van.nurse@gmail.com – Page 32 – The Adventures of a Calamari Queen

January Happenings!

Hello Friends! I know it’s so cliche but “where did the time go?”! I can’t believe it’s already February now and the first month of the year is gone! January was quiet/uneventful in our corner of the world. We mostly spent it at home, taking care of our little Mia Boo! Mia went to her first birthday party of her cousin, Warren. He turned two this last weekend! We also got to hangout with our friends, where we enjoyed a Mexican dinner and played a card game.

The face you make when your furbaby wants attention too!

“attempting” our first family walk! freezing cold,so it was a short one!i’m one #fashionvictim…

Riley wants attention too! he’s been good with her so far*

My MIL Kathy has been watching Mia every Wednesday so I can have some free/alone time! She is such a blessing. I’ve spent it napping, doing errands/ going to my fave stores (homegoods,starbucks!).

Went to Church twice and Mia has been good, not giving us a hard time! Praying this will continue because we really don’t want to skip Church this February!

The Hubs and I haven’t been on a date night since Mia was born (I think), so it’s been take outs and Netflix most of our date nights! It’s fine with us as we (ME mostly!!) are home bodies and love to have loungey weekends!

we love Ramen, especially authentic ramen!

carne asada steak nachos from our fave mexican place!

Enjoyed some Dimsum with my Inlaws after church!

Hubby baked some goodies this January too!

I hope you all had a good January and thanks for visiting friends! I’m about to watch some Netflix with the Hubs and enjoy our Saturday night!

Christmas 2016!

Hey friends! I was meaning to post our Christmas celebration activities but I have a little 3 month old cutie that’s been distracting me:) I wanted to share our activities during the Christmas season (lots of pictures!) lots of family time and great food!

We went to the Snoqualmie area (Hyak park if I remember correctly) and had a snow day! It was fun but we didn’t stay for a long time because I was worried that Mia might get too cold! We can’t wait to see her play and build a snowman!

Went to Seattle and checked the Teddy Bear suite at Fairmont Olympic Hotel, loved their Christmas decorations and the Teddy bear room was really cute!

My sister In law Julia hosted a Christmas family dinner at her place. Lots of family time and yummy Italian food!

We attended Christmas eve service and little Mia Boo behaved so well and was a pro!

After the service we had dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant (I forgot the name)..it was quite interesting! We didn’t really like the food and the whole place was busy and it would be our last time to dine there.

Christmas morning, we always have cheese popovers that Zach makes, bacon and fruit. Just simple but hearty food. We read Bible verses about Jesus’s birth then open gifts. Lots of snacks in the afternoon and delicious seafood at night/dinner but usually we’re all too full to enjoy the seafood so we always end up eating most of it the next day! Mia got lots of gifts from Santa ( Grandparents, Aunties and uncles). So thank you to our families for sending Mia gifts, we appreciate all of your thoughtfulness. I got Ugg boots, an Instant Pot (that I’ve been using a lot lately), and some gift cards too.

We also visited Zach’s Grandma after Christmas, special time with Great Grandma Jean and Mia! And more family time…

Mia visited her great grandma Jean before the New year ended!

visited Santa after our Seattle trip! My mom and In laws were there with us because they wanted to see Mia and her first pic with santa!

Grandma Kathy giving Mia a bath! First time ever, she loved it!

Mia wearing her Dads Christmas onesie! This onesie is 37 years old, so crazy!

Mia’s turn to wear the same onesie after 37 years! Grandma Kathy re-enacting the picture!hehe

Happy New Year!

Hello 2017! Happy New Year Friends! We celebrated our NYEve with my In laws (we didn’t wait till midnight though) and my Dad In law prepared a beef tenderloin and side dishes. It was delicious! Great dinner to end 2016:) We watched a movie and the New York’s Times Square celebration. We went home around 10:30pm and just waited for the Space Needle fireworks celebration on TV. I cannot imagine being outside because it was freezing cold (kudos to others who watched it live and braved the cold weather).

We went to church on New Years day too and it was Mia’s second church service to attend (first was the Christmas eve service). 2016 was such a great year for us because of our Mia’s arrival. She is such a joy to us and we thank God for gifting us Mia. Cheers to 2017 friends!

New years day 2017! I took this pic before going to Church!

4am New years day 2017! Hubs took this pic while I was feeding Mia Boo!

watching the Space Needle NYEve celebration

Hello!

Hello family and friends! I’ve been MIA for the last couple of months because just the week after my last post, I gave birth prematurely to our baby Mia (6 weeks early!). She’s been in the NICU for 3 weeks so it was a crazy hectic October for us. She is doing so good now (praise the Lord!). We also had Lots of family visiting us around october and november, and the next thing I know the Holiday season is here! I will be posting this new year (Hello 2017!) and I wish you a safe and Happy New Year to you and your family!

Picture before attending Christmas eve service

Baby Stuff!

Hello Everyone! Happy Tuesday! We only have 7 weeks to go before our due date and we are starting to get ready and prepare for our baby’s arrival. A couple of months ago (I think I was 5 months preggy here; I’m 8 months now) we invited our In laws to join us as we checked out baby stuff and help us decide what to get for the babe. We visited 2 stores (Babies R Us and Buy Buy baby) they are pretty close to each other,thus we decided to check them both. Both stores are overwhelming but we did have fun checking and testing baby items. A lot of the items are too gimmicky for us and we didn’t fall for the trap! We didn’t end up buying a single thing.

After our time at Buy Buy Baby and Babies R US, we had a late lunch at Bahama Breeze (it’s an American/Caribbean type of restaurant). We’ve only been here twice and we always enjoyed the atmosphere (it’s quite large too) and loved the food and drinks.

Hubbys Order: Caribbean style Lobster Mac and Cheese Lightly fried lobster tail with griddled Bahamian mac & cheese. Served with roasted bell pepper sauce, homemade chimichurri and green beans)

My food: Yellowtail Snapper Veracruz Grilled Yellowtail topped with vine-ripened tomatoes and Spanish olives. Served with yellow rice, Cuban black beans and sweet plantains)

Washington State Fair 2016!

Hello Friends! How are you all doing? I’m still here, getting heavy because of the pregnancy, but doing good all in all. A little busy with classes related to pregnancy (newborn class, breastfeeding, childbirth and labor,etc). We still have classes to attend in the coming weeks. It’s been hectic but exciting times for sure. Anyways, early this week my husband and I went to the Washington state fair to watch one of my favorite Christian bands, For King and Country (Matt Maher performed too). I love their music and there’s no way I’m going to miss their performance here in WA (they’ve been here before and I missed it). So fun to see them perform and hear their testimonies and relationship with the Lord. Fair food was a big bonus too!

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Pike Place Market!

Hello friends! Happy weekend! For the last weekend that my sis was here, we went to Seattle and browsed Pike place. We love the Market! It’s such a tourist destination but you’d be surprised that a lot of locals still visit the area on a regular basis. Before heading to the market we first had lunch at our favorite pizza place in Seattle “Serious Pie”. If you love gourmet pizza you have to try this one. It’s so worth it! We always order their Penn clove clam, pancetta and lemon thyme (my fave on their menu). It’s a small place so don’t be surprised if you’ll share tables with strangers. After our lunch, off to the market we went to eat more food! We stopped at Le Panier to get macaroons and coffee. My sister bought an over priced roast sweet corn ($5 each!) I didn’t want to participate in that nonsense! HA Surprisingly, the line was crazy long! Photo overload about to happen:

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Flowers at Pike Place Market are the best!

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As if we didn’t eat too much that afternoon, we decided to stop at Triple X to get their Pineapple Banana milkshake.

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Daniel’s Broiler!

Hi everyone! When my sister visited us it was her birthday week, so we treated her at a steak house. She wanted to try something other than John Howie’s (our favorite), since we went there the last time she visited. So we decided to go to Daniel’s Broiler in Seattle. It has a nice ambiance (water view of Lake Union), decent steaks (a little overpriced in my opinion), live music, and great service. It’s a nice place to celebrate a birthday! Last time we had dinner here, they over cooked the Hubs steak, so I was glad that this time they got it right! After we enjoyed a scrumptious dinner, it was nice of them to give my sister a complimentary chocolate molten cake (very rich!) for her to enjoy/celebrate her birthday with. We decided to share her dessert because we were all so full already. Another lovely dinner shared with family!

2016_07_26_DSC_7626 — Space needle in the back!

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2016_07_26_DSC_7633 — Dungeness Crab and Artichoke dip with crostini!

2016_07_26_DSC_7635 — Crispy Fried Calamari

2016_07_26_DSC_7637 — Daniel’s Delmonico (Bone-in New York 20 oz) Hubbys order

2016_07_26_DSC_7638 — My order: Filet Mignon

2016_07_26_DSC_7640 — we shared 2 sides: Grilled mushrooms and sweet yellow corn (this was a big disappointment,the sweet corn were not sweet at all:(

2016_07_26_DSC_7641 — Sis order: Daniel’s cut filet mignon 12 oz

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2016_07_26_DSC_7643 — The Birthday celebrant!

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2016_07_26_DSC_7650 — complimentary dessert!

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Leavenworth,WA!

Hi everyone! How are you all doing? We’re all doing great here, enjoying a nice summer week in the PNW (sunny all week!) and having a restful August. We’ve had such a busy July. I’m posting about our trip to Leavenworth last month when my sister visited us. We all love this little Bavarian town (2 hours drive from our house). It’s such a darling place to spend the day. Fun shops, good food and cozy ambiance is what I always associate with Leavenworth.

We had lunch at the famous Munchen Haus! As always the line was long, but their service is always quick so no worries there. We enjoyed some brats( I had the Jalapeno and Cheddar sausage! YUM!!), pretzels (according to Hubs he prefers Auntie Annies! HA!) and fresh squeezed lemonade. Aside from the food and the atmosphere, I really loved that they are pet friendly, so it was no problem having Riley with us.

Till next time Leavenworth!

2016_07_26_DSC_7663 — Hubs and SIs and Riley At Smallwood’s Harvest!

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2016_07_26_DSC_7675 — Sis and I (my 6 months baby bump),Riley

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Falls Buffet!

Hello Friends! It’s been a while since my last post. July was super busy here, there’s always an activity every weekend for us. My sister visited us for a week, we visited Leavenworth, we had my Hubs childhood friend and his family one weekend, and another weekend we celebrated my Sis In Law’s birthday. I’m looking forward to have a restful and not so busy August.

Anyways, when my sister visited we took her out to one of the “famous” buffets here in Washington. The Falls Buffet at Snoqualmie Casino. Every Tuesday night is their King Crab Buffet ($36.95 +tax/person). We went together with our friends Faye and Roger and their kids.I personally think it’s worth it for the amount of crabs we enjoyed that night. They also have other options like asian cuisines, pizza and pasta, Prime Rib. People lined up because of the crabs. I’ve only been here during their Crab buffet and we always had a good experience. We will most likely be back here sometimes when we have family and friends visiting who wants to eat some king crabs!

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