Updates

We just got back from Albuquerque a few weeks ago and headed to Death Valley for a camping trip. It was my first trip to Death Valley, even though Adam and I grew up only 2 hours outside of the national park! Adam's been a handful of times and when Jennifer said she was open to going to Death Valley, it was a done deal. We had a great time- the views were stunning (Jennifer said she was expecting blah desert and instead it was like being on another planet with the surreal landscapes!) and we had a lot of laughs on the trip. From the ordeal of getting the rental car to putting up our tent in what must have been 50mph winds, we have lots of memories from the trip. It was absolutely gorgeous and if you haven't been, you should check it out!!

Yes, we did see a roadrunner!!

After a stopover in Ridgecrest, we headed back to Irvine with Jennifer so that Adam and I could continue our car hunt. Last week we finally decided on a car. We had been looking at used car options but ended up getting a new one. We are now proud owners, once again, of a Toyota Matrix.

In sad news, last week we found out that Adam's dog, Mickie (who is 16 yrs old), had a large growth in her head and today it was confirmed that she has cancer. It's been really hard on Adam because he's worried about her- he was really sad because he doesn't want to think about her hurting or suffering.  And of course, I cried because she is just such a sweet dog and we had just gotten back from spending a month with her and Cuba. We are going to try to make it back out to Albuquerque again (right now Adam's parents said she is acting like herself and seems to be doing ok). I'm hoping that even though she has cancer, that she doesn't have to be put to sleep and that she won't suffer at all during her last months. 

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting! Yum!!

Mmmm, moist chocolate cupcakes with a yummy peanut butter frosting! I tried out the Cook's Illustrated recipe for the chocolate cupcakes (they call for a chocolate ganache filling but I did without) after searching forever for a recipe on the internet that called for ingredients that Adam's mom has in her kitchen. I then found a recipe for the peanut butter frosting from the blog A Dash of Sash. The cupcake was dense, chocolately and supermoist, just the way I like it!! And the PB frosting was super yummy too (Adam's compliment was that it was like he was eating Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch, lol). I would definitely use this recipe again, and I think you should try it out too!

Chocolate Cupcakes (Cook's Illustrated May/June 2010)

• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
• 1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
• 3/4 cup hot, strong-brewed coffee
• 3/4 cup (4 1/8 ounces) bread flour
• 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar (I didn't find any on hand, so I used 2 tsp lemon juice instead)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Place chocolate and cocoa in a medium bowl, and pour hot coffee over the mixture.  Whisk until smooth, and transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely, 20-30 minutes.

Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in a medium bowl; set aside.

Whisk oil, eggs, vanilla, and vinegar into the cooled chocolate mixture until smooth.  Add flour mixture and whisk until batter is smooth.

Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until cupcakes are set and firm to the touch, 17-19 minutes.  Allow to cool in pans 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.


Peanut Butter Frosting (A Dash of Sash July 2009)

• 10 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (room temperature)
• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• ~4 cups confectioner's sugar

Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until thoroughly combined.  Beat until the mixture becomes light, fluffy and smooth.
Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time.  After adding 3 or 4 cups, check for the proper amount of sweetness.  Continue adding sugar to taste.  

After adding the sugar, beat until the frosting is a consistent texture, light and fluffy.  Add the peanut butter and mix until completely combined.

Happy Lunar New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year! We didn't have a Chinese New Year Extravaganza like last year (makes me miss all the PC vols from the Loja Province- no mango pudding, black bottom cakes, ginger candy in "hong baos" or chinese crunk music mixes on an iPod!). This year Adam and I had a more mellow and quiet Chinese New Year celebration. I made some pork, celery and baked bean curd stirfry and we also fried up some potstickers to bring us prosperity for the new year! Have a great Year of the Rabbit!

Project Life Week Two-Five-ish!!!

Yay for Project Life!! I am so glad I got this because it really has been great and super easy putting this together (gracias Suegra!!) and I am looking forward to the end of the year when I look back at all our transitions in life, etc. because at some point this year we are going to decide where we will settle for the next few years, we will move into an apartment (or condo or house), we will buy a car (will it be a Matrix? Prius? Insight? Civic? New? Used?), and of course we will have some fun and unexpected adventures. I don't know when Adam and I will have these workfree days again (as I jokingly have said, we are currently in "pretirement", so I am guessing we won't have days like this again until we are really retired!). I've been having a great time taking the daily photos and have way more than I could fit or include so I am hoping to go back and include a few 8.5x11 scrapbook layouts too. I am constantly inspired by all the other scrapbookers out there that are doing Project Life.

Week Two Jan 8-14: Betty came in for the weekend! Hooray! We stuffed ourselves at lunch, rented a couple Redbox movies, & washed and cleaned the cars (in photo 2, she's showing off her newly cleaned out trunk!). Adam was gone in SB for the weekend but when he got back he jumped right back to work and we trimmed the bushes in the front yard and cut down the unruly honeysuckle bushes that were taking over. Week 2 of 2011 also included my 29th birthday...as Adam and I talk about wanting a car that will last us for the next 10-15 years, I realize we are committing to a car that will take us into our 40s! Oh my word!! I also guiltily finished the last book in the Twilight series this week. I finally caved and read the books that Susan leant me...and although stories of vampies and werewolves are totally cheesey, it was a nice and easy read! This week we also finally watched the Social Network and got rid of the dumpster that was sitting in the driveway!

Week Three Jan 15-21: I spent forever searching for my second pair of glasses (yes, the hideous transition lenses!) and finally found them buried in a box in the storage unit! I also brought back a bunch of my scrapbooking stuff to the house! We made a spontaneous trip out to Barstow to go shopping for some clothes...the search for jeans that fit still continues! We also enjoyed a beautiful week, with a high of 75 degrees! What a great January surprise! Week 3 also was the week that we headed back to Albuquerque. We were able to meet up with Betty at Souplantation for too many plates of salad and too many bowls of soup before we headed to LAX. Since we were going to be at LAX for several hours, we ended up renting another Redbox (it is turning into a weekly ritual!)- Wall Street was the movie this time. Once we got to Albuquerque, we ran some errands and helped Adam's parents get ready for their big trip to Taiwan! We were still able to find time to have a yummy Thanksgiving-esque dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc. with Uncle Michael, Aunt Dorothy and Cody. We dropped the parents off in the wee hours Thursday, but thankfully a Dunkin' Donuts was open nearby so we picked up some coffee and donuts afterwards! Friday was a day with the doggies- the last picture is one of Cuba in the backyard keeping an eye on a rabbit across the street. This was also the week that Adam got his acceptance letter to University of Colorado at Boulder!

Week Four Jan 22-28: The first photo is of Adam and Cuba out on the trails of Petroglyph National Monument where I realized I was super out of shape! Cuba really needs a running buddy, not a slowpoke with her camera, hahaha. I kept hollering for Adam to go on ahead of me but he had visions of me disappearing into the desert and getting lost. This week we took the leftover turkey bones and made a nice stock out of it which was then turned into a delicious turkey noodle soup (small photo). We also took the dogs out to the dog park a few times this week. Cuba could run after the ball for hours, whereas Mickie seems to enjoy the car ride the most! On Monday we had a scavenger hunt that took us to several Walmarts before we finally found the Corelle plates that Adam's mom has been eyeing for months. Hooray! What Not To Wear has been moved to Tuesdays (because when I was watching it 2 years ago, it was on Fridays!) and so I watched my first new episode in a very long while. Wednesday, Adam and I went out for burgers because I had a free burger coupon for my birthday! I like that they send out a coupon that is good for a few weeks, so it worked out for us! Red Robin is one of those chain restaurants that I like...maybe it brings back memories from UCSD, with those seasoned fries and the freckled lemonade? Thursday was somewhat uneventful (I suppose I could have taken photos at the dog park again, but I don't want to be too redundant) so I got a couple of photos of Cuba and Mickie at dinner time! They are the funniest dogs- they act like the other dog is getting better food than them, even though it is the same! And the last photo- bacon! What else! =D

Week Five (Part 1) Jan 29-31: On Saturday, we watched one of the worst movies EVER- The American. If you liked it, sorry...but it was incredibly boring. We waited and waited and waited for the movie to pick up and get interesting, but then it ended. It was super underwhelming. But on a brighter note, I made Pioneer Woman's recipe for bacon cheddar onion biscuits...delish! I use less bacon and shortening, but more onions! On Sunday Adam and I decided that we were going to have date night and decided to get Greek food at this place in Albuquerque called Olympia Cafe. We drove all the way across town only to discover that it is closed on Sundays (we should have looked it up)! We tried a few other places but finally gave up and decided to go to the Texas Roadhouse that we saw from the freeway. We hadn't been before but knew about it from Jennifer (it had been option #2 on the fateful night that we had Chinese food in Knoxville) and decided to give it a go. It was really good! My rib meat fell right off the bone, they give you unlimited refills of their hot fresh bread and honey butter, my yam was fresh from the oven, and because it was our first time there, the manager came by our table to say "welcome" and even gave us a coupon for free appetizers the next time we go! It was a ton of food too, so we had plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day. Which was good because we spent most of Monday cleaning! Vacuuming, steam mopping, doing laundry, etc.

I already know that the second half of week 5 is going to be about the freeeeezing cold temperatures in Albuquerque. Tonight it is supposed to be -5 degrees! We were going to go visit the Colorado campus this week but all the snowstorms that were coming through changed our plans. We hope to head out next week for a visit...but vamos a ver!

Project Life Week One!!!

Ok, so clearly I am super super excited about this. So much so that I even uploaded all of my pictures and had them printed at Walgreens today. I don't think I've ever been this on top of developing photos before (except for when I am making scrapbooks for other people!).

As soon as I got home from Walgreens I got to work putting all my pictures in and journaling about my first week of 2011. It took about 10 minutes! As any other scrapbooker would know, scrapbooking a layout never takes so little time. So needless to say, I love this so far! I can catch up on my other scrapbooking and still document/record the present...the everyday simple things that normally I don't get around to putting down on paper or capturing in a scrapbook page (but that I do sometimes manage to sneak into a blog post).

So here is my title page and my Week 1 layout. 51 more weeks to go!