date night 2

After spending much of yesterday afternoon taping the living room, Dave thought he would take me out for dinner.  And the living room?  It used an entire roll of painting tape... and then some.  Over 150 feet.  I swear this room is all windows and doors.  The actual painting will be a breeze!

It's time for fall clothes already??  That was fast.

We originally were going to go to an italian place downtown, but when we got there we were pretty much ignored (and we were the only ones in there) and then when we got the menu, found out all they were serving that night was pizza and sandwiches.  By this point I was already annoyed about the customer service, so we left.  We thought we might go to Olive Garden, but then decided to try a new italian place a little closer to home.  This turned out to be a fantastic idea.  The owner is a master chef from Italy and everything - from bread to pasta to sauces - is homemade.  YUM.  I had the pasta aglio e olio (pasta with garlic and olive oil and herbs) and Dave had the gnocchi quattro formaggio (gnocchio in an alfredo-like sauce).  Deeeelicious!  And where the other place ignored us, this place almost paid us too much attention!  Everyone from the waiter to the hostess to the chef came to check on us!  I could say we left with boxed leftovers... but that would be a total lie.  We left on super carbo overload (and some incredibly heavy garlic breath for me).

On our way home we hit up Pier 1 and found a nightstand for our bedroom (yay wedding giftcards that keep on giving!) and then made some room for a blizzard from DQ.  Naturally.

I actually still feel full (overeat much?) but I'm off to try running again!  Let's hope the weird foot bruise is better today!

veggie-less

I have a confession to make: I did not eat a single vegetable yesterday.  I ate a lot of carbs: cheerios, iowa bread, animal crackers, a POM blueberry muffin, and waffles.  I ate eggs, a peach, some chocolate chips, and ice cream.  Not a veggie in sight.  Whoops...

Friday night is our date night, and we started off with breakfast for dinner - waffles and scrambled eggs!  Downtown was having "First Fridays," so we biked down, walked around, and hit up some free ice cream from an ice cream social at a church.

The best part of the evening?  My cousin, Jami, just opened up her own health and fitness studio with a friend, and she gave me a coupon for a free class!  I have a choice between kickboxing plus, circuit training, core training, and strength training.  I'm leaning toward kickboxing plus?  What class would you take?  (Zumba was also an option, but I left it out because I am scared of that class.  I have absolutely no rhythm.)

Happy LONG weekend!  Here's to some added veggies!

morning date

The engagement anniversary surprises continued!

Saturday morning Dave woke me up at 3am and put me in the car.  We drove to the park near our house and laid on the car to see the meteor shower!  Unfortunately, I didn't see any of them, but Dave saw 3!  We stayed for about half an hour, then drove home and went to bed.  At 6:30 Dave woke me up again!  This time he told me to get on jeans and to meet him downstairs at 7.  Then he left.  When he came back to the house at 7 we grabbed coffee in to-go mugs and got in the car.  We headed to the park again, but this time there was something different waiting for us!

Dave had borrowed our brother-in-law's canoe!  We went for a brief morning ride!

A short way into it Dave asked, "What's that over there?"

There were notes hanging on the bank!  We rowed over and cut them off.

One envelope with something Dave loves about me, one with a present, and one with a "remember when" story about our relationship!  Throughout the ride there were five stops for cards!

We paddled down the river for a little, collected cards, then rowed home.

It was a perfect morning.

I am so grateful for my husband, who let's me know daily that he loves me, in small ways, in large gestures, in words, in actions.  I am so blessed.

engagement

Yesterday Dave brought me home some pretty wildflowers.

We got engaged 2 years ago today(August 14, 2008), but we celebrated at date night last night!

Around 5 Dave told me he was taking me out to dinner.

We went to Kelly Jae's Cafe!  This is one of my favorite places!  We started with the arugula salad with mango, avocado, sunflower seeds, feta, and lemon vinaigrette.  And for dinner we split the macaroni and cheese and the seared salmon.  It was awesomeness, as usual!

After dinner Dave kept with the ice cream/engagement tradition:

Oh amazingness.

Here we were on the night we got engaged:

(Anyone else think this looks nothing like us now?)  After he proposed, Dave brought me up on a roof where we could eat ice cream and watch the sunset (collective "awwww").  You'd think he would have brought out the ice cream before asking me to marry him, just to make sure I would say yes, but he was confident I guess.

Before the rooftop we were over at the church, where Dave had decorated the stage with Christmas lights.

Three of his friends were there, too, and they played while Dave sang me a song he wrote for me.

I was surprised.  Well, I kind of had an idea when I saw the decorated stage, but prior to that I was unsuspecting.  Well played, Dave.

Dave and I blew past our regular bedtime last night in order to welcome in a few visitors:

It's Girls' weekend!  We have a big day planned today - a morning run for Rachel and I, adventuring around Shipshewana, and painting a bedroom!

4H fair date

We had a busy Sunday - church, a quick lunch, pre-paint taping, a quick bike ride to catch some of the 4H fair parade, then back here to paint!  After we painted the room and cleaned up we rode our bikes to the fairgrounds - Sundays are the only day with free admission - and wandered amongst the hordes of people.  We ate some delicious fair food, listened to a bit of a concert, then rode our bikes home.  It's MUCH faster to ride bike there - the traffic and parking is crazy!  The 4H fair is a pretty big deal around here - "biggest county fair east of the Mississippi".  Tonight we saw a car all the way from OREGON.  It's nuts.

A couple fair highlights:

Mini donuts.  Fresh from the machine.  This is, admittedly, the main reason we went tonight.  Dave adores these donuts like you wouldn't believe.  He calls them his yearly regret... mainly because after eating about 20 little balls of fried dough he feels sick... but still can't stop.

These old people at the concert were awesome.  The old man was rocking back and forth, grooving to the beat, and the lady pulled out a cell phone with a full qwerty keyboard and started taking pictures.  We were impressed by how hip they were.

This is Dave and I, so you know there's got to be ice cream involved.  The best deal at the fair - a giant bowl for $2.50.

We got home and I grabbed some laundry from the dryer to fold.  Mosie helped.

She's too cute.

The bedroom still needs one more coat of paint before it's finished - I'll wait to post pictures until it's fully done.  But we've decided painting is kind of fun!  And it wasn't as nearly as messy or time consuming as I expected... except for the taping part.

Are you working on any house projects right now?

I'll post the CSNStores giveaway winner at lunch!

a table!

Dave and I had a quick and easy dinner last night - leftover split pea soup for me and peanut butter french toast and scrambled eggs for him.  We also split brownie sundaes - banana soft serve ice cream with double chocolate single chin brownies.  Those brownies were quick to make and really good.  Not overly sweet, kind of cakey, a little fudgy.  After our dessert it was time for Date Night At Lowe's!  Now we know we're homeowners!

I love the smell of hardware stores.  Anyone else?

We picked up three ceiling fans for the house - one to replace the ugly white and gold one in our bedroom and two to install in the attic rooms.  We also got some fire extinguishers - if we have one on the first and second floors our home insurance is reduced!  Other random items: work gloves (for cleaning out the gutters) and a carbon monoxide/fire alarm.  Excitement.

After Lowe's we decided, on a whim, to hit up Pier 1 to see what their outdoor furniture looked like.  Answer: it looked nice but it cost waaaay too much.  However, we found a dining room table!  We loved it, it was on sale... and we got the ladies working to go down an extra 25% on it since it was the floor model!  We found it at 8pm, quickly called up our brother in law and picked up his truck, grabbed Dave's dad to be our helper, and got the table bought and out of the store at 9pm when they closed!

We love it!  Now we'll just have to find some more chairs or benches.

 Not two minutes after we had it in Mosie came a-stinkering.

We quickly ousted her from the tabletop.

I'm headed out for a long run.  And then my parents come to visit!  They'll arrive about 3pm and my aunt and uncle will be here about 1:30.  We're planning a day of catching up, house projects, and a trip to a local 1950's diner.  I better get moving!

date night: Kelly Jae's!

I've expressed my love for Kelly Jae's here before.  It's the most amazing tapas restaurant in Goshen.  (Sadly, when I tell people my favorite place to eat is a tapas place they often think I say "topless.")

Our good friends here in Goshen (Amanda and Jeremy and Erin - otherwise known as "Talia's parents") gave me a gift certificate to Kelly Jae's for my birthday.  I was stoked.  Originally, Dave and I were going to use it for lunch, since we haven't tried lunch at Kelly Jae's yet.  But on Friday night we decided to go for it and do dinner there!  Pictures courtesy of Dave's iphone!

Grilled broccolini in olive oil and lemon.

Sweet corn and crab chowder.

Edamame with sea salt.

Basil pesto shrimp with ravioli in a tomato creme sauce.

The ravioli was far and away my favorite, but everything else was fantastic, as always.  We left happy and satisfied - and for free!  Thank you, guys!!!!!

I'm roasting up some broccoli and cauliflower for lunch, then we're headed to Melody's graduation!

Oh, and my run this morning?  3 miles in hard rain.  Soaking wet, but so fun!

Dave's date night

Dave had been planning all day a date night for us - taking over the kitchen for dinner prep, being mysterious, not letting me look in certain cupboards or bags.  For someone who can't stand not knowing a surprise, it was killing me!!!  The last hour was probably the hardest (the anticipation!), so I killed time by making peanut butter granola and workout cookies.

We decided to go to Mishawaka for a little bit to spend some of my birthday gift card money!

Dave brought all the food and plates to eat on in the car while we drove.

Banana peanut butter honey sandwich halves.

Carrots and baba gannouj.

Baba gannouj, cheese, and cucumber cracker sandwiches.

Strawberries cored and filled with peanut butter and chocolate chips (super creative and impressive, right?!).

Kettle corn from the Amish farmer's market.

My plate (Dave's was identical):

And some samples from the farmer's market that Dave brought home to share.  Three giant jelly beans in strawberry, orange, and chocolate cherry.

Espresso, chocolate peanut butter, and mint chocolate fudge.

Happy picnic-ers.  (We were stopped at a light.)

Unbenknowst to me, Dave had also planned our arrival in Mishawaka to be near 7pm... because he remembered last time when we were there around that time, the Krispy Kreme sign had been lit up.  We pulled in at 6:46pm and all Dave's dreams came true again...

Free, fresh, hot doughnuts!  This is Dave's heaven.

Then we hit the mall!  The most notable purchase?

I'm excited to read this!  I also got a short sleeved purple UnderArmour running shirt and a much-needed bra.

The highlight of the night was, for me, definitely Dave's meal.  It was so creative and well done and full of things I love!  Dave's highlight was probably the doughnuts.  He was giddy at that first bite.

Off to enjoy the rainy Saturday!!  What's someone - husband, boyfriend, best friend - done for you lately?

book talk

I'm headed out for a long run here soon, hoping that it starts warming up quickly.  When I got up an hour ago it was 29... now it's 27.  Fantastic.

Our date night last night was dinner (leftover tomato lentil chili... even better second time around), a walk, reading time, and basketball.  When I woke up this morning Dave was doing the dishes!  At 5am!

I've been listening to Laura Ingalls Wilder books on CD lately and yesterday checked out These Happy Golden Years (in book form) from the library.

(source)

I read it all yesterday.  It took maybe 3 hours.  It was such a good book, and so satisfying to read it all in one day.  Right now I'm listening to the first Lord of the Rings book - it's 20.5 hours long!  I haven't read any of the books yet and only seen the last LoTR movie.  So far I'm loving it!  The next book to read is Mennonite in a Little Black Dress.  Maybe I'll start it today?

What books are you reading right now?

what's date night without ice cream?

Tonight we had homemade peanut butter banana soft serve ice cream (I stole this idea from here).  I froze one banana and had the other just cold.  Then blended them in the food processor with a couple scoops vanilla yogurt (maybe 1/4c.?) and 2T. peanut butter.  Then topped it with some chocolate chips.

The verdict?

foooooood!

Last night Dave and I went to my favorite restaurant, Kelly Jae's.  I was so excited to get my eat on!

Dave kindly chronicled the evening for me with his iphone since I didn't bring the camera (I feel weird taking pictures of food in public places).  So pictures are all courtesy of my love, who said "I'll take pictures for your blog!"  He's the best.

We started off with zesty hummus and flatbread (this went unpictured).  

For our "main meal" we split fingerling potatoes in olive oil and melted manchego (for non-foodies like me: CHEESE).  Dave had the stuffed chicken breast with jamon, feta, and lemon caper butter, while I had the sweet corn crab chowder.

Deeeelicious.  And then for dessert we had the Valentine red velvet cake with chocolate ganache and chocolate dipped strawberries.

The cake was actually just so-so.  It was kind of dry.  Don't worry, we ate it anyway.

We came home and watched an episode of Arrested Development and re-desserted.  One of my all-time favorites (in whatever season is applicable):

Mosie also wanted a taste.  Smart kitty.

This morning I baked Reese's pb cup blondies.  We're going out to lunch today with the Mierau siblings to celebrate Dave's birthday (the 12th) and his sister's (the 14th), then hanging out together.  Birthday blondies!

These are not made with chickpeas.  They are made with a whole bunch of sugar and butter and 8 pb cups chopped up.  Healthy.  I can't wait to stick my face in them!

Happy Valentine's Day!  I'm off to celebrate the best way I know how: a big bowl of oats!!

new nut butter!

I have heard lots about almond butter but have refrained from buying it because a jar at Kroger's costs $9.  So tonight I made my own!!

Poor picture quality... forgive me.  But look how creamy!  I learned the key is patience - just keep blending and it really smooths out!  I still might like pb more, but this is such a fun, nutty alternative!  New foods and new things to make really pump me up.

This morning while Dave was trying to do work:

 Ironically, Mosie climbed on my shoulders in the exact same fashion just as I typed this!  Silly kitten.

When I left to run this morning it was lightly raining but not too bad.  About 15 minutes in it started raining quite a bit harder, so I turned around for home.  But by the time I got near home the rain had slowly stopped. I swung past the house and continued down the Pumpkinvine Trail, a nice path near home that I really like but rarely run on (it's beautiful and leafy but normally completely empty and running in the woods without any signs of people kind of creeps me out and makes me feel unsafe).  About 10 minutes later it started really raining again, but by that point I figured what the heck.  It stopped for a bit before I got home, but I'd say 8 out of the 10 miles were in a steady rain.  I was rather wet when I got home!

Dave and I enjoyed pizza from our favorite place downtown tonight, thanks to a gift certificate from friends!  Spinach, tomatoes, and green peps for me.  Sausage, pepperoni, and tomatoes for Dave.  We happily wolfed it down while watching the Star Trek movie.  I love our date nights!

Time to get ready for bed!  I'm reading a Julia Alvarez novel, so I want to get some reading time before our 10pm bedtime!

new shoes!

I don't need new running shoes quite yet, but I found them for so cheap today that I bought them in anticipation! ZB Sports - fantastic prices, low or even free shipping, and they donate part of your cost to charity.  Love it!

Last night we hosted staff supper at our house.  We had a last minute change of plans with the meal, and ended up throwing together some spaghetti and sauce.  (Note: apartment size ovens only have one big burner... so sometimes you have to boil your pasta in two small pots rather than one large one because you only have one big burner.  Also because you're newly married and only have one big pot... which you need for the sauce.)  I threw some chopped spinach in the sauce on a whim and loved the addition of it!  Will definitely want to continue that.  It ended up being 2 big cans tomato sauce (could not find no-salt-added tomato sauce.  Ugh.), 2 cans no salt diced toms, 1 box chopped spinach, some chopped zuc, carrots, and onion sauted together, 6 cloves garlic, dash of olive oil, T. sugar, salt to taste, the rest of my bottle of oregano, healthy dose of basil.  Everyone brought sides and we had fresh homemade bread, salad with eggs and mushrooms and feta, and honeycrisp apples (my favorite!) with peanut butter.  Followed by mint chocolate chip oreo ice cream cake!

Okay, so this mint chocolate chip oreo ice cream cake is amazing.  My friend Richele taught me this - it's simple but together makes something incredible.  Take a container of oreos and crush them.  Lay them out in a 9x13 pan.  Take a container of mint chocolate chip and let it soften.  Spread it on top of the oreos.  Freeze. Easy, right?  But together tastes way better than either of them separate (and both of those are pretty good separate!).

Now to today.  I had a nice run this morning even though a spot that I chafed on my neck yesterday rubbed even more today and now I have a bloody spot on the front of my throat.  Nice.  Spent some time with Amanda and got a quick walk in the sun in.  Now I'm home, reviewing work documents, and just washed up some dishes because I was cold and the hot water sounded nice.  I'm going to saute up some veggies soon in anticipation for the veggie chili I'll be creating in the crockpot tomorrow in MI.  Dave and I head up to tiny little Homer, MI for an annual college friends reunion tomorrow morning.  We are really excited to see everyone and hang out!  The chili will be a mix of black beans, diced toms, yellow and green peppers, zucchini, corn, spinach, carrots, onion, garlic, and cumin.. and anything else that just falls in!  Tonight is date night - were going to our alltime favorite Papa Vino's, then to Barnes and Noble to read and relax (probably with coffee and tea!).

Happy Friday!  Happy weekend!!!

**edit** in the 20 minutes or so after I posted that blog I changed my mind... now we're doing Panera and a movie at home!  Hooray!  I thought soup and popcorn and just snuggling with Dave sounded way better than a freezing cold bookstore!  We have Away We Go from Netflix - and I've been really excited to see it!

tapas

Dave and I went out to dinner tonight at Kelly Jae's Cafe, partly because I got home at 5pm from Marion, and partly because it is our 10 month anniversary, and partly because we've been wanting to try this new restaurant downtown and this seemed like a good excuse.  Kelly Jae's is a tapas restaurant with an Asian flair.  They use local produce, so the menu changes pretty frequently depending on what's in season, and as Kelly Jae (owner and chef) feels like making.

It.  Was.  Amazing.

We had a cold tapas to start - a salad of romaine topped with pumpkin seeds, butternut squash, honeycrisp apple, goat cheese, and sherry vinaigrette.  It was a wonderful combination of salty, crunchy, smooshy, milky, and sweet.  The butternut squash was divine - even Dave thought it was really good!  After that we had a flatbread pizza topped with fresh tomato sauce, lobster, sheep cheese, chorizo, and apple.  Again - perfection!  And we had pan-seared endamame with onions and garlic to go along.  Everything was so dang delicious!  We finished off the meal with decaf coffees and a hot apple tart covered in caramel sauce and vanilla bean ice cream.  The apples were just right - not overcooked to mush, but just slightly still with a crunch and covered in lots of cinnamon.  And the turnover dough just fell apart in your mouth.  We left feeling full, but not heavy, which is the best.  This is probably my new favorite place - I can't wait to go back!  It's the best mix of tastes I've had in awhile - I felt adventurous and healthy while I was eating, which made it all the more fun and enjoyable!  Not to mention the bonus perk of supporting a small businesswoman and local farmers!

Now we are home and about to watch a movie.  Dave is super excited to use our new surround sound speakers that he bought with some gift cards he's acquired over the past few months.  It was the first thing he wanted to tell me about today when I got home!  And I think we might still have just a little room for popcorn with nutritional yeast topping...

date night

Pizza.  Water.  Moose Tracks ice cream.  A beautiful view of the setting sun and fall leaves.

Half tomato/green pepper, half tomato/ham

Happy.

Bonus: we are now caught up on all our The Office episodes (we were three weeks behind).