My next car

Everyone who knows Joe knows his obsession with cars. He can tell you anything about any car, truck, SUV and van including what was included on specific years, etc. He even knows random facts (what year the headlights changed) on cars he could care less about. Anyway, we leased my Subaru Legacy and the lease is up October 2010. Joe's been researching cars since Day 1 of the lease and I think he's counting down the days until we get a new car. I'm pretty sure my next car will be the all-new 2010 Subaru Outback. I don't know how I feel about driving a wagon but it's functionality is really hard to beat. We went to Clary's last Sunday and sat in one and there's tons of room. The backseat is huge (car seats?) and I think there'd even be enough head room for my dad (that's hard to find)! I think 2010s look more like a mini SUV than a wagon. That's what I'll keep telling myself... :)

Whatever we end up getting, we'll definitely not lease. Worst. Idea. Ever. Although I know we'll probably be fine on mileage, I'm constantly worried about going over. I hate it! As of now we're about 1,000 miles over. Luckily it's only $.15 per mile if we go over 36,000 but still....it adds up!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Stay dry!

Weekend recap

Last weekend was great! Friday night Joe and I went to Parker's for dinner. We got a $50 gift card from someone at our wedding so we figured we better use it before they go out of business. Parker's always seems to be busy but you just never know in this town! It was delicious. And even better because we didn't have to pay for it. :) I had a glass of Riesling, Joe had a beer, we had an appetizer and both had Halibut for dinner. All we had to pay for was the tip. Thanks, Steve and Shaye! :)

Saturday, Halloween, we just enjoyed being home. We made pumpkin sugar cookies and then went up to my parents later in the day. Kim and George came up so we had Papa Pete's and just hung out. As usual, they didn't have many trick-or-treaters. Can't wait until Sophie gets excited about Halloween! She was a lady bug this year....so adorable! Sunday Joe's mom and dad came down for the day. I wanted to have them down for dinner the weekend before but Joe's dad had to work. On the menu: Beef Stroganoff, baked acorn squash, garlic bread, apple crisp and homemade vanilla ice cream. I had so much fun making/baking everything! This weekend: Tacoma for the Warren Miller movie. We're going to go up tomorrow when I get off and then come back really late on Saturday night. Probably wont leave Tacoma until about 11 or so. We would stay but Joe has to work Sunday night at 8 so he wants to sleep at home and not have to wake up and drive.....don't blame him! Joe sleeping all day Sunday = Sister Sunday hopefully!

Hope everyone is having a good November so far!

Sanderson for Mayor

Joe's Grandpa is running for the Mayor of Milton! Last time we were up there everywhere we looked there were huge "SANDERSON for MAYOR" signs around Milton. Pretty exciting to see! I hope he gets it. Click here to read his statement from the King County voters pamphlet. I made him promise to give us one of his big signs after he wins it.....I want it for our garage!

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween! I'm sad to see that October is already over. I really think October is my favorite month of the year. I love everything about it. Even the rainy days---if only they weren't so frequent!

Next weekend we're going to Tacoma to go to the new Warren Miller movie with everyone. It's always fun to do---gets even the not-so-hardcore (me) skiers excited about the season!

Happy Friday!

Sister Sunday

Last Sunday Joe had to work so I spent the day with my sister. No Sophie, just the two of us. I think it was a much needed break for Kim! We timed it so that Sophie was taking a nap so George could babysit and it ended up being a perfect afternoon. We went to Vancouver Mall and started with coffee at Starbucks. While we were waiting for our coffee we noticed a massage place next to Starbucks. They were very eager for our business and practically ran out to show us their services. They had big comfy over sized chairs that they used for 1/2 hour foot massages. That's all it took to have us hooked! We went to Nordstrom so I could return something and then we headed back to Lao Shau Massage. It was heavenly! I don't know if we'll ever be able to go back to Vancouver Mall without getting that done everytime!

We finished the night with dinner, George and Sophie joined us for that, and then I headed home. It was a great day!

I'm pretty sure that's the last fun thing I've done the past few days.....and probably why my blogging has become few and far between. I need more excitement in my life! Maybe one of these days I'll get a surge of 'blog motivation' and do a Honeymoon recap and post some pictures? We'll see....

Happy Wednesday!

TGIF

SO glad it's Friday! Don't know what our plans are but it's the weekend so that's all that matters. Joe might have to work on Sunday, 12 hours of overtime. YAY! I'm so glad he likes working and has such a great work ethic. It's hard to not be motivated by time and a half though!

We're hoping Joe's mom and dad will come down tomorrow for dinner. I've been on a cooking spree lately and I want to make dinner for them. It's so much fun using all of my new kitchen stuff! If they come down, I'm making Beef Stroganoff. Joe's aunt made this for us a couple of years ago when we visited them in Seattle. I remember always complaining when my mom said stroganoff was for dinner but this is the best I've ever had. Here's the recipe....definitely worth a try!

Beef Strogonoff
2 lbs meat, sliced into thin strips (best is filet Mignon)
4 cloves of minced garlic
Salt and pepper
2 onion, small sliced
4 tomatoes, pureed (DON’T use salsa or ready tomato sauce)
2 tablespoon butter
½ cup ketchup
½ cup cognac
1 cup fresh mushrooms
1 ½ cup heavy cream (Try to use Creme de leite)

Mix the meat with garlic, salt and pepper. Saute the onions with butter and add the meat until golden brown. Add the tomatoes, cook until the meat be very soft, add water if needed. Add the mushrooms, ketchup and cognac. Add the heavy cream and turn off the stove. Taste---might need more ketchup, cognac, salt or pepper.Serve with hot white rice and garnish with shoestrings.

And last, one of my favorite pictures of Sophie and I. She's 10 months today!
I love you, Sophie Marie!

King of the Bed

When we got our new bed and bedding, I decided that I was tired of having Subie sleep with us. It would be ok if he stayed at the foot of the bed but he likes to be up in our face. If I turn to the other side to avoid him, he walks over my back and goes to the other side. Some nights are worse the others, he's especially bad about this in the morning. Our alarm clocks going off is his cue to come cuddle. Anyway, I bought this dog bed a few weeks ago and thought I'd give it a try. And to our surprise, he LOVES it! His body takes up the entire thing but I think he really likes how tight it is around him. It's still on our bed but it's a step closer to being off. We started a bad habit!

This weekend: Matt (Joe's little brother) wedding reception. Him and his now-wife got married two weeks before Joe and I at a drive-thru in Vegas. They're totally anti-wedding anything but her parents really wanted something to celebrate the two of them. Don't blame them one bit, can't imagine not having anything! Anyway, it's tomorrow at 7:30 pm. It will be interesting to see how it turns out considering how much they hate all things wedding related! Joe has to work Sunday night so we'll be coming home tomorrow night after it's over.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

A Perfect Fall Weekend

This weekend was perfect! Joe had to work 12 hours yesterday so I headed down to Vancouver to spend the day with Kim. I got to their house right as Sophie was going down for a nap so we took advantage of her sleeping and went for coffee and to get pedicures. So relaxing and so fun to have some sister time. After we got back from our pedicures Sophie was up and we all headed to the pumpkin patch. We went to Bi-Zi Farms in Vancouver and it was the coolest pumpkin patch I've ever been to! Sophie had major sensory overload but I think she really enjoyed it! She loved all of the farm animals. It's so amazing to see how fast she's changing! We'll definitely be making the trip to the pumpkin patch a yearly tradition. I can't wait to see how excited she'll be next year when we go!

After the pumpkin patch we headed to the Screen Door for dinner. YUM. I was gone a long time....Joe beat me home! It was great to spend the day with the three of them. I'm glad they let me tag along. :) Next year Uncle Joe will have to go with.

Today was an equally fun day. We got our new bed! A King size bed and I can't wait to go crawl into it and spread out! It was so much fun putting all of our new bedding on that we got for our wedding. It's the 'Hotel Collection' from Macy's and it really does look like a hotel. So clean, so sharp. Simple yet elegant. Love it!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I can't believe that tomorrow is one month since our wedding. Where did the month go?! It doesn't even seem possible!