re posted: gjo's favorite treat.

the lovely sharalee noticed that i can't stop talking about carmelitas and asked me to post the recipe. carmelitas, carmelitas, carmelitas...what can i say, they are amazing. go here to find the recipe & try not to eat the whole pan yourself. i dare you.

do you do this with your babies?

My dogs watch TV. Do your dogs watch TV? I am learning that this is a very rare thing for dogs to do, but mine have both watched TV since day one. They are definitely more interested in the Animal Planet than anything else, but will usually watch The Discovery Channel, too. Any time a dog comes on TV, they run up to the screen (as pictured) and either move their heads from side to side, in that "curious dog-look" or bark if the dog pictured poses a threat.

The other day I was making carmelitas, and between Ober trying to jump in the oven & Jack sitting on my feet every time I stood still, I needed some serious alone time (I am laughing as I write this, I talk about them like they are kids). Anyways, I turned on the 2009 Dog Championships & the pups watched it for an hour and a half straight...Toby, from the couch & Bubs, front and center.

I realize that this basically means I am already a mother who shoves her children in front of the TV in order to get them out of her hair, but whatever, my dogs are the coolest.

**and Mom's who shove their babies in front of the TV are the coolest, too***

february is for lovers.

In the past, I have never been very excited to give G his Valentine's day presents, because I have never thought of anything great to give him. He is a notoriously hard person to shop for (those Olsen men...have everything, want nothing) which makes birthday's & holiday's tough.

But this year, I found the perfect present & I can't wait to give it to him. It arrived in the mail today & is even better in person than I thought it would be. Obviously, I can't tell you what it is on the off chance that my husband might decide to read my blog (not likely) but just in case, I am keeping it under wraps.

So, with the arrival of his present (which came wrapped with pink ribbon & a lace heart), I am officially in the Valentine's mood! Here's to February, one of my favorite months, and to celebrating the love in our lives. I am so glad G asked me out on our first date on Valentines Day all those years ago. I'll never forget him taking me to Market Street Grill, (where we discovered that the wait was an hour long) and climbing the stairs to the top of the restaurant to kill time. I'll never forget what he wore, what music we listened to in the car, what we ordered....and, I'll never forget when he kissed me at the top of that winding staircase, either.

Happy February.

meet the couple.

he.

1. Sitting in front of the TV, what's on the screen? the o'riely factor. prefers fox news over almost any other channel.
2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? ranch dressing.
3. What's one food he doesn't like? hates tomatoes, peas & raw veggies.
4. You go out to a restaurant, what does he get to drink? water most of the time. dr. pepper if splurging. diet coke, recently.
5. Where did he go to high school? west jordan high.
6. What is one phrase he says all the time? "i'm trying to decide...", "that's the thing...."
7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? he collects mail. he has piles & piles & piles & piles of un-opened mail. besides that, i can't see him collecting anything on purpose.
8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? turkey cranberry, especially the dutch store's turkey & ligdonberry
9. What would this person eat everyday if he could? salt & pepper chips, carmelitas, cheeseburgers.
10. What is his favorite cereal? it really varies. he goes through stages. usually, he gets really boring, super-healthy cereal (think kashi, wheaties, grape nuts, etc), but lately he has been doing honey nut cheerios (my fav).
11. What would he never wear? skinny jeans or a sweater that buttons all the way down the front.
12. What is his favorite sports team? the raiders & the utes.
13. Who will he vote for? the most conservative candidate.
14. Who is his best friend? me, tyler & bryan.
15. How many states has he lived in? utah & norway.
16. Does he have any nervous habits? biting cuticles, playing with mouth, moving his foot, fidgeting.
17. What could he spend hours doing? yard work, house work, home improvement...work of any kind. he will not spend hours doing anything that is non-productive. he likes to work, work, work all the time (opposite of me, obviously). the only thing i can see him spending hours doing that is not work in some form or another is playing poker.
18. He is: hard-working, inappropriate, funny, smart, my bff.


she.

1. Sitting in front of the TV, what's on the screen? gossip girl, 90210, jon & kate + 8, the real world (i am loving this season).
2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does she get on her salad? ranch dressing. always.
3. What's one food she doesn't like? blue cheese. which, by the way, appeared in a wrap i bought the other day & i wanted to die right then & there.
4. You go out to a restaurant, what does she get to drink? diet coke
5. Where did she go to high school? bhs
6. What is one phrase she says all the time? "although....", "i'm so tired", "gentlemen"
7. If she was to collect anything, what would it be? jackets, shoes, bracelets, journals.
8. What is her favorite type of sandwich? tuna melt or a club.
9. What would this person eat everyday if she could? southwest chicken wrap & fries from citrus. and i would bake a treat every single night.
10. What is her favorite cereal? honey nut cheerios with a banana sliced in.
11. What would she never wear? tevas. (sorry to any & all who love the teva)
12. What does she always wear? jeans, boots, bracelets.
13. Who will she vote for? it depends.
14. Who is her best friend? greg & everyone else. i love everyone.
15. How many states has she lived in? only one! (tear)
16. Does she have any nervous habits? picking all my nail polish off!
17. What could she spend hours doing? blogging, watching tv, painting my nails, baking, reading a magazine, reading a book, staring out the window...i have the rare ability to be extremely happy doing nothing.
18. She is: happy, organized, silly, sarcastic.

i tag: kiersti, jennie, lindsay, mckenzie, heidi, holls and everyone else. all of you!

this is pretty boring, but.

i realized that...

gjo = gregory john olsen
gjo = greg & jess olsen

j-mo = my highschool nickname
jmo = jessica moffitt olsen

looks like it was fate.

a cuisine that is lean.

i am currently obsessed with lean cuisines.

like lots of people, my appetite fluctuates with the weather. when it's cold, the last thing i want is a cold sandwich. i crave something warm, but a warm lunch can be hard to find unless you are willing to eat out everyday. i cannot afford such a luxury.

lean cuisine's are kind to my budget and my waistline & fulfill my warm lunch craving. plus, 90% of them are delicious. promise.

the sesame stir fry with chicken is my ultimate favorite, although the butternut squash ravioli is great, too. and don't forget to try the roasted garlic chicken pizza. diet food never tasted so good.

and just for the record, i once served a lean cuisine to gjo for dinner & he didn't say a word. the trick is to serve it on a plate.

happy lunch.

off to a bad start.

did i really say that was going to have an "accident-free" week yesterday?

this morning, husband drove to work with my car key's in tow.
i tried calling him 30 times when i realized they were missing
but alas, his line was busy. every. single. time.

by the time i got a hold of him, i was late for work & fuming.
convinced he didn't have them, the poor guy started rattling off random places for me to look.

his jeans. his nightstand. the hamper.

and then, out of no where, i suddenly KNEW where they were.
"check your car" i demanded.

bingo.

husband promptly made the trek back to our igloo to rescue me,
but of course, i was already very late.

he felt bad.

i sat in our warm kitchen and watched him scrape all the snow & ice off my car and warm it up for me the way he used to before he had to be to work at 7am (ahhh, the good old days).
and then, when he presented me with a toasty warm car & a kiss,

i felt bad.

it's okay, husband.
i break everything & you drive away with my keys.
it's just who we are.
it's just so us.

and i like us.

so, those dogs.

does it offend you that i do this to my dogs?
ober o wears a sweatshirt from october to april & jacky b. owns 15,000 toys.
they both sleep in the bed & take up 90% of the room.
we wake up in impossible positions and with mind-blowing neck-aches & yet still, night after night, we welcome them in.
i think somebody needs a baby.

this weekend i...

• screamed bloody murder in my sleep, which normally isn't a big deal, only now it's super awesome when i do it, because not only does it wake up g, it wakes up our downstairs friends, too. sorry, guys.

• witnessed g break his first glass & celebrated when he did it, because it meant that i am obviously not the only cluster in the family (but we all knew this, right?)

• finally did all the laundry. blah.

• climbed inside the freezer at smiths in search of a low fat ben & jerry's only to have my loving husband close the door behind me. being locked in the freezer in front of strangers is awesome. really.

• polished off previously mentioned ben & jerry's with b & k. who make me laugh so hard i cry.

• saw this movie with some lovely ladies. (it was good)

• finally spent some quality time with our lovers, the burbanks. (they rock my world.)

• thought long & hard about doing pilates. but didn't.

• and knocked a huge decoration off the wall (it fell on my pup & gashed a whole in the baseboard) in the middle of a lovely dinner party. i know how to make a good impression.

hope your weekend was full of less embarrassing moments.
cheers to a happy (and accident-free) week ahead.

dear g.

thank you for leaving the lights off in our bedroom and getting dressed in complete darkness every single morning, so i don't have to wake up as early as you do.

thank you for never leaving the house without telling me you love me. thank you for saying it even though i am too sleepy to ever respond.

thank you for calling me at work, just to say "hello". thank you for listening to me type, when i am too busy to carry on a conversation. thanks for staying on the line anyways.

thank you for being SO excited about the fact that i wanted to attempt to make you meatloaf. thank you for seasoning the meat & adding garlic and offering to help me 18 million times.

thank you for remembering to thank me for dinner and for always doing the dishes afterwards.

thank you for being my favorite person ever.

rad.

a big congratulations to my own mother who's handmade broaches were featured on channel 14's morning show today. in case i haven't mentioned this, all of her broaches are now available at your local whimsy clothing boutique. she has had tons of success with these darling broaches & i am so proud of her. and just in case you thought they were cute before, watch out, because they are about 50 times cuter now. she just keeps getting better.