies and spent a lot of time decorating. Here are some of our favorites....







At work, the IPT folks (Inventory Processing Team) and a few other booksellers decided to draw names for a secret santa. We meet at Round Table Pizza for food and drinks before opening gifts. Here are a few of us that didn't have to work that night.

One of the girls gave all of us on IPT mini box cutters and that was probably my favorite thing of the night. We open so many boxes at work and have to break down so many boxes that we are constantly looking for scissors or one of the few box cutters we have in the back room. Since then it has been extremely useful!! I am going to work this Friday and then I start my new job next week. I am really going to miss everyone at work!

Christmas in Newport Beach

As I mentioned in my last blog, Kevin and I headed down to Newport Beach for Christmas. We left early on Christmas Eve and checked into our hotel. We pretty much just hung out and napped in the afternoon and enjoyed the fact that we weren't at work. That night we got on speaker phone with Kevin's Mom and brothers to open gifts. Not the ideal way to do it, but we still had fun.
We went out to dinner that night and enjoyed a walk along the beach in the dark. It was fun looking at all the lights on the houses as they were pretty much the only light along the beach. It was pretty chilly, but I guess I shouldn't complain to those living in real cold weather.


On Christmas we headed down to the pier to check out the water. It was cold and windy, but the view was still AMAZING! I had to buy a stocking cap to keep my hair from flying all over and driving me crazy. This is my favorite picture from that day.


Kevin next to the pier.

We also drove down a little later to an area called "The Wedge". During certain times there are amazing waves which attracts surfers and body surfers. A little cold to see any that day, but it was fun to check out. We are out on a jetty in this picture and you can see in the distance the rain coming in. Shortly after this photo we decided to head back to the car to not get caught in the rain. It started sprinkling about half way back and then we started running. We barely made it to the car when it down poured for about 5 minutes. We felt a little sorry for the people out at the end of the jetty fishing!!!


The skies were clearer on Friday so we took a Ferry to Balboa Island. It is a really short ride so there wasn't much to take pictures of. We heard there was a lot to do on the island, but we were a little disappointed. We ended up just heading back to the beach to walk around. Here is another gorgeous view from that walk.

We stayed to watch the sunset over Catalina Island. We couldn't help but take tons of pictures. It was absolutely amazing to watch. That night we went out to a restaurant called the Crab Cooker. Kevin ordered local lobster and I had the King Crab Claws. The meat was sooo tasty and there is a really good chance we will be headed back.
Saturday we checked out of our hotel and of course since it was our last day it was warmer, less windy and beautiful. We went back to the Wedge. We thought we would head to the end of the jetty which was quite a climb over the rocks.

We stayed for awhile and just watched the pelicans dive for food and even saw a seal coming to the surface to play. We really want to come back in May when it is warmer and try surfing, maybe take a ferry to Catalina island to explore, and just swimming in the ocean. It was a great trip and it made being away from our families a little easier during the holiday.
We hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you a Happy New Year!!

Last Couple Weeks

The last couple weeks have been busy. I will load pictures later when I have a little time, but I thought I'd give a quick run down of what is going on.

I've been working at Borders Bookstore while applying for jobs and I have had several interviews. I have one job offer at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and I have a second interview with Genomic Health in just a few hours. I am leaning towards the PAMF job, but we thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and take the other interview. If things go as planned I will be starting on Jan. 5th! It is such a relief to finally be entering the career world!

Kevin has been keeping himself busy with research and classes as well. He just finished his last required class so that is a relief. He is taking a tutoring job over Christmas break. It isn't a ton of hours so the extra cash will definitely be nice!

We weren't able to find affordable flights home for Christmas this year so we will be staying in California. We have decided to take a road trip down to Newport Beach over Christmas though. Gas is at a great price right now and we found a really affordable hotel a block from the beach. The water may be a little cold even that far south, but we are excited to get into some 70 degree weather for a few days. Won't be the same as family...but it should be pretty fun!!!

Happy Holidays!