Coming Soon. . . .

Since we've started all sorts of new traditions recently, we decided to start a new family blog. The Hoggan Herald will start publishing later this evening. In addition to the family blog, we started another blog featuring our international cuisine adventures. This is the last blog post from this address. http://thehogganherald.blogspot.com will be the family blog. http://internationalcooks.blogspot.com tells all about our adventures from Micronesia, Nunavut, Canada, the Maldives, Mali, and more!

Caleb's birthday

Well, it's been a busy couple of months. Trying to juggle work, school, and planning a wedding that isn't in the same city as I live has been quite a task. Things are starting to come together, though. I also need to start figuring out exactly what I will be doing for work after I graduate from school. Eventually I want to have my own practice. I have one option already that I think will work perfectly for the immediate future. The mom of the kids I nanny has a pediactric doctor's office, and she has a couple empty rooms in her office. We are trying to work something out so I can work on the mom's that come in to her office. It will be like having an instant client base. She still wants me to be able to pick up her kids after school, too, so I would probably nanny for a bit longer, too. Joe is still looking to start a new career. He still has his washing that he does, but there isn't a lot of business right now. He is looking to find a project manager position, or anything else really. Hopefully he can find something soon, but we have faith that something will come along. Wedding plans are going well. We're still waiting to hear back about Joe's temple clearance, but things for the reception are coming together. I went to San Diego a couple weekends together to meet with the florist, and do some cake tasting. Me and my mom got a lot accomplished. Thanks mom! Speaking of cake, it was Caleb's birthday this past weekend, and me and Joe made a spectacular cake for him. He is a huge Patriots fan, so we made the cake look like a football field, complete with goal posts. It was fun, but very time consuming. We didn't start making it until Saturday night around 9, and we finished around 3:30am. We were pretty beat the next day at church. But, it was definitely worth it. Caleb was pretty excited about his cake. He thought we bought it at a store, so he was pretty impressed that we made it. Caleb also wanted crab for his birthday dinner. Me and Joe are not huge seafood eaters, actually we don't like it at all, but Caleb loves it! We decided to try it out, and Caleb said it was good. I had a little bit, and so did Joe. We have quite a bit left over crab meat, so we're going to make crab-cheese wontons, which we DO like a lot! I think the best part was watching Joe and Caleb try to get the meat out of the shell. They had fun. Well, it's back to the usual grind. Knowing me, I probably won't get anything else posted until after the wedding, which is still 4 months away. But, if anything exciting happens, I'll try to post something!

Exciting News!!!

We're getting married!!! Joe asked me right before Thanksgiving, and we will be getting married in San Diego on June 11, 2011, so save the date! Isn't my ring just beautiful? I told my roommates that I was getting married, and when I came back from vacation over Thanksgiving, this is what I found on my bed. We went to go cut down our Christmas tree, and we took a few photos. This one is my favorite. Hopefully I'll be able to post more updates soon, I am such a slacker about my blog, but I've been crazy busy. Massage school is going well, work is good, life is grand! Anyway, just thought I'd share the good news.

Playa del Carmen. . . . Mexico!

Over spring break, I was able to go to Mexico with the family I nanny for and their next door neighbors. It was a lot of fun. We played on the beach, which was right across the street from the house we were staying at. The water was just beautiful everyday we were there. We went to Tulum to see the Mayan ruins one day. We went to the crocodile zoo, which was pretty cool. I actually got to hold a small crocodile and a snake, and we got to feed the deer and monkeys. I got to go scuba diving! It was so much fun. I definitely need to get certified, because I would love to go again. These are my favorite pictures of Nicco and Sophia. We got a coconut and opened it up, and Nicco thought it would make a funny hat. We went snorkeling one day. Before we left, I bought an underwater case for my small camera. I tested it out in the pool the week before, and everything was fine. Well, I had it out at the beach the day before we went snorkeling, but I didn't take it in the water. I assumed it would still be fine the next day, so I didn't check the seal before taking it in the water. Needless to say, my camera is now broken, and I didn't get ANY underwater pictures:( Overall it was a really good trip, but I felt like I needed a vacation afterward. I'm glad to be back.

Singing in the Rain

We had a girls night just before Christmas. We got all dressed up and went to a dinner theater up in Boulder. We saw Singing in the Rain, and it was amazing. The dancing was great, very much like on the movie. Megan is the cutest girl ever. She got us matching bracelets:) It was so nice to spend a night out with the girls.

Potato Potluck Party!!

I love potatoes. I could live off of them. For my birthday, we had a potato potluck party. Everyone was in charge of bringing a different potato dish. I made Lefse, which turned out okay. The tortilla part was a bit thick since I don't have the special sticks, but it tasted fine. All the food was amazing. And my roommate Tiffany made the most amazing cake. It was an ice cream cake in the shape of a baked potato! My friends are great!

Gingerbread houses

I don't know if I've ever made a gingerbread house from scratch. I've always used the pre-made kits. This year, we made our own gingerbread, and built a masterpiece. Okay, so it didn't turn out quite how I imagined it in my head. It actually ended up looking strikingly similar to the Provo Temple, so we put Captain Moroni on top:) Some of the other houses turned out great. Caleb decorated gingerbread cookies while we constructed our house. He did a pretty good job.