Thanksgiving 2012

Due to our collective dislike of most traditional Thanksgiving foods, Adam and I choose a different country each year and prepare a meal from that country. This year we chose Greek. It was fun making a few items I had never made before, but I would have liked to have researched the recipes more. We finally moved into our new place the day before Thanksgiving, so between having to rush to find stores that carried the ingredients and not having all my kitchen stuff available, it could have been better. Overall, I thought the food tasted pretty good and Adam loved it.

For the main course, I made chicken kebab and souvlaki gyros with tzatziki sauce. I'll have to add less dill to the tzatziki sauce next time, but the gyros were pretty delicious.

The sides were spanikopita (spinach and feta cheese pie), which was decent, considering the fact that I forgot to add the feta to the spinach until it was too late,

dolmas (seasoned rice wrapped in grape leaves and steamed) that were delicious, despite their appearance in the photo,

                                 and horiatiki salata (Greek tomato salad), which was pretty good.

Overall, Adam and I both agree that this Thanksgiving meal was a success, and I now have a couple new recipes that we both like.

Road Trip #2

The day after we arrived in Maryland, the movers came with our household goods. That night, Adam apparently felt like we had been in one place for too long, so we left everything unpacked and went on another road trip. This time we went to visit some of our very best friends in Indianapolis as well as some of Adam's family in Illinois.

On the way, we stopped in West Virginia to stretch. The dogs all got their first taste of snow and LOVED it.

On the way to Indianapolis, we stopped in Dayton, OH at the US Air Force Museum. We had the dogs in the car, so we only got the chance to run through it quickly. We'd love to go back some day and check it all out.

We got to spend a few days with our friends, the Johnson's, and meet their 2 youngest kids. We hadn't seen them in a couple years, but we pretty much picked up where we left off. Our visit was way too short, but I am really grateful we had the chance to see them.

             
                     Playing Phase 10 with Matthew and Sunshine, just like we were back in Hawaii.

After Indianapolis, we went to southern Illinois to visit Adam's Grandma Crystal, who we hadn't seen in years. While there, Crystal insisted that she take care of the dogs so we could take a trip to the St. Louis Arch. My favorite part - being able to see Busch Stadium through the window at the top of the arch.

 

 
                                             More card games - with Grandma Crystal.

Next, we went to northern Illinois to see Adam's mom's side of the family. I had never met any of them, and Adam hadn't seen them since the early 90's, so we were both really excited about that visit. They were able to get all the aunts and uncles and most of the cousins to come for that. We all had a good time sitting around talking and eating (a lot), and we are grateful for them for making it a special visit.

It was finally time to go home so Adam could go back to work, but we took the scenic route home. On the way back, we stopped at Lake Michigan. It was really pretty there.

                                     And we stopped at Lake Erie for a much needed break.

                                     
Adam indulged my desire to stop in every city on the way home with a Major League Baseball stadium. 

                                                        Comerica Park - Detroit

 

Progressive Field - Cleveland

 

                                                           Heinz Field - Pittsburgh

It was a really nice trip, but it feels so good to get settled in at home.

Goodbye, San Angelo, TX...Hello, Odenton, MD

At the beginning of the month, Adam graduated from his training in Texas. That afternoon we left for our new home in Maryland. Our first stop was in Houston to visit the Garza's, who were basically my 2nd family while I lived in Houston. I hadn't seen them in about 11 years, and it was so nice catching up after so long.

After leaving Houston, we made a few pit stops on the way to Georgia, where we visited some more friends. We stopped in Biloxi, MS, mostly just to see the ocean (it had been a whole 4 months since we've seen it, and we were missing it).

            Then, we stopped in Tuskegee, Alabama to check out the Tuskegee Airmen Museum.

                                       These pictures were made completely of local seeds.

We stopped off at the Atlanta Temple before finally stopping to visit our friends, the Ramsay's.

                           Adam and Avery playing Monopoly...and Pretty, Pretty Princess :)

When we finally arrived at our new home, all the dogs were shivering from having gone from 80 degrees to 30, so we had to go out and buy them all sweaters. They're so cute in them! So far, we love our new place and are excited to get settled in.

October 2012

The puppies turned 4 months old on the 18th. They're getting big and are so much fun.

Adam celebrated his 29th birthday on the 25th. I made him an Avengers cake, which didn't look very pretty because I was really rushed, but it tasted okay anyway.

I had the opportunity to play on a city league volleyball team with some ladies from church. It was so much fun to play again as well as get to know my teammates. One of them drew a really cool picture of our team and presented it to the team captain after our last game.

I decided to make the dogs' Halloween costumes this year with my limited sewing skills. Lily was Cat Woman, Lani was Bat Girl, and Kuhio was Batman.