Dashboard

 

This past Thursday Hank and I went to see an old favorite of ours, Dashboard Confessional.  It was the Swiss Army Romance's 10-year Anniversary tour, and Chris played the entire album from beginning to end, along with other favorites. I saw this same show, ten years prior, upon the original record's release, and it was incredibly moving to think back to that time in my life, and then think of where I am now. I was 18; so wonderfully naive, so young, so unsure of what life had in store for me. I had just graduated high school and was about to embark on my college adventures, moving up to the dorms to start that chapter of my life. Back then I related to those emotional Dashboard songs on so many levels, and hearing them again live brought back so many memories, emotions, and things I had forgotten and tucked away over the years.  I met Hank seven years ago, and because we were in a long distance relationship for that first year, and he was on tour with his band so frequently, so many of DC's songs rang true yet again during that time period. I can still remember driving up to visit Hank for the very first time, getting butterflies in my stomach as Hands Down played on the stereo. Music and emotion are powerful things when combined, and throughout the entire show last week I found myself tearing up a bit.  How was I to know, on that long drive up the mountain, that I was going to visit my future husband? The song then, and the song now. Me then, and me now. Us then, us now. It made me feel so happy, my heart so full, to think about the then and now, and to be able to remember a time before all of this, to remember the very beginning. And as the music drifted across the Marquee Theater, I closed my eyes for just a second, and I was in my car again, driving straight into my future.

Thank goodness it was Friday!

 

What a great day! I spent the afternoon with some lovely ladies and it was so much fun. It was a little mama/baby meet up, and we enjoyed lunch, lots of girltalk, and topped our day off with sweets and cupcakes. Perfect.  My friend Natalie is due so soon, so it was great to be able to see her adorable and pregnant. We did lunch at Joe's Farm Grill out in Gilbert and I can't say enough good things about this place. It's a really interesting restaurant. It's surrounded by farmland, and they use local, fresh food that's in season whenever possible. You can learn more about the Agritopia project and the Grill by clicking here, and I definitely recommend doing so- I was fascinated to find out the concept of this whole area. Super neat. And back to the food, last time I was there I had the grilled chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries, and today I had the hamburger and salad- it was delicious! I really, really need to remember to bring my Nikon when I go places and actually take a few minutes to snap some good photos- I'm starting to get annoyed with myself so I am not going to make that mistake again! But anyway, after lunch we walked over to The Coffee Shop to enjoy some sweet treats (my pal Chelsea actually blogged about it yesterday if you'd like to hear more about it). Natalie and I split a birthday cake cupcake (so good). It was really just the best day- it's refreshing to be around a group of mothers who are super like-minded. I'm not religious by any means and most of the Mom's groups I've encountered are more religion-based, meeting via church, etc...which is absolutely not for me. I have a few friends who are in Moms groups like that, and like I always say- to each their own, but that kind of thing just isn't up my alley whatsoever. With that said, I'm looking forward to hanging out again soon with these wonderful gals!

After lunch I hurried home to Prescott so I could get ready for our date night, and was greeted by a mysterious package at the front door. Upon further investigation I saw it was from one of our dearest friends Alex, and it then hit me why he asked me the other night while we were texting, "do you like presents?" haha. Oh, Alex. When Hank got home we opened it, and inside was an amazing amount of sweets from his bakery in San Francisco, Miette! OH LORD was everything good. And yes, don't worry, I sampled one of everything.

So, after getting super full on sweets, we dropped Henry off at Hank's Mom's and went over to Wild Iris for tea and (more) sweets. I indulged a bit too much (okay a lot too much) today and let's just say I'm already looking forward to a long walk tomorrow with Henry. Yikes. But anyway, it was so much fun. We spent two hours just drinking our coconut tea, splitting a slice of citrus cheesecake, and talking about everything and anything. I feel so lucky to be married to my best friend, and I love that we can sit and talk for hours and hours. While there I also ran into two old students which is always wonderful too- they were pretty much the cutest things ever and it warmed my heart to see them doing well. All in all it's been a really great night.

Tomorrow morning Henry and I are heading downtown to enjoy breakfast with my sister-in-law before she moves to Portland for a month for floral school. How neat is that?! I'm excited for her and I know she is going to have the best time. So tomorrow is a bit of a farewell breakfast before she heads to the airport. Afterward you can find Henry and I walking around town, trying to work off some of the sugar I consumed today. ;)

Here are some photos, taken with my point and shoot Canon and my phone.

present from Alex, thank you again sweet friend! Love you tons.

sunset from our front yard this evening

coconut tea, seriously AMAZING! Adie introduced it to Hank, who introduced it to me...and I can't wait to drink it a lot more often. Love it.

the citrus cheesecake. Yup.

I hope you all have a fantastic Saturday! Until next time, xoxo!

Love is...

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."

-St. Augustine, from the movie Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Dear Henry (a letter from your Dad),

Dear Henry,

I am so excited for you to be here! Halloween just passed and I thought about how fun it's going to be to take you trick or treating, dress up in costumes and eat candy! Your mom and I have been working so hard on putting together your room. Please don't ever ask me to re-paint the ceiling again! ;)

There are so many things that make me excited about you being here. Being able to teach you how to shoot a basketball, how to skateboard or ride a bike. All these things make me so excited for your arrival. Knowing that your life is an open book, you can truly do whatever you want. Don't ever limit yourself, your mom and I will always support you 100% and want you to be the happiest person in the world. Dream big and reach as far as you can. I promise we will be there for you! It's just a short matter of time before you're here and the countdown is driving me nuts. I imagine all the aspects of life that we will be able to embark on. Take hikes or play in the park, stare at the stars or play in the rain, I don't care, whatever you want to do. Whatever makes you happy. The possibilities are endless. I feel like a kid again and I want to make sure that you have the best childhood possible.

You aren't born yet but you need to know that I want to be the best dad possible to you and give you the best life. I promise that I will always be there to listen when you need me. You can always depend on me for everything. I love you so much and I hope that when you're old enough you can come and read this and know how excited your mom and I were for your arrival. I love you so much and I can't wait for you to be here!

Love, Dad

Moving!

Well, this weekend was a wonderful, busy one...and quite the important one, since we spent both days moving into our new home! So yes, we are officially here and officially home owners. What a happy, exciting time. I'm so thankful it all worked out, and just overjoyed with everything. It's still surreal. I had no time to blog all weekend, and besides we had no internet but I have to say how much I enjoyed just focusing on my family and our huge task at hand, rather than being online for any amount of time. Even though I am a obviously a huge of the whole internet world, I also really like taking breaks from it and I think its necessary in order to keep enjoying it. Besides, the "real world" is so much more fun! But anyway, my parents and sister came up for the weekend and helped us pack and move into our new place, get our old place cleaned and in order, and just overall were the biggest help in the entire world. I'm so thankful for them.




I am currently typing this from new family room and like I mentioned above it's truly surreal to be here, getting settled into our HOME! We've been busier than ever these past few days getting everything done, from our appliances getting delivered, furniture, utilities, you name it. Hank and my Dad also spent some time starting to put together some of Henry's baby furniture. It's crazy to go into his bedroom and just think about the fact that he is going to be here so soon, in that room, in that crib, using that changing table, having clothes in that closet. Madeline is also loving having all of this space and she runs from bedroom to bedroom exploring and re-exploring. It makes me happy to see her so happy!

I will be back tomorrow with Tattoo Tuesday, but I wanted to make a quick update before I head to sleep. Goodnight!

Happy Sunday!

What a weekend. I feel like I got a lot accomplished, which is wonderful, but the moment I stepped foot inside our house I kind of melted into the couch and this is where I've been for the past thirty minutes. I should make myself some dinner, I should put away some of the non-perishable groceries sitting there in the bag, and I should be getting ready for Hank and my evening walk...but it's so much nicer to just sit here and kind of zone out for a bit. I snapped that picture really quickly driving home (at a red light, mind you!). You can kind of see my new hair color, which is a shade of red! Rhonda did an amazing job as always and I had a blast hanging out with her on Saturday AND seeing Melissa! Double awesome. I also got to spend great quality time with my family this weekend and they definitely were troopers as we shopped 'til we dropped. Exhaustion aside, we did get all of the nursery's furniture ordered! This is a relief to me and I'm looking forward to getting the room done in the next few weeks. Oh, and if you're curious about the slight chaos going on behind me in the photo, my car is filled up with some goodies from IKEA, part of our new bedroom furniture, and lots of other random things I grabbed from my parents' house. We move into our new place in about 10 days, so we are starting to get everything together and ready for that. I can't even tell you how excited I am be moving out of this small (but still wonderful) apartment and into our first home, which is has a million times more space. We won't even know what to do with ourselves, and I am happily anticipating having lots of houseguests to occupy our guest rooms! Who's coming to visit? ;)

Today I also got to meet my dear friend Erin's baby boy Kyler, along with Shirley. He is so precious and tiny, and it was amazing to look at him and think that our little Henry will be here so soon, and it will be him that I am holding! The girls and I had a great afternoon catching up over lunch and listening to Erin tell us all about her birthing experience. She's one honest gal, so I learned a LOT- and this makes me really happy. Tomorrow is our first birthing class and I'm looking forward to it, but it's always good to get the real deal from a friend.


This weekend Hank was also super busy up here in Prescott. One of his bands had a show Friday night, and then yesterday he played in a golf tournament. He didn't win but did really well, which is awesome. I love that he's so into sports and I can't wait for our little guy to maybe be the same way! Growing up my parents were always at our dance practices, recitals, gymnastics, early morning soccer games, practices, you name it. I'm excited to do the same- I'm just really curious to see what he is into. I know that's a long way away, but it's fun to imagine what Henry will be like. If he's anything like his Dad I'm sure he'll pick up skateboarding pretty early and probably play some basketball and football too, but we'll see! I don't care if he wants to tap dance! I will be there, with bells on.

I'm looking forward to this week for a couple of reasons: one, our birthing classes begin as I mentioned earlier. Two, the Peters family is coming up for dinner one night, and three, the weather is starting to the get nice and fall-like, with the temperatures in the 50s at night. I love it so much and I can't wait to do some Halloween decorating.

I hope all of you have a fantastic week ahead.

Soundtrack to happy

We all have those songs in our lives, the songs that when we hear them, they take us back to a really wonderful, happy time. Music is powerful. Some of my most vivid memories are attached to different songs, and different times of my life can be recollected when I hear certain albums. Recently I was driving in the car, listening to my ipod on shuffle, when a particular song came on that I hadn't heard in some time, "Everything Must Go" by the Weakerthans. Immediately I was brought back to 2004, and waking up at Hank's house, that song being the alarm tone on his phone every morning. Hearing it made me feel like I was right there, waiting for the leaves to turn orange and red and yellow up in Prescott, laying together for hours, being young, and getting to know everything about one another in a time that really was the very beginning of us. This song reminds me of Hank, it reminds me of the fall, and it reminds me of the two or three days I would spend with him at a time, as we ventured into long-distance relationship territory during that autumn. When I hear it I feel inspired, I feel so very alive, and it truly makes my heart skip a small beat to think about what a wonderful, naive, and blissful time that was. Young love.



Almost exactly a year later we moved in together to our first place, and August fell away on the calendar as September arrived with an autumn chill. We celebrated our first anniversary, one year together during that month. Unfortunately I was incredibly sick, to point of not being able to leave the house and go on the romantic date Hank had planned for us to celebrate the occasion. I was stuffy, my stomach hurt, and I was experiencing the tail-end of a bad flu. I remember feeling beyond disappointed and let down. This wonderful man, who I'd spent the last year of my life falling in love with, had tried to plan this beautiful evening, and all I could do was sit on the couch in my pajamas and try to muster up the strength to do just about anything. I was so sad, and as the night progressed I only became sadder. It must have been 11 o'clock pm when Hank suddenly got up from our little nest and plugged in his ipod. All of a sudden Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender" came on the speakers, and Hank reached for my hand. There, in our 1905 shoebox of an apartment, the streetlight illuminating us through the window while the wood floors creaked beneath our feet, we had our first dance to that beautiful song, to celebrate a most wonderful year. Three years later I'd hear that song again, when we shared our next "first" dance at our wedding. To this day, no matter how many time I hear it played, I still get the chills thinking back to all of the memories tied to it.



Do you have any "special" songs that remind you of a wonderful time? If you're inspired, post about it on your blog, and share the link here, or just add a comment telling us what song strikes a chord in your heart. I'd love to know!

Love,
Danielle

Hank's Coconut Curry

Fortunately not only do I love to cook, but Hank does too. When he gets into chef mode he's the most adorable thing in the world and he almost always makes up his recipes as he goes. In fact, when he and his friends get together, they most often "cook it up," as they call it, and make some amazing dishes. This one in particular is adapted from his friend Matt's curry that he made at our house a couple of weeks ago. Hank went off memory so I don't have much of a formal recipe to share as far as amounts of spice, etc, but it turned out absolutely delicious and I thought I would include the process he used (thank you Hank!).

For this recipe, you'll need the following:

1 can of coconut milk (I insisted that Hank use light coconut milk, but regular would be SO much better for a curry, since it thickens up a lot more)
veggies of your choice- we used broccoli, onions, and carrots
minced garlic
curry powder
generic "Thai" spice blend
chili paste
sea salt
1 block of extra firm tofu
brown rice (or quinoa)

1) Add the entire can of coconut milk to a wok.
2) Add about 2 tbsp minced garlic to the milk (we LOVE garlic so we go overboard, but do this to your liking).
3) Add about half of a chopped onion (also add amount according to taste).
4) Bring to a boil.
5) Add everything else (chopped broccoli, carrots, other veggies, and drained/cubed tofu, spices- all amounts of spice are to your taste, we add tons).
6) Boil it for awhile until veggies become tender- the longer you do this, the longer the tofu will have a chance to soak up the flavor.
7) While this is cooking make some brown rice.
8) Curry should thicken up during cooking time- light coconut milk will be more watery.

And done! You have a quick, healthy meal. I really enjoyed it and I hope you do too!

San Diego Comic Con 2010

This weekend Hank and I are enjoying some time in San Diego at Comic Convention! Neither Hank or I are into comics, and in fact I'm not really into anything that's at the convention per say, but it's still fun to go walk around, check out the booths, and people watch! Plus, Hank is so, so happy to be here so it makes me ecstatic to see him so happy. He's a big vinyl toy collector (see super7store.com and click on toys if you're curious) so this is a fun week for him, and I think it's the 4th year we've been here. Regardless of the convention, it's nice to catch up with friends we don't usually get to see, like Scott and Alex, and it's always a really, really good time.

Photos can tell a better story than I can at this point (I'm EXHAUSTED), so I'll let them do the talking. If you're curious about what exactly Comic Con is all about from Hank's point of view, you can always check out his extensively and continuously updated Flickr account by clicking here. I'll be back tomorrow with my weekly pregnancy update...this belly is growing by the day!

First things first! We had to make a Trader Joe's run to stock our room up with healthy snacks for the week. This is SUCH a good thing to do when traveling and definitely a habit for us. Rather than starting our day off in a bad way with a quick, unhealthy breakfast somewhere I/we just grab a bar or fiber cake and some fruit on our way out the door. Saves money and gives you a great beginning to your day! It's also nice to have things to munch on during downtime.


en route to the convention via the shuttle (this year we got screwed with the SDCC hotel reservation system and didn't get our normal downtown, fabulous hotel...ugh).


inside SDCC












delicious lunch with my handsome (tired) date- I forget the name of the restaurant but Hank got the most delicious caprese panini!


Pinkberry is my FAVORITE frozen yogurt ever.


For dinner Hank, Alex and I went to Sipz (veg restaurant) and it was great! Alex surprised us with some delicious macaroons. So, so good. Here's the strawberry cheesecake one.

Mid-week mini-vacation!

Hank and I just returned from a nice trip to Lake Powell to spend a few days on the houseboat! It was a super relaxing, wonderful time as always...and it was awesome to get some family time in and some sun too. It's hard to believe that this time next year we'll have our little guy in tow with us when we head up there. Really puts things into perspective. I wasn't great with my camera all weekend, and a lot of my photos didn't turn out very well, but here are a few of them, via my Canon and my iphone. If you're curious, I'm using the shakeitphoto app, which I love. And as always, you can click on any of the photos to view them larger in Flickr.

heading through Flagstaff


nap and a WIN!




breakfast on the houseboat...looks good, huh?!




getting ready to take the smaller boat out...beautiful sunset


view from our slip- so pretty even docked


heading out on a day trip






I love the way this looks.