Behind Enemy Lines

Jonathan's youngest brother is a senior in high school and my youngest brother is a junior in high school, so both of them are beginning to look at making some decisions about college. This week is my spring break from school and Jonathan's Easter break from Georgetown, so we both have some free time and decided to take them to look at a school.... Virginia Tech to be exact. *Gasp* I know. We swallowed our good'ol UVA pride, packed up the boys and some friends into my parents' van and drove the 4.5 hours down to Blacksburg.

We spent the day on campus tours, in information sessions, walking around the campus, and checking out the food. This was my first visit to Virginia Tech, and I must admit their campus is nice, open, and a quite beautiful. I don't think it has the historic charm that UVA has, but we won't go down that road... Anyways, after talking with all the different guides, I also did not realize some of the opportunities that they have to offer, particularly in the realm of undergraduate research. They seem to make it a big priority to get undergraduate students into research. They said in the last graduating class over 50% of the students took part in research at some point in time in their studies. I think that is awesome. They also said that they rent out research space to companies that want to use the equipment available from Tech and as a part of this contract they have to involve at least one undergraduate student in the research. That is a very clever way to create research opportunities. I am in no way an expert on research opportunities offered by different universities, but this was just something that I walked away with.

Overall, it was a good visit to Blacksburg. Jon and I were happy that we did not spontaneously combust when we stepped foot on the VT campus, jk. I think the boys all enjoyed the trip and we were happy to take them.

Our First Place

For quite a while I have been meaning to post some pictures of our apartment. We rent a one bedroom place that has good square footage and lots of good closet space! It is just the right amount of space for us and we are really enjoying it as our first home together.

What really made our apartment feel like home was some decorating that we did over winter break. Before we decorated we really just had a hodgepodge of college furniture. Over the break we used some wedding gifts, exchanges and gift cards to buy some pieces to pull our place together. Here are some pictures of the results:

The view of our living room, dinning room (thanks Faith and Jason for the hand-me-down dinning set... we love it!), and Jon's desk as you enter our apartment.

The opposite view of our living room. Jonathan did an awesome job picking out the picture on the wall... he has excellent taste!

Jonathan's desk space. We sacrificed a second bedroom, or his office/den, so that we could live in our current location. But he has certainly made the best of what we have for now. :)

Our lovely kitchen.

The other side of the kitchen.

Our bathroom.

Our absolutely ginormous bedroom. What is sad is that we don't have the money to buy nice furniture to fill the space and that we will probably never have a bedroom that this big again. ; P

So there it is, our home. We enjoy it immensely and are beginning to enjoy the DC area more, especially as the weather gets warmer. This week is my spring break and we have a few outings planned, so there should be more posts to come!

Laundry

I HATE laundry. If I can I will try to wear every clean piece of clothing that I have before I do a load of laundry. To be honest, "clean" can just mean that it passes the smell test.

I hate it so much that I just made an agreement with Jon to dust and vacuum the entire apartment AND clean the bathroom (tub, toilet and all) if he does our laundry.

Marriage is wonderful.

"A Perfectly Perilous Pageant" Birthday

Day #3 off this week... you gotta love how skittish this area is over snow. We easily could have gone in a couple hours late on Wednesday and could have done the first part of the day today (from what it is looking like, so far). Anyways, I'm not going to complain. I only had to work 2 days this week, and they were my planning heavy days. =)

Well, last weekend we had quite the event. To celebrate my 24th birthday with friends, Jonathan and I threw a murder mystery dinner party. We had never attended a murder mystery dinner before, but it was so easy to host one. I just ordered a kit online (http://www.mysteriesbyvincent.com/) for $28 + shipping and it came with all of the character descriptions, scripts, & clues. All that I had to do was plan the dinner to go with.

The theme of our mystery was a ridiculous beauty pageant complete with several sharp-shooting beauties, an extra-terrestrial loving director, a scandalous plastic surgeon, and a ex semi-pro womanizing judge. The ladies came dressed in prom dresses and tiaras and the gentlemen in nice blazers. Everyone got totally into it and the turn of events kept us laughing.

I love to cook, so dinner had to be home-made. Appetizers were a blue-cheese walnut spread on sesame crackers (the crackers were store bought) and an artichoke and Parmesan topping on homemade pita chips. For dinner we had chicken rolled with spinach and homemade boursin cheese served with Parmesan potato cups and sauteed broccolini. For dessert I made chocolate pistachio phyllo rolls served with coffee. I choose all of these recipes because the majority of the items could be made ahead of time, so all that I had to do was put things into the oven. The thing that took the most time during the party was sauteing the broccolini, even though I blanched it ahead of time. I absolutely loved the flavor of the broccolini, but next time I make it for a large group, I will have to find a way to cut down on cook time.... maybe blanching it longer? Please comment with any tips or suggestions. =)

I loved hosting the dinner party and the murder mystery was a blast! I'm thinking about making this a birthday tradition...

The lovely ladies in attendance (minus Caitlin who had to leave right before this)

The gentlemen

Our final thoughts before we found out who done it!

P.S. I kept all the parts of the murder mystery kit. Let me know if you are interested in this gently used kit. We could arrange a fair price, or a trade if you have another murder mystery!

Easy Peasy Pita Pizza

Today is a SNOW DAY!! And the quarter just ended, so I actually don't have much to do on this day off. So, I thought I'd catch up on some blogs that I've been meaning to write.

I am a total junk food junkie. You name it, I probably like it. A few of my favorites: buffalo wings, greasy pizza, juicy burgers with everything on it, cheese sticks, loaded nachos, french fries, the list could go on for awhile...

One thing that we have discovered as new residents of the DC area, is that ordering out and going out is WAY TOO EASY. In efforts to save money and eat healthier, we have been trying to find things that we can make at home that meet our (well, mostly my) junk food cravings.

Our newest discovery is Pita Pizzas. I'm the kind of person who is truly happy if I have pizza at least once every other week. In all honesty, nothing can beat Papa John's pizza, but I was determined to find something easy to make at home that could also curb the pizza craving. First, I looked up recipes on making homemade pizza dough. Though people say it is easy to do, the whole yeast raising step means you have to plan ahead. However, pizza cravings are sometimes spontaneous and the pizza dough raising thing doesn't help much.

After researching pizza dough, I remembered that when I was little my mom would make us little personalized pita pizzas that we got to decorate with our choice of toppings (a very exciting task at the age of 7 or 8). So on my next grocery trip I hit up the bread aisle and came across 12 inch pitas... PERFECT!!

Attempt #1: Pepperoni and Mushroom

1 12-inch pita

1 can of whole, peeled tomatoes drained and diced

1/3 pack of pepperoni

1/2 pack of baby bella mushrooms

1-2 cups mozzarella cheese (I don't measure I just apply)

Just spread out the diced tomatoes, mozzarella, pepperoni and mushrooms leaving ~1inch for a crust. Bake at 400F for 10-12 minutes. Then just serve and enjoy!

Review: I loved this pizza! Pepperoni and mushrooms is my favorite pizza combo and using the diced tomatoes instead of sauce kept the pita nice and crunchy. However, with the thin crust it wasn't quite as filling as we would've liked and it left us wanting more, thus....

Attempt #2: Meat Lovers! (pictured above)

1 12-inch pita

1/2 can tomato sauce

1-2 cups mozzarella cheese

1/3 pack pepperoni

1/2 pack baby bella mushrooms

1/4 lb. browned, ground beef

2 strips turkey bacon, diced, and cooked

Spread the tomato sauce on the pita leaving ~1inch on the edges for a crust. Sprinkle some Italian seasoning over the sauce for flavor (our can of sauce was unseasoned). Distribute out the mozzarella, pepperoni, mushrooms, beef, and turkey bacon evenly over the cheese. Bake at 400F for 10-12 minutes.

Review: This pizza was awesome!! The pita wasn't quite as crispy using the sauce this time, but it was loaded with meaty goodness & was very filling.

Pita Pizzas are a new favorite in our household & with the pitas keeping for what seems like forever in the fridge, they are a quick and easy go-to meal.

What's in a Name?

"Juliet: What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet"

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

Okay, so my situation is a little bit different. I'm not a star crossed lover entangled in a family feud, but I am trying to change my name and this quote came to mind. Yesterday morning, Jonathan and I decided to head over to the Social Security office to legally change my last name to my married name. So, we woke up early and drove to the other side of Arlington to get it done.

However, when we got there I realized that I forgot my passport, which I needed to prove my residency and that I was Alison R Baird. So, we left our fully paid 2hr meter (to whoever took over that meter: you are welcome) and drove back home to get my passport.

Thirty minutes later, we returned and got back in line. This time I actually got to speak with someone and she started the paperwork for me. However, towards the end of the paperwork I heard a faint "Uh oh," and the woman politely excused herself to talk with her manager. I stood there for a couple minutes thinking through the worst case scenarios. She returned to tell me that my marriage license would change my last name and possibly my middle name, but it cannot change my first name. I looked at her curiously and said that I was not trying to change my first name. At this point in time she pointed out that my social security card has my name printed as "Allison R Baird" and that all my other documents spell my name as "Alison R Baird."

WHAAAAT?!?! It took a closer look at my social security card and she was absolutely correct. How have I gone almost 24 years without realizing this mistake? How have I used this card to get a driver's license, apply for a passport, and open bank accounts without (A) noticing this myself and (B) no one else noticing and telling me?

The woman informed me that this was not uncommon (another whole issue that we won't delve into today...) and that I would need my birth certificate to correct the spelling of my first name. I, of coarse, did not have it with me as it was at my parents house. (Oh, don't you love the transition from college into adulthood??) I tried in vain to get them to use my passport and my driver's license because I obviously had to use my birth certificate to get them, but they refused and told me that they couldn't use documents from other agencies. I was getting a little frustrated at this point so I torted back: "Well then, why can you use the documents from other agencies to prove my identity?" They told me that that would seem logical that I could use them for both situations, but it doesn't work that way.

Anyways, Jonathan and I had to decide if I would put this off and take a half-day off of school to get my birth certificate and finish the paperwork or if we would drive 45 minutes to my parents house to get it and return that day? We were feeling productive, so we went with option B. We drove out, said a quick hello to my mom, picked up my birth certificate, and headed back.

By yesterday afternoon, we returned to SSA and my name has now been changed. It was another lovely government agency experience to log into the books. Oh well, it is a new year and I have a new name.... I am now Alison Rose Hansen. Happy New Year!!

Jonathan giving a salute to the one "L" that we were trying to delete from my first name. I know he was showing it backwards, but he was driving on 495, so we're just going to ignore that...

Christmas Vacation

"Christmas" Morning

Thanks to the snow last weekend, my Christmas break started a couple days early (Snow Day!!). Waking up to the snow on Saturday was absolutely beautiful, and witnessing the hustle and bustle of Crystal City at a stand still seemed magical. This mood of the morning inspired Jonathan and I to celebrate our first Christmas together a few days early. We grabbed some coffee and our Christmas plant (getting a tree just didn't happen this year) and traded gifts.

A few days later, we headed out to Sterling to celebrate Christmas with our families. We spent New Years Eve with my family. We hung out, watched movies and played games with my brothers and my older brother's girlfriend, Cassandra. That night, we enjoyed a nice dinner together, traded gifts, and went to a gorgeous midnight mass at my parent's church. As usual, we weren't the best about capturing our adventures on film.

The next morning we headed over to the Hansen's abode. Jon's mom made an amazing breakfast consisting of spicy sausage egg stroganoff, praline french toast, fresh fruit and bacon (YUM!). We traded gifts and spent the day hanging out with Jon's parents and brothers. That night we had an awesome standing rib-roast for dinner with twice baked potatoes and other sides. We tried to convince Jon's mom to make this a Christmas dinner tradition... we'll let you know if this happens in a year.

It has been so nice to celebrate this holiday season together with Jonathan. For whatever reason, we never celebrated holidays together as a couple before we got married. We would stop in to visit each others families, but we always celebrated everything separately. It has been so special to join in on each others family traditions and to create our own.

Hansen Family Christmas Photo