albert einstein!

and in case you need a visual reminder of the REAL albert einstein {i couldn't tell the difference either}

butternut squash lasagna

i've been trying to slowly get back into the groove of cooking yummy food again. in the halloween issue of martha stewart magazine there was this recipe for butternut squash cannelloni that looked pretty good, but it was missing a few things and it seemed as though it might end up being dry and not very flavorful. i tried looking online and couldn't find what i was looking for either so i improvised. the results were pretty tasty, unfortunately i didn't get a picture because we devoured it too quickly. but here's the recipe:

squash layer:

1/2 a large butternut squash

4 TBS butter, divided

dash nutmeg

cheese layer:

2 cups ricotta cheese

1 egg

white sauce:

1/2 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

2 TBS flour

2 cups milk

topping:

8-10 fresh sage leaves chopped

parmesan cheese

1/2 package of oven-ready lasagna noodles

peel and dice butternut squash and steam until tender (about 10 minutes). mash with 2 TBS of the butter, salt and pepper and a dash of nutmeg. set aside. in another bowl combine ricotta cheese and egg until well combined and smooth. set aside. in a saucepan melt the other 2 TBS of butter and cook onion and garlic until soft and translucent. add flour and cook until flour is well combined with onions and garlic and smells cooked (like pie crust). gradually whisk milk into flour mixture until smooth and continue to cook on medium heat stirring occasionally until the milk is thickened and simmering. remove from heat. to assemble the lasagna: ladle a small amount of the white sauce into the bottom of an 8x8 pan, cover with two noodles. layer squash, then ricotta, then noodles and white sauce. repeat twice and top with parmesan cheese and chopped sage leaves. bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes until top is browned and filling is bubbly. let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

what's naptime?

yesterday we were home for just long enough for stockton to have a nap. we'd been out rock climbing with friends all morning and of course the little dude didn't want to sleep through any of the excitement. when we got home we fed him and stuck him in his crib. we didn't hear any crying and so, of course, no crying usually means he's asleep. all of the sudden we started hearing "dad!" "dad!" "dad!" from stockton's room. we went in to check on him and we found stockton standing up in the corner of his room yelling for his dad. when he saw chris he pointed at him and yelled "dad!" again and started laughing at himself. it was probably the cutest thing ever. i fear what naptime will be like this week... yikes.

flying baby!

stockton is quite the busy body. he loves climbing on any and everything lately. it's scary and crazy. one of his favorite things to do is crawl on top of things and then fly by flapping his arms and legs like a maniac. here he is on top of his toy basket and some red bull from costco (i guess red bull really does give you wings!)

watching tv with daddy

stockton loves to watch tv, for about 5 minutes. then he's off to the next most interesting thing, like the electric cables running around the floor, or the garbage, or the closest pair of shoes. we recently acquired a little mini rocking chair (my mom and i both used as a baby) and he will sit in it and rock back and forth while watching tv. it helps also if he has a remote in his hand.

back to the future

one week ago today, we turned in our applications to residency programs. hopefully over the next few months chris will travel all over interviewing for a spot in an anesthesia program where we will spend the next 4 years... it's exciting and nerve-racking. i'm happy that we survived the application process and that the apps are in. now for the interviews! here's a list of where we've applied so far, for those of you who are curious. it's pretty spread out and we really could end up anywhere:

mayo--phoenix, az

university of az--tucson, az

uc davis--sacramento, ca

university of co--aurora, co

university of fl--gainesville, fl

university of ia--iowa city, ia

harvard--boston, ma

university of mi--ann arbor, mi

mayo--rochester, mn

duke--durham, nc

dartmouth--lebanon, nh

unm--albuquerque, nm

ohio state--columbus, oh

ohsu--portland, oh

penn state--hershey, pa

vanderbilt--nashville, tn

texas tech--lubbock, tx

ut san antonio--san antonio, tx

ut southwestern--dallas, tx

utah--salt lake city, ut

university of va--charlottesville,va

virginia mason--seattle, wa

mcw--milwaukee, wi

these are in alphabetical by state, not by where we want to go the most.

shooting hoops

last month, we spent another 2 weeks ups in boise doing an away rotation, this time in anesthesia. we had chris' parents huge house to ourselves almost the entire time because the family was in new york supporting chris' brother damen in the babe ruth world series {go damen! the team placed 4th which is pretty amazing if you ask me}. one night we went outside just before bed time to watch chris shoot around in the backyard. stockton was mesmerized and followed chris and the ball wherever they went. it was really cute.

day thirty

day thirty {where you see yourself in 10 years}

wowee... day thirty. it only took me about 40 days to get here. {i had to post the party hat picture, because it's a party over here, we finished!}

let's see in 10 years i hope:

we have a couple more kiddos

we are done with schooling and have a real job

we own a home

we have our loans paid off {that's a bit ambitious}

we are still happy

day twenty-nine

day twenty-nine {a person you love}

if i were going to take the obvious route, i'd write another post about the handsome hubby or my cute son. but i'm going to take the not so obvious route i guess and tell you about my great grandma brinkerhoff...aka GB.

i fondly remember my grandma GB. there were lots of funny things she always did. she swore a lot and it always took her all day to drink a cup of coffee. she always had a tissue tucked under her sweater and she had the most pristine black curled hairdo i have ever seen. she was always so kind and loving to all of us kids, even when we constantly played in her flour and sugar drawers in the kitchen (yes, she had a DRAWER for flour and sugar) when we were at her house for memorial day. she often came to visit us in albuquerque for weeks at a time and we would sit and watch jeopardy together. i loved her waffles with homemade maple syrup and i still dream about her donuts. she really cared about our family and i loved the way she watched over my mom.

for years and years, GB had an eating disorder that went undetected. it destroyed her heart and ultimately took her life. she died when i was pretty young, i wasn't more than 12 or 13. my mom was pretty devastated as he life went by. watching her relationship with GB has been a great example to me of how important grandparents are in our life. i love GB and i'm grateful that she and my mom had a lasting and strong relationship. i only hope to have such with my two awesome grandmas.

{the picture above is GB and my little sister McKenzie on her blessing day, 15 years ago}

day twenty-eight

day twenty-eight {a place you love}

well, this one is easy peasy. i love love LOVE lake powell. it's the best place on earth to go. it's beautiful, it's fun and usually i'm there with people i care about the most. i love the morning ski rides, the cool hikes and slot canyons, cliff jumping, fun boat rides, tubing, eating tons of good food, the scorching heat--it's all awesome (except for maybe the potty dock). we've been going there since i was tiny tiny. we would camp on the beach. i remember sand, windstorms, more sand, trying not to get sunburned and more sand. when i was 8 or 9 we started renting a houseboat. that was awesome because we could sleep on top and sometimes our rental had a slide. now, my parents have a share of a houseboat and we go more than ever. i love that our boat is old and not very pretty. i love the dance parties we have doing the dishes, the games we play, jumping off the top of the boat, showering off the back. this summer we took stockton for the first time and he had a ball. i hope we can keep going there and that he will love this place as much as i do.

day twenty-seven

day twenty-seven {what's in your purse}

well, i don't carry much of a purse around any more. i like to wish i did, because purses are cute and fun and usually don't have crumbs or sticky stuff inside. but here's my diaper bag/purse as it stands {i didn't know this post was coming up and i actually cleaned out my bag yesterday...good thing}

-diapers

-wipes

-butt paste

-sunscreen

-lotion

-hand sanitizer

-lipstick

-puffs

-kleenex

-wallet

-random key

-pen

-binkie

-my sunglasses (red case)

-stockton's sunglasses

-baby tylenol