Steve's Place

Looking Forward

2011-10-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

Sarah and I are into our marathon training, and it is going pretty well; the marathon is in March of next year in Napa Valley. Since our last post, I have filmed a couple more weddings and have been getting steady work from Frontside Films doing his editing.

There's a chance I'll be filming many more weddings next year (cross your fingers) for Frontside by picking up the jobs that he normally has to turn away due to being booked already. We are hoping that I can pick up enough work for Sarah to go back to school next year to work towards her Master's. Sarah's job has picked up considerably due to the loss of one of their closest competitors. She still enjoys what she does and gets along with her co-workers really well, for the most part. :)

Sarah and I are really enjoying our new church and the sense of family and closeness that comes with a smaller church body. Sarah has been volunteering with AWANA every Sunday night for the past month or so, and is committed until the end of the school year. I just started attending the high school group and hope to be able to serve there as I have at our previous church.

We also went to the pumpkin patch on Sunday and got our fall decorations!

Steve and Mojo are still doing great, as long as you don't count Mojo's hairballs.

We're Debt Free!!

2011-08-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

No student loans, no car payments, no credit card payments, nothing!

Many of you know we have been on the Dave Ramsey program for about three and a half years; during that time we paid off $35,000 with an average salary of about the same.
During that time we survived going back to college, several layoffs & cut hours, but we just kept moving forward.

Thank yous' go out to our friends the McChesneys for introducing us to The Total Money Makeover & Sarah for all the grocery planning and budgets!
WE'RE DEBT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Felt like writing something...

2011-07-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

The last thing you expected was another blog post, but oh well.

Some quick updates for those who may not know or just plain forgot:

Sarah and I are attending East Parkway Church in Granite Bay and are really enjoying it so far. It's a much smaller church and the people are super friendly and welcoming.

Sarah is still working at Bob Murray & Assoc. and I am still freelancin' it as a wedding video editor.

Things are finally getting back to "normal" since Sarah's surgery (thanks again to all our friends and family who helped us out tremendously during the recovery period); we went to Monterey again on Saturday and had fun hitting all of our favorite spots: Campagno's for lunch, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Asilomar Beach and the Monterey Plaza courtyard for some coffee by the ocean.

Steve and Mojo are doing well; Mojo is barfing much less since we switched him over to yummy canned cat food. Steve is clearly jealous since he will eat some of his food and then shoves Mojo out of the way to eat his, which is why I now have to watch over them as they eat.

Not much else to say other than I miss my family. It was great having everyone in town at the same time several weeks ago, but now I miss everyone that much more.

Painting is Finished!

2010-09-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

I eluded to the painting on my last post which "everyone" read. Now, here it is.

What We've Been Doing Lately...

2010-08-26T13:50:00.000-07:00

I have officially finished college! The last assignment I turned in for my online class was on Aug. 6th; just so that we are all 100% clear, unless I decide to get a bachelor's degree in the future, I am done! I finished with a 3.6 GPA and all A's my last summer semester. My GPA would have been higher if I had done better when I first started college back in 2001 (I returned to college on academic probation).

Now, I am putting in more hours with my internship at the church to get more "real world experience" as well as put a good portfolio of my work together. Which leads me to the other thing I recently finished, my web-site. I have posted five videos that I have edited so far, with new ones to come in the future.

http://www.wix.com/seankenney/videoeditor

Sarah and I are still training for a marathon, however we have decided to change it from the CIM to the Napa Valley Marathon next March. The reason being that we do things together, and the CIM forces the men and women to finish at different places, and that was not acceptable to us.

In other news, I had a great 29th birthday, thanks in large part to Sarah for my great gifts and the large amount of time and energy she put into planning everything; she made andouille sausage burgers (best burger ever, by the way) and we enjoyed them with Sprecker's Rootbeer. We also went with friends to a cabin near Bass Lake where we wake boarded. A big thanks to our friend Carrie McChesney for taking lots of video of us actually getting up onto the board (video soon to come). Tip for getting up on the board: think, "meatball." :)

I am also nearing completion of a painting that I have been slowly working on for months (or a year), but stopped for a while during school. I am hoping to have it done in the next few days; I might post a picture of it when it is finished.

Nothing Much

2010-07-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

Why haven't we updated lately? Because we just aren't that exciting. :(

Not much has happened since our last post:

Sarah still really loves her new job.
I have 2-3 weeks of school left (2 weeks of physical classes, 3 until my online class ends).
Steve and Mojo are still doing very well.

I was training with my friend Jason for a marathon in December; unfortunately he injured his foot doing so. Now, Sarah is training with me. Jason and I will pick up training for something else once he's back on his feet, literally.

The Sacramento Zoo's ice cream social is this Saturday, and we are taking our niece Kaidence with us. It will be our first play date with her, and her first time at the zoo.

Other than that, I'm looking for a job in the video production field now. The good news it that there are lots of those jobs out there. Bad news is that they are hundreds of miles away.

Home Sweet Homewood Suites!

2010-05-28T12:11:00.000-07:00

(Top three pics are a few of our new problems. Bottom three was our Homewood Suite)

We are officially back into our apartment as of last Thursday. So, we stayed at the Homewood Suites from April 15 'till May 20th. No, it was not like being on vacation for a month; it was more like,"Would you mind putting most of your life on hold for a bit? Thanks." Yes, the apartment management paid for the hotel, and breakfast/ dinner was provided to us most nights as well.

We are very happy to be back home, unfortunately we came home to an apartment that was not renovated well at all. So, the apartment issues will continue for a while longer until the maintenance guy fixes what the contractor "fixed."

ON TO HAPPY NEWS!

Sarah got a new job! The pay is better, shorter commute, close to zero phone calls, interesting work, nice co-workers, a boss that respects her and an excuse to buy new fancy clothes. What more could you ask for? She is now a Senior Consultant for an executive search firm. So far, she loves this new job. Thank you Carrie M. for the hook-up! :)

I finished my last full semester at American River College; I got four A's and one B! Now I have to take three classes this summer, and then I will be FINISHED! I will be taking a Photoshop class (again), an Illustrator class, and a sociology class. Unfortunately, the graduation ceremony isn't until May. So we will just have some parties with friends and families this summer, and then do the ceremony thing later. Big thanks to Nate Romo for his hours of help on my Adobe Flash projects this last semester. You rock, Nate!

Some final random things:

We loved the LOST finale; we thought it could have been better, but it was very satisfying.
We have started to watch 24 on Netflix. I think we are the last people on earth who haven't watched it yet.
We started drinking decaf coffee at night from home; it's a great way to end the day.
The kitties are doing great. Mojo and Steve play and fight with each other on a daily basis.

Some Things

2010-04-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

Goodness gracious it feels like we've dropped off the face of the earth. We've neglected to post any one of the many interesting things that have happened in the past couple of months, so here's a short list:

We celebrated our five-year wedding anniversary with a trip to Mendocino. We stayed at the same B&B that we visited in year two, and we had a (mostly) wonderful time (see below for explanation of "mostly"). I (Sarah) have been watching "Murder She Wrote" on Netflix lately, so I got really excited when I found Jessica Fletcher's house in the town of Mendocino. Sean was indulgent enough to take my picture in front of it.

On the actual day of our anniversary, we got a call at 9:45am saying that our apartment had been flooded by a broken toilet pipe. So, here's what happened:

Sometime on the 1st, the toilet hose broke and began filling our apartment with water (while we are several hundred miles away in Mendocino).

The flooding spills over into our neighbors apartment and he calls the maintenance guy.

Friday morning we get the call from Sarah's brother (who was checking in on the kitties) and told us what happened. They then proceeded to frantically move all of our belongings into another apartment (all while we are still away).

We stayed in the model apt. that weekend and they had new carpet in that Monday. Wheeee!

Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there. We now have a mold problem, since they didn't replace any of the drywall or molding, just the carpet. An independent inspector came out this last Saturday and today and found moisture in all but one wall about a foot of the way up AND moisture in the new carpet, because the cement didn't dry all the way.

So now, we have a large & loud dehumidifier in the living room and a air purifier in the office (also loud). Sarah and I are going to have to spend the next week in a hotel, and professionals are going to come in, move everything, clean it, replace the drywall and put everything back. Did I mention that I am in the last few weeks of the semester when projects and tests are all due? Fun.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but it will probably be awhile before we can do it again.

One last thing, Sarah and I are running a half marathon this Saturday! That's 13.1 miles. Piece of cake.

Update Tuesday 4/27 11:30am: The mold remediation people say it's probably going to be 2 weeks, not 1. At least we're staying in a suite with a full kitchen and our cats.

Steve & Mojo

2010-03-09T08:13:00.000-08:00

Steve and Mojo are getting along wonderfully. They play with each other every day, and Mojo likes to lick Steve's head right before he starts to play fight.

That big lump under the blanket in the picture is Steve. He has taken to climbing under there to sleep, and then Mojo finds him and sleeps next to him on top of the blanket. Very cute.

Mojo loves getting into closets. We have closed him in a couple times, not knowing he had walked in; never more than a minute or so because he starts meowing pretty loud.

All in all, it's nice having two kitties around. :)

Craziest Call Ever! I just had to share it.

2010-02-02T09:33:00.000-08:00

Steve Gets a Friend

2010-01-22T11:43:00.000-08:00

(The cats are trying to scramble my brain with their eyes!)

His name is Mojo, and he'll be staying with us for an indeterminate period of time (he belongs to Sean's brother David). He's somewhere between 17 & 19 years old, but you wouldn't know it from his energy level. He's practically running Steve ragged with his youthful antics. We were worried that they wouldn't get along, but they're playing together quite well. I keep waiting for the moment when we catch them sleeping in a basket together. I guess I'll have to be patient.

If this was my own work...

2010-01-14T16:14:00.000-08:00

I'd make it my personal manifesto. My heart sings.

http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2010/01/rules-for-writing-well.php

Homemade Bread on a Weekday!

2010-01-12T16:12:00.001-08:00

So, yeah, I totally whipped together a homemade loaf of bread last Thursday. I started the bread in the morning (literally stirred the ingredients together and walked out the door), then finished it when I got home. I had homemade bread on the table at 7pm. If you haven't heard of it already, "no-knead bread" is THE thing this year. It was quick (as far as hands-on time goes, less than 10 minutes), and it was delicious. I even substituted regular all-purpose flour for bread flour, with no discernible sacrifice in taste or texture. It also makes excellent toast, when it starts to go stale. Plus, something really neat is that you can cook it in a Dutch oven, a casserole dish, or any number of round-ish vessels of the right volume. It was so easy, I'm thinking of doing away with buying sandwich bread and instead making this every week. Here's one of many recipes available on the interwebs:

No-Knead Bread makes 1 loaf

3 cups bread flour

3/4 teaspoon regular yeast (not instant)

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups water

Mix all the ingredients in the morning before you go to work. This should take about 3 minutes and leave you with a thick, slightly goopy dough. Cover with a towel or some plastic wrap and leave it in the warmest spot in your kitchen. It should get a 6 to 8-hour rise.

When you come home from work, lightly mist a counter or baking sheet with spray oil and turn dough out on it. Shape it roughly into a ball (a bench scraper is useful here), mist with oil again, and cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Let proof for about an hour, or however long you have.

Heat the oven to 450°F. Put a Dutch oven (or an alternative vessel with similar volume) in the oven to heat. When the dough has doubled in size, put it in the pan. You may have to pour it, pry it off the baking sheet, or just roll it in - the dough is very wet. Don't worry if it looks a mess. Cover the pot with a lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake for another 15 minutes to let it brown.

You can be really sure that the bread is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the side of the loaf reads 210-220°F.

New Year!

2010-01-05T10:08:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to give a quick update:

Christmas was great this year; all of Sarah's decorations + 2 cartons of egg nog + lots of Christmas music at home + several "fun" trips to the mall= feeling like Christmas.

New Years Eve was spent with friends again and I won second place in the 80's attire contest; I was going for the Marty McFly outfit, but couldn't get a red sleeveless vest.

Lastly, the thing that I am most excited about right now (which is what actually prompted me to do this update) is that I got all my grades from this last semester; five A's and one B! Not too shabby. :) Five more classes next semester, two in the summer and I will be done (which is 213 days from today, but who's counting?)

2009-12-23T16:05:00.001-08:00

More Apt. pictures...

2nd Annual Cookie Exchange

2009-12-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

I had a cookie-exchange party last year that went so well that I decided to do it again this year. My other friends have stolen the big holidays (Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve, etc.), so I decided to stick my own event in during the middle of the month of December. I went kinda crazy and obsessive decorating the house for the party. Note: cutting hundreds of snowflakes out of cover stock is rather hard on the knuckles. There were supposed to be 8 attendees, but two of them ended up sending cookies and flaking on the party. Because I am a kind-hearted soul, we exchanged their cookies for them and carried on. I was rather pleased with the selection and quality that showed up this year, and I'm definitely going to carry on the tradition for the next Christmas season. In the meantime, Sean and I have a tray full of cookies to devour.

P.S. I got an awesome cheese to serve with rustic bread as an appetizer. It came from the Nugget Market and is called "Fromager D'Affinois." It's creamy and mild, with just a slight bit of saltiness. I'm in love with this cheese.

SNOW IN CITRUS HEIGHTS!

2009-12-07T08:21:00.001-08:00

Sarah and I went for a walk around the mall last night and I thought it was starting to rain on us. The rain was blowing around, so I just figured it was a light rain. But, it was the first hint of snow to come! Very cool.

The school semester is almost over for me; December 17th is the last day. Thanksgiving was great this year; we had dinner with Mom & Dad Kenney, and then on Sunday we had dinner with friends. We also had a surprise birthday party for Sarah's grandma & Kaidence's first birthday party the same day up in Smartville; Nana was definitely surprised.

Hmmm, what else? We put up our tree on Saturday and finished decorating our house for the holidays yesterday. I told Sarah that the last few Christmases went by too fast, so we had to make sure that: the tree was up in time, Christmas music is playing at home, & we need to take frequent trips to the mall to soak in the experience. So far, so good.

We Live!

2009-11-16T16:19:00.000-08:00

I had no idea it had been almost two months since our last post. There's a lot of stuff I can't remember that's happened in the past couple of months, so I'll just focus on our trip to Oregon two weekends ago. I don't have a lot of time, so I'm going to break it down in the form of awards:

Best Provision of a Comfy Guest-Room Experience: Patrick & Mary

Worst Cheese & Ice-Cream Tour: Tillamook Cheese & Ice Cream Factory

Best Made-Up Car Game: Sarah, for "Follow Words" (I just named it)

Best Made-Up Car Game Save: Mary, for "caseworker"

Best Use of the Word "House" to End a Made-Up Car Game: Patrick

Best Assassination Scenario: Patrick

Best Catch-Phrase Partners: Mary & Sarah

Best Catch-Phrase Answers: Patrick, for "Jib-jab! Sad!" and Sean, for "Red kryptonite! Blue pants!"

Best Scenery: The State of Oregon

Recent Weekends

2009-09-22T12:39:00.001-07:00

Two weekends ago we went to San Francisco to see the "Tut" exhibit at the De Young museum in San Francisco (note: we hate San Francisco; it's a dirty, frustrating city). My parents gave Sean tickets for his birthday, and the exhibit was really interesting. After having wandered through the museum looking at artifacts and art from South America (from the A.D. time period), seeing what the Egyptians were doing in the B.C.'s was amazing. Most of what we were looking at came from 1450-1300 B.C., and the artistry was incredible. Also, did any of you know that there were actually five boxes surrounding King Tut, not just the one sarcophagus? I didn't remember that from my sixth-grade unit on ancient Egypt. Alas, there aren't any pictures, because photography isn't allowed inside the exhibit.

Last weekend (i.e. a couple days ago) I made some curtains for our kitchen. That's right--I MADE CURTAINS! Previous to my weekend project, the only thing I had ever sewn--ever--was one button back onto my favorite peacoat. I had received a small (read: beginner's) sewing machine for my college graduation, so I decided to put it to use. Steve likes to get up on the counter in our kitchen, which means we either leave the blinds up all the time or he messes them up. We've been leaving them up, but that means potential naked exposure (the kitchen window practically looks right into our bedroom at the back of the apartment). So, curtains. Or sew curtains. Either way, I made them. They are nowhere near perfect; in fact, I'm probably going to make some more in a different fabric. However, the important thing is that I finished them, and they are curtain-like enough that they'll do for now. Sean was kind enough to say that he likes them, but I'm not happy enough with them to post photos just yet.

The Rest of August

2009-09-07T14:32:00.000-07:00

Sean actually got to have three birthdays this year. We did a Scandia video game/batting cages/minicar race birthday on the Sunday before his birthday with my side of the family (plus Becky & Roshni), then we did a small gathering on Sean's actual birthday with some friends, then we did another family birthday dinner with Sean's side of the family Friday night. Scandia was fun, although they didn't have any air-conditioning inside the arcade. My mom and dad played a first-person shooter together--my mom played with a rather disgusted look on her face (which was awesome). I made Sean's new favorite burger, the Andouille-Beef burger, for his "friend" birthday, and it was generally agreed that they're very tasty.

A couple weekends ago, we took Friday off and went up to Eureka through Sunday. The goals of our journey were thus: to escape the searing heat of Sacramento; to visit Sean's family; and to explore the area's outdoor wonders. The weekend started off with a sense of doom hanging over our heads, because we almost got into three accidents on the way up and because Nate convinced Shelly we were coming on a different weekend (hence, they were not expecting us when we called to say we were 20 minutes away). So: Nate got in trouble and Shelly was a good sport, and everything turned out great (except for everyone else being out of town for a funeral). They led us on all sorts of adventures in the greater Eureka area and generally impressed us with how close they are to all sorts of natural beauty. One of the highlights of the trip was their sewage treatment plant/bird sanctuary. Seriously. You should check it out if you're ever in the area. It was an exhausting weekend (Nate and Shelly have energy to spare when it comes to walking), but super fun. The one disappoint is that apparently local Humboldt County coffee shops can't make a good iced white mocha; we had to give in and just go to Starbucks. Oh well.

To make our August even more exciting, we drove down to San Diego for a quick baby-shower (for my friend Naju)/visit the Martas trip. We had a bunch of fun hanging out with Sharon, Isaac, and Reece at the Wild Animal Park (amazing), and it was great to see my still-skinny-except-for-her-baby-bump friend. We rounded out the day by watching a movie with Sharon & Jake--an unintentionally hilarious stealth-Christian movie that provided ample opportunity for commentary. It was really sad when we left the next day, because Isaac was crying and saying he wanted to go to Sacramento with us. It almost made me cry, too. He drew me a picture later, so I guess all is well now.

That's about it. I decided to not post every new recipe I make, because some of them have been complete flops. However, I made a quick dessert with some leftover berries I had from the farmers' market, and it turned out really well. Here you go (courtesy of Alton Brown):

individual berry crisps
(serves 4)

1 cup all-purpose flour (about 5 ounces)
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, or pecans)
1 1/2 cups crushed crackers, gingersnaps, or cereal
4 ounces unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
12 ounces fresh or frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries work well)
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch

directions

Place the flour, sugar, nuts, and crackers in a large mixing bowl; combine.
Work the butter into the dry ingredients, using your hands or a pastry blender, until it is crumbly.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the berries, sugar, cornstarch, and 1/2 cup of the crisp mixture in a medium bowl; stir gently to combine.
Divide the mixture evenly among 4 small (7-8 oz.) ramekins. Top each ramekin with 1/2 cup of the remaining crisp topping.
Place ramekins on a sheet pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until fruit is bubbling and topping is browned. Allow to cool 15 minutes before serving.

rating: 5/5 (I decided to change my response system so I wouldn't have to remember what people said....)

critique:
I can't imagine using crackers in this recipe, and I probably wouldn't recommend it. I used cornflakes, and it turned out great. Although the recipe doesn't mention it, this dessert pairs well with some good vanilla ice cream.

Friendship Camping and Recipe of the Week

2009-08-06T21:22:00.000-07:00

We attended the First Annual Friendship Camping Trip at Collins Lake this past weekend. We have a group of friends that has been getting together for the past couple of Thanksgiving weekends to have a "Friendship Thanksgiving," and the people who started the tradition (and host the event every year) decided to give us something to look forward to in the summer, as well. The friendship part of the weekend was awesome, but the camping site itself was rather dismal (ubiquitous clay dirt, Martian landscape around the lake, and loud, drunken neighbors). We still had lots of fun, and we ate really well. Thanks to the McChesneys for arranging everything and making all the food I brought completely unnecessary. By the way, if any of you out there haven't had a camping cobbler made in a Dutch oven--get out there and do it! It was one of the highlights of the weekend. We did have to leave briefly and come down to Sacramento for Sean's cousin's wedding, but we were glad to be able to attend both events in the same weekend.

On a separate note, this week's recipe isn't new to me, but it's probably going to be new to you. It's my favorite chocolate cookie recipe, and it comes out perfectly every time. I had an urgent need to use up 6 1/2 Hershey's bars that somehow came home with me from the camping trip, and this recipe fit the bill. It came from Martha Stewart Living magazine--I don't know what issue.

double-chocolate cookies
(makes about 3 dozen)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-processed)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 pound milk chocolate (4 oz. coarsely chopped, 4 oz. cut into 1/2-inch chunks)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Melt the 4 ounces coarsely chopped chocolate with the butter in a small, heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmer water; let cool slightly.
Beat chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until just combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture, scraping down bowl as needed. Fold in chocolate chunks.
Using a 1 1/2-inch ice-cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment-line baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces crack, about 15 minutes (cookies should be soft). Let cool on parchment on wire racks.

responses

Sean said: "...." (sound of chewing and contented look on face)
Sarah said: "I think these are better than America's Test Kitchen's!"

critique

I really don't have anything critical to say about this recipe. I would only caution you to follow the instructions and take them out when directed. They may look too soft or underdone, but they firm up quite nicely and form a wonderful crunchy outside/soft inside contrast.

Catching Up

2009-07-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

We've been terribly busy (no, honestly--going to bed at 9:30 really cuts down on the amount of time in which we can get things done). Anyway, I haven't made any new recipes for the past couple of weeks. I'm restarting this week, but first more random bits of information:

Camping for July 4th with my family was a blast (despite some weird family dramas).

I got a bonus at work that allowed us to pay off my CR-V, with some money left over to spare (which means we now own both vehicles outright).

We went boating with some friends on Saturday, during which Sean and I both failed miserably at our first attempts to wake-board; however, we did discover that night-boating is awesome.

We've got lots of trips coming in August, so that's going to be another busy month.

I just hope I can stay on top of these recipes, because that binder is fat with ones to try! This week's recipe was a big hit at Sean's maternal grandma's 94th birthday party, and it was super easy; it came from a website called Allrecipes that I often use (I modified it a bit to fit what I had on-hand). Sorry that there's no photograph, but the lighting in our house at night makes food look particularly unappetizing.

berry trifle

(serves 18)

1 package (10.75 oz) prepared pound cake, cubed
4-6 cups assorted berries (cut strawberries into slices, if using)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 package (5 oz.) instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup milk
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 container (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed

directions

In a medium bowl, combine pudding mix, milk, condensed milk, and 1 cup of whipped topping; whisk until smooth and set aside.
Place 1/2 of cubed cake in bottom of trifle dish or large glass bowl. Brush tops of cake pieces with 1/2 of orange juice. Layer with 1/2 of berry mixture and top with 1/2 of pudding mixture.
Repeat cake, berry, and pudding mixture layers. Top trifle with remaining whipped topping.
Refrigerate until well-chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 8.

responses

Sean said: "Really good."

Sarah said: "This was so easy! I'm making it my potluck go-to recipe."

Grandma said: "Delicious."

critique

The recipe, as I wrote it, already has some modifications of my own. The original recipe called for one layer of cake, one of berries, and one of pudding mixture, but I thought it would look nicer and be more balanced on the palate with two layers. Also, I was supposed to use frozen berries, but I had a quantity of fresh strawberries and blackberries to use up. I think it would work well either way. Finally, it wasn't nearly as good the next day, so definitely make sure it gets served and eaten within 8 hours.

P.S. The lack of formatting features is driving me crazy! I messed with the bullets and spacing in this post for about 20 minutes before giving up. I don't understand what rules govern the random spacing of bullets for this site.

Recipe of the Week and Random Bits of News

2009-06-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

First, random bits o' news: I'm officially back to full-time work (bad news for quality time with Sean, good news for our bank account); David sent us an awesome, random present that promises to transport things, entertain both of us, and clothe Sean; Steve barfed on the carpet again; it got to 112 degrees in Citrus Heights yesterday; I made my first-ever grilled tri-tip last night, and it turned out very well.

Now for the recipe, reprinted without permission from http://www.cookandeat.com/:

strawberry semifreddo
(serves 8)

ingredients

1 pint of fresh strawberries, stems and caps removed
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 t vanilla
4 eggs, separated

directions

Mash the strawberries well (I used a potato masher). Set aside.
Whip the cream until it is firm. Cover and refrigerate.
Combine the sugar, vanilla, and egg yolks in the bowl of a mixer and beat until it is thick and pale yellow, about 5 minutes. Move to a large metal bowl, cover and set aside.
Beat the egg whites in a clean mixer bowl until you get soft peaks.
Fold the whipped cream into the egg yolk mixture. Then, fold in the egg whites, trying not to deflate them.
Fold in the strawberry puree, mixing just enough to get some nice swirls and streaks but not a solid pink color.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. You’ll need to freeze it for well over an hour for more of an ice cream texture. Note: If frozen overnight, let it sit at room temperature for about 10 to 15 minutes before trying to scoop it.

responses

Sean said: "Mmmm."

Sarah said: "I would make this again."

Carrie McChesney said: "Light and fresh."

Dan McChesney said: "Like a light ice cream."

critique

I enjoyed this dessert very much, and I would make only a few minor changes. One is that I would probably macerate the strawberries in a teaspoon or two of sugar before mashing them, because they were a bit tart in the sweet, dairy part of the dessert. I would also suggest setting out the dessert for closer to 20 or 30 minutes after being frozen overnight, because otherwise it's a bit too icy in the middle. I ended up pouring the whole thing into a plastic wrap-lined loaf pan due to personal preference, which made for pretty slices. Those of you who know me well know I tend to like very sweet things, but this is one dessert I've found that had a minimal amount of sugar and was still very satisfying (especially with Belgian butter cookies from Trader Joe's).

Recipe of the Week: Lemon Linguine with Spinach and Pine Nuts

2009-06-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

This week's recipe was a bit of a flop. Oh well; that's what I get for trusting the Interweb.

lemon linguine with spinach and pine nuts
(serves 6)

1 pound linguine
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup minced shallot or onion
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomato
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 2 large cloves)
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 cups baby spinach, loosely packed
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
grated Parmesan cheese

preparation

In a large stockpot, cook linguine according to package directions or to taste.
Meanwhile, a large, deep skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
Add shallots, sun-dried tomatoes, and grated lemon zest; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.
Add minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.
Drain linguine and add to skillet. Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper, tossing over medium heat to combine.
Place spinach in large bowl.
Add hot linguine mixture to spinach, tossing to combine.
Throw pine nuts over the top and add cheese to taste, or pass pine nuts and cheese at the table.

responses

Sean said: "...." Sarah said: "This isn't terribly good, but it's not inedible."

critique

There just wasn't enough seasoning in this dish. In fact, I only used 8 ounces of pasta; I can't imagine how tasteless it would have been if I had used a whole pound. It probably could have used a lot more garlic and sun-dried tomato, and maybe some red chili flakes for interest. I might try it again and play with the seasoning a bit.

Recipe of the Week: Beef and Andouille Burgers

2009-06-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

So, as Sean mentioned in our last post, I have tons (more like 400-500 than 150) of recipes I've set aside to try. I get them from magazines, cookbooks, the internet, and people I know. They've started piling up to a point where I felt as though I'd never get through them all, so I've decided to not compile any more recipes and instead focus on making at least one new recipe a week. It's going well so far, so I've decided I would announce it to the world and commit myself to the project. In fact, I've made more than one new recipe for the past couple of weeks. I'll try to get pictures of the food, but it's hard with some dishes to get a good picture and still get it on the table at the right temperature. For my official "launch," I present you with a recipe from Bon Appétit's cookbook (borrowed from the library):

beef and andouille burgers with asiago cheese

(serves 6)

ingredients

4 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon whole-grain Dijon mustard
8 ounces andouille sausages, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 1/2 pounds ground beef (15% fat)
2 large shallots, minced
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
6 large sesame-seed hamburger buns
6 1/3-inch-thick slices red onion
Olive oil
1 cup coarsely grated Asiago cheese**
1 7- to 7 1/2-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained

preparation

Finely chop sun-dried tomatoes by hand or in a small food processor. Blend in mayonnaise and mustard. Transfer to a small bowl. (The mixture can be made one day ahead; cover and chill).

Finely chop sausage in food processor and transfer to a large bowl. Add beef, shallots, salt, pepper, and fennel seeds. Stir with fork just until blended. Form mixture in to six 1-inch-thick patties.

Prepare grill for medium-high heat. Grill hamburger buns until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer to platter. Brush onion slices on both sides with oil and sprinkle one side with salt and pepper. Grill until golden, about 7 minutes per side. Grill hamburgers to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Sprinkle cheese over top of burgers.

Spread cut sides of hamburger buns with sun-dried-tomato mayonniase. Top bottom halves of buns with hamburgers, then red peppers. Top with onion slices. Cover with top halves of buns and serve.

responses

Sean said: "One of the best burgers I've ever had."

Sarah said: "Pretty good."

recipe critique

I omitted the roasted red peppers because they just didn't sound appealing for this recipe. I did use the asiago cheese, but we couldn't really taste it on top of all the other flavors; for this reason, I would say it's unnecessary to the recipe and adds unneeded calories. Also, I got "Cajun" style andouille sausage, which was probably the wrong choice. Although Sean loved the taste, I thought the seasoning in the sausage competed with the other seasonings in the recipe. I would probably use mild Italian sausage next time, because it's easier to find and less aggressively seasoned. Also, I found the amount of mayonniase mixture to be inadequate. The sun-dried tomatoes reduce the spreading capacity, so I would probably double that part of the recipe next time. Finally, since Sean and I were eating alone, I froze 2/3 of the prepared patty mix. I'll let you know how it goes when I use the remaining mix.

Sorry About The Slow Update...

2009-06-01T12:42:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything for a while because I was waiting for one teacher to post my final grade for last semester, which he did today.

So, last semester went very well. I got an A in my math, health and Photoshop class and a B in my modern art history class. I start summer school June 8th and will be taking swimming @ 5:45 AM (whee!) Mon-Thurs., as well as beginners astronomy and economics. Summer school ends August 7th and then I will have five classes in Fall starting August 22nd; so I will have a little break.

Sarah is working more hours at Northwest Exteriors because business is picking up again, which is great. She has also recently organized all of her recipes as well as grabbed 150 new ones (maybe more)and has started putting them in a binder with pictures. She estimates that we can have something new each week for the next five years or so.

We recently got new "blackout" curtains for our bedroom as well as a sofa/bed for our office. The curtains are awesome! They block out 99% of all light and they make our room really dark at night; I highly recommend them to everyone. Wal-Mart+$22 per panel=awesome. Our sofa/bed came from Ikea and will enable us to watch free TV from our computor comfortably as well as allow people to stay with us overnight. It is small, lightweight, cheap, new, and has no metal bars to stick in your back when you are sleeping! You can't for anything more.

We have gone on a few hikes lately, one with friends, and the other alone. We also went to Stinson Beach with Becky, John and Roshni for lunch. I stepped in poo on the beach (barefoot), that was fun. What more can be said other than we love hiking and we love our friends? Nothing more. :)

We also got a bicycle for Sarah from Craigslist for $40. We have been riding together for the past week to get in better shape and we really enjoy it. The time goes by quikly and we get a great cardio workout.

BIG NEWS! Steve barfed a hairball the other day and we got him to do it on tile! Normally he does it on the carpet which makes it very difficult to clean, but this time we were able to grab him when he was making his "barf noises" and take him to the bathroom tile floor. I realize it's gross to talk about cat barf, but when you have a cat that always barfs on the carpet, never on tile, you would get excited too if it finally made it to tile. :)

Not much else is going on. I am still volunteering on highschool staff at church and Sarah has started doing "greeting" a couple weekends a month too.

Busy Weekends!

2009-04-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

Our four-year anniversary was April 2nd, and we spent the day at the California Academy of Science in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It was awesome! There is so much to see and things to do--it needs to be experienced. They have the nation's largest digital planetarium (coolest thing ever), a four story indoor rain forest (with tons of butterflies), an aquarium that is almost as big as the one in Monterey, a 3-D bug show, a T-Rex skeleton, and a natural history wing with lots of stuffed animals from Africa. Needless to say, if you love nature and astronomy, you will love this place.

That weekend we went to a live debate to see William Lane Craig (author of Reasonable Faith) and Christopher Hitchens (author of God is NOT Great). The topic was (you guessed it) "Does God Exist?" It was held at Biola University, and it lasted just over two hours. Sarah and I were very fortunate to get seats only twenty feet away from the speakers' podium, since over 3,000 people showed up to the event, not to mention the people watching live over the web across the world in 15 different countries including Sri Lanka! As if that wasn't cool enough, we were able to exit out the back way where we literally walked right by Hitchens and were able to get near the front of the book-signing line. THEN, some people were interviewing people in line for a documentary they were making, and they interviewed me! To top things off, I got to meet Dr. Craig in person and actually got to speak to him for a couple of minutes while he signed my book. Needless to say, I was on cloud nine.

This last weekend was also a highlight in our lives. We were very fortunate to spend some time with the Watoto kids' choir from Uganda. These kids were amazing, not just as performers but as people. Sarah and I truly felt blessed to have the opportunity to have dinner and breakfast with them. The kids always hugged us, always said please and thank you, were always smiling, and made us feel like "old" friends as soon as we met them. We could not help falling in love with all of them. Thank you McChesneys for giving us that opportunity! :)

Some days you just feel different...'nuff said.

2009-03-31T12:33:00.001-07:00

Special Edition: The One Where Sarah Heard a Weird Noise

2009-03-21T04:18:00.000-07:00

So, it's 4:00am (on the dot, which is weird in itself) and we're off in dream world. Steve is snoring lightly, Sean is snoring lightly, and Sarah is not snoring because she's a lady. Sarah is woken out of a typically delightful dream by a cacophonous noise that she does not recognize. Upon further investigation, she finds that the bathroom ceiling is pouring water in three different places and is about to pop.

The complex maintenance man arrives, blearily rubbing his eyes, in a surprisingly short amount of time after a semi-frantic phone call from the intrepid adventurer (that's Sarah, if you're paying attention). It is discovered that the degenerates upstairs--for that's what they must be, if they let this happen to us--left their toilet running all night. The fearless maintenance man pops the ceiling and hilarity ensues. Or, at least, as much hilarity as can be found at 4:26am involving a shop-vac and three moderately awake adults, one of whom is a stranger to the others.

So let this be a lesson to you, children: Just say no to drugs.

Our New Place

2009-02-20T18:23:00.000-08:00

We love our new place here in Citrus Heights! We are really close to shopping, including several dollar stores! We feel much safer here than at our last place and it is 100 times easier for guests to park. The only problem we have so far is having a smaller water heater. We get about 10 minutes of hot water, but then it starts getting progressively colder. I tried taking a 15 minute shower and had nothing but cold water by the end. It's a small price to pay, and we are willing to pay it.

Weeee!

2009-01-23T17:51:00.000-08:00

Sarah and I went to the snow last weekend; it took a while to find some, but we did! The snow was pretty deep which made walking difficult, so we decided to race!

This was my first week of classes for the semester; so far all my teachers are pretty cool except for a health class--not too exciting.

Also, we are moving next week! We have our spare room boxed already and everything else will have to wait until we get closer.

Lots of News This Time

2009-01-11T21:48:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas was great. Sharon, Jacob, Isaac and Reece came up from "San Diego". David, Joanna and Declan came up from "Los Angeles" and Patrick and Mary cam down from Salem. It was great seeing everyone and spending time together. Sarah and I got a GPS unit for our car from Mom and Dad Alwin, which will help me to not get lost around Sacramento. New Years was a lot of fun too. We went to our friends the Truitts' and stayed up 'till about 4am--good times. We also drove down to L.A. for Sarah's grandfather's 70th birthday party Christmas weekend. It was great to see everyone, and we had a good time.

Well, Sarah is still working part-time, about 25 hours per week, and we are praying that her work picks up so that she can get her hours back. We have decided to wait until the end of the month to see if they will be able to give her hours back, if not she will unfortunately have to look for a new job. We don't really want her to leave because she enjoys working for them so much.

I am no longer working part-time. In fact, I am no longer working. Unfortunately, last Tuesday I was told that Thursday would be my last day. I was let go for financial reasons. So now I am looking for another part-time job that I can stay at for about a year while I finish school. By the way, I finally looked at my last semester grades and I got all A's. :)

The great news is that we are moving at the end of the month! We are going to be out of our Carmichael apartment by Jan. 31st and will be moving to Citrus Heights. The rent is cheaper, we will have two full baths and a fire place, we'll have two assigned parking spaces (one of which is a garage), and we will be closer to friends and church. Unfortunately we will be further from my Mom and Dad and Becky and John. :(

We went on a hike today with our friend Scott at Muir woods. It was very pretty and we had a good time together, although Scott drives like a crazy man! We will probably do more hikes together since he is close to our favorite hiking location, Mnt. Tamalpais.

If You Think THAT'S Bad...

2008-12-12T10:55:00.000-08:00

The good news is that this semester is almost done. I just have to turn in my design final on Monday and then I have a Speech final on Thursday, which is not a speech. I am expecting all A's from my classes. We also have a new niece named Kaidence! She is very cute, and she already has some red hair like Sarah. That's the good news.

Not so good news: Sarah's hours are going to be cut in half. Can we still survive financially you ask? Not really, no. So, if she can convince them to give her five extra hours a week, we will make it. If not, she is going to have to get a second/third job or leave the company that she loves to find full time employment.

Weeeeeeee! Happy Holidays!

New Blog Post!

2008-11-05T21:08:00.000-08:00

Lots of stuff has happened! Nothing interesting though.

We are still at our same jobs, and I am still in school.

Sarah is now working a second job at Bath & Body Works part-time through January; she might stay longer if they ask her to AND if she feels like it. She already got some cool free samples as well as non-sample products. She hasn't been scheduled any hours yet, but they told her that they were "excited" about her.

Sarah's birthday was October 2nd, and I made her gift this year. I took pictures of her favorite flowers (Gerber daisies) and framed them. She loved it so much that she cried when she saw it and took it to work the next day to show all her co-workers. She's the best!

Halloween was fun. We dressed up as CSI Miami agents, which consisted of us dressing up in nice clothes and wearing latex gloves. Sarah wore safety glasses and I had my camera around my neck for accessories. We hung out with Becky and John, ate great junk food and watched The Thing! Freakin' sweet movie!

Steve is still Steve. No barfs lately.

Great Weekends continued...

2008-09-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

Great Weekends

2008-09-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

Way too much to write in detail about our last three weekends, so I will give you a brief over-view with a bunch of pictures.

Three weekends ago, we went back to the Empire State Mine because they were holding a "Miner's Picnic"; it wasn't really exciting, but we did get to go into the old houses for free that we didn't get to see last time.

Two weekends ago, we took a long drive to Tomales Bay. The directions we had ended up being wrong, so we got lost and eventually, with Sharon's help, we found our way to our destination. However, we ended up driving almost two hours more than needed. Then, when we got there it was closed, which sucked; we ended up eating in a administrative parking lot for Point Reyes because they were so busy. So, we decided to go Point Reyes instead and got to walk around a re-creation of an indian village, which was fun.

The day after that we went on a long drive with Sarah's parents through Cameron Park and all the way down to Angels Camp. We walked around Amador City, Sutter Creek, and Murphys; it was a good day for just relaxing and spending time with family.

Last weekend we went to Monterey Bay on a whim. We only intended to spend the day at the beach and have lunch, but Sarah's mom offered to pay for a night in a hotel if we wanted. So, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency, which was very nice, and the next day we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which we love. We need to live near the ocean some day--we never want to leave when we visit the coast.

So that has been our life in a nutshell.

School, Movies, and Me

2008-08-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

Well, school starts today. I have an art, an English, and a speech class; no school on Fridays, though. I am happy that my art class teacher is the same as my summer class, so I know that class will be fun.

I turned 27 on the 10th! I got a lot of good stuff; I got a few movies, books, a gift card and money for school. Sarah got me a gift certificate to Shutterfly so that I could print out some of my pictures. I ate tons of food, including pounds of bean dip that Becky made. Sarah made Boston Cream Pie, which is my favorite cake, and it was delicious.

So, Sarah and I have been watching more older, "classic" movies--some have been pretty good, and others not so much. So these are the movies we have seen since the last blog post:

1) Vertigo- Worth seeing, but it is about 30 mins too long. You could literally cut out the last 30 mins.
2) Little Big Man- If its on TV, it's worth watching. Dustin Hoffman is pretty funny in this movie.
3) The Lady Vanishes- Another Hitchcock movie, fun to watch once.

4) Chinatown- Awesome movie! Jack Nicholson is great, and the story is too; I might buy his.

We also opened up a safe deposit box yesterday; I highly recommend that anyone who doesn't have a safe at home should get one. We put our marriage certificate, S.S. cards, birth certificates, insurance papers, and some misc. jewelry inside. Now we don't have to worry about someone stealing this stuff or losing it to a fire.

Not much else is going on with us. Sarah is still at Northwest Exteriors, because she loves what how good they treat her there and her co-workers. I am still at Cup-A-Joe and am very happy that it is flexible for my school schedule.

Birthdays, Movies and Ice Cream

2008-08-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

So, Grandma Campbell turned 93 two weeks ago, and she still looks the same as when I was younger. She told us a joke, as she usually does, and we just had food and talked. Not much to say about it, other than we are lucky to have a Grandma like her and thankful that she is still around.

Last weekend, Becky, John, Sarah, and I went to the Sacramento Zoo Ice Cream Safari! If you don't know what it is, you walk around the zoo to different "stations" that have free ice-cream; tons of flavors and tons of stations. It isn't as cool as when I was a kid, because they don't do fun names with the ice cream, such as "funky chunky monkey." I am proud to say that I ate more than anyone else. It was a lot of fun, and the snow leopards were very cute.

Sarah and I have been renting "classic" movies that we have never seen. We are going to try and see all of the TOP movies; so far we rented Citizen Kane and North By Northwest. Citizen Kane sucked. The story is boring, music is lame, and you don't care about the characters. The only reason to watch it today is so you can say that you have. North By Northwest, however, was a good movie. For those who don't know, this is the movie that has Cary Grant running away from the biplane that's trying to kill him. This movie actually keeps you interested in what's going on, and the music sounds like John Williams'; this one is worth watching.

Only 23 days until I start school again. Weeeeeeeee!

It's 'bout time!

2008-07-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

So, since our last post Sarah officially graduated from UC Davis! It was really cool seeing her walk, although we did have to wait about an two hours before they called it. Sarah's grandpa from LA came up--it was awesome that he and his wife took time out to do that. Sarah does not have any immediate plans to leave her current job, since they treat her so well and she really likes the people there.

I also started school again at ARC! This is actually my last week of this summer class; I am taking Beginning Composition, which is a pre-requisite for a bunch of art classes. Just as a reminder, I am going for my AA in Art New Media, which focuses on digital photography, video editing, graphic design, animation, and other art-related stuff that's digital.

We had a great 4th of July up at the Yuba River with Sarah's side of the family this year--they even had a parade! The video is on YouTube for all to see.

Most of the smoke is clear here now, for those of you that don't live in NorCal. It was so bad that we could only see about a quarter of a mile ahead of us on the road, and everywhere we went smelled like BBQ, but not the good kind; it was like that for weeks.

Sarah and I went to Bodega Bay on Sunday; we wanted to "get away" for a little bit, see the ocean, have a picnic, and smell fresh air.

Not much else is new, other than us missing family that is not close to us (and Jason, since we see him as much as we see family from SoCal).

Hey, Hey!

2008-05-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

So, here's what has been going on lately.

Patrick and Mary came down to visit us last weekend, and we had a very good time with them. We are thinking of going up to see them in Oregon around August to see their beautiful, and cheap, state. We went to the county fair, which was pretty ghetto compared to the state fair; then again, all "fairs" are ghetto in the first place. As you can see, I got some GREAT pictures of Patrick! :)

Sarah is going to be "walking" for her graduation in two weeks (the 14th), and I am starting school in ONE WEEK! I am only taking one art class, and it starts at 8:30am and goes until 1:10pm.

Today, we went to a farm with Joe and Marla Watkins to pick fruit just for fun, and fruit.

This next Wednesday will be our last week with our small group as well. Since I get home from work around 6:40 pm AND will be starting school, Sarah and I decided that we needed more time for each other. We are sad to leave our group, but we will still see all our friends at church each week. I am still volunteering with high school on Thursdays, and Sarah has a womens bible study that she attends the same night.

Happy Birthday David!

2008-05-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Forty Years!

Our Weekend in Videos...

2008-04-26T12:30:00.000-07:00

Some video of David's ordination and one from the Arboretum, where they were filming "Fired Up"

Three Years!

2008-04-06T18:50:00.000-07:00

I am officially working at Cup-A-Joe's now, and it's been pretty cool. I like making coffee drinks again, and the people I work with are very friendly. I am also really enjoying only working part-time; I haven't worked these hours since high school.

April 2nd was our three year anniversary; Sarah made us filet mignon and butternut squash ravioli, and we enjoyed a little wine with the meal as well. We went to Empire Mine State Park on Sunday, since we didn't go anywhere on our anniversary. It was very cool seeing the old buildings and the mines that they worked in.

Sarah is no longer looking for a new job; she decided to stay at Northwest Exteriors, since she enjoys what she does and really likes the people, and it doesn't hurt that they give lots of verbal affirmation!

We also bought ourselves a Oster Blender and started making smoothies for breakfast this week.

Good Times, Bad Times; You Know I've Had My Share!

2008-03-24T21:08:00.001-07:00

So, the last month has been full of traveling and moments of joy and sadness.

1) We went to a family reunion for Sarah's Dad's side and had a great time. It was nice to see some people we hadn't ever seen before and others that we hadn't seen in a long time. We stayed with Sarah's Grandpa in Upland (L.A.) and the reunion was in Corona. It was great.

2) Sarah has officially finished college at UC Davis and she did great in all her classes! I could not be more proud of all the hard work she did and the many late nights of studying. She is now looking for a new job that she can do full time and get paid a little more. She loves the job she is at now, but they don't currently have enough work for her to do full-time.

3) Becky and John finally gave birth to little Roshni! She is a cutie and we are so happy for the two of them; we thank God for blessing them with a healthy, beautiful baby girl.

4) Sarah and I also hung out with Becky and John one last time before they had Roshni. We have had so many good times with them for years and we know that they are going to be great parents. We are sad that we won't be able to hang out with them the same way we used to, but we look forward to adding this new member to our regular group of four!

5) I am also looking for a new job. Mr Handyman is slow right now, and I need to find a part-time job for when I go back to school in June. I am going to be going for my AA in Art New Media; it focuses on graphic design, digital photography, film editing, and more; it's going to be a lot of fun for me.

That's what's going on with us; to all those who are far away, we love and miss you!

Too Much for One Blog

2008-02-17T12:28:00.000-08:00

So much has happened in the past month that we have decided to list the events in chronological order, rather than in order of importance.

1. We cut up all of our credit cards and started Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Plan. We're staying to a strict budget, and any "extra" money coming in is going straight toward paying off our debt. We will not be taking on any debt again, excepting a mortgage payment when we have everything else paid off and a six-month emergency fund.

2. David and Joanna visited with Declan, and they stayed with us. We're pretty sure Steve was louder than Declan at night. It was very educational having such a young baby in the house. There were some unique techniques for quieting him (one having to do with the chilly night air), and there way more diapers than we expected. We see now that it's not all "fun and games" when you have a baby, but then again, the quiet moments seem pretty awesome.

3. Sarah organized and made the food and decorations for Becky and John's baby shower (with Joanna's help). It was a ton of work, and she doesn't regret doing it, but it made her realize that she's not cut out to be in charge of events. Support positions are much less stressful.

4. We went on a disappointing hike at Point Reyes National Seashore. We climbed a very steep 2-mile trail to Mount Wittenberg, the highest point in the park, and the view from the top was very anti-climactic. Definitely not worth the work.

5. Sharon had baby Reece! From David's pictures, it looks like she's going to have an adorable nose. We won't be seeing her in person until David's ordination in April.

6. We sold Sean's truck. We were tired of having a car payment on something he just drives to work and back, so we sold it for cash yesterday. We're going to buy Becky and John's Cavalier for a bargain price.

In other news, Sarah only has one month and one week left before she's done with school. Her graduation ceremony will be on June 14th at 9am.

The only other exciting things on the horizon are Sean's second teaching gig at the church, the arrival of niece (we think) #2 on or around March 17th, and our third anniversary on April 2nd. If anything interesting happens in the meantime, we'll be sure to let you know....

What to say, what to say...

2008-01-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas was great. Sarah and I got some cool stuff: clothes, books, DVDs, and a tripod. Sarah and I bought our own gifts for ourselves; we bought the Planet Earth DVDs, a box for Sarah's wedding dress, an All-Clad fry pan, and some new lenses for our camera. Sarah loves her new pan, and I love my new camera gear. The most unexpected gift I received was from my brother Patrick--he bought me a toy truck, and it wasn't just ANY truck: it was the exact kind of truck that he had destroyed when I was in elementary school. He found it online and bought it for me; I have to say that it was probably the coolest thing ever. I told Sarah later that, "If I had been more tired or possibly sick when Patrick gave me the truck, I probably would have teared up a bit."

For New Year's Eve, we went to our friends' house from church and stayed there until 3:15 am, then we went home and watched TV for about another hour. We had a great time there--I played "Guitar Hero" for the first time and did pretty well.

Sarah has officially started her LAST QUARTER at UC Davis, and she will be finished in March. She is taking four classes: "The Earth," "Non-Verbal Communication," "Individual Differences," and "Health Psychology." Her graduation ceremony will be June 14th.

We can't wait for David, Joanna, and Declan to come up in a couple of weeks; it will be the first time we get to see Declan in REAL LIFE!

John Denver Christmas!

2007-12-15T12:44:00.000-08:00

Christmas Is Almost Here

2007-12-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

Well, we love our new computer a lot; it has lots of cool features and software. This is going to be our Christmas present for each other this year, obviously.

Not much has changed for us. This is Sarah's last month at Northwest Exteriors, and as of right now we do not have another job lined up, but we anticipated this. She is looking for a part-time job, but it can't conflict with her school schedule, which is during the middle of the day, so we haven't really found any.

I have officially started my time on high school staff at Bridgeway this last Thursday. The staff seem really nice, and the kids are pretty cool too. It's a big change from Arcade Church, where I had about sixty or more junior highers; Bridgeway has about 20-30 junior high and high school combined.

We have lots scheduled this month. We have Sarah's work Christmas party on the 15th and her cousin's graduation on the 14th. We were planning on going to David and Joanna's on the 15th to see Declan, but we forgot about her Christmas party (which we want to go to, since she's leaving the company) and her cousin's graduation, both of which we RSVP'd to a while ago, so we'll have to wait.

Just a reminder: Sarah and I are spending Christmas Eve with the Kenney family and Christmas day with the Alwins.

Bye Bye Pointy Face

2007-12-02T20:16:00.000-08:00

Most of you don't know who Pointy Face was: he was otherwise named Spunky, and he was my cat. I grew up with him, and he lived with my parents until he died on Tuesday. I didn't find out until Friday, because he had been run over and a nice lady came to tell my parents after they put up some fliers looking for him.

I've been having a very difficult time with this; Spunky was in my life longer than my Grammy, who died when I was 12 and whom I still miss dearly. So, I'm going to use this post to memorialize him.

Here are some things you should know about Spunky:
1. He was a mean cat. He was nicknamed "Pointy Face" because he made an awful face right
before he bit you.
2. He was only really nice to me and my dad, and that was only when he felt like it.
3. He once terrorized my cousin simply by sitting on the back of the couch and staring at
her--he was that scary.

Here's why I'll miss him so much:
1. It was really funny when he got into a bad mood. He made awful noises, and he liked to act
as if he wasn't mad at you any more, then bite your hand like it was a fat, juicy steak. It went
something like this: "Oh, I love you so much, let me just rub my head against your
hand...CRUNCH GNAW SCRATCH."
2. He always slept with me, usually at the top of the pillow on my hair.
3. He liked to give "head butts". When I picked him up, he would smoosh his face against my
forehead, and when he got older, he drooled when he did it.
4. Without fail, he would arrive at the front door precisely when I was pulling up into the
driveway for a visit. He would say "meow," then precede me through the door.

Anyway, I'm going to miss him an awful lot, and it's going to be weird going to my parents' house and not see him coming around the corner into the living room. It's always hard losing a pet, but Spunky was a very special cat that will leave a big hole in my life.

-Sarah

P.S. I don't have any pictures of Spunky, because he just wasn't the type of cat you take pictures of. His spiteful nature just didn't show up on camera very well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, Sarah and I went on a hike to Point Reyes, and it was beautiful. The hike was about eight miles long, and we hiked right out to the ocean. Along the way we saw some wild hares as well as the "elusive" mountain beaver; it was very cute.

Last Thursday, we went to see a lecture on the UC Davis campus put on by the Veritas Forum; the lecture was given by author and astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez on "The Privileged Planet". The presentation was pretty technical and had LOTS of information; he basically showed all the of the "coincidences" of Earth's placement in the universe, solar system, and axis, how everything is perfect for intelligent life, and how astronomers have not found a single planet in the universe that has our same properties. One of the school's religious studies professors was quoted as saying that a lecture of this kind was "unscientific". We walked out of the lecture saying to ourselves," that was probably the MOST scientific lecture we have ever heard." We loved it and hope to see more lectures from the Veritas Forum.

THANKSGIVING IS HERE! We are spending the day with the Kenney family this year. It will just be a few of us this year; Mom, Dad, Jason, Grandma Campbell and us. We are having Thanksgiving 2 tomorrow with some friends from church, so that should be fun too.
Oh, and this post was brought to you by our brand-new iMac. :)

New Stuff, New Stuff

2007-10-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

Not much is new with us. Sarah is NOT pregnant! We have the same jobs! We don't own a house!

Sarah is stressed out from school. She is currently take a longevity class, word roots class, news policies, practices & effects class, and an advanced writing class. On top of that, she is still working part-time AND continues to make delicious dinners. :)

We rented "1408" & "The Host" the other night. "1408" is a pretty good scary movie; good suspense, plot and acting on John Cusack's part--and no gory scenes. "The Host" sucked. Don't bother watching it. You see the creature in the first five minutes, out of the water, in the daylight, running after people on the streets. It just sucked.

We are not dressing up for Halloween; we are spending it with our church small group this year and will most likely just eat food and play games.

Sarah is 25 Years Old!

2007-10-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

So, Tuesday was Sarah's birthday; we had friends over for dessert on Friday to celebrate, and Sarah made a bunch of very delicious foods! She made chocolate chip cookies, cheese cake squares, brownies, cupcakes with white frosting, fruit with some kinda sweet dip and a cinnamon layer cake with pudding in the middle. Then we went for a hike on Saturday; it was pretty, but not as much as the first time we did this hike.
Then we celebrated her birthday again on Sunday with family; we had great BBQ plus MORE DESSERTS. On her actual birthday I made Sarah a slide-show of pictures of us (mostly her) with some videos of our trips and other events we have done together so far; she cried big time! :)
Also, Sarah made her first loaf of bread last week from scratch and it turned out great! She was so happy with it that she took a picture of the bread.

Addition (by Sarah): Mom Kenney made an awesome pumpkin chocolate cake for my birthday on Sunday; it was very moist, flavorful, and chocolatey. The cake that I made on Friday was a Blitz Torte, the recipe for which I got from Joanna when she made the cake for Sean's birthday a couple years ago. And the bread recipe I got from my New Best Recipe cookbook from the editors of Cooks Illustrated magazine. So far, all the recipes I have made have really been the best I've found.

California's Hardest Sprint Triathlon!

2007-09-17T17:44:00.000-07:00

Well, the day finally came and went, and it was great. Thanks to everyone for the support; it was great having family there, especially my awesome wife!

The swim was very difficult; I would lift my head up from the water and the buoy would seem just as far away as the last time. After the swim, I had to run up the beach approx 3/4 of a mile to the bike transition area. The bike trail was full of hills, and some of the parts were very difficult to get over. At one point my bike chain fell off; fortunately, it only took me about a minute to out it back on. I did see a couple people that got flat tires.

After the bike portion was over, I started the hike/run. The "run" was on a trail in the park area and was incredibly difficult; I couldn't have run this trail even if I hadn't swam or done the bike portion. People came back from the "run" portion with bloody knees because there were lots of steep slopes to run down and up.

Here are the stats:
Swim-3/4 of a mile: (36 minutes) 258 Cal. Burned
Bike-13 miles: (54 minutes) 534 Cal. Burned
Run-5 miles: (1 hr 7 min) 551 Cal. Burned
Total time w/ transitions: 2 hrs 47 min 56 sec 1343 Cal Burned

Lots of Info...

2007-08-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Sarah and I went on two camping trips these past few weeks. First we went to Butano State Park with David, Joanna, Becky, and John. The campsite was awesome; lots of big redwood trees, lots of shade, campsites were not too close to each other and it was pretty quiet for the most part. We had a great time staying up late by the campfire and talking with everyone and spending a little bit of time at the beach.
Then we went to the Jackson Reservoir the following weekend with our small group from church. The campsite wasn't quite as nice as Butano, BUT we did enjoy our time with friends.
Friday was my birthday! I am 26 years old now, and with six older siblings, it always makes my family feel much older when I have a birthday; sorry. :(
I got some cool DVDs, a hatchet and mallet (from Becky and John of course), lenses for my digital camera, a book on digital photography, new sports goggles for swimming and a toy squirt gun from my Dad. :) All in all, I had a great birthday this year, and I feel very blessed by having great friends and family.
ALSO, Sarah got straight A's for her first quarter!

Good news and MORE GOOD NEWS!

2007-07-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

We did the July 4th run again this year, and this time Sarah ran with me. The plan was that we would run one mile, walk one mile, run the next and so forth; this would mean that we would run three miles and walk two. However, we started going, and after the first mile Sarah was feeling good, so we kept going and ran two. After the second mile we stopped and walked at a quick pace for the third mile; we felt good, so we ran the fourth. At this point I thought that Sarah was doing great, so I said, "You're doing great. We are not stopping until the end." So that's what we did; we ran 4 of 5 miles in one hour and one minute. This is the longest Sarah had ever ran IN HER LIFE! She has been working hard for this race, and achieved some milestones along the way; she had never ran two miles in a row before, so she accomplished that, then ran three miles and now she did FOUR! I was, and am still, very proud of her and all the work she has done to get to this point. That's the first bit of good news.
So, as you know, Sarah has started school and has also gone to part-time at work, which means our expenses went up and our income went down. We had to put her first school bills like enrollment, parking and books on credit, since we didn't want to wipe out our savings and more. The expenses came to about $2,400, and they were all due at once. Well, yesterday Sarah's boss called all the employees into a meeting and started talking about how profits were down about 20% and, come tax time, if they didn't get rid of some money they would pay a lot more in taxes. So, they decided to give the employees a $5,000 bonus. They actually gave Sarah the check right there; after taxes it came to about $2,900, which will more than pay for her school expenses for this quarter (we were not sure how we were going to pay for all this, except that we kept praying that God would provide a way as he always has). This was so amazing, it nearly made us both cry when we got this. All we can say it that God is good and He does provide.

Good News and Bad News...

2007-06-23T17:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we updated our blog, and several things have come and gone since our last post.
David graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary with his master's, and we are very proud of him. It was great seeing him and the rest of my family down South; we miss them a lot.
Sarah starts school THIS Monday, June 25th! If all goes well, in 9 months she will be finished and will move on to her passion for copy-editing. That's the good news.
The bad news is that we had to say goodbye to our friends, Cameron and Erin Cox. We helped them pack up for Texas on Thursday night and had a farewell breakfast this morning with them. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to them; even though they are leaving, they MIGHT come back in a few years. The thought of them returning someday makes me less sad to see them go. Either way, they will still be in our prayers and we wish them the best as they start a new journey in the Lone Star state.

The Skinny

2007-05-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, so lots to talk about since the last post. I have been working at Mr. Handyman for about a month now and I really enjoy it. I work in the "office" (which is in our friends' house) and I basically get to do all the things that the owners, Joe and Marla, don't have time to do--like schedule jobs , answer phones, type and mail letters and an assortment of other things. In a nutshell, I really like working there; I feel like I am part of the team rather than just an employee, and I don't think I could ask for better employers.
Sarah and I started riding my bike to work! I ride Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sarah does Tuesdays and Thursdays. Despite that she rides a day less than me, she has farther to go , so it works out. It's 35-40 minutes each way for me, and it's about an hour for Sarah each way. We have only done it for a week but we can tell that we have more energy than before, and it makes us feel good about ourselves.
Sarah starts at UC Davis JUNE 25th! She will be working part-time starting the week before and will eventually go to school full-time in September. She only has about 1 year to go, so we are anxious for her to finish and begin her career in copyediting.
We went hiking yesterday with our bible study group and had lots of fun with them. The trail was 9 miles round trip with lots of sun; not the best hiking conditions, but it was great to spend the time with our friends.
More BIG news...Sarah ran for two miles on Saturday! It's a big accomplishment because it's something that she has never done before and she did it without too much difficulty; I am very proud of her for working so hard to reach her goals.

Your powers combined...I am CAPTAIN PLANET!

2007-04-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to planet Earth. We wanted to share some of the changes that Sarah and I made that will help the environment and save us money. These are easy things that anyone can do that do not require large lifestyle changes--very small if anything. So here we go!

1) Buy cloth napkins! Using cloth napkins instead of paper napkins/paper towels decreases trash, saves trees and saves money. If you use paper towels for spills and stuff, get cheap dish rags; you can get them anywhere for very little. Ikea has 4 cloth napkins for $1.99.

2) Use compact florescent bulbs! Yes, they cost a little more up front (we found them at the 99 Cent Store), BUT they use about 75% less energy, which means less pollution used to generate that energy. They also last 8-10 times longer; every hard-to-reach bulb should be compact for this reason alone. They come in all sizes so you don't have to worry about them fitting in any fixture.

3) Starbucks drinkers should bring their own travel mugs! Millions of these cups are going in the trash everyday (they can't be recycled since they are soiled). Starbucks gives you a few cents discount when you do, AND they will do it for both hot and cold drinks.

4) Recycle! It's a no-brainer. If you don't have a recycle bin from Waste Management, like us, buy a couple of plastic baskets (dollar store) and find where you can drop off your recycled trash at www.bottlesandcans.com.

5) Paper or Plastic? Neither! Bring your own bags--canvas bags or woven plastic (looks like canvas). The USA throws away 1 trillion plastic bags per year, 1 billion of which ends up in the rivers and ocean, killing marine life. Sea turtles eat the plastic bags because they look like jelly fish, their main source of food, and die because of it. Plastic bags take more than 100 years to decompose; surprisingly paper bags take about the same time due to the conditions at landfills. 14 million trees get cut down to produce the 1 billions paper bags we use each year.
Bring your own bags! www.reuseablebags.com

6) Change your thermostat! We have all heard this one, but it really makes a huge difference. Two degrees can make almost a 10% difference in our C02 emissions. 78 degrees in the summer and 68 in the winter.

7) Turn off the water. Turn off your water when you brush your teeth and minimize the water you use when you wash your hands; it saves about 5 gallons a day per person, so that's 180 million gallons per day for California alone.

There are tons of things we can all do, but these are all easy ones that can make a big difference.

Two Years!

2007-04-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

We are back from our two year anniversary trip, and we had a great time. We left Sacramento Friday morning and arrived at Eureka around 3:30. We stayed with my cousin Nate and his girlfriend Shelly; she has a mini horse! We went hiking with them a couple times; Fern Canyon was awesome and we saw lots of elk.
We left Eureka on Sunday morning and arrived at the Inn At School House Creek in Mendocino in just a few hours. Mendocino is a beautiful, ocean side Victorian town filled with shops, Inns and great places to eat. Unfortunately, we had to come home on Tuesday, but it was good to see Steve again; we missed him a lot.

What's New

2007-03-15T18:16:00.000-07:00

Not much is new with us. Sarah started volunteer-editing for an online company so that she could get some experience, and so far it is going well. We are doing more "secret shopping"; it doesn't pay a lot, but it's money and we get free stuff, so it's cool.
Our friend Joe bought a Mr. Handyman franchise recently and asked if I would be interested in working for him; not as a contractor of course, since I have no skills. It would be a great position and the best part would be that I would get to work with people I already know and have the same values that I have.
We rented "School for Scoundrels" the other day; it was actually funnier than we thought it would be, and it's worth a rental.
We are excited about our anniversary trip to Mendocino that's coming up. We will be leaving on the 30th of this month and will spend some time in Eureka with my cousin, then we will go back down to Mendocino. Sarah planned the whole trip many months ago, so she is now dying to be there.
Church is still awesome. Bridgeway is growing so much that they have added a fourth service to accommodate all of the people. We are also making more friends as time goes on; normally we shy away from hanging out with new people, but it has worked out well and we have lots of fun with our church friends.
Also, we went bowling with Sarah's side of the family last week. I haven't bowled in about eight years or so (since junior year of high school), and I scored 150 on my second game. I got five strikes that game too; I was pretty excited. Sarah did well too, unfortunately her score didn't reflect that. :)
Steve still doesn't let us sleep much.

We're back!

2007-02-07T17:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry it took so long to get a new post on here. Christmas was a very busy time, then our computer crashed and it was down for a while, then Blogger seemed to have lost our Blog but then we got it back! Either way... here it is.
Sarah got her much-deserved raise from Northwest, and they hired a new secretary to answer the phones, so that Sarah doesn't have to. She is also planning the Valentine's Day dinner at our church; she was told to expect about 60 people, but it is now around 160. Needless to say she has done a lot of work for the church lately. It feels like planning a mini-wedding every couple of months.
Good news! Sarah is going back to UC Davis! The counselor said that she could enroll by next quarter, which would mean that she could graduate with a BA next year. It's good news, but it comes with new stresses like money and time, and the lack of the two.
As for me, I am still looking for a job, but I am sure that God will provide in his own time.
We went to the snow last weekend with Becky and John instead of watching the Super Bowl. Our innertube popped, but we had fun sliding down the hill on our butts!
Lets see... what else is new? Patrick and Mary moved off the planet, or to Oregon: one or the other. Steve is still healthy and makes sure that we only get the minimum amount of sleep that we need each night in order to live. I have talked to the High School pastor at Bridgeway about being on staff, but we have not talked about the details yet. I am also trying to take more pictures, because I like to. :)

CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE!!!!!

2006-12-12T18:09:00.000-08:00

I am happy to say that Sarah and I finished about 90% of our shopping before Thanksgiving this year; it helps when you buy the majority of your items online.
Sarah got a great Christmas bonus this year, and I......am still working at Sierra Select! We got our first Christmas tree on Saturday and we think it's beautiful! The tree has not been drinking much water at all, even though we put it in plenty of water about a half hour after we got it, so Sarah thinks it will probably die soon. :( We also cleaned out our guest room for David and Joanna for when they come up for Christmas!
We are going to have a great time with our small group from church this Wednesday; we are having a Mexican food Christmas party! Nothing says "Christmas" like guacamole. Our Christmas Eve will be spent with Sarah's side of the family, and Christmas day will be spent with my side.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-19T12:59:00.000-08:00

So there isn't much that's new with us, which is probably why we don't update more often. John helped us build a cat tree for Steve last Saturday! He loves it; he sleeps up on the perch all day. It took most of the day to build, but it saved us some money, and it was fun.
We have the majority of our Christmas shopping done already, thanks to AMAZON! It also helps if you buy everyone the same DVD for Christmas... I hope you all liked "Glitter"!
We helped out with the two-year-olds last Sunday at church, and it was bad. Between the two of us we had 11 kids, and it was our first time. We have decided that it is not something that we want to do again; we can stick with the kids who are just learning to walk.
Sarah's cousin Justin is back from Iraq! We met him at at the airport last night and it was a very emotional time for everyone. We are all very happy that he is back safe and sound, and we are going to spend Thanksgiving with him and the rest of Sarah's family.
We were going to fix my Grandma Campbell's window today (which has been broken for about 5 years) but uncle Ted threw a fit about us fixing something on "his house" since he lives with her; so it looks like she will always have a broken window in the front of her house. Maybe he will get mad enough that he actually does fix it, that would be nice. :)

The Holidays!

2006-10-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

Work: Sarah will no longer have to answer phones at work as soon as they hire a receptionist (which should only be another week or two, hopefully). I am currently looking for a new job that will pay better and still have all the perks as my current job, but none of the drawbacks. I keep wondering what it is that God wants me to do with my "career", and I have come to the realization that He is waiting to let me know when the time is right.
Church: Sarah and I gave blood last week at church; it was my first time but not Sarah's--she got a little woozy afterwards, but I was fine.
Our pastor just finished a series on Song of Songs and it was very entertaining; we are so happy with our decision to move to Bridgeway. We also had our second Sunday with the childcare and this time we had 6 kids to watch; Sarah was very glad that she did not have to change any diapers this time. Playing with the kids and keeping them entertained for 1 hr 45 min is pretty tiring. Also, Sarah will soon be an Activities Ministry co-leader, so she will get to plan all of the major events that take place at Bridgeway; it is a big responsibility that I am confident she will be great at.
Home: We are planning on buying a house/condo when our lease is up in 10 months, so we are doing our best to save money and pay off as much debt as possible. Someone parked in our spot today, it reminds us that this place we like to call "home" really isn't ours.
Holidays: We are not dressing up for Halloween this year--we just don't have any motivation or desire. We are helping our church set up for the Harvest festival this Monday and going to Becky and John's house Tuesday for Halloween. We are spending Thanksgiving with Sarah's side of the family this year; Sarah's cousin Justin is coming home from Iraq just in time! Christmas will be spent with the Kenneys!

We Are Still Here...

2006-09-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it has been a while since we have updated our blog, and for that we are sorry. So here's what is going on with us:
I am still at Sierra Select and I finally had my review last week; it went well but my boss wants me to be more personal on the phone with our customers. I have not been told what my raise will be, but I don't think it will be much since the company is not doing so well.
Sarah is still at Northwest and taking on more and more responsibilities. Sarah does a great job at her work and her employers love having her there.
We got new curtains from Ikea for our bedroom; they are the first set of real curtains for both of us, and Steve loves to play with them. Our trip to Ikea has inspired us to use the space we have more efficiently. We have started to go through all of our things and are deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. We are also moving some things around to make more space.
Sept. 22nd was our 3 year first date anniversary, so we went to Mikuni's for dinner and then had some dessert and watched a movie.
We have also started to volunteer with the kids' department at our church, but have not yet had to work.

I am 25 years old!

2006-08-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

I didn't really do anything on my actual birthday. We are having a Superman-themed party today at Becky and John's house with burritos! Sarah got me "The Office" season 1 on DVD and a Superman action figure!
Sarah is on salary now, so that should help bring in a little more money. She had her annual review and it went very well; they said that they will have another review in a couple of months and she should get a raise then. I have been at my job for a year and four months and I am still waiting for my annual review.
Sarah and I are still jogging, hiking, and doing other exercises to lose weight, and we are doing well. We went hiking last weekend and found a great swimming spot. The trail was a little difficult in some spots, but the scenery and trail was great.
Steve has some weight to lose too, but he doesn't do anything but sleep and keep us awake when we are trying to sleep.

Camping At The Yuba Pictures!

2006-08-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

San Francisco... dum, dum, dummmm

2006-07-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

So, Sarah and I decided to go to San Francisco this Saturday to escape the heat. Sacramento got to about 106 degrees and SF got to about 80 with a cool breeze. We went to the Ferry Building Market and saw a lot of cool stuff and had a mint shake to keep us cool. Parking was $8 when we got there; about an hour and a half later, when we returned to our car, they had increased the price to $10. Good thing we got there early.
Later, we went to the Golden Gate Park and visited the de Young museum. It was the grand opening of some exhibit and we got in for free; normally it is $10 per person. We had a turkey sandwich there for lunch and it cost $10; it was just bread, turkey, lettuce and cheese and so not worth $10.
Then we got lost trying to leave SF and ended up in the Castro district. We realized that the driving conditions for SF are set up so that if it is dangerous and could cause accidents, it's legal. If you need to turn around or go left, it's illegal. We do like some things about SF, but we realized that it is more stressful than relaxing going there. Driving conditions are always horrible--$3 to get in and $3 to get out, parking is near impossible to find, and when you do it is expensive, lots of people who are mostly smelly, and it's not visitor friendly. We remembered that the last time we went there we had more bad experiences than good, so we have decided that we will not be back for at least five years.
We also saw "Lady in The Water" with Becky and John; Sarah and I we hoping for a twist at the end like usual, but no. It was hard to enjoy the movie because there were a lot of talkers, cell phones ringing and random loud laughter.

SAKE!!

2006-07-18T20:18:00.000-07:00

We had sushi with Becky and John on Sunday night at the Sushi cafe--lame name, but very good sushi. I tried sake for the first time with John; I don't know what the big deal is; it tastes just like a regular white wine. (FYI: sake is rice wine.)
It is so hot in Sacramento! It got up to 108 degrees and it is not getting any cooler. Sarah and I usually run in the evenings, so this morning we woke up at 5:15am to go jogging. It is much cooler at that time, but it is not easy getting up that early.
Our jobs haven't changed any, but we keep getting promises that they will. I have been taking on lots more responsibilities and was told I wouldn't have to answer phones anymore and would get a pay raise. I am still waiting on the last two. Sarah might not have to answer phones anymore either when her job moves buildings, but that might be a few months from now.

4th of July Pics

2006-07-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

No Picture of Steve this time....

Superman Returns! And Independence Day..

2006-07-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

So, Sarah and I saw "Superman Returns" a couple of days before it came out (last Monday) and it was good. I didn't think it was the best superhero movie ever, but it was good. If you haven't seen it yet, you need to go into it knowing that it is a love story with superhero action; not super-crazy-action like X-Men or Batman. I think if you go into it with that mind-frame you should enjoy it more.
The special effects were great and they incorporated the old movies into this film very well. Music was good too, but I thought there could have been a bit more.
We went camping with Sarah's family at the Yuba this weekend and I got a little red on my back; no bad burns though. I also lost one sandal, so now I need a new pair. I hate losing stuff. The water was FREEZING; it made our skin all tingly and numb, but it is better than being in 100 degree weather.
Tomorrow is my 5 mile Fourth of July run, so I hope I can do it with little to no problems.

Ok, Here's the 411

2006-06-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

I have been training for a 5-mile run on the 4th of July. I am jogging 4 miles now with little difficulty, so I don't think that the 5 miles will be too hard. Sarah has been jogging with me but she has been getting some pretty bad shin-splints, which makes it hard for her to go for too long.
I almost got fired last Tuesday; that was fun. It's kind of a long story and I have told most of you the story anyways. My boss is treating me like nothing happened, but I am finding it hard to feel the same way since he said,"You were this close to being fired on the spot." I have decided that if I do get fired that I am going to find a job at a church or maybe William Jessup University (Christian college). I don't want to keep getting "jobs", I would rather start doing what I know God wants me to do.
Sarah is making a strawberry cheesecake for our bible study tomorrow and it smells great.
I got a new TV stand the other day too! It matches our TV perfectly and it only cost me $18.32. It retails for almost $200 but I got a great deal through work.
I can't think of much else. Our daily lives don't change much.

Memorial Day Weekend!

2006-05-27T15:28:00.000-07:00

Sarah and I were going to go hiking today (Saturday) but when we reached our destination it was hailing! That might not have stopped us from hiking, but we were only wearing shorts and t-shirts, and it was very cold. So instead we bought ourselves some new running/walking shoes.
We are going crab-fishing in Bodega Bay with our bible study group on Sunday; it should be a lot of fun.
"X-MEN 3" was AWESOME! Sarah and I loved it! It is non-stop action from start to finish. My only wish would have been that they have Colossus do more stuff; since he is one of my favorites, I wanted him to do more cool stuff.
We went to the State Fair yesterday with John and looked at all the animals; we mostly saw poop.

Let the games begin!

2006-05-07T16:54:00.000-07:00

Sarah and I went hiking on Saturday and I saw some sunglasses on the ground. I picked them up and said, "Hey, these are guys' sunglasses and they don't look too bad." They are in perfect shape and they look cool. I looked at the brand and they are Arnette! For those of you that have not heard of that brand, they are popular and expensive. I looked this pair up online and they go for $69.99.
The trail was awesome, as usual, and the waterfall at the end was very beautiful. We even got in a bit at the bottom of the falls; the water was very cold!
We got an unexpected check in the mail from Sarah's step-grandmother so we decided that we should go out to eat. We were going to eat at BJ's that night but the wait was 60-65 minutes and we were pretty hungry, so we went to Mimi's and we were able to sit right down.
David's birthday is coming up! He is turning.........FIND OUT NEXT TME!

Look! Up in the sky...

2006-04-30T19:57:00.001-07:00

Sarah and I are still here, alive and well. I like updating this blog, but we don't really do much.
We went on a walk today in Old Folsom and realized that walking weather is officially over! We were sweating...a lot. In order to cool off, we got two vanilla soft-serve cones from McDonald's, which is the only thing I will eat there. We don't even care that, according to John, it has dirt in it.
Tonight we are eating TONKATSU!

Tonkatsu Recipe:
(Serves 2 hungry people, or 4 regular people) This is not a low-fat recipe!

4 small pork cutlets (or chicken cutlets), pounded to 1/4 in. thickness
1/2 cup flour
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbs. water
1 cup panko crumbs (Japanese bread crumbs)
(flour & panko crumb amounts are approximate--you just need enough to coat all 4 pieces)
Tonkatsu Sauce (found in Asian food section of store--I don't make my own)

1. Begin heating 1 in. of oil in large skillet to med. heat (about 350 degrees). I usually serve this with white rice, so I would begin the rice now too.
2. Dredge the cutlets first in the flour, then the egg mixture, and finally in the panko crumbs. Allow them to sit for a few minutes while the oil heats.
3. Fry 2 cutlets at a time in the pan, about 3 minutes on each side; they will be golden brown and crispy. Allow oil to come back up to temperature before finishing with other 2 cutlets; drain each set of 2 cutlets on paper towels.
4. Serve with rice and Tonkatsu sauce. Hope you like it as much as we do!

This week...

2006-04-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

So, not much happened with us this week. It's kinda just the same week as the one before. Sarah's brother was in a car accident but he is ok.
I found our "missing" photos on the computer, and that made us both very happy. We thought we had lost all of our pictures when our computer crashed; turns out they were on our "other" hard drive.
Mom's birthday is tomorrow, she turns... another year older!

HAPPY EASTER!

2006-04-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

This Easter we are going to go to church on Saturday in order to miss the crowd. We are loving our new church, Bridgeway Christian, and Pastor Lance is awesome!
On Easter Sunday, we will have brunch with Sarah's family on the Delta King, then we will have dinner at the old Kenney house.
Steve is still fat and happy, and he loves to sleep with us. He was pretty good last night; he slept at my side most of the night without moving.
We watched "Flight Plan" last night and it wasn't that bad. A little slow in the beginning, but there were moments of good suspense.

Love you all!

One Year Anniversary!

2006-04-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome time in Monterey (thanks to David and Joanna for the "freakin awesome hotel"). It was Sarah's first visit to the area, so we spent a lot of time at the aquarium. Watching the sea otters play was fun, and seeing the big bluefin tuna get fed a half ton of food was cool too. We explored the tide pools at the nearby beaches by ourselves, and got to see a lot of sea life we wouldn't have noticed if we weren't paying close attention (tiny crabs, big green anemones, hermit crabs, sea snails). It was very relaxing, and we had a great time celebrating our first anniversary.

THE DAY IS HERE!

2006-04-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

Are you happy now? Sarah and I have a blog. What the heck is "Blog" anyways? Not looking for an answer though.