Day 59: If I Were A Detective

This morning when I walked into the kitchen I found a very suspicious mouth shaped bite mark in our bread . . .

Considering Boyd left before me this morning and we are the only two people living in our apartment my suspect list pointed to one person.

When I started taking pictures of the bread Boyd suggested we have mice. Maybe we have giant Boyd sized mice with the same shaped mouth as him.


In case this view isn't good enough, lets look at it from a different perspective.



I'll let you be the judge.

Is Boyd guilty?

Day 58: More W. Side Market

Before all the noodles are gone I just had to take a picture. These are the BEST noodles ever! I know I always post about food, but seriously, these noodles are amazing. Today Boyd and I were laughing about how when we came home from the market the first thing the boys did was kick the girls out of the kitchen. How opposite is that! We have some pretty great husbands!

Here are the awesome spinach noodles.

Day 57: West Side Market

Cleveland is a great place to live because there are so many interesting places to visit. Today Shaun and Nicolette came over and we went up to the West Side Market! We had a BLAST! The West Side Market is an old train station that got turned into a food market. It is like stepping into a completely different world! Boyd describes it as an European style market.

This is the outside
Here is the inside


This store is special. It is a Mediterranean food store, but the people who own it are Romanian. Boyd served his mission in Romania. I love going in and seeing him interact with the people. (The way Boyd puts it "they just talk at me"). They are always a bit taken back when they find out he lived there for 2 years and can speak it. The first time we went to this store about a year ago, Boyd was asking the lady who worked there about some of the different cheeses and which one was most like Romanian cheese. She then started blabbing something to him and he started speaking back to her in Romanian. It was WEIRD! I knew my husband was talking and I knew it was his voice, but I couldn't understand him! My jaw just dropped. She asked him if he was Romanian and he had to explain to her that he just lived there for two years.

This time around Boyd tried not talking to them and just tried to go about his business, but when the owners daughter asked him something, in English, some of his Romanian accidentally popped out! He meant to say yes but "Dada" (Romanian for yes) came out instead. Boyd said the instant he said dada she knew he spoke it just because he had said it like a native. She then asked him if he could speak it and he responded with "un pic" (A little). Boyd later told me that she knew he was being modest when he said "un pic" because she started talking to him as FAST as she could! She was great! Boyd said she was really nice and was the perfect example of a young Romanian. The younger people are really friendly and just want to talk to you because you know English and Romanian. The older generation is more business oriented unless you know them. That is why Boyd was hesitant to talk to them at first. But we will most definitely be back to keep them is business and talk to their daughter.

I'm so happy that Nicolette and Shaun could come with us! We had a grand ol' time.


My favorite quote from today was when we first stepped into the market and Shaun's face lit up like a kid in a candy shop! He was just so enamored with everything that was going on around him. He turned to us and said "Do you see how big my smile is right now?!?!"
Honestly, this trip was so much fun and the reason why it was so much fun was the fact that Shaun was beaming the whole time and just so excited about everything.


On our way to the West Side Market we saw these weird metal statues on the side of the road. I just had to get a picture of them on our way back. Boyd said that he is holding a truck. I still don't know what he is holding or doing. Anyway, there is a bunch of crazy cool architecture in Cleveland that I'm really excited to capture sometime in the future.

Day 56: Orange?

Yay for snow days! It is an answer to my prayers, literally! I'm sick of being sick. Today, there was a giant blizzard and I didn't have to go to work. Hurray! I am feeling better, which is good and I was actually able to blog today!

I think my husband might be playing too much wii. For those who haven't played wii sports resort there is a game called speed slice slice and dice. There are falling objects and you must slice the object before your opponent. While I was sick, I caught Boyd throwing an orange up in the air and he some how managed to slice it perfectly in half! I later found this orange sitting on our kitchen counter. It has been there for a few days. Boyd must really be proud of it!


p.s. I love oranges! I was sad when we moved to Ohio because all the oranges were gross. However Costco saves the day again! They have amazing oranges and we have already gone through a 13 lb box of oranges. Yum!

Day 55: Feeling like blaah.

Allison is still sick. She took this picture while lying on the couch and said, "I got your reflection." Prior to this I was messing around with the camera's ISO feature by taking picture of her in her pitiful state on the couch. She didn't want those ones on the internet, but I got some good color in a poorly lit room.

Day 54: Food Poisoning Strikes Again.

Staph Aureus strikes again. The world has a whole new perspective when you're taking a clinical microbiology course. Every sniffle, semi-sore throat, or loose stool, and you're wondering what could it be? My lab group and I tried to puzzle out an unknown bacteria this past week. Made a streak plate, took a gram stain. (I wish I could have taken a picture of the beautiful gram stain that I took.) At this stage it's probably moraxella catarrhalis. It causes respiratory infections, no big deal, right. As fun as playing with pathogenic bacteria is, I've decided that I would rather take microbiology as a faith based course. Tell me that it exists and I'll believe you. I don't need to see it for myself.
Anyway.
Allison went out to eat today and caught a nasty bug in her tummy. While Allison is puking her guts out in the bathroom, I am posting for her. Since, she hasn't felt good all day, she didn't get a picture in, so I dug through the archives and found this gem.

Day 53: Gobble Gobble

Yay, our first turkey! You can tell when food is on sale because we end up buying things like 16 lbs of ground beef or a 18 lb turkey. . . It had been sitting in our freezer for the past few months haunting us and taking up way too much space. So two Sundays ago Boyd and I decided to cook our first turkey!

The poor thing had been trying to be such a good turkey and be completely defrosted before we cooked it, however, it still had to take a nice warm bath before it was defrosted.


Then Boyd skewered it.I said it looked like it was going in for surgery with all that metal hanging out from it.




It was so good I forgot to take after pictures. But you get a peek at the yummy crispy skin!


Then it was back in the freezer for the turkey! Only now it is in pieces and we get to eat things like spanish turkey (instead of spanish chicken), turkey dumpling soup, turkey sandwiches, and everything turkey you can think of! Yum!

Day 52: Buurrrrr

Snow, Snow Go Away
Don't Come Back, You Skies Of Gray
Boyd & Allison Want To Play
Sun, Sun Come My Way

How does the weather go from sunny 56 degrees to 26 feels like 10 . . .
Buuurrr. I'm ready for winter to be over.
Just outside our apartment even the trees are saying it's cold because they are completely frozen over. One time we went to visit Grandma Bills and somebody asked if it was spring yet. She then proceeded to walk over to a tree and snap off a branch. "Well it's spring according to the tree" she said. Well, according to our trees, it is still winter!








Now, I'm not sure what these spiky balls are. I always see them on the ground and occasionally trip on them. Boyd said when he was a kid he and his friends would throw the spiky balls at each other. Ouch.


Ironically, after I originally posted this, Boyd came running in from school with a frozen branch in his hand and told me that this is what an ice storm looks like. Hum, we must think alike!

Day 51: Proud of Boyd

There are no words for this picture


I promise we are not wii junkies or completely addicted to video games. I just have a very talented husband who can bowl a perfect game.

Over Christmas break, Boyd played wii with Micah and I would hear fits coming from the family room. Apparently Micah would blow up because he wasn't as good as uncle Boyd . . . Even though he was only missing ONE PIN! He would get 99 out of 100 for cryin out loud and still be red in the face because he wasn't "as good as Boyd". The same thing happen to Emelie, only she would cry. These poor kids don't realize who they are playing against! We tried to tell them that it's because Boyd practices a lot and that this is their first time, but apparently getting 99 out of 100 pins is upsetting when you are just a chill bean (child).

This is not the only reason why I'm so proud of Boyd. This week was the week of relaxation. Two weeks ago was exam week. What a nightmare! I thought it would never end. Even though I'm not the one taking the exam I still get really bad anxiety. Plus, I was tired of having words like popliteal artery stuck in my head all day. Boyd made it through exam week like a champ and even managed to do well on most of his exams (minus one, that everybody else in his class failed, literally). Even though Boyd didn't think he was going to do well in microbiology, he still got a B and that is better than most of his class. The thing that makes me the most proud of Boyd is that he still has his priorities straight. While other students would spend endless hours at school and in lab studying, Boyd puts his family first. We spent the weekend before exam week down in Columbus for Florence's baby blessing and during exam week Boyd would make sure he was still spending time with me. I'm grateful for a husband who does better than most students and still has his priorities in the right place.

Day 50: Dinosaurs, Rar

Last night Boyd and I went to Joann Fabrics after his basketball game. Boyd loves coming to Joann Fabrics with me. While looking for more pillowcase fabric we stumbled upon this! I HAD to have it! It could be for a summer pillowcase, like June when there isn't a holiday. Boyd liked it so much he wanted a dinosaur pillowcase too! I'm so excited to make more pillowcases!

Day 49: Sushi

Ever since we have been back from Vegas I have been craving sushi. Boyd did some research and found out through urban spoon that there is apparently this place called Ohashi Sushi and it is supposed to be one of the best. So after Boyd's basketball game we stopped in for a taste, since it was so close to our stake center. Ummm, can you say AMAZING! Wow! We were impressed and better yet they have happy hour half price sushi every Monday-Thursday between 5-6. We decided to try two different rolls tonight, the shrimp Cali Roll, and the Super Dreamy Roll. Yes, it was dreamy, crab, salmon and crunchies on top. To give you an idea of how good it was here is a picture of what was left by the time we got home . . . (Nothing). This was supposed to be for take out for us to take home. Poor sushi didn't stand a chance.

To say the least, we will definitely go back to Ohashi and my sushi craving is finally fulfilled.

Day 48: Gym

Finally got around to renewing our Rec Center membership today. Ahhhhh, it feels so good getting back to the gym.

This is a picture of my stinkin cute shoes Boyd got me for Christmas. I love pink, and I love Asics! Thank goodness Boyd gets a discount on Asics shoes. When we were dating Boyd bought me my first pair of Asics. At first I thought it was funny he bought me shoes but after wearing them and comparing them to what I used to wear I will never put any other running shoe on my feet.

Day 47: Flowers

Boyd gets me one flower for every Valentine's Day we have been together. They also aren't just any flowers, they are my favorite flowers, gerbera daisies. I love love love gerbera daisies. As my floral design teacher would say "they're the type of flower that screams I'M A FLOWER" They are just so cute! So this year will be our 4th Valentine's day together.


We went to costco and I picked out some flowers because it had been forever since I had done some arranging. I miss floral design and having fresh flowers in our house. So I picked out a bouquet I liked and took it home. There was one problem. There were only two gerbera daisies. So on Monday Boyd went to our local floral shop to pick up two more. Somehow they were all out of pink gerbera daisies. . . and they only gave him a yellow one and an orange one. . . . They also only gave it to him in an arrangement, instead of just the individual flower, and they didn't let him pick out which ones he wanted. I guess we have been spoiled by going to BYU's Campus Craft and Floral. But I still love my Valentine's day flowers!

I was able to make two arrangements with all the flowers from Costco.


p.s. Lilies are my second favorite flowers. I love this pictures because it looks so cool with the lily half open.

Day 46: Warmth in February

We finally had a truly warm and sunny day after months of overexposure to snow and frigged temperatures. For Boyd it was a day of, as he puts it, "Relaxation. Experimentation. Inspiration."
Boyd is in desperate need of relaxation after last week. He had an exam Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and a quiz yesterday. Yuck! They weren't easy exams either.

Here are some pictures that Boyd experimented with:


This one is edited and the one below isn't.

He was trying to capture more light and color with the manual settings of the camera.

The icicles are crazy out here. We live in a 2 story building and sometimes the icicles from the roof go all the way down to the ground! Every time I look at them I think to myself what if one of those fell on someone's head?
Now that it is warming up the icicles present a new excitement.They also make crazy sounds when they fall. Boyd and I will be sitting in our living room in the afternoon and hear CRACK, smash, thump. It sounds like someone is falling off our roof and falling into our window.

This is "Boyd's post" since he did the pictures for today. He wanted to post different pictures but I wouldn't let him because they were pictures of me and I thought I looked fat, plus I have been breaking out really bad. I guess it is time to hit the gym again.

Day 45: Happy Valentine's Day

It's about time for a Hong family tradition to be posted.
One of my favorite things to do is watch old family home videos (yes videos). Every Valentine's Day we would find cards at our seats in the kitchen. In one particular video we got McDonalds coupons and later on went to McDonalds. For us, going to McDonalds was a big deal, because we went about once a year.
Fast forward 20ish years to Valentine's Day at BYU.
All four of the Hong kids were living together in our condo and we decided to keep up the McDonalds tradition.
So there we were 4 college kids excited to go to McDonalds on Valentine's day.
Now that Boyd and I aren't in Utah we still decided to keep up the tradition and go to McDonalds and I got my Valentine's Day Happy Meal.
The funny thing about where we are currently living is that everything has to have a colonial style to it. Our McDonalds is crazy fancy. It has two levels, giant windows, and chandeliers everywhere. Even my Happy Meal feels fancy.



Yay Happy Meals! I got a My Little Pony toy. It's great feeling like a kid!


Boyd must be in deep thought before he eats his lunch.


Boyd told me to do the same and pretend that I was in deep thought.


Happy Valentine's Day everybody. Thanks Mom and Dad for the fun tradition!

Day 44: Warm Weather

Today it was 40 ° ish! WoW! Talk about a refreshing change! I saw the sun, it was warm, aaahhhhhh. One of the hardest things I've been dealing with since we moved to Ohio is the lack of sun. We went to Costco and I stood by the happy lamps for a while and felt much better. I'm so used to Utah where it snows one minute and then ten minutes later the sun is shining. Out here, I can go weeks without seeing the sun! Ugggg. So today, was a beautiful day!

Found some funny pictures on our camera today.
Boyd took these while I was busy doing something.
Rex apparently likes the sun too. He somehow snuck up to the window to peek outside and see the wondrous sight.

This picture makes me giggle. It looks like he is afraid of getting caught.
It's as if he's saying "Oh no here they come!"

As I was photoshopping these pictures Boyd said to me
"I like taking pictures of toys so much better than people, they don't move"

Day 43: Rice Krispies

What's cuter than pink, heart-shaped Rice Krispies?
My adorable little sunbeams I'm giving them to.

I love being a sunbeam teacher! I honestly think it is the greatest calling in the world. Granted, the kids are amazing for me because I bribe them with Skittles to answer questions. Anyway, decided to have fun today and made treats for my little beamers!

Who knew adding red food coloring could look so cool

Day 42: Pizza

To celebrate the end of Boyd's exam week we made pizza! Yay! Pizza is a Bills family favorite! We made it over Christmas break with Dave and Amber's kids and they loved it! When we visit Carrie we somehow usually end up making pizza, mostly because Carrie knows Boyd is coming. When we went to California to visit Grandma Miller, Aunt Dara made us pizza. She kept telling us how she has the most amazing home-made pizza recipe. We watched, and helped, her make it. Boyd and I kept giggling because she offered us the recipe, but she was talking to the pizza making son of the woman who probably gave her the recipe in the first place. To sum it up, Boyd is notorious for making pizza in his family.

Pizza Dough

1 C. Warm Water

1 T Yeast

1 T Sugar

Combine and let foam

(Don't forget the other ingredients mentioned later on.)

Ohio is a strange place. Your white sugar gets lumps, but your brown sugar doesn't get lumpy . . . This is completely opposite from what I'm used to. In Utah you have to buy "brown sugar bears" that you soak in water, just to keep your brown sugar soft. Go figure.


The Foam is important. Boyd is so good about asking me when it is foamy, then we can start to add the other ingredients.



Meanwhile, you can make the sauce

1 can of tomato sauce
Italian seasoning
Garlic powder
Sugar


This picture reminds me of when I'm doing family shoots. I always tell the families to do a group hug and squish really close together. I felt like this when I was pushing the ingredients together. "Now Tomato Sauce, scoot really close to Mr. Italian Seasoning"



Hint: You need a lot of Italian Seasoning!

Back to the dough:
Add
1 tsp Salt
1/4 C oil

Slowly mix in 2 C flour.
By the way, Boyd is the dough master! I have tried and tried and it never turns out as good as Boyd's. He taught me his trick today. You sprinkle the flour on the top and then mix from the bottom. P.S. I have tried using my mixer and the dough hook, but hand mixing is by far a better option.

When the dough it done, it should look really moist and soft, but workable.

Roll dough out onto a greased jelly roll pan. Some people like to put flour down on the pan but Boyd and I think it is gross and coats your mouth with flour later on when you are eating it. We prefer to do just spray because it gives the crust a nice crispy bottom.

We found this soft mozzarella at Costco today and it Rocks! Talk about creamy yummy perfect for pizza making cheese!
The knife practically sinks in just sitting there.
Boyd says "no this is not butter"

So when Boyd and I were first married, Boyd kept saying "we need a mouli, we need a mouli!"

What in the world is a mouli?!? Growing up, we didn't eat much cheese because my mom thought it was really fattening.

"You know, a mouli, like those cheese things at Olive Garden!"

Light Bulb! Well, why in the world do we need one of those!

Well, to say the least, we got a mouli and I hated it at first because we didn't have a dishwasher and it was a pain to clean! Why couldn't we just get a cheese grater! BUT ever since we have had a dishwasher, I love our mouli! It is a fantastic part of the pizza team!

Happy Valentine's Day Pizza!

Bake at 350° for 20 min or until dough is cook thoroughly. ENJOY! We did. In fact, we enjoyed the pizza so much I forgot to take after pictures! woops!