Valentine’s Day 2012

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I know I already posted about my party.. but this is what Kelvin and I did for ourselves for Valentines!

Kelvin and I try to avoid crowds whenever possible, which means we usually go out before or after holidays. This year I planned everything, including my own present ;)

I got Kelvin the Blu-rays for Batman Begins, and Dark Knight. For myself, I got little gold heart earrings (pictured below). Also, Kelvin let me have the Valentine party with my friends, which was its own present.  He was incredibly sweet about the whole thing.  Even though I had a card making party, I forgot to give one to my own husband =/ bad wife.

We went to La Jolla Groves in Provo on Monday (the day before Valentines), it was the first time either one of us had been there.. let me just say OHMYGOSH. Such good food, I think it’s my new favorite restaurant. We couldn’t even have a normal conversation because I just repeated every five minutes how good my food was. Kelvin got cheese tortellini with bacon on top and I got lemon roasted chicken, then we got a little treat of triple chocolate mousse cake for dessert. I highly recommend it! The atmosphere was pretty cool since you’re sitting under (fake) Lemon trees and they have little twinkling lights.

On the 14th we had our traditional date at Einstein Bagels, which was nice.

Handmade 2012

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This is from my facebook, but I thought I’d apply it to the blog as well. Pay it forward 2012: I promise to make something handmade for the first 3 people who comment.
You must then post this and make something for the first 3 who comment on your status/blog.

*The rules – it has to be handmade by you, and they must receive it before 2012 ends – it can be something as simple as making a friend a cup of hot chocolate, sending them a handwritten message, or something more exotic. I’m in!

Valentine Party

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As some of you might remember in this post I talked about how my mom throws a Valentine card making party every year. Well this year I threw my own, and I thought it was great! I just wish I could have invited more people but our apartment is only so big :( It was a great day of eating, visiting and creating. Everyone’s cards turned out so cute I should have taken more pictures. I didn’t get a picture of every one, but there’s always next year!

A few of my favorite things…

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These are just a few of my favorite blogs at the moment. I thought I would share so others (aka my mom) could enjoy them too.

Sheena from Little Red House
Sheena is awesome, she has awesome recipes, pictures, and tips on everything. I hope to cook like her one day.

Kendi from Kendi Everyday
OK, Kendi is freakin hilarious. I actually laugh out loud, plus she has great style.

Mary from mary plus vince
Sometimes I feel like Mary is my twin. Photographer, enchilada and In-N-Out lover, and husband obsessed.

Rachel from Rachel Thurston Photography
She makes being a mother look so incredible. Her blog is great because it has her photography (which is breathtaking) mixed with her personal life.

Danny & Mara Kofoed from A Blog About Love
This is definitely my favorite blog right now. Their stories are just beautiful, and they are so so positive.

Emma from Emma the Joy
Just a good read of everyday life. And she bakes like no other, I want to be her friend so I can eat all of her delicious looking treats!

Katie from Color Me Katie
Katie’s life seems so fun! Her blog is super creative and colorful!

Jordan from Oh Happy Day
I really want her life, she lives in Paris! Also, she has insanely cute party ideas.

New Recipes

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Here are a few new recipes I tried and their results: Also, I’m rating them the same way we rated our movies last year, rating them 1-5 where 5 is the best and 1 is the worst.
Most of these recipes are from Pinterest and my friend Alyssa’s blog (click on the title of the recipe to take you to the original source).

Zucchini Chips 
If you like zucchini these are pretty yummy. If you don’t like zucchini, they’re still pretty yummy.
Kelvin: 4 (and I don’t really like Zucchini)
Jilleun: 3

Whitney Chicken Enchiladas
I think I make some pretty good red sauce enchiladas but Kelvin prefers more American versions (aka white people enchiladas). I’ve been trying to find a recipe that we both enjoy, and I was glad my friend seemed to have it!
Kelvin: 5
Jilleun: 5

Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers
These were good enough, but nothing to write home about. I’ll probably make them again because it was pretty easy. Even though I didn’t cook them for the full time they were a tiny bit burnt.
Kelvin: 4
Jilleun: 3

One Pot, Stove Top, Creamy Mac and Cheese
In the recipe I didn’t put in the Mustard powder or Nutmeg, but it was still super good. For the bread crumbs I actually just crushed some salad croutons, I like the texture and little bit of favor it added.
Kelvin: 4
Jilleun: 4

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars
This was delicious! But had a lot of little steps and it took awhile. It also used a lot of dishes which I kind of hate (thanks goodness we have a dishwasher). I don’t know if I’ll make it again, at least next time I’ll be more prepared for how long it takes from when you start making it till you can eat it.
Kelvin: 5
Jilleun: 5

Andes Mint Cookies Recipe
SUPER easy! I though they actually tasted gross right out of the oven but I thought they tasted fine the day after I made them. I also thought the mint was a bit too strong, so I used half a mint per cookie. I brought them to Kelvin’s work party and a lot of people asked for the recipe, which I was kind of surprised by, because I didn’t love them.
Kelvin: 3
Jilleun: 2

Christmas 2011

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For Christmas we went to California to see my family, we invited Kelvin’s mom and little brother but they didn’t come with us. Another reason why it was a smaller Christmas this year than last is because my older brother and his wife in moved to India for a while, but Christmas was still really good! Although this was the first time my mom’s dad came for Christmas Eve dinner.

My family traditions on Christmas Eve:

  • My dad makes a super good meal
  • With a delicious dessert and we all stuff ourselves
  • Usually my mom reads the story from the Bible
  • My dad reads The Night before Christmas
  • We watch the Little Drummer Boy

Sometimes a few little different things are in there but those are the things we always do. Sometimes we sing, or read additional stories. Like this year we watched A Christmas Carol.

Usually on Christmas morning we’d get up (not too early), have Christmas explosion (as some like to call it), and head to both my grandma’s, which are both about an hour away and do Christmas-y things there. But, this was the first year we didn’t go, not to either of them! It felt pretty strange, but way more relaxing. One thing I did miss is that when we go to my mom’s moms house she always has THE best cinnamon rolls, (she makes them from scratch) and everyone looks forward to it. But, because we didn’t go this year, and she refuses to give out the recipe*, my dad and I attempted trying to make some… They didn’t turn out bad, but they were a little disappointing compared to the usual Grandma’s cinnamon rolls.

I hardly took any pictures =/ and half of the ones I did take are of food. Haha what I can I say, I love food. It’s just hard for me to pick up my camera and think about f/stops and ISO’s. I rather just sit and hang out with my family that I only get to see three times a year.

My family Christmas Eve minus Kelvin O.

*My Grandma won’t give us the recipe because she says she doesn’t want to curse us! It’s so much work she has to wake up at five on Christmas day, so that why she refusing to give it to anyone. Not because she is one of those crazy ladies that wont share.

Movies- December 2011

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We have continued our adventures in Kyle XY, but still have not finished it. We completed Season 2 and are halfway through season 3. It’s not as good as it used to be, since it has basically turned into a High School drama and less about the coolness that is Kyle XY. On to the movies!

Flyboys (2006)
Watched on: 14 Dec 2011
Rated: PG-13
Three actors: James Franco, Jean Reno, Jennifer Decker
Reaction: Kelvin- I liked most of this movie, but the ending really killed it for me. The fighting was cool, the acting and cinematography was great but I wouldn’t watch it again and probably wouldn’t recommend anyone else watch it either.  If you’ve seen it, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
Jilleun- This movie was really well done, and I love the characters, as well as the acting.. BUT it was based on a true story and because I didn’t get the ending I was hoping for, it wasn’t my favorite. In fact several hours after we had watched it I was still mad about and so was Kelvin. So here is your fair warning.
Rating: 3/5

Larry Crowne (2011)
Watched on: 23 Dec 2011
Rated: PG-13
Three actors: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Reaction: Kelvin- We’ve seen this one (see July of this year), and it’s still a good movie. Her parents had not seen it, so we watched it with them.
Jilleun- Good movie again, I love Tom Hanks.
Rating: 4/5

Prep & Landing (2009)
Watched on: 24 Dec 2011
Rated: G
Three actors: Dave Foley, Sarah Chalke, Mason Vale Cotton
Reaction: Kelvin- This was an okay kids movie, again, we watched it with her parents. It was fairly short so it wasn’t hard to bust through it one time, plus it was Christmas-y so that made it a little more okay. Rating: 2/5
Jilleun- This was surprisingly good, it was clever, funny, and cute. I’m not the biggest fan of that Santa guy but I thought this was more like 4/5.

A Christmas Carol (1999)
Watched on: 24 Dec 2011
Rated: PG
Two actors: Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant
Reaction: Kelvin- With so many different versions of the Christmas Carol story, it’s hard to watch another. Not that this was a bad movie, it’s just that I’ve seen/heard the story so many times I am kinda tired of it. Unless there is something really unique (Muppets version, for example) about the version, I try to skip them.  This one didn’t have anything particularly distinctive about it, other than Patrick Stewart.
Jilleun- Ugh this story is over-told, depressing, long and kind of creepy.
Rating: 2/5

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Watched on: 25 Dec 2011
Rated: G
Three actors: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards
Reaction: Kelvin- Never seen this one before. I generally don’t venture into the land of old movies all that often, but this one wasn’t that bad.. especially for a musical.
Jilleun- This is definitely one of my favorite musicals, probably in my top three!
Rating: 3/5

Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Watched on: 26 Dec 2011
Rated: PG-13
Three actors: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams
Reaction: Kelvin- We watched this just minutes before we left to head to the theater, on our way to see the second Sherlock Holmes. Doing that gave us a bit of juxtaposition between the two movies. I think the second movie was a little bit better, and slightly more entertaining. Still, this was a good film.
Jilleun- This isn’t my favorite type of movie, its well done for sure, but I just felt lost till the last 10 minutes of the movie.
Rating: 4/5

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)
Watched on: 26 Dec 2011
Rated: PG-13
Three actors: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris
Reaction: Kelvin- Pretty good movie, much more funny than the first one. I like Robert Downy Jr. as an actor, so that makes it much easier to watch. It kept me guessing the entire movie, and finished out in a pretty creative way.
Jilleun- I like this movie more than the first, I didn’t feel quite as lost. I think this one also had a little more humor too. But I didn’t like the girl the gypsy one (I don’t even remember her name) yeah could have done without her.
Rating: 4/5

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
Watched on: 28 Dec 2011
Rated: PG-13
Three actors: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie
Reaction: Kelvin- Again, we watched this one already back in March.
Jilleun- One of my all-time favorite movies.
Rating: 5/5

Some stats
8 movies
PG-13- 5
PG- 1
G- 2

Favorite movie this month-
Kelvin- Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Jilleun- The Adjustment Bureau