Valentine's Madness!

Since it was our first Valentine's Day as a married couple, Hubby and I decided to do a few things for each other. We said we'd buy each other a card, as well as make each other a card. We also said we'd cook for each other. I made Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls on Friday night, and baked them Saturday morning. So. GOOD. I also made Giada de Laurentiis' Mini Mascarpone Cupcakes with Strawberry Glaze. These were so fun and easy to make! She uses cake mix in a box (which sort of felt like cheating, but I was grateful for the break from making things from scratch), but adds a couple of things to make them work. We used our mini muffin tins to make them, and I wanted to have mini cupcake papers too, but couldn't find any. We also had cheese fondue (we kind of cheated and got an "instant" kind from Trader Joe's) with mushrooms, red and yellow bell peppers, broccoli, and bread for lunch, and to go light for dinner, we had a roasted beet and greens salad with goat cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette. We were going to have veal madeira (Hubby's idea), but postponed that to the next day so we wouldn't be stuffed (which we were anyway).

We watched romantic movies (Princess Bride, Hope Floats, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Umbrellas of Cherbourg), and enjoyed each other's company. When we opened each other's cards, I was really hoping that he'd like the one I did for him, since I worked really hard on it, and had put a lot of thought into it. I'd gotten papers and a stamp at Impress, and glued them together to make a card, and used the stamp, and I think it turned out really well. Juan said he was really impressed, and I was really proud of myself for being so crafty. :) It really got my creativity going, and I may have to invest more later in stamps and stuff to make homemade cards. :) Maybe that will be another hobby of mine, along with my non-existent knitting that I'm also doing.

Anyway, it was a great Valentine's Day! And in case you didn't know, I have the best husband ever. :)

Who's ready for LOST?!

I AM!!! I'm so excited for this season to finally start! It feels like forever since I've seen a new episode! Oh wait, it has been forever. Anyway, Hubby and I have tried to catch up, but watching 5 seasons of Lost in 2 weeks doesn't really work, especially with us needing to sleep and all. We're about halfway through Season 1 right now, so I doubt we'll make it. LOL But we're definitely going to watch 3 certain episodes tonight before the season premiere: The Constant (the Desmond/Faraday episode with all the time jumping), the season 5 finale, and I can't remember what other one we're supposed to watch. Hubby knows that one, I'll have to check later. Either way, we're going to be completely overwhelmed with Lost! :)

I hope Damon and Carlton (the writers/producers) are able to really pull out all the stops for us this season, especially since it's the last! Having watched a lot of the first season again, there are a lot of questions that I want answered that still haven't been answered! Most notably, the skeletons in the caves, Adam and Eve. I'm wondering if it'll be Jack and Kate, or Sun and Jin, or... well, anyone we already know. I'm sure there are other pressing questions (like the whole four-toed statue, the man in black/Jacob thing, etc), but for now that's all I can think of.

Happy Lost watching! :)

Biggest Loser Pound for Pound Challenge

If you haven't heard about the NBC reality series The Biggest Loser by now, you've probably been living under a rock. Basically, teams of morbidly obese people come to the "ranch", and work out for 6-8 hours a day, complete challenges, weigh in weekly, and are given tools to help them lose weight quickly. Drama ensues, they tape it for our entertainment. Magic happens over the course of about 2 months, and voila, formerly obese people turn into healthy, fit people. Of course, I'm exaggerating; it's not magic. It's hard work, sweat, and determination, combined with help from fitness trainers Bob and Jillian. Where do I fit into all of that?

I work for a hospital satellite clinic in Sammamish, Washington. Recently, everyone at work agreed to do the Biggest Loser Pound for Pound Challenge. Basically, we all vow to lose a certain amount of weight over the course of a couple of months (kinda like the show), and for every pound we lose, a pound of food is donated to our local food bank. Kind of a win-win, right? Well, I've lost about 10 pounds so far (by my calculations; for the challenge, it's more like 4 pounds). Which is great! It's keeping me motivated to see the numbers on the scale go down, and feel that my clothes are fitting better, and looking better on me. Anyway, one of my coworkers (our biggest cheerleader) emailed TBL, and they decided that they're so impressed with us that they're going to come tape us for a one-minute segment to be aired on the show!! Holy cow, I never thought I'd ever be on national television, let alone for losing weight, so this is amazing! They'll be here in late February, and it probably won't air for a while after that, but I'll let you guys know when it happens. I'm gonna be on TV!! :)