It Might As Well Be Spring

Last weekend, I was able to celebrate Kelly's birthday with Kelly and Alex and Kelly's sister Gillian and her boyfriend. We went to church followed by brunch at Medium Rare followed by homemade poptarts from Ted's Bulletin. It's been so long since I had a lazy Sunday brunching in the city, so I was thankful for that, for the company I was with (felt like we were going to church as a family), and for whoever came up with the idea of a peanut butter bacon poptart (heaven). 

This weekend: I'm going to visit Mike in Rhode Island! We messed up because he really should be visiting me since he has a half day of work, but then I wouldn't get to have my first time riding on a train (amtrak, not metro). It's an overnight train, so I'm crossing my fingers I'll be able to sleep!

I don't know what we're doing this weekend yet, except for it's DEFINITELY going to involve seeing The Last Five Years and I'm definitely going to cry throughout the entire movie. We're also eating burgers and he's going to take me to the gym on base which I am excited about. And we might see a mansion. Besides that, I'll probably stay indoors for warmth. 

I came across this youtube video the other day (it's a song from a musical) and I thought it was really pretty/sums up kinda how I feel right now. Anyway, it's the title of this post and is below.

This is basically Rupert every day when I get home.

I sent this list to Mike the other day. It made me really appreciate where we live in a new way because some people actually go out of their way to visit where I live all the tiem!

This was on a list of things to get your guy for Valentine's Day. Mike, this is what I almost got you, but I didn't want to encourage your shark things obsession.

My virgin Bloody Mary from Medium Rare brunch this weekend. I just wanted a tomato drink! I may do this all the time now.

The Kels Cooks Alone

I've mentioned before that I have a very hard time adjusting to cooking/shopping alone when Mike is not around. For one thing, I'm not great at cooking meat or using the grill. Also: shopping at Costco has to be VERY intentional and can be overwhelming alone. I still have to go, though, because obviously I'm not going to buy anything less than a 6 month supply of paper towels...

Anyway, you guys don't need to worry about me because I've figured out some things that work for me. Although, thank you Auntie Deb for telling me in advance not to mix my brownies with the standing mixer because it may overmix them. 

*****If anyone has any awesome standing mixer or cast iron pan recipes, those are the things I want to start to utilize more!

Here is what I've been making/utilizing lately!

• Crockpot Soup: There is no rhyme or reason to this. I put a bunch of stuff in our slow cooker, press slow cook, and keep checking until it's done. My favorites lately are:
• chicken tortilla soup (I buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it to add in after)
• lentil soup (it takes about 4 hours in the slow cooker).
• Crockpot Steel cut oats: I made these in the slow cooker and made a gigantic mess...apparently because I pressurized them with the vent open? Anyway....after cleaning up the mess, they were still delicious. I think I always forget how delicious they are because they take so much work. If they didn't, I'd only eat steel cut oats. 
• Smoothies in our old new Vitamix!: We bought a refurbished vitamix and I like to make a smoothie in the morning and drink it on the way to work. Here are my favorites as of late:
• green smoothie: vanilla protein powder + frozen spinach + frozen (ripe!) bananas + flax + almond milk
• chocolate banana: chocolate protein powder (I use shakeology) + frozen bananas + cinnamon + flax + almond milk
• Crockpot Meatz: I put some kind of frozen meat in the crockpot, add a sauce (coconut curry sauce lately) and 1-2 cans of diced tomatoes, then I press a button and keep checking until it's done. This has worked once, but I may have overcooked the meat. Oh well.
• Spiralized Veggies! We got a veggie spiralizer not too long ago and my two favorite thigns ot use it for are:
• zoodles! spiralize a zucchini, cook in pan with olive oil till soft, top with sauce!
• sweet potato hash browns! I do the same thing with a sweet potato (watch because they like to burn) and top with ketchup!

And here's what I've been up to lately!

A scholarship award dinner for two of my students who got a scholarship recently!!

Sweet potato hash browns + veggie burger topped with egg!

Auntie time over the weekend!

Every time.

The View From My Window

The snow plows have been going in a circuit all night, so the road is clear. Not going outside today, though.

How 'Married' Feels

Well I'm  "officially" back at work post-wedding/honeymoon and Mike is officially back at school. MIIIKKKEE, WHY ARE YOU NEVER DONE WITH SCHOOL?!!!??

The question everyone likes to ask me now (one month into our marriage) is: "So how does it feel to be married? Different?" It's an awesome question. I think I've just been asked it a lot when I'm still just trying to figure out what day of the week it is or how old I am.....so I've mostly just said "It's awesome! I totally don't think I made a mistake!" (Although there was that one time over our honeymoon that I thought Mike was going to buy a $5,000 statue of a shark made of Alaskan marble...and I may have had a moment's pause.) ;)

Anyway, today is Monday, and I've had time to reflect. 

There isn't a lot that is different about our lives now compared to before. We haven't "arrived" into glamorous adulthood just because we got married. Mike is away and it's still winter here in DC and I still have to work full-time and I still don't know how to cook meat without him haha. We still learn new things about each other every day....does anyone know Mike used to make candles?!! :) Our place is still an accumulation of random things we've received. I think the biggest revelation to me in all of this is that EVERYTHING is built by what you choose to put in day in and day out. We started writing a story together 3 years ago and are still writing it. We've found our voices and will continue to grow. I thought the artwork below by Dallas Clayton was a perfect way to describe how I feel reflecting on the wedding. 

Dallas Clayton artwork.

Anyway, got the feels out. Here's more of what I've been up to lately!

Museum of American Art with friends!

My first trip to IKEA with some girl friends! Did you know they have a full breakfast for only $3.17?!?!

I just can't get over this picture of my nephew and his red panda stuffed animal.

I actually got back in the gym this past weekend and promptly also re-found my frozen yogurt routine:)

The struggle was real the day that Mike left. This is here to remind me how awesome brownies are and to make some with our new standing mixer soon!

Tonight: Mike and I watched Downton Abbey together over Facetime. It was glorious. He is supposed to get a ton of snow up there before tomorrow and I hope everything is okay and everyone stays warm. 

NJS, Part 1

I am safe and sound up in Rhode Island again, and things are a bit different this time. For example, I'm in a hotel room and not in a dorm. No one has told me to make a bed using mismatched hospital sheets. In fact, while I was out of my room today someone came in and made my bed FOR me. A small part of me is expecting Chief to kick down my door and say "GOTCHA! Now get out of here and go make our bed in King Hall!" Coming from the ODS experience, it's just all far too nice and I don't think any of us here feel like we deserve it.

This isn't to say that NJS isn't busy. As they explained it the first day, they will be giving us ten hours of homework per night and the true challenge of NJS is figuring out how to triage that homework and still get enough sleep.

The one remaining vestige of ODS comes on Wednesdays, when we have our "pain before breakfast" run. This run is voluntary in the sense that they said it was voluntary but no one believes them. We run out 2.5 miles into downtown Newport at 5AM at a 9-10 minute mile pace and then can come back as fast as we like. It is going to be very, very cold every Wednesday that we are here. My goal is to eventually be able to keep up with our fastest runner on the way back. I stayed with him for about a mile this first time and felt good about that.

On Thursday I commissioned Ben into the Navy. It was a privilege to be a part of such a special ceremony and I am so relieved that he is finally in. He'll be starting ODS sometime shortly after I leave Newport, but until then he'll be able to come on base because he will be getting a reserve ID.

I've been working on homework today, but Ben came over and took me to a rock climbing gym this afternoon for a break. It has been ten years since my days of head ropes course instructor at Woodberry, and I seem to have forgotten everything about climbing. It was a great workout and hopefully I will be able to progress past the beginner walls when I go back.

Everything else is going well. All of my JAG friends from ODS are here and we all still get along very well. We're doing our best to get to know the new folks from the Navy and Marines- a couple of them have already been working at my first duty station and have been giving me some excellent advice as to what I can expect.

Honeymoon is a State of Mind -Mike Post

We were supposed to be in Puerto Rico on Thursday, but that didn't really work out so well.

We showed up to the airport on time, and the airplane even pulled away from the gate, but then we went back to the gate and were told to get off the plane because a fuel gauge was malfunctioning. It was all very exciting. For a few hours we thought we might still get to take off that day, but then the flight was outright canceled and there were no other flights going out from DC.

At the airport bright and early to have our dreams crushed!

After spending a while on the phone fixing tours and hotel rooms,we decided that we were still going to be on honeymoon regardless of location. I called up 1789. We had our wedding there, and we KNEW their service was excellent and wouldn't let us down. We were right. The manager remembered us when we called, saved us a corner table next to the fireplace, and brought us free dishes to try out. 

Duck and venison- both equally good.

Carrot cake with pistachio ice cream- excellent.

The next morning we woke up and went through the airport drill again, but this time our plan actually took off!

And landed here. So much warmer.

We were very happy to be warm.

When we arrived at the hotel we were surprised to find that some good people had given us certificates to the spa for massages. I had never had a "spa" massage before, and other than not knowing what was going on I found it very enjoyable. 

Other than a trip out kayaking a bioluminescent bay (you smack the water with a paddle and it sparkle/glows. Worth doing once, certainly) we spent most of our time walking in Old San Juan or around the hotel eating and looking at animals. I say this up front so you can be keenly aware of the content of every picture that follows. 

The Animals

Peacock just hanging around our hotel.

Cats everywhere in Old San Juan. The town seemed to take care of them as a collective, and I had to keep telling Kelsey she couldn't take any home. That didn't stop her from taking pictures of them all.

All of them.

This goose started following me somewhat aggressively.

The lizards were also very nice.

The Food

Kelsey took charge of most of our meals, and found us some great places within walking distance.

Smoked pork with caramelized onions, goat cheese gnocchi, and pork belly with brown sugar glaze over mofongo. 

Pina Colada at Barranchinos, which did not disappoint in its reputation as having the best Pina Coladas around

They were very good. It's not like we were going to stop at one.

I know what you're thinking- why get pizza in Puerto Rico?

We didn't get pictures of the food here, but thought the decor was neat.

This paella was really our only meal that did not amaze us. It was just good. On the plus side, though, it did come with a flamenco guitar show.

Kelsey said she enjoyed the show and Juan Carlos said "well we've been together fifty-four years, my guitar and I" which is one of the many varied and magical phrases that can make Kelsey well up with tears and want to cry.



And just because we could we ordered room service exactly once and got ice cream.

The Walking Around

Old San Juan is a beautiful place to walk around. We logged about nine miles just criss-crossing the streets between places to eat and get pina coladas one day. At the end of the trip, we may have realized that we only ever got pina coladas. They were good.

About to go in one of the forts that protected San Juan harbor.

On a walk in a park area near our hotel.

Panoramic view from some of the walls of Old San Juan

We were very sad to leave but so grateful that we were able to spend some time together and forget, just for a few days, that it was winter. Now time to go back up to Rhode Island!

What We Are Intending for 2015

Mike: It has been a busy fortnight. ODS Graduation, Wedding, Christmas, Josh's Birthday, New Year, Kels's Birthday... poor us with too many parties, right? We're trying to get all of our necessary cards and things written before I go back to NJS, and I'm working with Street Law again as well. This Friday we go to Puerto Rico for a few days of nothing (though I did get Kels to agree to a trip to the Arecibo Space Telescope). 

We didn't do resolutions (well, I didn't, because I don't) but we're starting up some things now that we are married that we hope will yield good results. First, Kelsey let me come up with a budget for us and she is letting me teach her how to use technology to keep track of it, which she knows makes me very happy. Second, we are trying to come up with a system by which we actually cook and eat food here without spending several hours figuring out what to eat. Our friends Jake and Marylin recommended an online app that tells you exactly what to buy and what to cook on any given day, so we're giving that a shot. Day one was curried cauliflower, day two was curried chicken.

Kelsey, what are you intending?

Kels: Well hey there, Mike. I, too, am very excited about the prospect of apps that makes it easier to be an adult. Baby steps. Also, in case anyone has been racking their brain trying to figure out what my word for the year is going to be, it's DILIGENT. (Not to be confused with Divergent which is a movie that I'm not too proud to admit that I saw once.) Diligent is one of those words that's very hard to describe, but you know it's exactly what you want to be called. Earnest, steady, an energetic worker. Maybe I got the idea from Mike's "Work Hard, Stay Humble" that he brought back from ODS. Or maybe it's because I do have a horrible procrastination habit at times. In any case, that's what I'm trying to embody this year. That, and I'm also writing a list of things I never get done that I'd like to get done. I'll let you know if I complete anything:)

And now some of our pre-wedding photos!

This is the one pose we can do, according to the photographer.

This is where our photographer told us to come up with a different pose. "Titanic" was really the best we could come up with at the time.

Walking into the art museum to revisit the spot of our first date:)

#sophisticated

#festive

Kels: I think my eyes look creepy in this one. Idk why Mike chose it. Oh well. #compromise

This is Mike's favorite light tunnel one.

This is Kels's favorite light tunnel one.

Artsy in the Art Museum

The photographer realized that we couldn't look goofy in photos if we weren't facing the camera.

Good job! This is the end of the post!