Behind Door #2, A Brand NEW CAR!!!!! (sorta)

 

 So the Walbruch's have been car hunting for around a month, due to the unfortunate circumstances that befell our VW Passat (unfortunate as in... they couldn't build a car that lasts longer). Our friend and mechanic Andrew was helping us out a bit by checking with people in the biz (i'm guessing the car biz?) but I'll leave that to him (if you know people you know people, you know?) We were searching on our own as well, but with little to no luck.  We were looking for a cross-over vehicle that could get us where we needed to go in every season this great state throws at us, without killing us at the pump. By the way, have you seen those prices? YIKES! So we finally here about one that we really want to test drive a 2008 Mazda 5 Grand Touring Series (fancy sounding, huh?) The dealership was willing to drive it to Jana's work in Saint Paul, so she could test drive it over her lunch break. (the dealership is in Minnetonka, that's service!) It was a little bit bigger than we wanted, but got the same MPG as our previous whip. (that's what they call them these days apparently) We went over the Morries on a Thursday and drove it home that night, got a great interest rate and have been thrilled ever since with it! ....AND YES IT IS A MINIVAN.... AND NO JANA IS NOT PREGNANT (seriously I don't want to have to answer those questions again, at least not for now:))

PJ's

I love the sales after Christmas....especially the Target sales.  Sure, you can get all the Christmas decorations really cheap but that isn't really what caught my eye this year.  This year I stumbled upon the pet isle and it just happened to be full of Christmas sweaters for dogs and wait for it.............PAJAMAS!  Right there I thought, Otis has to have some pajamas.  He NEEDS pajamas to stay warm.  Really, I was considering Otis's best interest at heart when placing the pajamas in the cart.  Okay, there could have been maybe a small part of me that was perhaps wanting some entertainment thus placing the pajamas in the cart but a good 67 percent we will say I was keeping Otis's best interest at heart.  I couldn't wait to get home to try the pajamas on Otis.  They fit like a glove.  He really wasn't too keen to be wearing them but after giving him a few pieces of ham he didn't even notice he had them on.  Genius I tell you.    

"Look Not Behind Thee"

We all have those new year's resolutions.  Somehow at the top of my list every year happens to be losing weight.  I think it happens to be A LOT of people's resolution because the gym just happens to be so stinkin' crowded it makes me want to scream and pull my hair out.

This year I want my focus to be made somewhere different.  I thought this a beautiful message and good way to bring in the New Year.  Looking forward with faith, knowing that we have a loving Heavenly Father and Savior who are in the details of our lives and being able to get up and try again tomorrow.

Sushi 101

My good friend recently tried sushi and LOVED it so she convinced me to go out a couple of nights ago and get sushi.  I googled best sushi places in St. Paul and found a place in downtown called Fuji Ya.  More and more I got nervous thinking about my sushi experience so I decided to do a little research of my own and these are the tips I found for first time sushi goers:


Try cooked items first. Yeah, I was thinking when I read this, you think?  I want it all cooked.  Then I will be just fine.

Start with what you know.  I know salmon.  I am not that adventurous.  I looked at the menu at Fuji Ya and I couldn't pronounce 80 percent of the items. 

Try "vegetarian" sushi.  I love this one.  How could you possibly go wrong with this?


Try the items with least "fishy" intensity.  Also agreed....considering I actually really HATE most all seafood....yes, some of you may be wondering why even try sushi then?  Yes, I am wondering that too.  Red snapper and Halibut were suggested.

 Logan and I sat down right at the sushi bar and we were able to see how they made all the little sushi.  We hit happy hour so we took advantage of that and ordered a few kinds of sushi and some appetizers.  We of course tried the vegetarian rolls which were my FAVORITE, spider rolls and another kind of sushi called crunchy wasabi.  I did try all three kinds.  However, I stuck to the vegetarian and left Logan to the others:) 

There were people around us with just slabs of raw fish on a plate.  I don't know how they do it.  Logan went on about how it is healthier to eat raw food because then you don't cook the nutrients out of it and all I heard was BLAH BLAH BLAH:)  I enjoy eating food that has been fully cooked, I happen to think it tastes better that way.  Just my personal preference though.  Still, the night was so fun and it had been awhile since I had seen her.

One day Logan and I will work again together and it will be chaos once again.  Oh, and I would totally eat sushi again...vegetarian style.

UFF DA!

Could I have eaten anymore of my delicious ham and cheese sandwiches that James and I made to bring to our Christmas lunch?  I know, I am bragging about my cooking, but seriously they were a hit!  Considering I don't bake I was pleased as punch about it.  Why oh why does there have to be so many amazing dishes on Christmas.  It just doesn't seem fair.

Our family gathered at the Kucera home and this year we decided to bring a white elephant gift instead of gifts which made it a lot easier for all of us.  I have more than enough stuff in the house that I will never use so it was the perfect opportunity to wrap it up and get it out!  When I think of white elephant gifts the first thing that comes to mind is, well....junk. Surprisingly enough there were a lot of great white elephant gifts!  James and I brought home a back massage thingy, an ornament and a s'mores kit.  I kept telling James to go for the Caribou gift card but he insisted on going for the s'mores kit....boys.
 

It wouldn't be Christmas without admiring Marla's many eclectic styles.  This Christmas was quite the sight:)  I don't know if I would have been able to pull it off, but she pulls it off, every. single. time. BRAVO Marla!!

Stuffed and on to the next place.  Byron, Minnesota.  We packed up which included Otis and headed south. Otis really enjoys his time at the Walbruch home because he has 4 cats to play with....yes. FOUR.  Actually I should say he has four cats to annoy.  They are not fond of him at all and they hiss and scratch at him quite frequently but he always goes back for more.  We sat down in the living room and opened our presents.  It was fun to watch everyone see what they got and enjoy each others company. 

Kate was nice enough to get up with me early the next morning and partake in the after Christmas sales....for some reason, James just wasn't interested in coming with us, neither were the rest of the boys.  I just don't get it.  We found some pretty good deals, some things I didn't really need, but I got anyway, James was thrilled.  I was thrilled, hence we were all thrilled.

A Christmas Eve Tradition

Christmas is here already and I can hardly believe it!  When I was little our Christmas eve tradition was always to open one gift and then we would bundle up in our winter clothes and walk up to the surrounding neighborhoods and look at all the lights.  It was quite a sight.  I thought it was a great tradition growing up and it was something my sisters and I always looked forward to doing.
I find myself in kind of a pickle this year because it is James and I first official Christmas as the "Walbruch's" and I feel that we need to begin to make traditions of our own.  What are they going to be?  I am the girl that goes to bed at 8 pm every night.  I know, I am the party animal you don't have to say a thing. 
I found some really interesting Christmas Eve traditions from around the world....I am not sure I would want to adopt the traditions but hey, they were fun to read, for instance:
In the Czech Republic, if you’re a single woman, Christmas Eve is your chance to foretell your love life for the coming year. Single women stand with their backs to the door and throw a shoe over their shoulder. If the shoe’s toe points towards the door they’ll get married in the coming year. If not…better luck next year.

9. Waiting for the Spider

In the Ukraine it’s considered good luck if a spider appears on your christmas tree. This stems from a folk tale about an old woman too poor to afford ornaments, who found that spiders had inhabited her tree overnight and decorated its branches with their webs. If you wake to a spider on your tree on Christmas morning you’ll be blessed with good fortune.

In Catalan custom in Spain, a hollowed out log with legs and a painted face added is “fed” candies, foodstuffs, and other treasures over the course of the month of December. On Christmas Eve or Christmas, the log is placed in the fireplace and beaten with a stick until all the “food” comes out – essentially pooping. Traditionally, the final object to drop from the log is an onion, salted herring, or garlic bulb.

What are some of your Christmas Eve traditions??

I'm Dreaming of a White Birthday?!?

So here we go, my second time blogging , so by this time next year, I might be going pro (don't worry, I'll remember the little people that got me there). In order to know what I'm talking about, we are going to have to go back, back to a simpler time when things were easier than they are now and gas was about 2.79 a gallon.  This takes us all the way back to December 10, 2010.  It seems like such a long time ago, until a 30 inch punch of snow to the face hits you (*note-- see our earlier post).

Anywho, Jana and I went out on the 10th for dinner and a movie for her birthday (I'm not allowed to say how old she is). I got her purple flowers and Ruby Tuesdays and The Tourist were on the menu. Great food, good movie and hardly a snowflake in sight.  We enjoyed a little shopping beforehand and then Marla joined us for the movie. As we were leaving the mall, the snow began to fall and I'm pretty sure it didn't stop until....well until everyone in the state was screaming at the sky to quit.

I was supposed to work on Saturday at 9am, but I woke up to a 3 foot high pile in the driveway and decided it just wasn't going to happen.  (again see our earlier post for what happened that day) We ended up just hanging out at home just because we were unable to go or do anything else.

Marla decided to get Jana a gag gift...that being a pregnancy journal and a baby outfit hence the look.

Her birthday was Sunday and her gift was the first thing on our to do list.  I gave her a Tom Tom so she can never say she doesn't know where she is going ever again. This was good because we headed to a Christmas party that was moved from Saturday and needed it's help to get there! It was a good time all around but the real celebration (in my mind) was Jana's b-day! We didn't have time to make a cake at home, so we got some cupcakes from the store and she blew out candles on them instead while I sang a terrible rendition of the birthday song! (I saved everyone the pain, and we just took pictures, because a video would break your computer screens)