New Traditions

I have never been much for Halloween.  Never really got into the costumes, going out, or doing much of anything.  I would usually stay in doors during the "holiday" and didn't participate in any festivities put on by friends.  This year has been something different.  While I am on duty for the weekend and can't go to the Halloween party one of my friends is putting on, my friend Veronica and I decided that we would do some pumpkin carving. Prior to this, as you can imagine I had never carved pumpkins so I thought it would be fun.  While I did have to respond to a situation while everyone else carved  away when I got back I made my pumpkin.  I had a great time doing it and I think it'll be something that I do every year.  Who knows maybe next year I will wear a costume! The pic above is a picture of all of the pumpkins we carved ! Happy Halloween!!

 Veronica and Jay the lovely couple we carved pumpkins with 

Me and RSlo 

Hair

So I have never been too attached to my hair, in fact I am usually really annoyed with it. I always kid around about chopping it all off. Last Friday I stopped joking and actually decided to hack it off. It wasn't sentimental, I didn't cry as I watched my hair stylist take the scissors to my hair, I wasn't interested in keeping the cut strands of hair (although my hair was way too short to donate), and I definitely didn't regret my decision. Quite the opposite, I love my new hair do. It's different yet I still have styling options and most of all it won't take me hours to do my hair. It's always fun to change it up and try a new hairstyle, and I have gotten good reviews from everyone I know. I like taking risks with my hair and not getting bored, who knows what I will do next!
Not the best picture, but once I take better one's I will post!

Turning 25....

And I am going to Disneyland!!! It's my bday gift from RSlo and boy am I excited! I have never been to Disneyland California, and they have this great deal that you can go for free on your birthday. We're taking off two days of work and driving down to Anaheim, I originally wasn't excited for this year's bday because I didn't have any plans, but now I get to celebrate a quarter century in the happiest place on Earth!

I need an apron!

Now that things have settled down I am doing a lot more cooking which is exciting for me! I enjoy cooking for two and it cuts down on the amount leftovers I have. 

Friday Night:  I have done the usual stuff (pasta, baked chicken, etc) and I thought it was time to take on a bigger assignment: scallops.  I had the most amazing scallops on my vacation to Hawaii and something about seared scallops sounds like one of the most delicious things to eat.  I talked to RSlo about trying out a recipe and he was all for it.  We took our lunch break and headed to Pismo beach where we knew we could get the best scallops and we did, they were huge and expensive. For 17.99 a pound, I knew I needed to make sure that I did a good job on these suckers.  

The Verdict: The scallops were ok, I sauteed them pretty well however I wasn't in love with the butter taragon sauce I made to accompany them.  I still haven't found a fish recipe that has been really great so I am still on a search.  

Sunday afternoon: After the scallops and the lovely fishy stench that has lingered in my apartment, my next assignment was going to be a soup, butternut squash to be exact.  I had bought all of the ingredients last week but never got the time to make.  Sunday was a lounging day for me, and when RSlo threw out the idea of eating Hamburger Helper for dinner, I knew it was time to make my soup.  As I roasted the butternut squash, I had a feeling that this soup was going to make my Sunday night the best.  The smell of onions and garlic sauteing in the pot and created a  beautiful flavor and smell emanating from my kitchen made me feel like a genuine cook! 

The Verdict: I loved the soup! So much I kept burning my tongue trying to eat it.  There was a great creaminess to it that I think adding both butternut squash and sweet potatoes to the soup.  I loved it and I am excited to eat the rest of it throughout the week! 

I'm not getting any younger...

More and more I am hearing about so many of my female friends who are getting engaged.  I never paid any mind to hearing about engagement stories, learning about people I know who have gotten engaged, who wants to be engaged, how big (or small) was the ring, and on, and on, and on.  My freshman year roommate got engaged my junior year of college and for the life of me I couldn't fathom the idea of paying for a wedding, much less spending the rest of my life with one dude.  I would always kid around with my friends who were in serious relationships about whether or not their partner was "the one" and if they saw themselves getting married to that person (unfortunately for my GLBT friends the answer to that question has yet to be yes).  Because I myself wasn't in a relationship I never really thought about the meaning behind the questions I was asking.  

Fast forward about 4 years when I now am in my own serious relationship. I find myself feeling very unusual when asked whether I see myself marrying RSlo.  My go to answer (I have been asked so much, that I needed to formulate one) has been that RSlo and I have talked about it and we both aren't ready for it.  Don't get me wrong I am in no way prepared to be anyone's wife, partially because I am not all the way sure what it means.  But the more I am asked about marriage, the more I have to think about what whether marriage is something that I want, and in taking on a husband, does that I mean I also want children,  how will we figure out where we are going to settle down.  I am not getting any younger so some would say the time is now and if these are things I want I need to make them happen for myself.   I don't have any answers to any of these questions right not, all I pretty much know is that I am happy in what I have right now and the more I hear about others the more I will think about what my next steps are...