Maybe I should do more cooking...

Today we bought ourselves some of these:

Cutco table knives. And let me just say, HOLY COW am I excited to use them. 

These things can cut through anything. They make the knives we have now look like kiddie toys. 

We also bought an ice cream scoop and a pizza cutter. 

And the best part? If any of these ever break they will replace them. For free. For the rest of our lives.

Good investment? I think so.

Help Wanted!

Can someone hack our blog and make it cuter? I am amazed by how cute other people's blogs are. Ours needs a serious makeover...

P.S. Congratulations to Ben's cousin Brandon and his wife Kathleen on their new baby girl Margot! She is adorable!

The best date ever!

I'm pretty sure I have the best husband. When I got home from work last Friday I saw this in the kitchen and I knew something was going on:

Then he handed me an invitation that said this:

Cali Marie Rawlinson,

This invitation says that you are invited to a dinner date this evening at 6:00 p.m. with one Benjamin J. Rawlinson.

First, you will have the opportunity to pick between two meals. The meals include an appetizer, entreé, and dessert. Please choose wisely for this will decide what you will eat tonight.

Second, you will go to the store with Benjamin to shop for the desired ingredients.

Third, at 6:00, you will be provided with a crossword puzzle for pre-entertainment. Then you will join Ben in the kitchen to help prepare the rest of the dinner, if you so desire.

Fourth, you will enjoy a delicious meal.

Fifth, after the dinner meal, we will proceed to wait for our food to settle and then you will help Ben in the kitchen to help make the dessert.

Please come dressed appropriately for the evening in jeans and a clean shirt. Your presence is desired tonight for a wonderful meal and movie.

Please circle one option: Dinner One or Dinner Two

I went back and forth and finally chose Dinner One, which turned out to be a Mexican themed dinner. At 6:00, as promised, I was given a homemade crossword puzzle.

It was the cutest puzzle with facts about us and our relationship. When I was done, I had to present it at the kitchen in order to be allowed inside!

I must have passed because Ben let me in to cook with him. The whole time we listened to Spanish music, which I usually find extremely annoying, but it went along perfectly with the evening's theme!

Here is the appetizer in the "lounge:"

Dinner in the dining room...complete with a candle (which is actually a light bulb...)

And for dessert, we made apple tortillas. It sounds kind of weird but it was delicious! It's apple pie filling and cinnamon baked in a tortilla with a caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. 

Who knew an evening at home could be so much fun?

The Happiest Day of Ben's Life

Back in July, a very bad thing happened. Our apartment complex changed cable providers and got rid of the ESPN channels. Ben plunged into a deep depression (not really...but he was pretty sad).

Today was Ben's first day of school. He went to his football theory class and learned that his homework would consist of watching football games on Saturdays. Finally, the excuse he had been looking for! He marched straight over to our apartment manager's office and got the phone number for the cable company. By the time I got home from work the cable guy had come and gone and Ben was in heaven...aka watching Sportcenter.

This is what Ben would look like if he was really old and had weird hair. Depression cured.

Summer Fun Over and Done!

Well it has been awhile since the last post.  I believe my wife posted our trips from the Disneyland Vacation in June.  However our traveling fun did not end there.....

JULY


We traveled to Oklahoma for the fourth of July weekend.  We didn't travel by plane but instead spent a couple of days traveling from Idaho to Oklahoma.  I will say that it is a long drive from point A to point B.  We did a couple of fun things.  Here are some highlights from the trip:

 We watched the Transformers Movie in 3D

  We went and had fun at Dave and Busters

 Finally, we ended the weekend and our 4th of July with a 5k Run

Basically Cali and I got up early in the morning to run/ walk mostly for an hour.  One of us thought the 5K was cool and the other did not enjoy the 3.5 mile walk early in the morning.  All in all,  it was great experience if you ever get the chance to to do a 5K one day.

So, we ended our trip to Oklahoma by leaving that Tuesday and decided to make a detour into Utah.  We had bought tickets to see the American Idol tour in Salt Lake City.  Yes, we did see Scotty, Lauren, Haley and the rest of the gang.   

It was a great show with great music.   All the people from this season were pretty much amazing.  

Other facts in July:  Cali got a job at a call center and I turned 25 on the 25th of July.  

AUGUST:

My Brother got married the first weekend in August.  So that meant we traveled again across the US.  This time we decided to travel through the air.  We were too tired to travel by car.  We thought it better if we took a break from the car.   So the first week of August found us in Minnesota.    We met up with my family again and had a blast in Minneapolis.  

Highlights from the Trip:

I WAS OLD ENOUGH TO RENT A CAR

We drove the Chevy HHR around town for the weekend.  It was a nice car and we enjoyed the satellite radio that came with the vehicle.  So many radio stations to choose from.....  

WE WENT TO MALL OF AMERICA WITH THE FAMILY, WE RODE RIDES AND SHOPPED TIL WE DROPPED

SPENCER AND ASHLEY GOT MARRIED

This was the real purpose of the weekend.  We watched Spencer and Ashley tie the knot.

So we would like to welcome Ashley to the family.  

WE CELEBRATED OUR ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

My brother happened to get married one day before our one year anniversary.  We spent the day celebrating by going to a baseball game seeing the twins, seeing a movie, and eating at olive garden.  It was a wonderful day spent together.

We left Minnesota the following day to head back to Idaho.  We swore we wouldn't travel til next summer.... but we decided that we needed to get away one final time before school starts next week on the 12th of September.

SEPTEMBER:

We got the traveling bug again over Labor Day weekend.  I decided, we ought to spend some together before we got busy in the fall and in the winter.  We chose to travel 3 hours and head for Salt Lake City for the weekend.  It was a blast!

Highlights for the Weekend:

WE SPENT TWO NIGHTS AT THE HYATT

These are really nice hotels.  The beds felt comfortable.  Who would complain about the 46' flat screen tv that rotates between the couch and the bed.  We will probably find ways to spend more time at this hotel chain.

WE VISITED TEMPLE SQUARE AND THE SALT LAKE TEMPLE AND TOURED THE CONFERENCE CENTER 

We enjoyed feeling the wonderful Spirit found at temple square. This section of downtown is beautiful, we were glad that we were able to visit.

WE ATE AT TUCANOS ( A VERY GOOD BRAZILIAN RESTAURANT)

This place was very good.  The meat there was excellent.  It is a very fun and exciting atmosphere.  I recommend anyone to go if they have one in there area.  

WE SAW THE BROADWAY PRODUCTION OF MARY POPPINS

We went to the Capitol Theatre in Downtown Salt Lake.  We got the opportunity to enjoy a very good show.

The Music was great.  The Dancing was wonderful.  It was well worth the price to see this production.  

Well the summer is now over.  No more vacations.  Its back to school and back to work.  We traveled many miles and tried new places to eat.  We did fun things and many memories were shared.  Farewell Summer! Until next year!