California Living

This post will mainly be a bunch of pictures of what has happened since we moved to California 3 weeks ago.

We moved to California on a Wednesday. We picked up our very best friends, Jared & Chelsea, from LAX on Thursday for a fun-filled weekend.

We went to the Getty museum to look around. In true LA fashion J&C were welcomed with awful traffic!

On the tram up to the Getty.

The view of LA from the Getty

Look how awesome this bed/couch is! Watching movies would be awesome  in this thing.

I loved this chandelier 

B & I were all dressed up so that we could got to LA temple afterwords.

All of us at the Getty

 Six Flags Magic Mountain

Jet Stream I am the only one that wore white and I got pretty wet :/ Luckily it was hot and so it felt good.

Hanging out with the Green Lantern. We went to
Six Flags with Jared and Chelsea.

B is my super man. ;) J&C both got batman capes.

I only hang out with superheroes!

LA from the Griffith's Observatory

The weather has been really nice and kinda warm.

 Tessa Time

Sleepover with Tessa

We like to play dress-up

 Exotic Feline Breeding Compound

 The feline compound offers Twilight Tours 3 times a year. What that means is they open the compound from 5 to dark and open up normally closed areas. It is only for people 18+ and it was so much fun! We saw some of the leopards and jaguars that aren't normally on display. They gave the cats some boxes, phone-books, and melons to play with or eat.

I love the peacocks that are just wandering around!

The Snow Leopard was destroying the box he was given.

Caesar the tiger. His story was so sad. He was found in a drug bust down in LA. He was found drugged up in the bathroom and was completely malnourished. The vets really didn't believe that he would survive. He is now a permanent resident and the feline compound. He has lasting side effects from being drugged. He doesn't get along with other cats well enough to have play time with the other tigers. It was just really sad. But he was such a good poser for photos.   

The White tiger. Poor cat is super inbred and so they compared him to a mental retarded person. He drools a lot and has hip issues. 

Grace is still lazy as ever! She sleeps a lot!

And B has gone Rastafarian.

California is being good to us. B loves his internship and I am loving mine! I'm looking for a job and hopefully I find one.

Grace the Kitty

Back in October Brian and I adopted a cat, Grace. She has since become part of our family and I can't imagine life without her. She is pretty much like our child. She sleeps under the covers in bed with us. I think she was once an alley cat because she can't stay out of the trash can. She loved our neighbors almost as much as us. She likes to try and hunt birds from the window. She will eat ANYTHING! She stole a cookie from Brian one time.

She loves sleeping on pillows, mainly mine.

Happy First Anniversary!

Brian and I made it to our First Anniversary! This first year has been crazy, busy, and so much fun.  Our anniversary was actually on the 7th but I've been too busy to post.

Since this day Brian and I moved to Utah. We lived there from April until September. Brian sold pest control door-to-door (He hated it). I worked in the office for that same company. I met some amazing people but hated the job. We spent lots of time with Shanade, Andrew, and the kiddos.

In September we moved to Rexburg, ID. We finished another year at BYU-I. We hung out with our best friends. We made lots of friends. We played with our friends adorable children. Brian worked as an early morning custodial on campus. We adopted a cat, Grace, who is so cute and amazingly lazy.

In the last year we have grown so much as people and as a couple. We are learning and growing. I feel like our first year went by so quickly. It was hard learning to compromise with Brian but it was so worth it. I love Brian and I am so grateful for everything I learn from him. I'm grateful for all that he does. That he is a worth priesthood holder who keeps me doing what I should be doing.

I look forward to the eternities that I have with my hubby!

On this cold cloudy day in Rexburg I decided to peruse some of my favorite shopping websites.  Which is completely dangerous and oh so satisfying. But I did find some things that I have now put on my wishlist.

I love this color and it looks so cute! I want one so bad. Perusing the sale section of Urban Outfitters was a bad idea. :)

This rug would look awesome in my living room!  Again, a sale item from Urban Outfitters.

Umm I would live in these!

I think I might have an obsession with stripes!

I love the mint color

I wish Maxi dresses looked good on me. Instead I look short and prego Just some of my wishful perusing:)

Turning Off Facebook

Today I chose to turn off Facebook for a while. I was on it a bit too much and it was starting to interfere with my schoolwork and life. My time is so limited and I don't want to spend it watching other people live. School is keeping me so busy and I don't have time to waste my life on Facebook.

My sweet hubby and I were talking and he kindly pointed out to me that I was spending too much time on Facebook and other technology. It got me thinking that maybe I should try and stay away from it for a  while.

Then, in my religion class we were talking about media. He is having us track our media use for two weeks. The time I spent using technology and Facebook was more than I'd like to admit to.  At first I thought that maybe I could just limit my time.  The more I considered that option the more I knew it wouldn't work. I needed to quit cold turkey.

Today in my English class we read an article called "Is Google Making us Stupid". We talked about technology and how it can be an addiction.  I admit that I am addicted to Facebook.  It reminded me of the talk "Good, Better, Best". Facebook can be a good thing but there are better things I could be doing. I wonder if spending so much time on Facebook hindered my progression.  

Anyways, right after class I promptly deleted Facebook off my phone.  I went online to delete my account but I couldn't figure that out. So I just logged out and deleted it off of my favorites. I admit that it is really hard to not get on.  I opened up my computer and it I almost went straight to it. I'll keep you updated on how I do.

Love, Caitlin

Psych

The TV show Psych is one of Brian's and my favorites! I think we watched six seasons in 1 month! Anyways, it is full of witty banter, 80's references, and junk food shared by two best friends Shawn and Gus. The series premier is in a few weeks and we are excited! 

In one of the  episodes they talk about a food called Fries Quatro Queso Dos Fritos. They looked super delicious!

Don't they just look good?!?!

In the Psych episode there is a compulsive liar being question by the police and he brings up the delicious treats.

Lyin' Ryan: The night before, I went to this restaurant to get a basket of these things called Fries Quatro Queso Dos Fritos. You know, the ones where they inject potatoes with a four cheese mixture, fry them three quarters of the way, pull them out, batter them, fry them again, and then serve them with bacon and an ancho chili sour cream. Anyway, as I was sitting there, a car speeds right through the storefront across the street. It makes such a loud noise, I had to turn my head and look and that is when I overheard the guy with the curly-Q's on his face tell the other guy at the corner table about the assassination plot.
Shawn: Can this be true?
Gus: No way.
Shawn: I mean, is it even possible?
Gus: I couldn't imagine it.
Shawn: There's no way you can prepare a fry like that. That'd be way too much for the human palate to manage.
Gus: It would be a flavor seizure.

Needless to say for the premier I am dead set on making these heavenly looking treats for us.  I found a blogger who had created a recipe, Mission: Food. (Here's the link http://www.mission-food.com/2011/02/psychs-fries-quatro-queso-dos-fritos.html)

Fries Quatro Queso Dos Fritos
Makes 1 dozen

Peanut or canola oil, for frying
12 small round potatoes, such as baby white potatoes, scrubbed clean, skin-on
Kosher salt
About 1 cup shredded 4 cheese Mexican blend (or use your own blend of Mexican-style cheeses, the sharper the better)
1/3 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs (or panko)
Freshly ground black pepper
Cayenne pepper

Bacon and Chili Sour Cream:
16 oz sour cream
2 scallions, sliced, plus more for garnish if desired
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper or ancho chili powder
2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Fill a Dutch oven 2-inches full with the oil and heat to 350 to 375 degrees F.

With a paring knife, lightly score 1 potato on its side and then slice it in half perpendicular to the score mark. This will help you know exactly which way to replace the potato halves. Use a small ice cream scoop or melon baller to scoop out the inside of each potato half, leaving no more than 1/4-inch of potato inside the skin.

Season the inside of each half with kosher salt, and then densely pack each half with 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese (that's about 1 to 2 packed tablespoons per potato), depending on the size of the potato and its cavity (pack the cheese really well because when it melts it will shrink).

Place the halves back together, using the score mark as a guide, and secure with a couple toothpicks. Repeat with the remaining potatoes.

Using a slotted spoon or spider skimmer, gently place a few of the stuffed potatoes at a time into the hot oil. Fry for about 8 to 10 minutes or until tender (a toothpick should be able to pierce through the potatoes easily). Remove fried potatoes to a paper towel-lined plate and repeat with the remaining potatoes in batches. Carefully remove the toothpicks, and allow the potatoes to cool slightly before proceeding.

Meanwhile, make the sauce by stirring together the sour cream, sliced scallions, and cayenne pepper.

Fill one bowl with flour, one bowl with the beaten egg, and one bowl with the bread crumbs. Season them all with salt and pepper, and season the bread crumbs with some cayenne pepper as well. This will be your breading station. One by one, dredge the potatoes in the flour mixture, shake off excess flour, coat with beaten egg, allow excess to drip off, and then finally coat with the bread crumbs. Set aside on a plate until ready to fry.

When all the potatoes have been breaded, and the oil is back to the correct temperature (350 to 375 degrees F), use the slotted spoon or spider skimmer once again to gently lower the breaded potatoes into the oil. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes until golden. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt to season.

Serve Fries Quatro Queso Dos Fritos with the chili sour cream and crumbled bacon, and garnish with more scallions if desired.

Who is trying these with us?!?! 

All credit for this recipe goes to Mission:Food