Can't you just see the excitement in his eyes?

After 4 months and 270+ hours of studying, Brent took the CAS Exam 6 yesterday, we'll find out the results in late December. I explained a little about his exams back in July. There are 9 of them. He takes them to get his professional certification as an Actuary (one of the best descriptions of what an actuary is is found here). The exams are very labor intensive and it feels like we are perpetually stuck in grad school. He studies for about 4 months for each exam. Well, he did anyway. It looks like for the last 3 he'll need more studying because obviously, they get harder and harder. If you want to learn more about Brent's job and exams, you can ask. Or maybe I'll have him blog about it himself.

Anyway, the tests are in the morning and last about 4 hours so Brent is always home by 2 on tests days and that's when we celebrate. We do whatever Brent wants to do. For example, after his test in May, all he wanted to do was veg on the couch and eat snack foods. This time, we saw Eagle Eye on IMAX (a little heavy on the swearing but, SO GOOD!!), and with our coupon we only paid $15 for both tickets instead of $16 each. Since it was a 4:50 showing on a Wednesday we were the only people in the ginormous theater until a couple walked in during the previews. It was awesome. After the movie, we went to Chevy's for dinner and ate way more food than we should have, and still had plenty leftover for us both to have lunch today. Their fried ice cream is so yummy that it should be illegal. It was kind of a late birthday celebration for me since we didn't do a whole lot on Saturday so Brent let me pick the restaurant. I had wanted to go to Macaroni Grill in Burbank but when we got to the theater, we saw the Grill was closed. Stupid! I love their rosemary bread. Anyway, we improvised and went to Chevy's instead and we had a coupon for it too which made it all the better. Best tortillas ever. I didn't take our camera but I caught a few things with my phone, which explains the poor quality of the pics.

Giant, empty theater. We should have been making out instead of taking pictures...what were we thinking?


Even food tastes better without the pressure of studying hanging over our heads...

Flashback Friday - ME!!

Saturday (when this will actually get posted) is my birthday. I'm turning 24. Yes, I know, I'm young. However, I'm finally getting a little older! Woo! I've never really had a normal concept of age because I have some siblings that are 14 and 15 years older than me so no one ever seems "old" to me because they are probably the age of at least one or 2 of my siblings. I've been told I seem much older than I am and I've always felt that way, which is nice, but then my birthday rolls around and I'm reminded of how young I actually am. Long story short, happy birthday to me, one year older and extremely grateful for that (please skip all lectures on how someday I won't be saying that)!

I always think about my parents on my birthday and wonder what their life was like adding one more baby to the mix. I'm am the 5th of 5 girls from my mom and the 6th child of my dad's. Thanks for bringing me to the world mom and pop! I'll be awaiting a phone call from my mom telling me the story of the day I was born. She does that every year, and I love that she loves to tell me about it.

Emily Jane Black
October 25th, 1984
San Bernardino, CA

Here are a few pages from my scrapbook.

Soup of the week

This week's soup was Butternut Squash. I stole it from Beth's blog. It sounded really yummy, and smelled SO good while it was cooking. Brent really enjoyed the smell wafting into the bedroom where he was studying. The results? It was ok. I always forget that I am not a squash/sweet potato kind of girl but try them once in awhile just in case I've changed my mind. I think I'm getting better though because the soup was good, especially with the crusty baguette. I think I may have put in too much curry and next time I will use veggie broth instead of chicken broth. The savory chicken flavor didn't complement the squash very well. Long story short, we didn't love it but we liked it enough to tweak it and try it again in the future. If you like squash though, I bet you'll love it! Oh, another plus was that since I bought the squash pre-cubed, it was SO easy to make! Here's the recipe:

Butternut Squash Soup

4 c. butternut squash cubed (buy it already cubed from Trader Joe's or your local grocery store, it will save you a lot of time.)
1 peeled and quartered Granny Smith apple
1 c. chopped onion
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/8 tsp. pepper
dash of allspice or nutmeg
1 5 oz. can evaporated milk
2 14.5 oz. cans of chicken or vegetable broth

1. Put all ingredients except milk in pot and bring to a rolling boil.
2. Simmer for 25 minutes (until squash and apple are very soft).
3. Put mixture in food processor or blender and puree until smooth.
4. Poor back into pot. Stir in milk and serve at desired temperature.

Addendum to the Tag List

My friend Hillary, who also got tagged by Beth, added a few questions to hers. Actually they were suggestions from her husband. Funny stuff.

Who's funnier? I think we're both pretty hilarious. Brent is credited with the funniest one liners though.
What was your first big fight? I think we had a few hurt feelings/disagreements while we were dating but the first big fight I remember is when we were trying to register for wedding gifts at Target. I'm still not sure why I dragged him along. I should have just done it myself.
What makes your hubby cranky? The top 3: hunger, dry contacts/eyes (so weird), lack of sleep

I've been tagged!!

Here are the rules: You answer the questions below and at the end of the post you tag 4 people. Then go to their blog and comment to them that they have been tagged. My friend Beth tagged me on her blog so here we go...

What is your husband's name? Brent Randall Gray
How long have you been married? Five years in December
How long did you date? one year, we got married on the anniversary of our first date
How old is he? he'll be 28 next month
Who eats sweets? We both do but I'd have to say Brent has a much larger sweet tooth
Who said "I Love You" first? He did, the day after our first kiss. We were sitting on his couch.
Who is taller? He is - but only by an inch or 2.
Who can sing best? He can. I think he's quite the bass and he was in choir in HS & college
Who is smarter? Um? He's definitely better at the left brain stuff but I'm better at right brain stuff. Between the 2 of us, hopefully we'll never need to pay for tutors for our kids.
Who does the laundry? I do.
Who pays the bills? Mostly him.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me, unless we aren't at home and the right side of the bed is next to a door or a big window then I need my man to sleep on the scary side of the bed and protect me (yeah, I'm weird). This did come in handy the last time we went camping though. Some drunk lady tried to come in our tent at like 3am. Brent popped awake and yelled in this big scary man voice "Who's there?! What do you want?!". See? Maybe I'm not that weird, it could've been a bad guy or something!
Who mows the lawn? What lawn? If you're talking about our apartment building, then it's Alex the gardener. If we owned a home it would be Brent.
Who cooks dinner? I do most of the time.
Who drives? Brent, he likes driving.
Who is the first to admit they are wrong? It's about 50/50 depending on who is being stubborn.
Who kissed who first? He kissed me first outside of my apartment. My roommates and a couple of my friends were on the other side of the door taking turns looking through the peephole and at one point they were singing "Kiss the Girl". He kissed my cheek first to "test the waters" and then when he kissed me for real, we were both so shocked we didn't even say good night, we just kind of turned around and he went home and I went inside.
Who asked who out first? I asked him out. He swears he had come up to my apartment to ask me and I knew that's what he was there to do but I was impatient and I was afraid he was going to chicken out. Maybe you'll get to hear his side of the story someday because he says I tricked him...
Who wears the pants? I would say we both do most of the time, but I'm kind of bossy on occasion. Good thing he was raised with only sisters and knows how to handle me. I guess that would mean he actually wears the pants and I just think I do?
How did you meet? (This question wasn't on there but I looked at some other people who have been tagged on this and they added it so I am too.) We met because we, along with 2 of my roommates and one of Brent's, all worked at the J. Reuben Clark Law Building as night custodians and we both lived at the Campus Plaza apartments and we were in the same ward and Brent was my home teacher. I'm not a big believer in the whole soul mate/one person for everybody idea but I do think we were supposed to at least meet each other. What do you think?

Dating - Easter 2003, this was the first time I met most of his extended family. Talk about awkward!



Engaged - We went to the BYU Homecoming dance up at the UT Capitol Building



Wedding Day - Can you believe I was barely 19? I can!! Yikes!



I'm tagging my sisters Melissa, Cami, Tiffani & Sara because they have some fun stories and since Tiffani & Sara have each been married for 15 and 14 years, it's been awhile since I've heard theirs. Have fun ladies! I'm anxious to read your answers.

Handbag Planet

I heard about this from a girlfriend of mine. 24 free handbags in 24 hours.

I entered to win this one.



Sign up here for your chance to win.

Soup of the week & some other delicious food

One of the things I love most about the fall/winter (here in LA they are pretty much the same thing) is the food. There's something about warm, hearty food that I love. So in honor of that, I'm going to make soup once a week for a few months. I'll try to remember to post recipes (and pictures if they turn out ok) so you can all be jealous. Hah. Just kidding. Please feel free to send any soup, bisque, stew, chowder, etc recipes that you like, I would love to try them.

Yesterday we had Broccoli Potato soup in bread bowls. It was super easy and very tasty if I do say so myself. A little heavy on the pepper but otherwise very good. I didn't take a picture. Here's the recipe:

• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 2 onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons margarine
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of potato soup
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup water
• 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute the broccoli and onion in the butter or margarine, about 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in the soup, milk, water, basil and pepper. Mix well and heat through, about 15 minutes. Add cheese and stir until melted.

Food I have taken pictures of recently was something I tried out last week. I think Brent decided to call them Stuffed Zucchini. I got the idea off the back of the Jennie O turkey I had. It was SO good. I don't usually like zucchini but I think I'm getting there. I had some of the browned ground turkey in my freezer (it didn't use a lot). I halved 2 zucchini and scooped out the middle and filled them with ground turkey, some red sauce I made out of diced tomatoes and seasonings (you could use any sort of red pasta/marinara/bruchetta sauce) and cheese then baked them at 350 for about 15-20 minutes (until the zucchini felt tender when I poked it with a fork). I served it with garlic bread and steamed carrots. I'm telling you, SO yummy and I can't even imagine how healthy it was. Other than the little bit of cheese and bread it was just veggies and lean meat. I'm going to make them again this week if I still have enough turkey left over in the freezer.

Home Alone

I just got home from dropping Brent off at the airport. He is flying to Boston for his very first business trip! Exciting, huh? He is going to a conference for one of the software programs they use in risk management. He is excited. Not so much for the conference but he really likes Boston. He is staying here for $250/night. Thank goodness we get reimbursed!

The best part? It's MLB postseason and these guys have a home game tonight. He bought a ticket in one of the upper levels with an obstructed view for $75. Not too bad for a championship game. Attending a Sox game at Fenway Park is one of the items on his "things to do before I die" list, so I hope he gets some good pictures and souvenirs and of course I hope they win!

He comes home late Wednesday night so for the next couple of days I'll be here alone. It's not that big of a deal, I just really love my husband and never feel like I need a "break" or "time to myself". Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing things that don't involve him but if I could spend 100% of my time with this man, I would! (Does that make me needy? Maybe. But what's wrong with being that attached to your husband? I say nothing. We are stuck together for eternity, I should probably like him. A lot.)

I'll miss you, Bubs!! Someday when I have more than 8 days off a year, I'll come on these trips with you.

Another Late Flashback Friday - The Praying Mantis

Dear Brent,

Remember that one time we got home from a date to find that a praying mantis had hitched a free ride on our car? That was funny.

Love,
E

Congrats Gordon family!!

As you know, I spent the last week in Arizona with the Gordon family. It was so much fun. I spent the week being silly with the little girls, cooking, cleaning and hanging out with Jake & Melissa. I loved pretending to be a mom for a little while, those girls are so wonderful. When they dropped me off at the airport the girls cried and to be honest, I did a little too. It's amazing how people so small can make you feel so fulfilled.

Molly

Janie

We were hoping that the baby would make her appearance earlier in the week but that's what you get for planning. On Monday Melissa's doctor "accidentally" broke her water and little Ella Cait Gordon was born at 12:42 am on Tuesday, September 30th. She is beautiful.

Good job guys! Way to make a cute baby, not that we expected anything different. :)