holiday-time fun

brian and i had an enjoyable christmas break. last saturday, we went snowshoeing up rock canyon. it was our first time and was a lot of fun. we got a really good workout and didn't have to wear our big coats on the way up. but, as soon as we started back we had to put on our coats because all of the sudden the cold hit us. the snow and mountains were really beautiful. we even saw a mountain goat.

last sunday we made chiles en nogada, which are chiles stuffed with a pork/fruit/ spice mixture. and then they're topped with the nogada, which is a walnut/cheese/sour cream/spice/sugar sauce. then the pomogranate seeds go on top of that. brian made the nogada sauce this time and added a little extra sugar, and boy it was good. the whole dish was delicious. we've been enjoying eating that for the past few days.

on monday we went on a DI tour and hit 5 or 6 DIs in salt lake/american fork. we found some cool things and enjoyed our time rummaging through all those great DIs. one thing we found out is that books are cheaper in slc. we were at one place where the paperbacks were 3/$1. i haven't seen book prices that cheap since i used to get them for 4/$1 at the salvation army in oregon.

a good weekend and year end business

we had a very nice weekend. we saw eagle eye, which was purely entertaining. we also had our first full-blown snow storm. there's still snow lingering, although not too much now. it was pretty fun to just stay close to home and watch it fall. and, of course, it looks really nice on the mountains. saturday night we made some indonesian food (nasi goren (fried rice) and chicken rendang). it was really good. then on sunday we had some friends over who made navajo tacos. those were our first navajo tacos. if you've never had them it's worth figuring out how you can get some. the fry bread was very nice.

sunday night we decided it was time to do our year-end list of favorites. below is what we came up with.

favorite book: the thing's they carried by o'brien (norma) and the fugitive by pramoedya (brian)

favorite album: the historical conquests of josh ritter by josh ritter (norma) and give up by the postal service (brian)

favorite place: london (norma) and his office (brian--he has a great view of the mountains)

favorite food: the indonesian feast in dc (norma and brian)

favorite article of clothing: knitted orange scarf (norma) and vintage leather jacket (brian)

favorite movie: john adams (norma) and a streetcar named desire (brian)

favorite song: the greatest man that ever lived by weezer (norma) and the district sleeps tonight by the postal service (brian)

favorite fruit: zapote (norma) and peaches from my aunt/uncle's house (brian)

favorite event: obama winning (norma) and finishing his phd (brian)

london

so i got back from my london trip last thursday night. below are some of my thoughts about the trip and the highlights.

airports aren't super fun to hang out in (neither are airplanes). the only part though that was really bad was the 9.5 hour flight from london to atlanta. that was long.

i walked along the south bank of the thames (and some of the surrounding area). so i got to the see houses of parliment and westminster abbey again. i also enjoyed seeing the tower bridge (ie the iconic london bridge), the tate modern (they had some really great paintings there), st paul's cathedral, and the tower of london.

i got to go in and see a little of the victoria albert museum collection. mostly just their sculptures, but that was pretty cool.

i went into a couple cathedrals (which is something i always enjoy doing). i one i got to listen to a children's choir singing in latin. that was really cool. their voices sounded amazing, and they really filled the entire cathedral.

i went to camden and strolled around the markets there. i always enjoy seeing what wares are for sale.

i found my way over to harrod's and enjoyed looking at some of the store (it's really big). it's extremely posh with very expensive items (i saw the hugest diamond necklace). my favorite part was wandering through the food sections. i liked seeing what they had--fancy cheeses, exotic fruits (mangosteens that would have made brian's mouth water), ect. after wandering around for awhile i got to the exit, and was really surprised to see that they had a krispy kreme counter. i couldn't believe that they would have such a common american thing like krispy kreme donuts for sale at such a hoidy-toidy place.

on my last night i made my way over to a little indian restaurant, and enjoyed some really good saag and mango lassi. not much beats good indian food.

the rest of my time was spent with work stuff and trying to stay warm (it's cold there in the winter). i don't know if i'll ever make it back to london, but it sure is a cool city. and, even though it was cold there, december is a neat time to be there. they get really into christmas there. i was surprised at how many trees and lights there were.