What is going on with Glenn

As you now, this blog is titled "Glenn, Afton, Violet."  Obviously most of the posts focus on the "Violet" part.  Also, the "Afton" part gets plenty of attention as well.  The "Glenn" parts is often sadly neglected.  Occasionally I get around to telling you what he is up to (like here, here, and here) but it has been a while, and it's time to update you again.

Here is a picture of a picture Glenn sent me from school the other day:

His classmates really wished they could have gone hiking with him, I guess!

Yum, Lunch!

I made myself THE BEST lunch a couple of days ago.  I saw this recipe on a blog, and within an hour had been to the grocery store, made the salad, and was eating it.  

It had tons of veggies, rice noodles, cashews, and a really light coconut milk, red curry, and lime dressing.  Here's the thing:  I made it for my friend and I to have for lunch, so it was a pretty big salad.  But then she couldn't come over.  And I ate the whole thing by myself, no problem.  But you don't have to feel guilty about eating tons of salad, right?  (even if your salad was heavy on the cashews and rice noodles?)

Violet and Zebra take a walk

As you know, Violet took her first steps a couple of weeks ago.  Yesterday, she walked so much we were able to get it on video!  She was walking all over the house!  I think I can now say I have a toddler!

Escondido Falls

We went hiking this weekend and had the best time.  At this time of the year in Arizona, we would be hiding out in the air conditioning, but thanks to the amazingly nice weather here, it was the perfect day for a hike!  

We just looked online for an easy hike, since we knew Glenn would have to carry Violet the whole way, and found this one about 15 miles north of Santa Monica.  So it took us about 45 minutes to drive there, but it was such a beautiful drive up the coast!  

We borrowed a baby carrier especially for hiking from our friends, and it was so nice.  Violet really seemed to enjoy riding it, and Glenn said didn't feel heavy at all.

It was about two miles to the falls, and then two miles out, of course.  The path was so green and shady, and crossed over the creek a lot of times.  The falls were less than impressive.  I guess there is a lot more water in the spring.  In this picture, we are right in front of the water fall, and you can barely see it.  You could see it slightly better in real life though.

We just rested and ate banana-pumpkin muffins at the falls, and then turned around and headed back!  We can't wait to do it again when my parents are visiting next month!  A few more pictures for good measure:

(yes, Violet kind of has a mullet.  Someday soon she will get a haircut.)

The gaping hole in my literary education

I'm embarrassed to say this, but the are two major categories of books that I've never read. 

1.  I have never read anything by Charles Dickens

2.  And I have never read anything by a Russian.

So I decided to start reading A Tale of Two Cities.  I have started this book at least five times, but now I am on page 39, which is way farther than I have ever gotten before. 

 Here are my opinions about it so far.  It is confusing!  After I read the first three chapters, I had to go read the sparknotes for those chapters to make sure I understood what was going on!  Fortunately, I was right about what I thought was happening, so now I am reading with more confidence.  Secondly, it is boring.  Like SO boring.  Someone please tell me it becomes less so?  Soon?

Naan

I think it was the last time I posted about making Indian Butter Chicken that my cousin Camille (hi Camille!) commented something like:

"You should try making your own naan!  I promise you won't regret it!"

Well, I did it.  And I did not regret it.

Seriously, it was the best naan EVER!  Better than any naan from a restaurant we have ever had.  And it wasn't hard at all!  It takes about an hour and a half to rise, but other than that is really fast to make.  I served it with the good ol' Indian Butter Chicken, and Glenn and I thought we'd died and gone to heaven.  And maybe Violet thought that too, because she chowed down on the naan as well.

And the best part is, there are leftovers for lunch today!

Here is the recipe:

Naan

• 1/2 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2-1/4 cups bread flour
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

1.  Let the yeast wake up in the warm water.  Add the other ingredients besides the melted butter.  Knead for a while.  Let it rise in the bowl for an hour.

2.  Roll the dough into six balls, and let them rise for half an hour.

3.  Roll out a dough ball and put it in a hot, oiled skillet.  Brush the top with melted butter.  Flip it when the bottom is light golden brown.  

Fathers' Day

First of all, here is why I didn't post yesterday:  I wanted to post about Fathers' Day, but when I went to load the pictures from the camera onto my computer, Glenn had already deleted them!  So I had to wait until he was back to get them off him computer. 

Fathers' Day was fun!  I asked Glenn to choose what he wanted to eat for breakfast and lunch, and I'm glad I did, because he picked two things we haven't had in ages that were so good.  For breakfast, we had pumpkin bread pudding, Glenn's favorite.

Glenn oped his present at breakfast (two Tron books).  Here's a side story for you:  A week ago on Sunday I woke up TOTALLY thinking it was Fathers' Day.  I got up, made homemade wrapping paper (because I never have real wrapping paper) and wrapped his present.  Then I climbed back into bed, hugged Glenn, and said, "Happy Fathers' Day!" and he said, "That is next week, Afton" and went back to sleep.

So needless to say, I was really excited that it was actually Fathers' Day this week.  At church, Glenn got a cinnamon roll from the Relief Society.  Then we came home from church and had chicken wings, Glenn's lunch of choice.  I guess the only other thing we did to celebrate is Glenn didn't have to change any of Violet's poopy diapers for the day.  At least, that is what we had decided, but then she pooped when Glenn had her in Elders' Quorum, so he had to take care of that one.

Violet's first birthday party

Let me clarify...

This is the first birthday party Violet has ever attended.  Violet's first birthday and the subsequent party are in about a month.

Julia is just about Violet's favorite person in the world, and she turned two yesterday!  The party was so fun.  It was on the roof of Julia's apartment building, and they had a baby pool and a water table set up. Thank goodness the big kids spent most of the time in the pool and left Violet to her own devices at the water table.  She was pretty overwhelmed when she had to play with the other kids.  But she seemed to have fun!  And it was fun for me to be there with all MY friends who have kids that are Violet's friends.  My friend Lauren, Julia's mom, did a great job preparing all the food; it was delicious!

Lunch at the Park

A couple of days ago, when Violet and I finished lunch and had nothing planned for the long day still ahead of us, we headed off to the park.  As we were walking there, Glenn called and said he had an extra long lunch and wanted to meet us!  Since I had everything I needed for the park and was already walking there, he decided to meet us there!

Before he arrived, Violet had fun pretending to put this piece of cereal up her nose, laughing the whole time.

Glenn got Indian food and brought it to the park to eat.  He fed Violet little pieces of the naan, which she loved.  She yelled, "NAAN NAAN NAAN" while she chewed it up, which made us laugh.  (obviously, that is just a syllable she yells when she eats sometimes, but it was still funny)

It is always fun being at the park with my two favorite people, and Violet is in heaven when she gets to see her dad in the middle of the day!

A date to Wurstkuche

This weekend, Glenn and I went on a date!  It has been a while.  Here is how it happened:  Last week, one of Glenn's classmates told him about a restaurant that they love downtown.  When they showed him the menu, he knew I would love it!  So our friends kindly watched Violet for an hour while we went out to lunch on Saturday.

The place is called Wurstkuche.  It is in this crazy neighborhood near Little Tokyo;  all big warehouses that look kind of abandoned, except that each one is covered in colorful murals.  I guess the neighborhood was kind of artsy/hipster, but also kind of made me nervous.  The actual restaurant wasn't rundown at all, it was super nice.

PLEASE take a look at the menu.  And then tell me how much you are dying to go there with me next time you are visiting!  It is all bratwurst and fries.  Some of the sausages are crazy, like the rattlesnake one, or the alligator one.  We ordered more normal ones:  I got the Austin Blues and Glenn got the Filipino one, and both were delicious.  Here's the thing: I was totally planning on taking a really good picture of our food as soon as it came to our table to share with you, but that plan went out the window.  We were starving and the food looked AMAZING, and I didn't remember about the picture until we both just had a little nub of our sausage left.  But here it is anyway.

We both got ours with carmelized onions and sweet peppers.  We also ordered the fries (so crispy and brown!) with two dipping sauces.  We chose the bleu cheese-bacon-walnut, which was our favorite, and the curry ketchup, which was also good.  

It was my favorite place I've eaten in a while, and I can't wait to take someone there!  In fact, while we were there, I think I told Glenn three times, "We have to bring Courtney and Judson here, they would love it!"  So Courtney and Judson, you're stuck, I'm definitely bringing you if you ever visit us again.

So close

Some of you may have seen my facebook post on Friday night that said Violet had taken her first steps.  We were so excited!  She took some steps three separate times on Friday night, and I was sure that within a few days she wold be walking all over the place.

Well, fast forward to the present, and she is yet to taken another step.  She also doesn't trust us at all anymore.  She won't even stand up holding our hands because she knows we are going to let go!  So we've stopped trying to encourage her for now.  You know I'll let you know when she tries it again!

(in the meantime, she has settled for pushing this chair all over the house)

May Book Club - And our new venue!

The book club meeting for May was a success!  We actually had it this week, in the beginning of June, because everyone was out of town for Memorial Day weekend.  The picture above is the room where we have had our last few meetings.  I wish I had a better picture, because this one doesn't do justice to the amazingness of the house!  One of the girls in the club lives in this historic house right near campus, and you wouldn't believe how beautiful it is.  It makes me feel like our book club is so legit when we meet in such a cool place!  Unfortunately, they are moving in a couple of months, so this is the last meeting we will have there.  Then it is back to my boring old apartment!

Our book for May was Poisonwood Bible, and I enjoyed it just as much this time as I did the first time I read it.  Unfortunately, our book club is getting smaller and smaller because so many people are moving this summer, so I hope some new people move in that want to join!

Two things about Miss Violet today

1.  She is finally getting another tooth!  She got her first four pretty early, and then didn't get another one for a long time.  I think it will cut through today.

Because there is no way she would ever let me take a picture of her new tooth, here is an old picture with a new graphic, so you know exactly which tooth is coming in.  Because of course you care about that.

2.  It is becoming increasingly difficult to shower with Violet around.  She thinks the greatest entertainment in the world is throwing back the shower curtain while you are in there.  Here is what she looked like by the end of my shower:

If you can't tell, she is soaked.  Also, I just realized my sports bra is in the background of that picture; how embarrassing.

I don't know why... You're being shy

Sorry for a few days with no post; seriously, not much is going on around here.

Lately, every time she hears music, Violet starts to dance.  You can't stop the beat!  However, as you know, she is very camera shy, which is why almost every video we take of her ends with us saying, "well, she was doing it a second ago, sorry."

Anyway, for a few days I have been trying to get a video of Violet dancing, and this is the best I've done. When the camera isn't there she bounces up and down and waves her hands over her head, and it's about the cutest thing you've ever seen.  You can kind of get the idea of it in this video, but just know her dancing is usually much more enthusiastic.

Maestra

What do you think of Violet's piano playing skills? 

(For now, her piano playing seems to be a lot better than her singing!  Now that is something you should hear sometime!)