I'm gonna miss this place...

I'm getting a little nostalgic

as I'm closing out my time working at Lugano Restaurant.

I've worked here full/part-time since April 2006.

That's a long time if you ask me.

As excited as I am to be moving on to (hopefully) bigger and better things,

this quaint Italian restaurant will always hold a special place in my heart.

I don't think I'll ever work in another restaurant,

and although I say my excuse is because working nights
and every weekend isn't much fun,

but it is really because no other restaurant could compare to this one.

I'm beginning to realize what I'm going to miss about this place.

The service staff, who have become some of my best friends.

The kitchen staff and all the amazing food they always make me.

My beyond-crazy boss and his hilarious antics.

The regular customers that tip me every time they come in.

(I'm not just going to miss the tips, but the generous people they are.)

The wine dinners and special events hosted at the restaurant.

The spaghetti with Napa cabbage and pancetta.
Over the past five years I've learned more about
food (that I love) and wine (that I don't drink)
then I ever thought possible.
The one thing Steve is going to miss
is me coming home from work every night
smelling like Italian food!

one month from today....

(Photo taken on a family trip to D.C. in 2007)

One month from today

Steve & I will be getting the keys to our apartment in Alexandria, VA.
(The apartment that I still haven't seen...)

We are super excited to start the next chapter of our lives,
but I'd be lying if I said we aren't nervous.

We are nervous to drive across country.
We are nervous to pay a rent that is over twice what we pay now.
(and that's one of the cheapest places we found!)
We are nervous to learn our way around a much bigger city.
We are nervous to find jobs — not only jobs, but good jobs.

It's all we have been talking about lately...
We've been talking about what's going to change when we move,
what's going to stay the same,
trying to predict what life is going to be like in this next chapter of our marriage.

Although we have no idea what is going to happen when we move,
we do know one thing,
and that is that no matter what happens we have each other,
and we have a Heavenly Father that loves us and is looking out for us.

And on days like today,
we have to keep reminding each other of that.

Favorite photo taken on the trip -
I hope these taxi drivers will help me jump my car when
I leave my headlights on. Because I always do.

photo overload

Steve & I have the slowest internet connection at our apartment,

something we are both very excited to say farewell to when we move on April 29th.
So when I'm at my parents house I always want to update my blog
because with faster internet it doesn't take 5 years to download each picture.

This week started out as a rough one, but ended as an absolutely perfect one...
Rough = I've been sick for the last 7 days,
from sinuses to sore throats and neck pains.
Steve had a lot of homework at the beginning of this week.

Perfect = we found an apartment in D.C!
We move in May 7th and couldn't be more excited!
We finalized the pod we are renting for the move.
General Conference is always amazing.
The weather was perfect all weekend
(until we woke up to 5 inches of snow today!)
We have narrowed down the search on a new car.
My niece, Tienna, ate a Twinkie for the first time.
Steve watched a royal wedding special on TLC about William and Kate with me.
The Butler Bulldogs are going to the National Championship again -
Brad Stevens is still Steve's hero

Here's a photo update of the last month,
so many photos I've been lazy about uploading...

Sunday night at the Pollei house with Grandpa Moffat AND Abbie came to town!

Tienna with her "Astrid hair" from How to Train Your Dragon and Brookie doing a puzzle.

We went to the Jazz vs. OKC Thunder basketball game a few weeks ago with Lindsay & Preston


Birthday Dinner for Steve & McKay at my parents house.
McKay got new car mats (practicality runs in the family)
and Steve got a framed Declaration of Independence.
I think in this picture Steve is asking my parents if it's the original &
if they got it from Nicolas Cage,
while McKay fights Grandpa Moffat off his new mats.

Grandpa Moffat is the cutest old man ever. Still feisty in his old age.

Trip to Vegas! Dinner at BJ's Pizza. Most. Amazing. Pizza. Ever.
Eating $2 gelato at our hotel -
This was the best trip with the best friends!
The Price Is Right wheel of slot machines. SOOO big!

After a week of celebrating leading up to his birthday,
it was FINALLY time to celebrate the real day of Steve turning 24!
Steve's favorite dinner,: spaghetti with Napa cabbage, pancetta and cauliflower.

making chris harrison so proud

(Draft board, pre-draft)

If you were to ask me on a Monday night like tonight what I'm going to miss most when we move to D.C., I would have to say our Bachelor/Bachelorette/Bachelor Pad festivities. Monday nights when Chris Harrison takes the screen are nights not to miss with our friends. The group has slowly grown over the seasons, but once members join the draft, you certainly do not want to miss a week!

Although it started with the girls making their husbands come, I think the tables have now turned and the boys look forward to Monday nights more than the girls do. We can accredit this to the fantasy draft the boys of the PB&J Report created. Being avid sports fans, it only made sense they would find a way to turn the sappy ABC shows of finding true love into another fantasy league.
(I dare say this fantasy league is now more exciting than their basketball, football, and baseball leagues combined.)

It's easy, the rules are laid out before the season begins based on a point system. Points for getting the one-on-one date, getting a rose on that date, going on a group date, more points for getting the rose on a group date, points for kissing, hot tub kissing, fantasy suite, advancing to the next round, you get the idea. It isn't all plus points though — negative points are a necessity as well. Players lose points for crying, awkward moments, strategic blunders (Gia, you will always be the one who pioneered the strategic blunder when you gave Wes the rose instead of Craig M. on the Bach Pad... I still don't think the boys have forgiven her for causing Craig M. a.k.a. Canadian Sean Penn to go home far too early in the season)...
You get the idea.

This season's draft didn't disappoint — although Chantal was the first pick overall, Emily did go as the second pick. (Good choice, Ben and Nikki.) It only made sense that Steve and I would pick crazy Michelle as our first pick (we had the 4th pick), and she wasn't a shabby pick because she got a lot of screen time which meant more time for us to earn more points.

The draft board, post-draft.

Jake & Danny —
Team A.J. Feeleys going over draft notes before their second round pick.
As you can tell, we take our draft very seriously.

Don't worry, you know we've all started planning our strategies for
the Bachelor Pad draft —
we are all anxiously awaiting the list of contestants to be released!

24 years old!

Today is my sweet husband's birthday!

We had a wonderful pre-birthday weekend in Las Vegas
with our very best friends!
While the boys lived every man's dream of watching
nearly all 48 NCAA tournament
games in a sports book with a lot of very large TVs,
I know they felt so manly all weekend,
Lindsay & I enjoyed massages, shopping, and much needed girl time.
(more on the Vegas trip to come when I get the photos to my computer)

We returned yesterday afternoon and tried to gear up for another week,
but Steve didn't feel well all night,
chills/sweats, aches & pains.
I wrapped Steve up in comfy pajamas and warm socks and we went to sleep,
hoping he'd feel better this morning for his big day!
3am rolled around and I felt terrible to find Steve in the bathroom throwing up.
This morning wasn't much better,
but luckily by this afternoon he felt a little better.

Tonight we enjoyed a night at home with Steve's favorite dinner, presents,
and Girl Scout Cookies with strawberries for dessert.
(Still trying to recover from a unhealthy weekend of eating out.)

No matter how each birthday will be spent, whether sick or healthy,
I can't wait to spend a lifetime of birthdays with Steve!
He is the best friend I could ever imagine!
So patient, loving, compassionate, thoughtful & funny.
The perfect husband who deserves the perfect birthday!

Happy birthday my love :)
A birthday is always a good reason to reminisce on wedding photos :)
A lot more photos of my cute birthday boy to come.

I'm not sure where this week went...

This week has been a busier-than-normal week-

1. We officially started the moving process! Had our first fight over which moving company to use, then we apologized and decided to start over, so we did the next day:)

2. Went to my brother's soccer game then went to dinner and ice cream with my parents, Mckay & Brooke and talked all night. (sure am going to miss them when we leave)

3. Started car shopping - this is stressing me out more than anything.

4. Steve did homework. I can count the amount of times on two hands I've ever seen Steve do homework. This week was one of them.

5. I started my next piece quilt

6. Steve's dad came to town, which is always fun!

7. Went to the depressing BYU game on Wednesday night. I helped Steve recover from depression.

8. Birthdays! It was our friend Preston's birthday on Thursday so we went out to dinner with Lindsay & Preston to celebrate, then to our weekly bowling league. Birthday shopping for Steve's birthday (and mine:)...) has begun!

9. Our apartment had a little mishap last Sunday when our neighbors upstairs turned on their washer and dryer and it flooded through our ceiling - we got it fixed this week though!

10. And most importantly, an answer to my prayers! We found out the general neighborhood area we want to live in when we move. I've been worried about the best area to live in and after randomly talking to a customer at work we feel really good about the advice he gave! We are now looking for a place to rent in Alexandria, VA (more specifically the Del Ray neighborhood) - if you have any insides to this area, let me know! Isn't it great how the Lord answers your prayers:)

(Picture shown above: Steve burning our BYU game tickets Wednesday night after we got home, he was genuinely grieving their loss, like I said, he has since recovered)

We hope you are having a wonderful week!

Valentines 2011

As I seem to mention every year, Valentines day is one of my least favorite holidays. Mainly because restaurants are absolutely no fun during the holiday. The phone constantly ringing with desperate men dying to get a dinner reservation on February 14th, confirming the reservations we do have on the books to make sure they are coming, all while still trying to maintain my regular duties around the restaurant.

Steve, being the absolutely amazing husband that he is, has made this sometimes-stressful holiday much more bearable over the past few years. During our first few Valentines Days together he started my favorite tradition of ours:) I shared his 2009 & 2010 stories and reviews here, and I will add 2011 certainly did not disappoint! The Valentine Review has become the most anticipated gift from Steve each year! This year was about our upcoming move across the country to Washington, D.C. and how excited he is to take this leap of faith together as we begin the next chapter in our life.
Needless to say, Valentines Day 2011 was yet another success, a few nights after the holiday we enjoyed dinner at our favorite Provo restaurant, Pizzeria 712, frozen yogurt at Golden Spoon and each others company all night long. I was especially loved that Steve included this coat I've been eyeing for a while with the Valentine Review, I can't complain:)