Downtown Cooking

If you live in LA and need/want to learn how to cook an amazing meal, you MUST take a cooking class from my friend Sara. She is an extremely talented chef and so fun to be around! Check out her website: www.downtowncooking.com.

Last Night, The Next Two Years, and the Next Three Years

Where I was last night:

That's right- my friend Cathryn and I went to the live taping. I'm completely star struck.

Where the lil' bro will spend the next two years of his life:

Matt got his mission call. He leaves in September for the Brazil Recife Mission.

Where Paul and I will be spending the next three years of our lives:

We've moved to downtown LA where we're managers of an apartment building.

My husband, the genius

Paul made the Dean's List!!! Maybe those silly glasses are making him smarter...

LA Anniversary

We have hit our one year mark of living in Los Angeles. I'm not sure if I'll ever consider myself to be an Angelino... mostly because that's a weird word. People often ask us where we'll end up after dental school. Good question! We're open to several possibilities, but I think we've crossed LA off that list. In refernce to the overall high cost of living in Los Angeles, our good friend Tupac Shakur stated that he would almost rather "live life in the pen[itentiary]."
Anyway, here's what we've been up to lately:

1. Paul finished his second semester of dental school. Two down, nine to go.
2. These sweet babies nearly caused us to take out an additional loan. But honestly, who wouldn't sacrifice to look this good? Incidentally, we soon realized that the camera's flash is magnified too... Paul was seeing stars for several minutes.



3. We visited friends and family in the Bay Area. We took a quick tour of San Francisco and hit up the great culinary spots: The Ferry Building, Fisherman's Warf, and Ghiradelli Square.
Nate and Nate's girlfriend, Miho:

I know it looks like I'm forcing the smile, but I really did have fun!

We saw Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D. Suh-weet!

4. I've been working overtime the last month and a half keeping the flies happy. As they keep reminding me, science never sleeps.
5. We've started training for a half marathon... sort of. The race is in September, so we figure we'll train for a couple months and see if we can handle it. By the way, if anyone has any running tips, I'll gladly accept them. This running thing has been harder on my body than I expected. I'm hoping that they're just issues of being a novice and that they'll subside as I run more.
5. We went to Grammy's wedding in Utah- she was the most beautiful 40-ish (wink, wink) bride you've ever seen!
6. Peter and Amber came to visit along with Amber's sister and brother-in-law. They got very cozy in our family where we stuffed two air mattresses side by side. We love sleepovers and will gladly accommodate anyone who wants to escape to LA.
7. Paul got a new wetsuit for his birthday and has sadly not had time to try it out yet. He was warned about the intensiveness of the third semester, and for good reason. He's said that compared to last semester, the work load is a night and day difference, but he actually enjoys what he's learning. And it's good for me- while he studies I get to read! Win-Win!

Here's to another great year!

The Birthday Boy

We've celebrated another year of Paul getting old. He's manifested his oldness with the following:
1. He has at least a dozen white hairs. About 7 of them are all clumped together above his right ear. I've offered several times... daily... to pull them out for him, but he hasn't taken me up on it. Yet. Don't worry, I'll keep trying.
2. He's taken to eating wheat bread and other veggies high in fiber. You know, to keep him regular.
3. In a major change since last semester, he's now going to bed around 11:00 rather than midnight. He tries to justify this by the fact that his classes start earilier now, but I know the truth. I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of our stint in LA he's requesting dinner at 3:30.
4. Let's just say, the next time you see Paul in scrubs, lift up his shirt slightly. I'm not kidding, I didn't know pants could be hiked up that high.

We celebrated his birth by going to Disneyland (he's trying to stay young) with our friends Ryan and Cathryn. Ryan has the same birthday as Paul so it worked out perfectly. We hit up some of the best rides and treated ourselves to way too much candy with the Disney Dollars the boys got as birthday gifts from Disneyland.
The day after their birthdays, Cathryn and I threw Ryan and Paul a suprise party complete with donuts and funfetti cake- two of Paul's most favorite things.

Huh-huh-huh-happy birthday!!!

I'm Sailing

Here's a classic look back and one of the funniest films of all time...


With a little therapy and non-pharmacologic sedation, we mustered up the courage to aboard a sail boat with Captain Sergey Nuzhdin. Sergey, also known as Courtney's boss, is from what he refers to as "The Soviet Union." One of the foremost molecular biologists/geneticists of our era, Sergey is also a world class sailor... so we knew we could trust him with both our lives and our genomes.

Our original intentions were to sail to Catalina Island, enjoy lunch while Sergey perused and shmoozed the island pubs, and then return to the mainland (on a side note, we once asked Sergey what kind of food they ate in "The Soviet" he replied with a straight face - "Vodka"). Unfortunately however, the only wind that day was supplied by our lungs and the flapping of seagull's wings. So instead, we leisurely looped the Santa Monica Bay, encountered a friendly pod of dolphins, waved to flapping seals and called it a day.

The Bro

Matthew Thomas Simnitt the first. He is my brother, my favorite brother, in fact. I'm so lucky- I get to have a favorite brother and a favorite sister, but he better not have a favorite sister. Anyway, Matt is 19 today and is officially a... man? Man?! Little Matty, a man? I object. I don't know if I'll ever be able to think of my little brother as anything other than that- a little brother. Matt has turned out remarkably normal for having two older sisters that like to tease and embarrass. Let me take a moment and indulge in sharing some of my favorite memories of Matt as a wee lad.
*You know how most babies look like aliens, but you try and make the mom feel good about bringing the little thing into the world and so you say it looks cute? Well, no one had to lie about Matt being a cute baby. He honestly was the cutest baby I've ever seen. He had big dark brown eyes and the cutest smile. People would always tell me and Erin how cute our little brother was. To a three year old, that got old pretty quickly. Hello! I'm cute too! Matt is kind of a miracle child. He came into the world against great odds and has excelled since then. Matt was walking all over the place by the time he turned one and was talking with an extensive vocabulary not long after that. His greatest accomplishment as a baby? We taught him how to throw his own diapers away in the trash. Two points!
*Matt has always liked music. My dad has done an excellent job in preparing Matt for his future encounter with Peter at the pearly gates. According to Papa Bob, you'll be asked a question about classic rock before you're allowed to enter into heaven. Matt sang his little heart out in school choirs and Erin and I used to hear him sing some holiday favorites while in the shower. "Christmas cookies and holiday hearts; that's the way the holiday starts!" Sure this is cute when you're little, but when he was singing it at the age of 11... well my friends, that's grounds for blackmail. I don't think we ever actually used it as blackmail, but had a good time bringing it... and still do!
*Right before we moved to Boise, we stayed for a couple weeks with our family friends the Seavers while my dad looked for a house in Idaho. Matt was in heaven while we were there. James Seaver, just a couple years younger than Matt, was like the brother Matt never had. Finally Matt had someone to play legos with, and... well, whatever else little boys do. The best part, though, takes a little background explaining. The entire time we lived in Orem and I was friends with Jenni Seaver, I don't think I ever once saw James (then known as Big Guy) in normal clothes. Instead, he sported onesie outfits that resembled pajamas or a Halloween costume. These outfits were a single piece of material that had a vertical slit in the back so that you could step into the outfit, and then there was a tie string at the top near the neck. These outfits varied in what they portrayed from Power Rangers to Spiderman. Being the immediate friends that they had become, Matt naturally wanted to wear these costumes too. Remember, however, that Matt is 3 years James' senior and was quite a bit bigger than James. That didn't stop him from wearing James' clothes, though. Permanently seered into my memory is the image of Matt in a much too small Power Rangers costume with a bare back, ankles, and wrists.

Matt has always been a little sweet heart. He's the peace maker in our family and has put up with two crazy teenage sisters who made that job a hard one. He is witty and smart, talented and genuine. Happy, happy birthday, Matthew dear! I love you!