So this is the New Year.

And I feel like blogging more often.

Sorry, Death Cab on the mind. I've made it a resolution to blog more and keep documenting the wild and wacky adventures of us: The Elliott and Alisa. It's only been over the past couple of months that I've really slowed down but it's completely thrown me off habit, which is really a shame since December was filled with so many bloggable moments. Anyway, here's to getting back on track with lost hobbies! If you don't see a post within a week, gently slap my face so that it'll sting just enough to remind me to blog but not enough so that I'll feel prompted to slap you back.

A Pictureless Post

I left my camera at my parent's house while Elliott and I were enjoying our Turducken so I haven't been able to post any pictures of Thanksgiving, new babies or our newly bought and decorated (and oh so cheap) Christmas tree. Sorry.

Thanksgiving was amazing! We enjoyed two fantastically put together meals--who wouldn't love it?--while at the same time got to enjoy Anna's and Brianne's new babies! I won't lie, Elliott's a better baby holder than I am but that's only because I come from 20 years of mastering the art of holding, handling and sweetalking cats. And I am the best. Oh come'on don't stop reading because I'm comparing cats to babies.

Sadly, we had to leave the babies (and cats) early so that we could make it home in time to get to bed early for Black Friday! We actually didn't get to bed too early because we got hung up on You've Got Mail, thinking that we would be able to nap away our sleepiness after our shopping. Unfortunately, that didn't happen either. We went to the coyotes game that afternoon as a perfect finale to our shopping and eating--thanks to Trevor and Dr. Paul!

Kickball.

Saturday was Founder's Day for Elliott's dental school. I didn't know what that was (and still don't) but I'm sure 90% of the people there didn't know either. Most importantly, however, was the kickball tournament! Elliott's team was the Anti-Dentites, yes he came up with the name. Not surprisingly we WON the tournament! It was only a few games but that last one was a close one! I can honestly say that we couldn't have won without every guy on that team! All of them had fantastic hits (kicks?) and catches. OH. I'm sorry I look like an Orange County wife in the picture to the right. Not implying anything about my looks just the buggy glasses, streaked hair and furry velour-looking jacket. It was purely unintentional.


Elliott scoring a point in one of the three games they played.














This is the video of Elliott's game-winning run-off in the Championship! The game was tied 1-1 after the 20 minute limit and even after playing an extra inning, nobody from either team scored! THUS, a run-off. The first player to run around the bases and touch home wins. Elliott actually won a run-off in a previous game but the pressure was on even more here. I suggest you watch the video with the sound off so that you don't have to listen to my commentary and yelling. I have to apologize for making fun of the track bags. They're actually really nice, I was just so excited for them to win that I wanted trophies! Cash prizes! Free tanning coupons! I forgot that it was a kickball game.

The Day Before November

Yet another fantastic Halloween for Elliott and Alisa, despite the fact that there were no Unicef girls taking all our change like last year... Actually there were practically no trick-or-treaters period. We live in Gilbert and belong one to the most child-inhabited wards in the state (and we're talking three neighborhoods that make up this ward). You would THINK that we might get more than six kids at our door. But we didn't. Don't get me wrong, it was still one of the greatest nights in October let alone the year. We watched "The Invasion" with Nicole Kidman and James Bond and then "The Burbs" with my favorite actor, Tom Hanks. We have about 11 lbs. of candy in our closet if anyone needs or wants some.... Just maybe not the Almond Joys. Oh, and just because we went to Wal Mart and bought like $10 worth of 50% off candy the day after (to go along with the first $10 that ended up not getting passed out) DOESN'T mean we have eating problems. We're just enthusiasts. Special thanks to Trevor and Brianne for letting us come over for pizza beforehand and to see all of their ridiculously cute kids dressed up.

The famed Brawny Man himself in all his glory.

This is my impression of Marjorie from America's Next Top Model. We actually want her kicked off as soon as possible because frankly, she's crazy. I decided to show that anyone can make their arms looked deformed if they set their mind to it.

Concert and Food!

Elliott and I got free tickets to see Plain White T's, Dashboard Confessional and Panic at the Disco courtesy of the generosity of Ruben. We started the night off by going to Garduno's at Westgate. I got the sampler platter (hidden food items kept popping up under hidden nachos--a surprise everytime with the response, "I didn't know that was there!) Elliott got the Burrito Magnifico. As you can tell, this was yet another classic Elliott and Alisa meal only this time, we couldn't finish it! But, our waiter was pretty unique (just like our last one). He was big. And his name was King.



Dashboard! They were pretty good, definitely the favorite act of the night. Elliott might have to fill in song names later but they sang the big hits of course and we were especially impressed with his screaming capabilities.



Panic at the Disco. I felt a little let down because they weren't especially flamboyant tonight. They actually looked and acted normal. Weiwrd. We thought that we could enjoy them a little more by moving a section over (there were a lot of seats open) and AWAY from the screamer girl. No. There were two more screamers behind us! What can you expect though?


John Lennon incarnate. Even down to the Rickenbacker.

Me and Chubby Cat.

This is about as much of a cat as I'll own for now-- believe me, it's not my choice. Yes, I do love my new cat made out of a pumpkin and fondly named Chubby Cat. Elliott and I couldn't wait to put up our outdoor Halloween decorations today. We love the sign over our door--a steal from Ross' Halloween section (we dominated). I found the assembly pieces for Chubby Cat at Pier 1 (they're called "Pumpkin Buddies," but he's my buddy first and foremostly). Even Elliott admitted that he is pretty cute. Oh Chubby Cat, I hope you last through Halloween. If not, it's over to Wal Mart for a new chubby body.

Spiders, Oh my, Spiders!!!!

Here is kill number 6!
Kill 7 but hes only a wolf spider.
This is my "Spider Beater!" I once killed a black widow with our Ortho Home Defense Spray. The next day he was not sitting in the puddle of spray. I read on the back of the bottle a week later that it doesn't kill black widows....What kind of flipping bug spray!?! Needless to say, we bought the big can of Raid. The web of the one who got away has gotten bigger....He's now my white whale. When we got home tonight from Bandera's with Brianne and Trevor I took note of just how big it is and went in to get my flashlight and Raid. I didn't find him tonight but you should know that I killed 9 big, red diamond, full fledged Black Widows. There were 2 other spiders as well. This stick is what I take around now to desecrate the bodies because of the one who got away. It conveniently reaches into tight spaces so I don't have to get my foot all webby.

I wish I had better pictures.... I should have taken some predeath pictures but once I spotted the first I just started dealing out death and didn't look back.

I did it!

I broke the idiot-proof confusion of not knowing how to upload a new template!

The week was pretty long for us. Until the weekend.

This picture was taken today and was rather rushed since "someone" had to "study" (aka follow up on his fantasy football team). Oh well, hopefully we'll be able to snag another one later tonight. Thanks for taking the picture Elliott! I know I have some problems getting the camera in the right place.



So... We went to Black Angus 'cause we had a coupon and you really can't pass up 20 pounds of food for $33.95. It was just oh so yummy! Elliott hadn't been there before and... judging by how much we both ate, I can honestly say that it was a meal well spent and enjoyed. After that, we walked Superstition Springs Mall for an hour or so to kill time before the movie--Ghost Town! We laughed during the entire thing but nowhere as much (or loud) as the lady sitting next to Elliott (she was a clapper), but honestly, those people make the movie more fun (sometimes).

Elliott eating the sampler platter! He let me have all of the shrimp cocktail since it was my birffday (he's my hero)! The waitress' exact comments at the end of the meal were: "I've never had anyone NOT ask for a box when eating this meal!" Liz, the waitress was pretty nice.














Me eating the cake. Yeah, I know I look a bit gooberish but hey, Elliott doesn't believe in taking multiple pictures to get a good shot and I felt like Michelle Tanner (you know, the little girl from Full House who's obsessed with chocolate cake)?? And NO, I was not a cake monster, Elliott definitely pulled his weight for someone who doesn't have a sweet tooth--even if I "hogged" all the ice cream. Just kidding! Again, he's always so nice and forgiving when it comes to food. I can be a bit of a monsser sometimes but I juss' love him so much! Thanks for the best birthday ever!

Still not there.

Thanks for the compliment Sarah! BUT! I'm still not satisfied. When I originally uploaded the wedding picture, it was too off-center. Then, when I uploaded the zoomed, cropped version, it was too much face and not enough "empty" space for the blog title and description. THEN. I went to thecutestblogontheblock.com or whatever the site is called and it kept telling me I had an email error! THEN. When I tried to copypaste the URL code thing into my "Add Elements" box--I didn't have an "Add Elements" box! At least it kept me busy for a while on Saturday when Elliott was out makin' money (such a breadwinner)!

Marriage and 21.

I know we started the blog after we got married, so I've been debating about whether or not going through an entire re-cap of the marriage or just waiting for the one-year anniversary. I think I'll wait. But! In the meantime, this is my favorite wedding picture. I want to put it up so that its part of the headline (you know, how some expert bloggers do it so that it's formatted all nice with the actual title of their blog)? Ok, well I haven't mastered that yet so here it is for now. We really need to order our wedding prints so that uber-fake attractive couple models aren't in our picture frames anymore.

Oh, and we just watched 21--that card movie with the British guy who can't handle an American accent worth shiite. I'm glad we watched it illegally because any other way would have been a waste of money. At least they chose a black actor other than Sam Jackson to play a hardcore thug.

Oh, and an editor for the Gilbert section of the East Valley Tribune said she'd help me get published for my Journalism 301 class! We have to get 6 stories published by Dec. 8 and each one we don't is a letter grade down. In other words, Patti Epler of the Trib. is going to be recieving a rather nice "Thank-you" note from me on December 9th if all of this works out.

Dove Hunting September!

Went dove hunting the first and second and am sure there are more days to come. With the expanding city we are always pressed to find new hunting sites not too far away from home and the heavy dove population. This years site was just of Ironwood Rd. just north of Germann. The mosquitos were out in full but i was able to get 9 the first day and 6 the second. My accuracy leaves somethiung to be desired this year for sure.




I've gotten pretty efficient and quick at cleaning them. Also tried a new way to eat 'em this year. We surfed the web and were able to find a pretty good recipe involving the crock pot. It was quite spicy and quite good. There were a few techniques to get rid of the gamey flavor too. I'll put the recipe below here for future reference and the curiosity of our followers.

~ 6-8 dove breasts, skinned~ 1 medium chopped onion ~ 1 can cream of mushroom soup ~ 1 can diced tomatoes and chilis ~ 1 clove garlic, chopped~ Salt and pepper to taste

Soak the breasts in salt water solution for 20-30 minutes (1 Tbsp salt to 4 cups water.) Rinse the birds and set aside. Place all ingredients in the crockpot. Stir and cover. Turn crockpot on low. Cook time approximately 6-8 hours. Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles.

She's playing dress up. I'm her hero! It turns out this picture is probably more likely to get pulled than the cricket one from the last posting.

"Ahhh! ELLIOTT!!! ELLIOTT!!!"

I do realize that this picture will stay only as long as the wifey hasn't noticed it is here. The purpose of this post is to fill people in on the recent Bain of Alisa's existence. The oh so SNEAKY cricket! Crickets and creepy crawlers have been keeping me busy on the weekends since we got here. It was also the origin of our A/C outage debochal. We were trying to evict them by cutting down surrounding weeds.

The catalyst for this post was also a little chirping friend. I would have taken a picture of the incident but due to the inappropriate content of Alisa in the shower I have to use this fabricated cricket rather than the actual shower intruder. I heard two blood curdling screams this evening while making my roast beef sammich. Apparently the cricket attacked her from the ceiling. She was pretty shaken up about it. I don't blame her though. We have to plug the drains when not showering because they crawl up and we are always finding crickets and earwigs in the bathtub. My extermination skills took care of the roaches at least...and the black widow as previously mentioned. Well thats all for now. And I imagine you won't hear from me too often but I thought I'd give a third party perspective to the home invasions Alisa has to deal with on a daily basis.

We gave her everything we owned just to sit at her table

I know, I know just because the Beatle's said that to Sexy Sadie doesn't mean people will be flocking to our kitchen to sit at our lovely table but that's ONLY because we live in Gilbert.




Thanks to Mark, my boss at the book dusting--which evolved into sorting-- place, for the amazing donation to our home. AND. Thanks to Pier 1 for having a clearance sale on place mats. They have bamboo on the sides. Oooh! Oh, and the smaller chairs (there's 2 more) fold up!

Elliott loves to play soccer. I love watching him. It fits well.

Elliott plays in an indoor league on Tuesdays with a team that has a few players (and friends) from our old single's ward. They've won just about every game (and there's a LOT). I pretty much sit in the stands and cheer for my baby as he scores at least once or twice a game (usually more). So fun. That, and we've saved enough "dollar off food" tokens that I get free food. It's been fun to get to know the girlfriends and families of other players, most are LDS. I hope this is something that we will be able to continue.

Blogspot and gross.

Blogspot: Ok, I want justified left and justified right pictures WITH commentary and WITHOUT large gaps between the pictures.

Gross: I always heard about kids seeing black widows and me laughing to myself [probably rolling my eyes but not realizing it] thinking they just saw a big black spider. Well... I lyyyke totally saw one. Elliott killed it using an excessive but necessary amount of bug spray and a cup.. yuck.


So of course I HAD to tell everyone at work (not that many people) about my experience and one worker who... is hard to explain... says in a rather awkward and quiet voice (but not reprimanding):

- "Well uh-- maybe next time tell your husband that black widows kill crickets."

After which the level-headed worker whose thoughts are more in line with mine responded:

-"But poison kills both of them!"

Me:
-"Eeeeexactly."

An Elliott and Alisa Original Production

We--especially I--have been attempting to make more substantial meals that include real ingredients and aren't always pre-made. Here are a few pictures of some of the things we've been making:

Here is our barbecue beef and onions (skillet style) that we pilled on toasted hoagie buns (after which I topped with cheese and even more bbq sauce). Elliott is definitely the master at cooking meat but I do have some mean toasting skills.










And heeeere is our fabulous lasagna. It was and, thanks to refrigeration, continues to be fabulous. We ate so much that night I was surprised we still have some left over!

Diamondbacks and The Ringo

08-04-08

Diamondbacks VS Pirates
(Thanks for the tickets Bishop)!

Awesome Seats!

07-31-08
Ringo Starr and LoLo's

Wah-fulls (it's how they say it)

SO Essited!

RingoRingoRingo Yes, he still drums.
John Lennon Tribute. I know, I know.

Don't solve it, blog it.

So our profile picture was originally bordered in a 1/2" thick grass-green border. Then, working his magic skills in blogging-codes, Elliott fixed it by adding a rather fetching (and thin) brown border--which is now green after changing our template 19039593 times. HOWEVER! At first we just didn't know what to do until Alisa came up with a brilliant plan:

Elliott: "That border on our profile picture is horrific."
Alisa: "Blog about it. That's what bloggers do, right?"

This brilliant plan was followed by Elliott's even more brilliant plan to actually fix the situation.

Dental School!

Getting Ready

Don't know who was more excited for his first day of school but at least he looked good and that's most important, right?

Gettin' THE Coat

So my camera is absolute garbage in any lighting situation that is dimmer than mid-day sunlight. No exaggeration. However, my video option works well in "dimly lit" situations. Sorry. I'm getting off track. Anyway. Here's Elliott getting his white coat! Ahhh exciting! So cute.

After THE ceremony!

We would've been smiling even BIGGER if we knew the amazing cookies awaiting in the next room.

Now our blog is Tequilla Green?

Uhhh-- I think we still have some formatting to do.

Our blog is ugly-- for now.

I don't understand how a blog works and am too prideful to ask so until I figure it out, our blog is currently going to be peasoup green. I'm starting this blog under Elliott's enthusiasm for the "blog" phenomenon. No pressure or insistance, but I felt a little guilty that I was being the bubble burster. I just couldn't see much use for a blog at first. I mean, we have no children, no jobs (what I do isn't work) and are just too involved with our Text Twist and X Files marathons.

Anyway, we're here now and so far so good. We are always up to something (good and bad) and it's always fun to let everyone see and read about it.

Now we just have to see if we can keep up on it.