I Heart Popcorn

Anyone who knows me and Brad well knows that popcorn is a staple around our house. We love it. All the time. Air popped, microwave popped, stove popped, whatever. It's always, always, always crammed in our tiny little cupboard. That whir of the microwave, the pop pop popping, the aroma filling the room - what's not to love? This affinity for anything warm, salty, and crunchy stems back to one of my family's favorite pastimes. Growing up, after Sunday dinner and whatever else, our family would always sit around a 'family friendly' movie and just relax and enjoy. We've been doing this for years. After the usual arrangements of is it a 'sunday movie', who's sitting where, that lamp is too bright, the volume is too loud, let the dog in, let the cat out, where's the remote, and for heaven's sake who is hording the chocolate chips. . . . .we finally settle in with our popcorn and movie. Keep in mind that this is a house fiercely dominated by females. Anything Jane Austen or similar usually wins out. Here's that we've enjoyed over the years: What About Bob?, Pride and Prejudice, Father of the Bride, Stranger Than Fiction, Field of Dreams, A League of Their Own, Princess Bride, Return to Me, While You Were Sleeping, Sneakers (taped from tv), Dave, Anne of Green Gables, Only You, Max Dugan Returns (anyone remember this one?), and the list goes on and on. There's also a holiday list but I shouldn't go into that, just yet.

Summer Rain

Tonight at about six, after a day of humidity and lots of clouds, the thunder finally cracked and down came the rain. Our first little summer storm complete with thunder, lightning, and a rainbow after. It didn't last long but I tried to enjoy every second. We left our front door open and just listened to it come down. It is just a beautiful and rare thing, summer rain round these parts.

Whats up

First of all, Natalie is the best. Being married to her for a little over four years has been the greatest moments of my life. Somehow she is always on it. Fun, smart, and hot as the day is long. This blog has been all her doing and I think it is great. Hope I don't ruin it. The post on La Caja China was right on. I have wanted to learn to cook a whole pig for a while now, and this box cooker can do it. We are cooking four shoulders tomorrow with my brothers and taking them to Natalie's parents for her father's birthday. Sometime in the next few weeks we are going to do a whole pig, so get ready. It should be fun.
San Francisco and Tahoe was a great trip. Natalie explained to me once that she knew she wanted to marry me after we took a trip to Vegas and had such a good time around each other. She said I always kept it interesting and we had fun. I think it is the other way around. I love being with her. She makes it fun and never boring. We are lucky to be able to travel and hopefully going back to North Carolina and San Diego this fall. I am sure there will be a post on those. Hope all is well with everyone and that I did not mess up this blog.

Young Family Reunion

On Saturday evening Brad and I went to a family reunion of sorts on my mom's side, the Youngs. We had a family member recently get released from being a mission president back in Independence, MO so that brought a lot of people together. Brad and I arrived a bit before by parents, and we didn't recognize a soul at first. We were just wandering around, trying to look like we knew what we were doing. You really need your parents for this kind of thing! But eventually everyone was there and we started making the rounds, introducing ourselves and making small talk. My great aunt Gene and her brother Dick were there. Ages 88 and 86, respectively. It was touching to see these two siblings sitting together, there in their wheelchairs, smiling and often holding hands. Uncle Dick still wearing a cowboy hat. When mom introduced Brad to her, she said, "You'd think she'd feed him a little." Since Brad is such a tiny little man.

The Gateway

Last night Brad and I took a little trip to the Gateway in SLC. I had to return a couple of things to Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie (two of my favorites). We didn't have a whole lot of time to peruse around like we usually do since we were meeting up with friends later, but we did have time to stop by the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for our (well, my) all time favorite dessert: the 'Apple Pie' caramel apple. I know it doesn't sound like much, and I don't especially even like regular apple pie, but this is just so good. It was a nice night to stroll around and peer in all the shops, and not too busy either. A week night is the time to go, rather than the weekend when you can't even find a parking spot. The only thing I bought was a candle from Anthropologie. It was just so light and summery smelling I couldn't pass it up. So now there it sits, on my end table, spreading all kinds of pleasing aromas around. After our brief shopping experience, we met up with our friend, Joey, who grew up with Brad in North Carolina. He was passing through with his family so we met up for dinner at good ol' Cafe Rio. I tell ya, I don't know when we are ever going to get sick of that place. I keep waiting and waiting for it to happen, and then I just find myself there in one of those long lines again.

Brad goofing around with Joey's son

And just one sad note at the end of our summer evening. After leaving Cafe Rio I suddenly realized that we were not even 1 block away from the Pottery Barn. !!!! I never make it up there, not that I can really afford anything in there anyway. . . but still. So we went tearing over there only to find that it had closed fifteen minutes ago, probably to Brad's great relief. Oh well.

Baking

I've been busy baking the last couple of days. I rather enjoy it. Here are the results:

Banana Cream Pie with Pretzel Crust

Summer Chocolate Strawberry Cake

Hmm. . . what will I make next?

4th of July & Girls Camp

Thought I'd better give a quick update about last week. I made it up to Girl's Camp for a few days. We had fun with our hikes, skits, and other Girl's Camp-like activities. I am still singing some of those cathcy camp songs in my head. They are hard to get rid of! We are actually quite lucky as far a the actual camping goes. We got to stay in cabins, take showers, and the stake makes all our food for us. It's a far cry from the camp I went to: tents, bugs, and washing your hair under a spicket somewhere. I am happy that I got to come home for a bit and sleep in my bed, but I wish I could have been there for every second. The girls are so fun, and the leaders too. I daresay I am having more fun as a leader than I did as a youth.

Also last week Brad and I had a pre-op for my nose surgery. For those of you that don't know, I have never been able to breathe very well through my nose. And despite having this surgery quite a few years ago, I still have trouble. I can't believe I have to do this again, but now that I've made up my mind to do it I just want to get it over with. We got it all scheduled for Aug 5th.

And then of course there was Independence Day. I love the 4th of July! I also love when it falls on a Friday, thus providing me a lovely and rare three day weekend. And boy did I need it after that busy week. Brad and I just took it easy. We headed up to my Uncle Bruce & Aunt Julie's house for some dinner and fireworks. It was the usual display of random fireworks bought from the stands, and we got a pretty good view of the Thanksgiving Point show. All in all it was a good time. Here's a few pics of all the excitement.

La Caha China

Brad has a new toy. It's called the La Caha China. Well, I'm not sure what you're supposed to refer to a recreational pig cooker as, but that's pretty much what he's got. Him, his dad, and his brother all went in on it and now we have a family pig cooker (although apparently it will cook whatever meat you fancy). For a southern boy who is very passionate about his pork, this is a big deal. For a week, everytime a UPS truck was within a few blocks of our house Brad would be pacing around, watching to see if it was his special delivery. He's only tried it a couple of times so far, but it is pretty good. It's basically this box that you put your meat in and cover the top with charcoal. And in about three hours, you've got slow cooked tender goodness.

Behold the Peonies

Every year in early June I get this little thrill. I realize that it's almost time for my favorite flower to make it's appearance for the year. I noticed the peony a few years ago and have been rather taken with them ever since. Of course, I cannot seem to grow them myself. They are supposed to be one of the easiest flowers to grow, and grow quite well in our region, but not for me. The fact that I do not have their blooms in my own yard makes the thrill of having some in my house even greater. Brad found this bunch for me, and they've been blooming on my table for over a week. This is most likely the only post you'll ever read from me relating to botany, but I just have to mention these beauties.