HOMAGE

I like to think that Tyler and I have pretty great taste; we've made it a goal to have a slight homage in our house, one way or another, to all the nerdy things we're into. (Parks & Rec, facial hair, LOST, Spongebob, Robots, etc.) A couple of months ago we came across a kick-starter project that one of my new favorite illustrators was participating in. He was offering nerdy Nintendo prints exclusively through this kick-starter for thenerdybomb.com—we just couldn't pass them up. It was a bit of a larger package, but it came with great perks: they threw in an extra print of Nintendo villains at the last minute and we got to choose two magnet/button packs. We now have homages to Harry Potter and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Aren't they so cute? We got them in the mail over the weekend and we had plum forgot about them because it has been so long. One day I'll blog about our Nintendo prints… that is, when we have wall space to tack them up.

NEVER TOO OLD

Conference Sunday tradition is to wake up and enjoy the first session of General Conference at home and then go to Grandma and Grandpa Duncan's house for lunch and proceed to watch the second session together. We arrived to find my uncle Dale and his family, Nikki and Spencer, and my aunt Kaylynne and uncle Don. I brought a salad and Aubrey brought cake pops; my grandma had never had one before and she was quite intrigued. This was the first time we spent Conference Sunday without my Grandpa Duncan. It was a bit strange; in years past he would always ask us what our thoughts were on what had been said by the leaders of our church. Then he would go on to give such a profound insight on an overall theme he had observed and blow your mind with his wisdom. When we first arrived, I was in the entryway with my grandma and she pointed to a photograph on her buffet and said, "This is what I think he looks like right now." It was an old black and white photograph of my grandpa in his late 20's looking as handsome as ever. I turned to her with a smile to see her eyes welled up with tears. We embraced, crying, and both expressed how much we miss him; she is a wonderfully strong woman and I am proud to be a descendant of this beautiful 92-year-old.

BOBA LOVE

Conference was amazing today; we missed part of it because Tyler had a group meeting in the morning for school and I overslept. We did watch the second session while making waffles (a B&T tradition), and since we aren't eating chocolate, we put vanilla pudding and strawberries on them—a new favorite for sure. In the evening we went over to Lynchland for a quick meal of spaghetti and meatballs before the men were off to the priesthood session. Nicole didn't have to work for once, so the girls went out for a treat: Yogurt Stop on Highland Drive by Ream's—best. place. ever. Like many other places, they had frozen yogurt and ice cream and you could pick your mix-ins, but the thing that floored me was that they have boba drinks. I haven't had one of these since we were in Cabramatta and Tyler took me to Happy Cup. Suzanne was so kind to treat me with this drink and I am still reeling that we have boba drinks here (apparently Ocean Mart in Sandy has them too; what?!) right in my very own backyard. After the session the boys went to the traditional B&D Burger for fries and shakes and took my dad along with them. Tyler got a blueberry cheesecake shake and brought some home to share. When the men arrived at Lynchland, we girls were hard at work getting Nicole's quilt ready to be pieced together. Quilting is fun, but it sure involves a lot of math—boo.

BRAGGING

Tonight was Tyler's mission reunion up in Salt Lake City. His mission president and his wife were gone last year, living back in Australia, and ended up having a sort of impromptu reunion while I was in Nashville that summer, so I haven't seen them since our wedding. It was so good to see them; I love talking to them and hearing their praises of Tyler and what an amazing missionary and assistant he was. On more than one occasion both President Scruggs and Sister Scruggs, separately, pulled me aside and told me an instance in which they relied on/admired Tyler while he was out in the field. Both tonight and the first time I met him, President Scruggs told me that Tyler was his favorite missionary, even though he's not supposed to have favorites. I just beam with gladness at what a catch I've snagged to spend the rest of time with. Also, tonight Sister Scruggs made the most amazing chocolate cookies (according to everyone that walked into the kitchen), so we snatched up two to put into our freezer to enjoy come November.

MEAT PIE

One of the greatest things we brought back with us from Australia, among all the candy, sweets, and souvenirs, is a recipe for meat pie. Shaunee made a meat pie while we were there and it was absolutely to die for. I honestly couldn't stop talking about it. I insisted she give us the recipe and to my delight there wasn't much to it. When we got back, during one of our many grocery store trips we bought the supplies to make a delicious meat pie. Tonight I decided that since we can't have all that lovely chocolate we brought back from Australia, why not put all that Aussie barbecue sauce we brought back to good use? I surprised Tyler tonight by making my first meat pie (of many I'm sure). It turned out amazing and it's safe to say that we aren't really missing chocolate tonight.

Aussie Meat Pie:
1 lb. ground beef
1 bag frozen vegetables (I just used peas in this one)
Ketchup
Australian barbecue sauce (or just American will do, I guess)
Garlic Powder
Oregano
Basil
Italian Herbs
2 sheets puff pastry

Brown ground beef and drain grease. Add frozen vegetables and heat on medium until cooked. Add ketchup and barbecue sauce until it reaches a sloppy joe consistency. Add spices to your liking. Roll out puff pastry sheets to fit your pan (you can use a 9x13 cooking pan). Place one sheet on the bottom of the pan and add meat mixture. Place second sheet on top of mixture and fold the two sheets together along the edges. Cut a center slit for heat release. Bake* in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes.

*This was a little bit of a trial and error. I kept checking it every once in a while and I think I ended up turning it up a bit towards the end. Next time I make this, I'll have to keep better track of the time and temp.

BLACK AND WHITE

Today in celebration for one of our co-workers we dressed all in white, wore white leis and had white decorations. The joke was that she is married to an ethnic man and between her white family, white dogs and white cats, he always says he's surrounded by white. She definitely got a kick out of it when she walked in and saw the decorations. By lunchtime I was feeling quite queasy and decided to stay behind from the birthday lunch (even smells were getting to me). By mid-afternoon I couldn't take it and decided to work the rest of the day from home. Day one of Choctober is done and it was harder than we thought: Tyler usually eats chocolatey cereal in the morning, grabs a granola bar for the road (which has chocolate in it) and when he is feeling like he needs a push at work to get him through, he has a cup of hot cocoa. Dear me. Also, once my co-workers got back from lunch, Caroline brought me back a mint chocolate brownie (my absolute favorite) unaware of my upset stomach. On my way home I dropped of the brownie to my parents' house with a note to my dad saying happy early birthday.

CUCKOO FOR COCOA

This morning I woke up to an impromptu invitation to a dinner with the girls tonight at Texas Roadhouse after work. It was instigated by Stephanie with other invites extended to Mandy, Megan, and Becca. I hesitated to go because Tyler and I have made a pact that we would not spend money on eating out until 2014. I ended up going, since just because I'm not eating doesn't mean I can't enjoy the company and the free bread and water. I showed up after an optometrist appointment nearby and ended up still beating everyone. Megan didn't end up coming, but the company was still great. Stephanie was so kind to offer part of her gift card to pay for a meal for me. I ate the sides but saved half of my pulled pork to share with Tyler. At home I got straight to work on turning the pork into a delightful pulled pork sourdough sandwich with sweet potato fries. Tonight while we (he) dined we read something on the internet about not eating chocolate for the whole month of October… Choctober. We decided, for some reason, to give it a try. No chocolate and no eating out? Tyler and I are in for some real self discipline.