Welcome, February!

Geez, is it already the second month of 2010?? Have I really been in school for 3 weeks now?? Crazy, crazy. This past week has been RAINY and GLOOMY.... I learned in college that my mood can be very affected by the weather and rainy, cloudy, gloomy weather makes for a rainy, cloudy, and gloomy mood. I recently emailed my grandparents and told them that this blog is a good way for me to reflect on all of the good that happens in my life, because so many things are really wonderful. I have nothing to complain about :-)

So, let the reflecting begin!

Last weekend was a hobby weekend for Scott and I, which is always so fun! I started and finished my mom's birthday gift (pictures to come after this weekend! I can't reveal the secret, as she reads this blog.) For Valentine's Day, Scott and I have decided to give each other homemade gifts. Love has many attributes that make it work well and commitment is one of them! Creating a one-of-a-kind gift certainly takes some commitment, so what better way to demonstrate love? :-) Scott has long been promising me an easel for me to do my artwork on and he has decided to tackle that project for my Valentine's gift! We went to this really big, awesome lumber yard in a neighborhood called "The Heights" and picked out some beautiful White Oak for the easel. Scott's design is really neat; pictures will be posted along the way!

Scott has been commenting on how he needs more wool socks (he owns three pairs and wears them several times weekly) so, I decided to take on knitting him a new pair of wool socks for his gift. Now, I have never knitted a pair of socks and thus did not know that you need FIVE knitting needles used SIMULTANEOUSLY to do this! Ahhh!

I went to this very cute knitting store here in Montrose called "Knitting In the Loop" and three very sweet ladies helped me understand what materials I needed and offered some guidance. I am about 1/4 of the way through ONE sock..... they will get finished at some point..... 'til a very tedious task!

So, Scott and I along with about 6 friends come together on Sunday nights and eat soup and watch a documentary. We have dubbed the evening "Soup Group" and I'm pretty sure I've blogged about it before.... maybe? Well, we realized that we have hardly taken ANY pictures of this so here are few from last week:

This weekend, we FINALLY went and saw Avatar at the IMAX 3D! Wow, special effects were awesome! Story-line..... pretty average. It wasn't your typical 3D movie; nothing actually jumped out at you, it was more like you were in the atmosphere with the characters. Very nauseating for the first 30 min., but you get used to it.

Hmmm.... Does anyone look good in 3D glasses?? My Huddleston-inherited small head certainly does NOT.

After the movie, we went to our friend Christina's birthday party at a somewhat underground, you-only-know-its-there-if-you've-been-before, sophisticated bar called "Absinthe". I had a very tasty Godiva Chocolate Martini and Scott gulped up a beer.

Some of you may know that I try to not eat sweets until the weekend because my sweet tooth just cannot be tamed if I get it goin'! But, because of this, I tend to go a little sweets crazy on the weekends.... For example: I made some cupcakes that are a chocolate chip cookie on the bottom, cheesecake in the middle, and whipped cream on top with chocolate chip sprinkles. AS IF that wasn't enough, on Friday night I had one cupcake with a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream.... wow! SWEETS HEAVEN!! Good thing I don't do this every night....

Saturday morning, Scott and I went for a run and much to my dismay, it was only 34 degrees outside!!! BRRRR......!! And SO, SO windy!! Scott was determined to go, though, so I bundled up and made this face to get me prepped for beating the weather!

We went for about 20 min., which was all I could stand. It was FREEZING. I haven't run that slow in a while, but I was just too cold to go any faster!

For dinner on Saturday, I made some VERY YUMMY Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes! He and I were both craving pancakes and my recent obsession with oats pushed me to create these tasty-cakes! They were very filling, but so satisfying!

Here is the recipe:

-1 cup of whole wheat or plain pancake mix

-1/2 cup of rolled oats

-2 tsp. cinnamon

-1 egg

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1/2 to 3/4 cup of milk (depends on how runny you like your mix!)

-1 apple, chopped into bit-size piece

Directions:

-Preheat a skillet on medium heat (not too hot or else the pancakes will cook faster on the outside and you will be left with gooey, nasty centers!)

-Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl

-Combine wet ingredients in a liquid measuring cup (or small bowl)

-Slowly add wet ingredients to the dry, stirring with a fork as you pour to avoid clumps

-Stir in apples

-Using a 1/3 c. measuring cup, scoop the batter and pour onto the skillet

-Cook the pancakes to partial doneness, flip, and finish cooking until centers are done

-Put a slab-o-butter on top, douse in maple syrup, and eat, eat, eat!

Let me know if you try these and tell me what you think!

Well, we are an hour late, but it is time to start watching the SUPER BOWL! Go SAINTS!!!

Much love.