Family time (January 28)

I got a surprise skype from my family! They were all together celebrating Rusty's birthday. Was so happy to get to talk to all of them (and meet my sister's new boyfriend).

Slow Cooking Time!!! (January 27)

WOOT! Ludwig bought a crock-pot today! I'm so excited to start making all those recipes I find on pinterest!!!

I didn't make anything in the crock-pot today, but I did make peanut butter yogurt dip. I cut up some apples and had dinner.

Brooklyn Brothers (January 26)

First of all, Happy Birthday Rusty!!!! Today is my step-dad's 25th birthday, and he is looking good for his age!!!

Second of all, I hung out with Megan today. She took her placement tests for school and then headed over to pick me up (still without my own transportation). We decided to head into downtown Everett for pizza. Brooklyn Brothers has some GOOOOOOD pizza.

The boys were upset that we went without them, but we needed some girl time.

Paying off Bills!! (January 25)

Payed off half of my medical bills!!! YAY!!!!! So glad I have such a loving boyfriend that is willing to help me with this huge burden!!! He is WAY too good to me!!!

Impromptu Date-Day (January 24)

Ludwig wanted to spend some time with me (we don't really get to spend that much time together - at least not as much as I would like) so he called in sick, legitimately, you know, love-sick. It was a blast!!!!

We went to Famous Dave's for lunch. The BBQ wasn't at all like NC BBQ, but it was the best I have had on this coast. It was pretty decent. The waiter explained the flavors of each sauce while creating a smiley face on the serving plate- I think that's adorable.

I also think the guy holding the plate is pretty adorable!!!

We then spent the rest of the day discovering Everett! It was a lot of fun. A couple (or a lot) of things were purchased, including the 5 dollar sandals pictured below.

AWESOME day!!!!

Trying New Things (January 23)

I'm trying a new way of cooking... it involves ziploc bags and only 5 minutes of preparation. I was amazed that it turned out as good as it did.

Championship Time (January 22)

SOOOOO MUCH FOOOOOD! Ludwig and I went over to Jimmy and Megan's place where they fed us and fed us and fed us some more. Megan is a great cook, I'll eat what she makes anytime! The cookies 'n cream cheesecake "cupcakes" are from me. (They were pretty good if I do say so myself.)

Also, there is too much bro-love going on in this picture.

Tulalip Casino (January 21)

Went to the casino after Ludwig got of work. We met some of his work buddies there and hung out with our new friends Jimmy and Megan. There are pictures somewhere of Ludwig and I in front of the beautiful fountain, but I don't have them, so all you get is this:

What it is, I'm not sure...

Another fabric box (January 20)

Start with an old skirt (with a cute pattern) and a shoebox.

Then, do this.

And this.

Fun in the Snow (January 19)

I decided it was time to actually PLAY in the snow that we have, so I jumped out on Ludwig's patio in my bare feet! Yeah... that was pretty much the extent of my playing... it's cold out there. Where is my 75 degree winter from the south?

Oh, I also made this out of a box and an old shirt.

On a Chinese Kick (January 18)

Bourbon Chicken! I didn't have one ingredient (apple juice) so I replaced it with orange juice... and I think that made it too spicy. At least Ludwig liked it!

Baked Sweet n Sour Chicken (January 17)

SOOOOO GOOD! Really really good chicken. So good. Did I mention that this chicken is good? Cause it's really good!

You can find the recipe here.

Laser Pointer Fun (January 16)

We originally went out this morning to get a new driver's license for Ludwig (he STILL has a Colorado one) but it is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so the DMV was closed...

On the way back we stopped at a small little store called Lila's Scrapbooking... closed on Sundays and Mondays.

So disappointing, until Ludwig stopped at the Radio Shack. We got a laser pointer! Lola (Ludwig's cat) is gonna go crazy!!! ....and indeed, she did.

As a side note, the car slid out of it's parking space and down a snowy hill (almost out into traffic) while we were inside Radio Shack. I should have taken a picture of that... but I didn't, I know, I fail.

SNOW!!!! (January 15)

IT'S SNOWING!!!! We got snowed in for a few days, but this was just the start of it.

FLUFFY! (January 14)

We were celebrating Ludwig's birthday from last week! We bought tickets to see Gabriel Iglesias perform at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma. He did some new material and it was WONDERFUL! It was the Stand Up Revolution Comedy Tour so we got to see a few other comedians as well. My favorite was a guy from South Africa named Trevor Noah, you can follow him on twitter @trevornoah.

Anyway, the only picture of Ludwig and I at the casino is on Ludwig's phone, so I don't have it... but I have a picture of the skyline on the way to Tacoma. See the space needle?

Espanol (January 13)

I attempted to have a conversation with my boyfriend's father in spanish... I'm not positive I said everything properly, but at least he understood me! Go me!

More Enchiladas? (January 12)

Not so much. I tried a beef enchilada casserole. It looked like a decent casserole, held together well, etc. But as far as taste goes, lets just say after my dinner that night, I let Ludwig finish all the leftovers.

Mold... Gross! (January 11)

So Ludwig lives in Everett Washington, where it is VERY wet. VERY VERY VERY WET! He also lives in a rather small one bedroom apartment so when he takes a shower, the WHOLE apartment fills with steam. Another factor that contributes to the problem is that Ludwig is part vampire, so the blinds are always down. Okay, he may not be part vampire but the blinds didn't help.

I discovered this when attempting to decorate.

So gross!

So I spent the next 3 hours scrubbing and spraying and creating an awful ammonia smell in the apartment (yes I opened the windows and the patio door to keep from "dying"). And the end result was this:

Much better. I will be keeping a closer eye on this problem from now on. That mold will NOT come back!!! (Also, it hasn't come back yet... I kicked that mold's butt!)

Winter Term (January 10)

Classes started yesterday. So today, I needed to buckle down. It's possible that all I did was organize... but either way, it's WINTER TERM! YAY!

These are the two class I'm starting with. The Human Sexuality one is a 10 week class and the Juvenile Delinquency is a 5 week class, man this stuff goes by fast!

Enchiladas! (January 9)

I made some enchiladas. They may not be the best LOOKING enchiladas, but they sure did taste amazing!!! Ludwig will stand by that, he texted me from work several times telling me just how amazing those enchiladas were. Guess I will be making them again.

Happy Birthday My Love! (January 8)

It's Ludwig's 28th Birthday!!! So excited for today! While we didn't do a whole lot of stuff, we spent the WHOLE day together!!! Pizza and a movie on the couch, one piece of extremely decadent chocolate torte and lots of birthday kisses for the birthday boy!

I made sure to make breakfast bright and early for the birthday boy as well! Baked bacon, over-easy eggs, quesadillas and a strawberry kiwi smoothie!!!! As a side note, I added a little cumin to the eggs, definitely added a nice touch of flavor!

Happy Birthday my love! So glad you are part of my world!!!

Costco means Cost a lot of money (January 7)

Ludwig got a Costco membership today (and of course I was the secondary on the account). However... we ended up spending 700 dollars in one shopping trip! However, we did purchase things like King pillows for his bed and Frontline for his cat and a BLENDER for me! We also had to re-stock absolutely everything!!! He had no food in the house!! NONE!

Anyway, I just HAD to make a smoothie after the trip. YAY for smoothies!

K9 (January 6)

Went home today, saw this in the RDU airport. Who knows, maybe some day I will be a K9 handler.

Nothin' like NC BBQ (January 5)

THIS is what BBQ should look like AND taste like. I WILL find good BBQ here in Washington but I know it won't compare to NC BBQ, as nothing can!

Packing and picture fail. (January 4)

I spent the day packing for my trip in two days... and I didn't take a picture... I know, I stink at this.

Chuck Norris (January 3)

He was here. This picture was only discovered due to the genius of my brother's new girlfriend. Thank you Katie Stanton.

Oops, did I do that? (January 2)

Today, I went dress shopping and I bought my dress.... ya know, just a dress. So anyway, this is my face when I saw the dress on me.

I can not show the dress here for... reasons.

After Christmas Shopping (January 1)

This was the only interesting thing I found.... if only ;D

Welcome Maddie Moore! (December 31)

So excited for the birth of my niece! We threw a fun little get-together in celebration of Maddie's entrance into this world! Can't wait!!! Only a month!

No pictures of the actual event as I was hosting and wasn't able to take pictures.

Isn't it cute? (December 30)

We spent the day decorating for my sister's baby shower. We even "made" these cute little lollipops and arranged them in a cute little pail. Love this!

Great favors for the guests tomorrow!

Tijuana Flats (December 29)

Best Mexican Restaurant in Cary. So good, go there!

Also there is a really cool mural on the wall of a robot destroying Cary.

It's winter? (December 28)

It finally got cold in the south!!! We were so excited that we started a fire and all cuddled up around it.

What an amazing sight!

A prized trophy (December 27)

This was my most prized trophy. I won the sportsmanship award the same year that I had knee surgery. I could not even attend the championship game in which this was presented to me. I struggled for a while with the idea of giving this trophy up. However in the end, I did the hard thing and got rid of the trophy. If I'm being honest, it has no value other than a reminder.

The fate of children. (December 26)

This is what children's books have come to... what happened to goodnight moon?

Christmas and Chinese Food (December 25)

Merry Christmas everyone! Our family got together in the morning and then went out to Chinese food for lunch. I wasn't very hungry, so I took most of mine home. I started to write my name on my take-home box and something happened... my name became so much more, I blame my family.

Then around dinner time, we loaded up the car with presents and headed over to my aunt and uncle's house. Never would have thought we would have to take extra cars just to fit the presents!!!

Christmas Eve!!! (December 24)

It's Christmas Eve!!! We saw more Christmas lights tonight (along with the rest of the world). The house pictured below has tons of Christmas lights and even things like a boat and fire truck in the front yard.

We also saw a synchronized light show that was loads of fun!

Also, this is awesome!

Early Presents! (December 23)

When we were kids, we would beg our parents to let us open presents early (only about a week). They would usually give in a few days before Christmas. This year was no different (except that it wasn't me that begged but my step-dad).

A picture of me in one of my stocking stuffers! Disregard the face, I sent the picture to my boyfriend and we like to make fun of the duck face that girls do in pictures... anyway, it was meant to be comical, not serious.

Pie Bird (December 22)

I have a good friend that doesn't have facebook.... I know, it's like he lives under a rock, right? Well since I have been back, all the friends who wanted to see me saw that I was in NC on facebook and contacted me! Of course Ryan (Mr. No Facebook) didn't know I was home! So we only got to see each other once during my two month visit.

It was a great time though! We went to Pie Bird in downtown Raleigh. The tomato pie picture below was excellent! And Ryan's ox-tail on collard greens was excellent as well!

Heaviest present ever. (December 21)

The present pictured below in gingerbread wrapping paper weighs at least a million pounds. Okay, maybe not a million but we had to pick it up and put it down 4 times from the car to the house. We wrapped everything but the bottom and shoved (and shoved and shoved and heaved and ho-ed) it into that corner.

Too much work for one day.

Side note: It's a side-by-side grill (propane and charcoal) for my step-dad.

Happy Birthday Becker! (December 20)

So my youngest sibling is now 21. Her birthday was the 19th, but we celebrated today! Dinner at Bahama Breeze and Christmas light viewing afterwards.

Also, my man's man brother was wearing Salmon... I have proof below.