randoms

good food and friends tonight at our new place in five points. finally we are able to host people for meals which was impossible at the old apartment/dorm living. orange curry chicken with candied carrots was on the menu tonight using the crock pot.

i have short hair now and hate it at this length. 2 inches need to come off to make it look somewhat cute, but i don't know if i want to deal with the hassle to get back into the salon.

slowly, slowly we are getting up packed. living room/dining room and kitchen are clean and neat, now we need to move to the 2nd bedroom/walk-in closet. finding something to wear that isn't closest to the top of the bag... priceless.

big, ugly tv is now setup for our viewing pleasure. you can't help but notice that thing the moment you step into our house, like a big sign reading "we don't care much about ascetics in this house, we are just addicted to the tv, so the bigger, the better." yippee for technology in tv where slimmer is sexier.

one week in the new house and i'm getting use to the quirks of the light switch placement, the extremely small bathroom and the constant cold because of inefficient windows and doors. i could love a house like this... of course as i steadily upgraded the imperfection so i wasn't literally throwing money out the window. ah, but i get a brand new house in golden.

speaking of plans of our custom house in golden, you might ask how that is going? well it's not. we need some much needed help on the plans to get the ball rolling. dreams of being in the new house before christmas are sliding away with each week that passes.

i love my husband because money or the appearance of money isn't important to him. i love him because "good enough" just won't cut it, if he is going to deliver, it is going to be the best. i love my husband.

a perfect island

i'm much better at taking care of myself than being a good wife. let's face it, i love me! i'm pretty close to nearly always right so things should be done my way. and when someone (usually my husband) does it differently and it fails, i will remind said person of their error. the one flaw to this selfish life is that i need people. i need my husband to be around. i need friends who will talk about real life. i need my family who love me even though i'm a brat. so there is this constant tension of wanting to let people into this warped life and pushing them away so that i can have my way. most times the island wins, but very rarely a glimmer of hope shines out onto the people around me. more and more of others, less of me.

art for everyone

good art is in the eye of the beholder and if the beholder happens to be a little light in the pocketbook, well shame on them! or wait, maybe expensive does not necessarily mean good art. i believe art should be affordable and so does jen bekman who started 20x200. it's a website where you can purchase limited editions of art at $20 for a smaller piece. their motto is large editions + low prices x the internet = art for everyone. i learned about jen bekman from a ny times article.

seared tuna ahi with wasabi-butter sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 10 fluid ounces white wine
• 1/4 cup minced shallots
• 1 tablespoon wasabi paste, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cubed
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed
• 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 6 (6 ounce) fresh tuna steaks, 1 inch thick

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the white wine vinegar, white wine and shallots in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until the liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Strain out shallot and discard, return liquid to the pan.
2. Stir the wasabi and soy sauce into the reduction in the pan. Over low heat, gradually whisk in butter one cube at a time allowing the mixture to emulsify. Be careful not to let the mixture boil. When all of the butter has been incorporated, stir in cilantro, and remove from heat. Pour into a small bowl, and set aside.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brush tuna steaks with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place in the hot skillet, and sear for 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Be careful not to overcook, this fish should be served still a little pink in the center. Serve with sauce.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes

we made this wonderful sauce last night for our tuna steak (that i bought at my favorite grocery store, sunflower market), yummy! my new husband is a wizard in the kitchen as we had to substitute a few ingredients. the recipe is from All Recipes and there were only glowing reviews.

please can colorado caucus

i believe in doing my civic duty and voting. it is my honor and responsibility to vote because i live free in a great country that setup a checks and balance system, so the least i can do is make my voice heard with a vote. but yesterday was super tuesday where a few dozen states went to make their voice heard within their respective parties and i gave up on the colorado caucus. i had every intention to vote, i researched my precinct number and then the location of my precinct, got in the car with the new husband and drove to the precinct at 6:30pm. my precinct was at the auraria auditorium which is on auraria campus which is in downtown denver. auraria campus took this opportunity to charge all who were to vote $10 to park in their lot. well i turned my little car right around and left because why should i have to pay to vote because i live in a big city? other precinct were at schools with free parking lots. so we turned on the news at 9pm and it turns out nothing had started yet at the auraria site because there were still people trying to park and get in the building.

do you believe in magic?

magic seems to be such a loaded word these days. some christians don't like to use the word because it conjures up images of wizards and witches and they need to explain everything as God's doing. i get that, but i like the thought of magic because it's unexplainable, something beyond what i can explain happened. it's also childlike, for instance when a father pulls a quarter out his daughter's ear and there is only amazement on the little girl's face... magic. i understand that magic can be confused by mystical stuff, but is a good start for americans today to start believing in something other than themselves? maybe magic is the pagan word for miracle? jesus' time on earth, he spent some time doing miracles: feeding 5000, healing the blind, making the lame to walk. i believe that he did all of these things and more, but calling them miracles sort of takes the awe and amazement out of the act, i think. this might be complete blasphemy, but i think magic is just a word, just like miracle and if miracle has gotten tired and loaded down with christian lingo, why can't we explain what God does as magic?

sometimes i sit watching a sunset totally taken back by all that has to happen, all the science and physics of it and just think, "do it again daddy, do it again!" magic.

I'M ENGAGED!

after almost 2 years of dating, peter proposed to me making me the happiest person in world! engagement is wonderful except for the wedding planning. i'm not a big fan of flushing my money down the toilet which it feels like our only option sometimes. we will persevere to a january wedding.