We're now Toyota people!

When the entire exhaust system fell off our car on Friday, we became even more convinced that it is time for a new car.

This morning we drove to Ithaca and purchased a 2003 Toyota Corolla from a PhD student attending Cornell.

Here are a few pics. What do you think?

Fry Party

Last night Ben and I were invited to a fry party. I was amazed by the menu for the event.

Fried Carrots
Fried Broccoli
Onion Rings
French Fries
Fried Buffalo Wings
Fried Cheese
Jalapeno Poppers
Fried Oreos
Fried Twinkies

All the food tasted great, but we both went home with stomach aches.

Our Trip to Maine

Orange Hair Anyone?

The other night I was having one of those "I hate my hair" days. As a result, I decided to dye my hair. Having never done it before I was a little nervous. I picked out a hair color that looked about right and Juliann helped me through the steps. It was fun to do but the results were a little shocking. When I finally took off the cap my hair was definitely a lovely shade of orange. Ben was so sweet. He just looked at me and said..."its cute." I think what he really meant to say was you look like a cartoon character. Thankfully Juliann gave me a wonderful hair cut that distracts somewhat from the color. In the future I think I'll be a little picker about the color I pick out!

Merry Christmas from New England

We decided to spend Christmas this year with my brother and his family in New Hampshire. We had a fabulous time with them and even got to help play Santa on Christmas Eve. I am now even more convinced that my niece and nephew(s) are some of the cutest people on the earth. Our last night with them we went and saw the Christmas lights at the Joseph Smith in Lebanon.

My newest favorite thing

Our good friends the Tolboe's just introduced us to the greatest product....Ziploc steam bags. They are totally awesome! In just 30 seconds you can perfectly steam fresh veggies.

I purchased a box of 10 bags (reusable) for about $2.50. That's what I call money well spent!

Penne Rustica

Last week Ben started studying for finals. Everyday since then he has been at his desk studying from as early as 8am to as late as 11pm. In fact, yesterday we went to the ward Christmas party and it was the first time he had been outside in over 48 hours. Watching him work so hard everyday makes me feel bad that I can't share the burden of studying with him (I finished my finals on Thursday). As a result, I told Ben on Thursday that I'll be in charge of all the cooking and cleaning until he finishes his exams.

Tonight for dinner I made Ben one of his favorite restaurant meals. It called Penne Rustica and its from Macaroni Grill. I found the recipe online and I was so excited after I made it to discover that it actually tasted like the real thing!!!!! Unfortunately I realized why it tastes so good....its full of about 100 grams of fat and 10,000 calories.