A New Beginning March 26, 2008

Happy Easter!  Adam and I had a whirlwind Easter this year, going to church and brunch with my family, then heading up to Sherman to visit his family right after brunch.  It was alot of fun, ALL the food was amazing, but I have to say – for the first time in a while, I got something I could take home from church.  The sermon was all about new beginnings, and I found it so appropriate that Adam and I were there to listen. 

Adam resigned from his current position on Friday. It’s been a while coming, he didn’t enjoy his job, and nobody should have to dread going into work everyday. He felt uncomfortable and always stressed out.  For me, this new chapter in our life is exciting.  It’s going to be difficult, but in the end, it will be well worth it.  Adam is finally making the leap to go back to school. We’ve talked about it and talked about it, but finally, we’re doing something about it.  This means lots of sacrifices, possibly moving, more staying home and alot more eating ramen noodles!!

 He’s accepted a job working for an insurance company, conducting the necessary medical exams when people try to obtain life and health insurance. It’s going to be alot of driving and some crazy hours, but he’ll have time to study and go to class. 

Listening to Blake at church really hit home, it is a new beginning for us, and it made me realize that hope is the best blessing we have.  That we can thrive on hope and love for a long time, and that is exactly what we are going to do.

Happy Easter!

The Ickness March 24, 2008

I’ve been “under the weather” since about the middle of last week.  I’m sure going to my friend Emily’s wedding and drinking and having fun all weekend didn’t help the ick-ness very well.  First it was a cold, now it’s turned into something throaty that makes me sound as if I’m dying a slow death.  It’s very attractive for Adam to hear, I’m sure.  The wedding was fun, overall a good weekend, but in the midst of all Adam and my stress, I assumed that I would have a good weekend without him.  It just proves that when you marry your best friend – you miss them!  Every single night I would say to myself, Adam would have such a good time here, or gosh, I wish Adam was here to see these Austin sunsets with me!  It’s kinda funny.  I did have a great weekend, besides me getting worse and temporarily losing my voice completely due to “ick” buildup or whatever other gross stuff happens to throats; but I do wish Adam was with me to experience all the crazy wedding madness. 

I did get THE BEST hairdo of my life.  I think it might have even been better than my wedding day.  It looked amazing, and for only 40 bucks! pretty surprising considering the girl who did it was a complete stranger. 

It was alot of fun to get my makeup and hair done again.  It’s like you’re a princess.  Or in my case, a gross customer who needs to stop and drink water every 3.5 minutes so she doesn’t cough all over you.

And now, I’m getting ready to work, secretly hoping that I will get there and sound horrible enough to be sent home.  What are THOSE chances! Ha!

One of the funniest videos I’ve seen in a while February 23, 2008

I might be way behind the times according to YouTube, but my husband and I watched “The Landlord” last night and we were cracking up. “Good Copy, Baby Cop is another funny one.” Will Ferrell is a genius.

The Landlord on FunnyOrDie.com

Good Cop, Baby Cop on FunnyOrDie.com

Dogs that yap February 23, 2008

I never thought I’d like little dogs. They yap and yap. But, as you have probably seen, I have two! One is my step-child, the other is my own. They are semi-well behaved, at least they have good intentions most of the time.  With that being said, my neighbor has the most annoying dog I’ve ever come into contact with.  I think it’s entire goal in life is to go outside and bark.  Because we have these adorable backyards with patio areas, our patio faces the neighbor’s patio. Their dog will go outside, stick it’s head between the iron gate and just stare at our yard and bark, telling our dogs to come outside and bark with him.  It is so frustrating. 

Now, when I let my dogs outside, I have to stand by the door with my head sticking out like a turtle to tell my dogs “leave it” or “hush” because they both go outside ready to defend their territory.  That’s fine, that’s definitely not the worse of it.

In the middle of the night, at 6am, at 2pm, at 7pm, the dog is barking.  I’m not one to tell the office on someone, and I have a feeling that if I go over there and kindly say something, I will kindly have a nice scratch down my new prestine car (or it used to be prestine until somebody hit it in a parking lot then drove off while I was enjoying a movie last week). SO, what to do.  Leave an anonymous note?  The owners are home at random times during the day, and with my luck these days, I would be walking up to the door and put the note on their door, turn around, and the Scottish neighbor would be getting out of his truck looking at me. Maybe I should put a note in their mailbox. At least then I could pretend to be getting my own mail.  OR, even better, I could just let my dogs outside and let them bark and bark and bark at all hours until THEY get annoyed and then maybe they will learn their own lesson. Actually, I think I’m going to bring my parent’s dog, Konrad, over. He LOVES little dogs. He loves them so much that he will get jump towards them and bark at them non-stop until you are embarrassed and have to leave the dog park. He means no harm, I think he is a confused young man who is fascinated by animals smaller than him.  Meet Konrad.

 This is why I want a house. My faux-house-apartment doesn’t cater to the annoying neighbor dogs. Or the neighbors who have children that throw tree bark in your backyard.

Lucy a.k.a. Lucifer February 22, 2008

We have a cat. Her name is Lucy. We named her Lucy because she’s a pure black kitten and it’s short for Lucifer, yes, Lucifer. And lately, she deserves that name.  I think we should have named her SILENCE instead, but that’s just me. She loves to be pet and adored all day long. She’s quite a lovely cat. She has never bit or scratched us with mean intentions. With that being said, she is THE MOST ANNOYING ANIMAL at 5am. All night long she attempts to get between us in bed and knead her sharp little claws into your arm or side. It hurts. ALOT. We clip her claws pretty regularly and she is now terrified of Adam, as when she gets on the bed he yells, “Kitty, GET!” and slaps the covers with his hand. She will jump on the bed and just look at him… waiting for him to yell. But, she still tries. I’ve even gone to the effort of putting a cat bed on our bedside table, but still.. she tries all night long. 

Because of this little 5 lb monster, we didn’t sleep last night. I appreciate her loving nature and the fact that she doesn’t bite us (because some cats are MEAN), but I don’t appreciate not getting any sleep, then, at 7am she starts this horrible howling/meowing/crying because she’s hungry. She will meow at the top of her lungs as if I didn’t hear her the first time.  We need a kitten intervention.

Ironic February 21, 2008

Ironic is how my week has been. Isn’t it funny that after nearly 5 months of unemployment, interviewing, applying, follow-up calls, and now in 1 week I have 4 interviews with 4 different companies. When it rains it pours is the expression…. it’s hailing. I can’t believe it. I have had a major emotional battle, feeling worthless, feeling depressed, feeling unwanted, and now… I’m getting phone calls. It’s like all the companies at the same time approved their budgets and approved positions. Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely grateful for this fantastic opportunity, but come on! Why couldn’t it have been a month ago, two months ago? I’m excited about my opportunities ahead, what my future brings, and hopefully my ability to make the best decision for my career and my family. My own irony has finally turned into my fortune, I guess that’s the best kind.

A hallmark holiday, 2008 February 21, 2008

This year, “we” decided to just make each other dinner and save some money.  I say “we” because I always have a secret plan to surprise Adam.  He hates surprises, but who cares, it’s fun!  I made him an awesome basket full of tons of goodies, then dropped it off at his office.  I thought I was being so sneaky, he had no idea I was delivering something… so I snuck into the building as quickly as I can… and OF COURSE! He was in a meeting next to the front desk and saw everything. But, it was still fun. All his friends loved the cookies and cupcakes so it was worth it.

Anyway, the dinner.  I really wanted to use our china for the 1st time.. it was a blast setting up the dining room for the 1st time with a table runner and pretty glasses and candles.  We usually just sit on the sofa and watch our favorite shows together during dinner, it was nice to sit at the table and enjoy each other.  Below is a picture of our table.

Adam and I love sushi, and we received a sushi kit from our wedding registry – by far, the perfect gift.  Adam made sushi for me for Valentine’s Day – it was awesome.  We like using the sushi-grade salmon and tuna from Central Market, but if you’re on a budget – you can use smoked salmon as an alternative – it’s still great!  It’s much more easily accessible and tastes amazing. Homemade sushi is just awesome.  Below are images of Adam making sushi earlier in the year.

Since we only made 2 rolls, I decided to make a shrimp pasta dish – which is SUPER easy and awesome. By far, the best white sauce I’ve made.  The recipe is from Kraft Foods – here is what it is:  Shrimp-In-Love Pasta (cheesy name huh!)

4 oz. linguine, uncooked

1 cup  cleaned medium fresh shrimp

2 medium tomatoes, chopped (about 1 cup)

1/2 cup  PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese Spread

1-1/2 cups torn cleaned spinach

COOK linguine as directed on package.MEANWHILE, heat large skillet on medium-high heat. Add shrimp, tomatoes and cream cheese spread; cook and stir 3 to 4 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through and mixture is well blended.DRAIN pasta; place in large bowl. Add spinach; toss lightly. Stir in shrimp mixture.How easy is that!  We finished the meal with a little chocolate fondue – we used Ghiradelli milk chocolate, Nutella and cashew butter. It was so smooth and tasty. We didn’t even make it through a movie after that – we just went to bed!It was a great first Valentine’s for the Quintana fam…

And It Begins February 20, 2008

Hey everyone!  I wanted to start a weblog so Adam and I can keep everyone updated on what’s going on in our lives!  We had a crazy 2007 with our engagement and wedding (and about a dozen friends’ weddings) and we are ready for a relaxing and successful 2008. So far, a relaxing year hasn’t happened, but hopefully success will be in the near future!  I started my own business and I’m starting a new full-time career. Adam’s working hard in his career and going to start back in school again. Check our page regularly for our updates!