EL PUEBLO VIEJO

This past week was a big one...we found out where we are going for the next year.

Brandon is doing a pharmacy residency so that he doesn't have to worry about going postal on the nincompoops that come to the pharmacy counter at Walgreens. Anyways, this process is a tad stressful because you don't get to choose where you go; instead this outside company looks into a magic pot while waving a wand before "matching" students to hospitals.

Luckily, we ended up in Tucson, AZ which for some reason is also known as the Old Pueblo. And since I am starting to fret that I won't be able to find a job because my Spanish skills are essentially non-existent, I am trying to brush up on my espanol, which is how I ended up with that blog post title.

But that's besides the point. The real point here is that we are moving very soon--probably mid-June. We both feel good about this turn of events but can't ignore that it is definitely bittersweet. Colorado has been very good to us.

Tucson is great because:

1.) The program will be perfect for Brandon in many ways. They showered him with flattery, offered to take him javelina hunting, and showed him that they like to have a good time.

2.) My parents live there and I haven't gotten to spend nearly enough time with them since I left the Old Pueblo, 10 years ago.

3.) You rarely have to worry about things like scraping the ice off your windshield or snow storms ruining your commute to work.

4.) This restaurant:
It is amazing and I'm not even going to explain why.

5.) Sabino Canyon:

It is less than a mile from my parent's house and I have spent many many many hours there hiking, running, swimming etc. I look forward to more trail time. You'd think it'd be easy to get that in the Rocky Mountain State, but it really isn't.

We are very sad, however, to leave Colorado because:

1.) We'll be moving away from Brandon's parents who have spoiled us for the past few years with advice, good conversation, their comfortable guest room, relaxing weekend getaways, fresh cookies, food storage, game nights, and of course, their laundry room.

2.) Great friends that have entertained us with dinner parties, book clubs, and other types of fun.

3.) This is the place where we fell in love and got married.

4.) I'll miss my job.

5.) We'll miss Denver's great parks (City Park, Cheeseman Park, Washington Park, Kent School) where we love to take our Sunday afternoon walks.
I mean, let's face it, Tucson is stinkin' hot most of the time. We won't be able to enjoy flowers, distinct seasons, giant trees and their canopies of leaves for a long time. Oh well...

BUT, now we know where we are going and feel blessed that things worked out so well and that we are going to a place with so many perks. Not to mention the fact that the waiting is over. Now it is just time to pack up all our stuff, get mad at ourselves for having so much stuff, find an apartment, say goodbye, and start all over in a new place. Can't wait!

You Know What I Meant

We got home from our quick weekend trip to UT late last night. Please do not take it personally if we didn't call you as we were there for less than 48 hours and were primarily there to see our new nephew.

Anyways, I slept like brick last night. It was one of those nights where each time I stirred I thought, "This sleep is amazing, I never want to wake up again." Brandon has to leave earlier than I do in the mornings and makes a big effort to be quiet while he gets ready. When he's finally ready to go, he always comes back in the bedroom to say goodbye. This morning I was so out of it that I said, "Sleep well, honey" when I got my goodbye kiss. I vaguely remember Brandon chuckling as he made his exit.

Luckily I had the luxury of sleeping for another hour and now feel a little more coherent, at least to enough laugh at myself.

5280's Gone M.I.A

Do you guys like how I said I was going to do a weekly installment and I couldn't even keep it up for one week? Sheesh.

I actually sat down to write about how Denver has this really awesome event called 5280 Week where all the fancy expensive restaurants have amazing deals where two people can eat a 3 course meal for $52.80.

We went with our good friends Duke and Morghan to celebrate the end of residency interviews (ie blood, sweat, and tears) and decided to do something especially adventurous and go out to sushi.
Sushi really isn't that adventurous, but when you are super cheap, you don't want to blow your Benjamins on something that *might* make you throw up in your mouth a little and then leave you hungry later. Anyways, the evening was a BIG hit. Here we are, almost a week later and both Brandon and Duke still frequently bring up how amazing that dinner was. If you ever get the chance to go to Hapa Sushi....go go go! You won't regret it.

I would go on and on about what a great deal it was and how I ate this thing that had an incredibly seedy name that totally lived up to its title and how we're a tad bummed that we didn't know what 5280 Week was until it was almost too late (meaning we could've tried more of the restaurants!)...

BUT that was before Brandon decided to make a mix tape for an upcoming road trip and started playing my newly discovered favorite song and got me all in a twitter. I can hardly focus because I want to listen to this song and wave my hands in the air (that's about all the dancing I know how to do).

A friend of ours recently made us a CD with this song on it. The first time I heard it I was like, "What the crap?" but then it slowly started to grow on me. THEN...I saw this girl on the Grammy's and was completely blown away because she was literally 9 months pregnant, wearing a teeny-tiny black and white ladybug outfit, and was dancing with all the mac-daddy rappers like it was nobody's business. It was awesome--completely over the top and a bit ridiculous. So ever since then...it has been in a pretty regular rotation, including me watching the video several times a week (always visualizing myself in her crazy outfits and wondering how I could manage to pull off just a fraction of her spunk). However, I kind of forgot about that song this week until JUST NOW.

So now I present M.I.A's Paper Planes:



And don't worry, I recognize that this song doesn't appeal to a large majority of the population and that it may be a tad inappropriate but it is my blog (and Brandon's) so pardon me while I indulge!

Happy Friday

Since I haven't really done any posting lately, I thought that maybe I would try a weekly installment called Happy Friday where I talk about something happy. Cause you know, for all of us working folk, Friday is usually when you let out that sigh of relief that says, "I made it."

So for my first Happy Friday piece, I thought I would talk about chocolate. My mom's side of the family has a thing for fancy (and expensive) chocolate, mostly because my Aunt Stacey is a bona fide professional chocolatier that makes these a-ma-zing truffles and wedding cakes. She's essentially a legend. Each year, Stacey buys oodles and oodles of this especially fancy chocolate made by a company called Callebaut and then all my aunts buy it from her by the pound.
We pull it out when there is a special occasion or when we need a fix. I happen to have a couple pounds of it myself and lie in bed at night dreaming about what to do with it. Luckily, last weekend Brandon and I went home to Tucson for a few days and it was considered a special enough occasion to pull out the Callebaut and have ourselves some fun. My mom happens to have this fancy machine called a chocolate-temperer that melts the chocolate just right and then keeps it at the perfect temperature so that you can dip whatever you want and to your heart's delight without the chocolate getting hard, lumpy, or changing color after it dries.

In other words, my mom had all the right equipment and had ourselves a fun sexy time dipping candy, fruit, nuts, and pretzels into chocolate and then gorging ourselves silly on it. See for yourself:

This is Mom, the mastermind of it all....

Brandon's getting a little giddy (click on the photo for more proof). Leslie and Clay (sis and bro-in-law) are barely managing to contain themselves.
Scraping the bowl...
Some of the finished product (sorry for the blur)

Happy Friday everyone! Go have yourself a treat. You deserve it.

23 Hours in Reno

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the "Biggest Little City in the World" for a job interview. My visit did not abound in time as it is measured unto men, but it was nonetheless rich.

After the interview I had the occasion to gaze upon the largest alpine lake in North America. Lake Tahoe was originally inhabited by the Washoe tribe who called it "dá’aw" which means "lake". John C Fremont was the first paleface to gaze upon the rugged beauty of this natural gem. A cursed Native American treasure exists underneath Lake Tahoe which will be discovered by either Nick Cage or Jack Sparrow in the forthcoming film: "National Treasure vs. Pirates of the Caribbean."

One of Reno's finest young men recommended that I take supper at the Nugget Diner to partake of this culinary delight known as "The Awful Awful" (awful big and awful good):

The Awful Awful lived up to its name. Also, the fries came with it and there were so many of them that my arm got tired in the middle of eating them (I was eating rightie) and I had to switch arms. The change was fluid and imperceptible to those around me because I'm a switch-eater. Not too many people know this, but switch-eating or "ambi-eating" is something that I've been dabbling in for quite some time.

The company at the Nugget Diner was just as delightsome as the cuisine. One young employee whose pregnancy was masked by her adiposity decided to partake of an alcoholic beverage while working because, as she remarked, "the baby has to get drunk somehow."

This inebriated derelict was practicing an ancient star-worshipping ritual (he really was worshipping that star or planet). He invited me to join with him, but I respectfully declined. I was sad that I couldn't be with him and bask in the warmth of the street culture. The hobo culture has never really been accepted and has often been portrayed negatively. Hobos live very economically and have a lot of good ideas, but they just aren't listened to. I don't think that I'll ever see the day when we as a nation will be open-minded enough to elect a hobo president.

Alieslonie

These four pictures of Alison and Leslie (her sister) were taken consecutively before the wedding of Sam Rogers. There was no communication at all regarding how they should pose their faces.

I think they were going for "blue steel", but it could have been "le tigre".

Either way, they've got the look.

Euro Sportsmanship: Red + Blue = Purple

Nadal: "I'm sorry I beat you in the Australian Open. Let me make it up to you."

Federer: "What did you have in mind?"

Nadal: "First we get dinner, and then a long walk in the park, and then (whispers)"

Federer: "I like the sound of that" (see grin)

Those Euros are so harmonious.