too hot to cook

Why yes, I am.

Just kidding. We decided yesterday evening that we didn’t actually feel like cooking, so we went to Puccini’s. I love nights out with Jason. I also love Puccini’s.

I realized last week that there are only three Saturdays left in the summer (well, technically there are four, but I will be in Utah on the fourth Saturday). We never made a list of summer goals, so here is my last-minute compendium of Things We Should Do Before Summer Is Over.

1. Go canoeing. Jason already did this on his High Adventure adventure, but I want to go.

2. Go to the farmer’s market.

3. Pick fruit at an orchard (though this may be a better fall activity).

4. Play tennis.

5. Run one more race (if the ankle decides to stop being a pansy).

6. Buy tickets to the BYU vs. Ole Miss football game.

7. Eat a s’more (or two).

I think that’s all. We’ve already had a wonderful and full–albeit different than expected–summer. When Roni and I were juniors-soon-to-be-seniors in high school, we bemoaned that 2005 was our “LAST REAL SUMMER” (yeah, we weren’t dramatic at all). Since Jason is quickly approaching the end of his grad school career, I feel like this was kind of his last real summer. Wow.

Beautiful day

I think the Groundhog was right; spring is (hopefully) on its way to the Bluegrass.  The high today is supposed to be 65 degrees, which seems like shorts weather after last week.

We had a great Valentine’s Day.  Jason gave me chocolate and popcorn (clearly he knows me well) and a very sweet card.  We went to Puccini’s for dinner and watched The Social Network. I think it was the best–so far–of our four February 14ths.

Really. Fun. Weekend.

It’s 8:46 a.m. and I’m the only one up. Good thing we have later church today.
We’ve had such a fun weekend. Jason and I picked up Roni from the airport on Thursday night and were delighted to discover that there wasn’t construction going on en route to Louisville anymore. We also realized that before Thursday, the last time we left Lexington was in September. I guess that is a testament to Lexington’s all-encompassingness, but we should probably try to take some little trips outside of town once in a while.

It was very late by the time the three of us arrived back home, so we went to bed and slept in very late on Friday. We went out to breakfast at Josie’s (finally! I’ve been meaning to go there for breakfast forever) and then I gave Roni a driving tour of Lexington. We drove out partway to Paris, which I think is really pretty, then came home and baked cookies for the ward Christmas party while Jason helped set up for it. The party was a great last hurrah for the now-defunct Activities Committee and made me feel like Christmas is really coming.

On Saturday, we woke up to snow! We hung out around the house for a while and had leftover ham sandwiches for lunch. Roni and I did some shopping and went to a baby shower (which featured the best cookie/ganache desserts), while Jason watched football and hung out with Dave.

We stayed up pretty late again last night. Now we should probably start getting ready for church.
Roni leaves this afternoon. We still have to play at least one round of Boggle and finish off the rest of our Christmas cookies. It’s been a great weekend; Jason and I are so glad Roni could come see our little corner of the country. We sure like it.

Rainy Tuesday

It rained all day yesterday.  Because Mary and I didn’t want to walk in the rain (and also I forgot my gym clothes), I went home for lunch.  I got splashed by a few large vehicles on the way and arrived cold and wet and hungry.  Jason took pity on me and we went to Puccini’s for lunch.  It was fun to spend time with Jason during the work day (and the food was, as always, phenomenal).

Now it’s snowing.  Perhaps we’ll have a white Kentucky Christmas after all.

Keen on Keeneland

I worked a half day today so we could spend the afternoon at Keeneland with some friends.  As non-horse-people, Jason and I weren’t quite sure what to expect, but we had a great time.

Before interrogating my coworkers about the ins and outs of horse racing, I thought they only ran one race per day at Keeneland.  Not so.  There is a different race every half hour, which maximizes your opportunity to wager on ponies.  It’s a good thing Jason and I aren’t gamblers, because every time we picked a horse to win, it came in dead last.

They also move the starting gate around for different races, which I thought was kind of funny.

I couldn’t believe how fast the horses were going.  It looks fast on TV (because we watch SO much horse racing on television), but is crazy in real life.

We also watched the horses walk around what I would call a paddock…or a really nice corral.  If you had a special tag or pin, you could actually go in with the horses.  I gathered that this is an opportunity to scout out potential winners.

We really enjoyed the drive out to the park.  It’s on the outskirts of Lexington, right near the airport.  The last time we were in this neighborhood, however, was when I was returning from Utah, so we were tired and it was dark.  In the daylight/autumn, Versailles Road is really pretty.

I took this picture from the car.

Perfect end to a pleasant day:

Natural Bridge!

We went to Natural Bridge State Resort Area (different from a State Park? I don’t know) today.  It was a little hot, but we had a good time.  Even invalid Mariel got to see the bridge thanks to a chair lift (which also saved the rest of us who were too beat to hike down).

On the way to Natural Bridge, we went through this crazy/narrow/one-way/very long tunnel.  It was fun, but a little tiny bit unnerving.  Hannah and my dad taking pictures of a group from Michigan.Jason and an unnatural bridge.We had a lot of fun and are looking forward to dinner tonight (and maybe a nap).

Our house. In the middle of our street.

We are still not 100% moved in, but our kitchen is put together.  Voila!

One of my favorite features is the bookshelf on the left side.  I was a little worried that it was too narrow to be of use.  Not so!

The spice line-up

We also have a built-in bookshelf in the front entry/living room area.  My dad did us a huge favor by putting away all of our books.  Yes, Hannah, they are in color order.

I didn’t realize it was morning when I woke up today because the sky was dark.  We looked online and discovered that an extreme weather warning had been issued for parts of Kentucky (not our county).  It rained heavily all morning, but the sun came out for a few minutes in the afternoon.  We also had 83% humidity, which is pretty exciting; my hair is maximally puffy.

This is the view outside our living room window.

We spent forever today job-hunting, taking only a brief break to eat leftover pizza.

We went to Puccini’s Smiling Teeth with my parents the first day we were here and loved it, going back the next day for more.  My favorite thing there (besides the incredibly awesome name) is the Campfire pizza, which includes carmelized onions, gorgonzola cheese, kielbasa, cheese, and thyme.  Mamma mia!  My teeth are smiling just thinking about it.

On our way to Target tonight we drove past one of those little churches with a marquee in front.  The sign read: “Life is like tennis.  Those who serve usually win.”  I like that a lot.  Last night at the Kroger store, the checker asked us for our Kroger card (we don’t have one, but I suspect our Smith’s card might work…it worked at the City Market in Moab).  The woman behind us was paying attention and handed the checker her Kroger card to use for our groceries!  I feel like we have been helped out so much in the last few weeks; we’ve got a lot of catching up to do now.