Debt sucks!

But new cars rock!

For the first time ever, I had to get a loan to buy a car. I've always purchased cars with cash. But this time, it just wasn't possible. I definitely don't like the feeling, but I certainly am enjoying my car! It's a 2005 Honda Civic EX. It's a lovely dark silvery gray colour....moonroof, 4 dr, automatic, and absolutely gorgeous. If you can't tell, I'm pretty happy with my choice. Feel free to ogle. :)

Tempero do Brasil

I had never tried Brazilian food before, but man is it tasty! Our landlords gave us a great gift card to a local Brazilian restaurant, called Tempero do Brasil. It was a thoughtful and very generous New Year's present. We decided to use it to for Jessica's 25th birthday. My parents joined us (it was a VERY generous gift card) to help celebrate the occasion.


We started the meal by ordering two traditional Brazilian drinks: one was an alcoholic drink whose name I can't remember. But it tasted kind of like a strong margherita. If I drank more, I'm sure I could give you a much better description. I will have to work on that. ;) The other drink was called "guarana". It's an extremely popular soft drink made from a berry that grows in the Amazon region. They were both REALLY good.

For dinner, we all split two main courses and a side dish. We had the Feijoada, which is a black bean stew that incorporates a variety of meats (including smoked pork, sausage, and beef). That was served with a tasty black bean rice and sauteed collard greens. The second dish was called Moqueca de Camarao, which is prawns simmered in a fantastic blend of coconut milk, lime juice, vegetables, and palm oil...served with white rice. My gosh those were good! I think I liked the Moqueca de Camarao better, but just a smidge. :)

For dessert we split the Pudim de leite, which is the Brazilian version of a caramel flan. As someone who doesn't usually like flan, this was FANTASTIC! I could have easily eaten an entire one myself. It was certainly a great way to end the meal....a very very delicious meal!

I made her use the decorative table candle as a birthday candle on top of the flan. :)

While enjoying these amazing blends of flavours, we also were treated with live music....guitar and vocals. At the end of the meal, the musician (whom I now know is named Javier) came over and asked me to take his picture. Of course I obliged. ;)


All in all, it was a pretty addicting night. Amazing food, great live music, fantastic service with incredibly nice owners, and a fun ambiance. I will definitely be going there again!

Introducing....

Sophie and Grace

Right after Christmas, my parents decided it was finally time to buy a kitten...so off we went to the local humane society. We were told that it wasn't "kitten season" so we probably wouldn't find any. First of all, who has heard of "kitten season"?? Is there such a thing? Apparently so, because there weren't any....until we were leaving. Four little kittens were brought in as we were walking out. We decided to stay and look them over. We fell in love. We planned on one, but ended up with two. :)

Sophie is a bit bigger and the trouble maker
Grace was the runt, though is catching up well...and she's the main snuggler

I absolutely love them!

Oops!

Once again, I have been a slacker and I apologize. I am working on it! :)

Teresa is PREGNANT!

The title says it all! :)

They decided to tell us on Christmas day. (Though I have just now been allowed to announce it to the general population.) They overnighted us a little present that they said was "something extra," and we got it on Christmas Eve. So on Christmas morning we opened the package and there was a note inside that said, "We bought this the first year we were married and have been waiting for the right time to give it to you." Peek your interest? Yeah, ours too. So we opened the rest of the box and we found a camel ornament.

Yep, we were a little confused too. But, then I saw something inside of the camel, and wondered..is it a baby camel?...is Teresa pregnant??

Apparently I was right! Teresa is pregnant! They found out a few days before Christmas (which is why they had to overnight the present to us). The due date is August 30th. I can't wait to find out if it will be a boy or a girl. :)

Here's the first picture of little To-Be-Announced Ingalls:

Cletus Take the Reel

I was driving to work on Friday, and I heard the funniest song! It is actually a parody of Carrie Underwood's "Jesus Take the Wheel". I was literally CRACKING up. Now, maybe I was just tired and therefore highly susceptible to wacko humour. But whatever the reason, I thought it was absolutely hilarious. Other drivers were looking at me funny because I was laughing so hard.

So, I thought I'd share the joy with you. Enjoy :)

Bellevue Botanical Gardens

For the past few years it has been a Christmas tradition to go to the Southeast Botanical Gardens in Okinawa. They would decorate everything up and even do a huge laser show at night. It was awesome, and one of my favourite things to do there.

Since we are no longer in Japan, I was kind of bummed about not being able to go again this year. And then a co-worker told me about the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. So, of course we HAD to check it out!


Granted, they don't have a laser show or fun little festively dressed Okinawans. But they did have a unique clustering technique that made incredible light displays.



















What a great way to help bring one of our Okinawan traditions to Washington!

Just after Thanksgiving

Two days after Teresa and Clayton left, Mary, Rob, Marc-Andre and Luc came for a visit! I finally got to meet little Luc! Both of those boys are super cute. I absolutely LOVE being Aunt Sarah! :)

I also LOVE having family come visit. This was a less adventurous get together than the one with Teresa and Clayton. There was no geocaching, there was no bocce ball...but there were a lot of good conversations and good family time of playing with the boys.

Here are some of the hightlights:

Teresa and UW?

In December, Teresa will be graduating with her second Bachelor's degree, this one in Anthropology, with an emphasis in Archeology (her first was major in Religion, minor in Art). Because of this, she is working on her grad school applications, one of which to the University of Washington program here in Seattle. While here, she decided to set up an interview with one of the professors who does the Southeast Asia Archeology that she is hoping to study. It went so well! I'm very impressed with her because she seems to know exactly what she wants to study, and pretty much exactly how she wants to apply it. And I'm guessing that the professor is pretty impressed with her too. Who wouldn't be??

I'm really excited about this possibility...both for her and for me. This is her number one pick because it is such a great program for what she wants to study. And of course, it is my top pick for her too because she would be so close by again! Hopefully this will all play out and she and Clayton will be moving out here next summer.

*fingers crossed!*

Thanksgiving

What makes Thanksgiving special for you?

To me, Thanksgiving is a time filled with family, fun outdoorsy adventures, fantastic dinner spreads, and lots of laughter. And this year was no exception.

This was the first time in 5 years that Teresa and Clayton were able to spend Thanksgiving with the Cutter clan. It was such a blessing to have them here! We spent the week geocaching, exploring, playing bocce ball in the park, eating ALL the time, etc. Here are some pictures from all the excitement.









Geocaching:
In a muddy ravine..........and on a nearby beach.

Bocce Ball :) Looks like I was pretty excited in the second one!

Another cool tradition we have is putting up the Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. This year, with family all living nearby, we had THREE houses to decorate. And for me, that's just plain fun. :)

I love family and traditions!