A Wicked-awesome birthday

You don't turn 29 everyday. And, in all truthfullness, I didn't actually turn 29 this year. (If you look hard, you can see two little toothpicks aflame...we kind of forgot to buy more candles since Justin's birthday.) But Justin did a great job making this a memorable birthday. He surprised me with a trip to New York to see Wicked!

We started our trip out with a nice workout...running from Metro Center past Union Station to the Greyhound station so that we wouldn't miss our bus. For those of you unfamiliar with D.C. that is approximately FAR (see map). And let's just say that one of us hasn't exercised in a year and one of us was carrying a suitcase. I'll let you decide which was which.

Fortunately, we made it just in time to get on the bus. (And can I say that taking the bus is really the best way to get to NY these days.)

Anyway, when we got to NY, we checked into our hotel and then strolled around Central Park. On our way back, there were suddenly tons of police everywhere and barracades around the street. We were very confused until we looked over and saw a huge tree...and Rockefeller center. It turns out we were there the night they lit the tree. If we hadn't already had tickets we would have had a front row spot for the big event. As it was, we had to push our way through the crowds to get back to our hotel.

We then enjoyed a nice dinner at Carmines. I would highly recommend it. We ordered an appetizer of fried zucchini. Too bad we didn't have an extra 14 people with us to help us finish it...

Let's just say that at Carmines, the portions are large...But it was fun to get all dressed up and go out.

After dinner, we headed over to the show. We had great seats--sixth row, almost center. It is a fantastic show. (And yes, Justin liked it too. For some reason, people keep asking if he liked it. I guess they don't know how cultured he is.)

Justin gets full points for giving me a great birthday! (And Michael and Julie score some big points as well for tending Colton for us.) It was a great way to start a thirty-one-derful year!

Nothing says holiday like Frog's Sugar Cookies

Sometimes you just really need a sugar cookie. When that happens, I always turn to my Aunt Frog's recipe. (You'll have to talk to my mom if you want to know why her sister was referred to as "Frog".) The cookies are soft and delicious similar to these ones, and really not all that hard to make. Here's the recipe:

Sift together (if you do that sort of thing. I always just dump stuff in sans sifting):

3 cups flour

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

In a separate bowl mix together:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg (unbeaten)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

Slowly stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture. Role them out on a floured surface (about 1/4 inch thick). Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 F 7-9 minutes (until the bottom just starts looking golden). Makes about 24-30 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutters.

Frost with your favorite icing. As for me, I dump in random amounts of butter, powder sugar, vanilla and milk until it looks and tastes how I want it to. This time I added LOTS of green food coloring to make the really bold Christmas trees. And it turns out that sprinkles are a better way to go than frosting tips for the inexperienced cookie maker (such as myself). Yummy! I would seriously recommend you make these this holiday season.

Best Turkey Ever

It turns out that honey smoked turkey is really as good as it sounds. And in honor of our national day of giving thanks, here are the top ten things (not necessarily in order of importance) that came to my mind as I started listing what I am thankful for:

1. Justin. He may be the best husband ever. I don't think I went to the grocery store more than twice in our whole first year of marriage. And he cleans. Enough said.

2. Colton. He may be the best baby ever. I don't know how he turned out so darn cute.

3. Family. I love my parents. I love my siblings.

4. In-Laws. It has recently been brought to my attention that not everyone gets along with their in-laws. I feel pretty lucky to have in-laws that I love spending time with, and they've made me feel loved and welcomed from the first time I met them....such a blessing!

5. The navy. I'm glad that they navy is willing to pay Justin enough money that we can afford to have only one income.

6. Height. I'm glad that I'm tall. It makes it way easier to reach things on high shelves and see in crowds.

7. Church. I love the direction and support it provides in my life.

8. Couches. I still love my red couches. They were by far the best purchase of 2006. They are comfy, stylish, and turn out to be very entertaining to small children.

9. Food. I love anything made out of a potato. I love ice cream (cinnamon is my current fav). I love cookies. Eating good things makes life better.

10. Good friends. I'm glad that I'm still close to the ladies of the L. I'm glad that I had amazing roommates in college. I'm glad that I have great friends out here in Virginia.

Thank you Thanksgiving for encouraging me to spend some time thinking about all my blessings!

Justin Scott, M.E.M

After years of torturous work, I'm proud to announce that Justin has officially finished his Masters degree in Engineering Management. The professor who graded his capstone project said that Justin's was one of the best executive summaries he's seen of the hundreds that he's read for this program and that writing such summaries was an art that Justin had clearly mastered. Justin said that the real art was taking the executive summary and making it a 40 page capstone paper. Either way, I'm proud of you for pushing through to the end. Way to go!!!

Here's a closer look at those cupcakes:

Sadness

My mom always told me that when I was a baby, I was (of course) very adorable. She has often told me how people would come up to look at me to admire my cuteness, but the moment they did so, I made it my practice to immediately stick out my bottom lip in a heart-melting frown.

Well, the other day I was at the doctor, and I had Colton with me, so I turned him around so she could admire his cuteness. And what did he do? That's right! Apparently, sticking out that bottom lip is genetic. And I must say that I find it to be completely endearing. You can judge for yourself.

Sad

Sadder

Saddest

By the way, my appologies to my mother if sadder and saddest are not actually words. Darn that superlative case!!

Cute little monkey...

I can't say that Justin and I were the cutest palm trees in the world...
But I'm pretty sure that Colton is a dang cute little monkey.

And it would appear that he is destined to have a sweet tooth (he is genetically inclined to it from both his parents). He was quite literally drooling over this plate of cupcakes.

YMCA

Isn't it the worst when you fall asleep right in the middle of a rousing rendition of YMCA? He's probably best at the "Y" anyway...