Thursday, May 30, 2013

Chefs de cuisine

Galen and I attempted for the second time to make our own pizza at home...well, more like assemble our own pizza. The dough was pre-made from Whole Foods, sauce from Trader Joe's. We added asiago and parmesan cheeses, sliced salame, fresh tomatoes, and crimini mushrooms. 

We've "made" pizza before but using Trader Joe's brand garlic and herb dough, which was a better consistency and taste than the one from Whole Foods. This particular pizza came out a little doughy after baking. 

Anyhow, just thought I'd share the photo and keep on with this posting streak I've got going.

Has anyone else made pizza at home before? Any tips to offer? Comment below!

Oops, I just realized I forgot to take a photo after it was baked.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Sunday Hike

Our usual Sunday routine includes going over to my parents' house for dinner, although lately we've been having Sunday dinner at our house because we watch Game of Thrones with our friends across the street who have HBO. They live in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains, about half an hour drive from our centrally located house. Being by the University, we don't have much nature or wildlife around us, although once I saw a turkey running around our neighborhood which is really strange because 1. turkeys aren't wild here and 2. the only animals we regularly see are lizards and stray cats. 

Anyhow, this past Sunday Galen and I dropped the dogs off at my parents' house (no dogs allowed there) and went for a hike in Sabino Canyon, a national park right down the road. It's crazy to think that all of this is so close to us, but we hardly come to hike. So, since it was only 90 degrees F (about 32C) that day and there was no Game of Thrones because of Memorial Day, it was perfect.







Saguaro cactus ribs after all the flesh has rotted away










Monday, May 27, 2013

Our Alaskan Honeymoon

Alright, I've decided to try post at least once a week whether we do something exciting that week or not. So, sometimes (like in the case of this week)I'll do a throwback post to past things that I failed to post on Facebook or send out otherwise.


With that being said, here's a huge photo dump of pics from our honeymoon last summer 2012 to Alaska. Since we had limited time to plan a trip between the wedding and Galen going to school, we decided to go on a cruise. That way, all of our meals and entertainment would be planned out for us, and all we would have to do is show up!

Our port of call was in Seattle, Washington, and since at the time Seattle was a possibility for Galen's residency, we flew in very early in the morning to walk around and see the city before our ship left that evening. My favorite things there were the water everywhere and all of the beautiful fruits to eat, especially the Rainier cherries. We must have eaten about 4 pounds (almost 2 kilos) of Rainer cherries throughout that trip because we bought some to eat while we walked around that day, some to take on the ship, some to eat while we walked around before the flight home, and more to take back to Tucson. 

Overall, it was an excellent trip. I definitely recommend Alaska!


Famous Pike Place Market. Excellent place to buy some French pastries, a Starbucks coffee from the original cafe, a bag of Rainier cherries, and have breakfast over looking the Sound.

Just a sampling of the rows and rows of beautiful produce in Pike Place.  We're not used to this in the desert because it's just too hot to have markets like this. Plus, nothing grows here. Ha. It's all imported from Mexico.

Fresh flowers for sale, the kind you'd never see growing in the desert.

Setting sail, with Seattle in the background

We went to bed one night and woke up the next morning in beautiful Oz

Loads of tiny waterfalls all around. Tried to capture one here
 
Our second day at sea. The ship drove into a fjord called Tracy Arm to Sawyer Glacier. The captain said that since last year, it had melted back 100 feet.

Trying to get a photo with the glacier

Warming up on the deck with hot chocolate and a view

The ship stayed by the glacier for about an hour, and everyone packed the deck for the first 30 minutes, but we braved the cold for the rest of the time to get a photo without everyone else in it.

Woo!
Finally, land!
Summer is the down season for racing sled dog teams, so they take tourists up and around the mountains on wheeled carts.

Our lead dog. Can't recall her name though.

The dogs used for racing are Alaskan huskies, as opposed to Siberian huskies, and are very friendly

Since the puppies are born in the summer, we got to go back to their camp and play with them

And this is how we ended up with Max. Galen said he was just going to "look"

The puppy pen
A litter had just been born two days prior to our visit, but we were not allowed to pick these babies up

Gorgeous walk back from the camp. Our guide said instead of going to the movies (since there is no theatre). there they all pulled up lawn chairs next to the stream in this valley and watched the bears catch the spawning salmon.
Perfect weather

Skagway, Alaska: the town at the bottom of the mountain where the dog camp was located, literally a one road town where the median home price is $500K because no one ever moves in or moves out. It was built for miners during the Gold Rush, like most of the towns in Alaska.

We spent a day zip-lining through the canopy.

They provided us with all the gear, including these fashionable waterproof jackets to protect our clothing from dripping tree sap.

Surprisingly, not as scary as one would have thought. This was a practice line that we all zipped on before committing to the big lines because there was no turning back once you got going (this is Galen, btw)

Suspension bridge along the course

The shuttle on the way back from zip-lining took us to see another glacier. Galen and I decided to hike away from the visitors' center to see it up closer. Here's Galen skipping rocks.

Creek Street in Ketchikan, Alaska. A street build over the river with local artisan shops. The salmon spawn up this river, but we couldn't spot any.

The quaint town of Ketchikan. We also took in a lumberjack show, but couldn't get any decent photos because it was raining.

Our final port of call was in Victoria, Canada, but we were only allowed to disembark for a few hours. Luckily there was a vendor fair going on that day that we got to see. 

Getting ready for the last show aboard the ship, followed by our final dinner.



Sunday, May 19, 2013

Huzzah!

This past Tuesday we went to a weekly "Fighters Practice" at Reid Park with our friends Russell and Stephanie and their new baby, Mina. It's put on by the local SCA (Society for Creative Anachronisms), and is basically a free event for people to dress up like they're in the Middle Ages and fight with swords.

One of the requirements to fight is that you wear a cup, and since Galen doesn't own one, he just sat out and watched with Mom, Steph, Mina, and me. Russell and Dad though geared up, cups and all, and practiced their rapier skills. No one-on-one combat this week, but maybe next week. Dad's fencing skills will definitely come in hand.


Stephanie and Baby Mina watching the fights
Dad with hood, vest, and neck guard
Russell with hood and neck guard
Beautiful night in the park
Dad listening to a lecture form one of the SCA members