February Restaurant: Asahi

We were so busy doing other things this month that we almost didn't get our February restaruant into the mix.  No worries, we kept our promise.  This month we went pretty exotic. I wouldn't say the restaurant itself was exotic, but the food we ended up eating was.

The restaurant we chose this month was "Asahi".  I pass this restaurant pretty much every day.  It's less than a mile from our apartment and en route to get to work.  It's a Teppenyaki and Sushi restaurant. It is well decorated and a lot bigger than it looks from the outside.  You have the option of sushi bar, regular bar, Hibachi grill, and regular table.  We went with the regular table because the food selection was the best.  

We started our meal with Edamame. Cody had never had it, but I love the stuff.  Next up was the house salad and soup.  The salad had a ginger black sesame dressing.  It was different, not the best not the worst.  The soup was a crab meat, egg, mushroom and onion soup.  It lacked a lot of flavor, but both came with the meal which was nice.  Our entree was super exotic.  We ordered, Unagi Don.  Which in english is fresh water eel(!!!) on a bed of sushi rice.  Now I've had eel  before, but never alone and never prepared like this.  And Cody well, had never tried eel before and likely will never again.  Honestly  it wasn't bad, but it also wasn't good.  Parts of the eel were fishy and other parts had no flavor at all. The sauce they used was a tangy terriyaki like sauce.

Cody was not a fan of the restaurant from the moment we walked in, but was a trooper and tried every single item we got.  Honestly he didn't like anything we ordered, but as promised tried a bite of everything. He's committed to trying new things even if that means "his tongue hates him". It's been a while since I've tried a new food and didn't like it, but that's how it goes sometimes.  This is definitely on the list of one time food affairs.

Top left corner Edamame, top right the house salad, and the bottom left the house soup

Unagi Don (Fresh water eel on a bed of sushi rice)

Overall I'm going to say that we may visit this restaurant again in the future, but we will definitely stick to the basics. (chicken, steak, vegetables)

Have you ever tried a new restaurant/ food and discovered you very much disliked it?

February in Review

I know February is the shortest month of the year, but Cody and I managed to pack in a ton of fun in just one little month.  (That's mostly why I haven't blogged much)  So I thought I would catch you all up on all of our fun.

At the beginning of the month one of my very best and longest times friends came for a visit.  On Friday we went shopping to find Ale (Zaida) a bridesmaid dress for my wedding, then we watched Frozen and ate delicious pizza.  On Saturday we made breakfast, went and saw my wedding dress(!!) then headed to the Dallas zoo. We had such a fun day at the zoo. Haley loved seeing all the animals and getting to run around.  After the zoo we took the scenic route to dinner, on the bridge and through downtown Dallas.  We stopped at the Cupcake ATM for delicious cupcakes. And then had dinner at arguably my favorite restaurant Babe's Chicken.  They left early Sunday morning, but I had such a good time and hope they can visit again soon.  Have a look at some of the pictures we took on our adventures.

Haley loved the baby elephant.

I love these two so much!!

The giraffes didn't want our food.

But Haley got to feed a real life giraffe!!

We tried to get a pic in front of the giant "Dallas Zoo" we mostly just got Dall.

I've always wanted to go across this bridge and I finally got to!!

Zaida using the cupcake ATM for the first time.

The next adventure Cody and I had this month was Valentine's day.  We kept it mostly relaxed we gave each other some gifts and went out to dinner.  I love getting to spoil him and vice versa.  And can you believe this was our last valentine's as an unmarried couple?! I love this man of mine so very much and I enjoy every second I get to spend with him...beard and all.

My work had a valentine's day box competition so I made a Riddler version. ( By the way I was robbed of first prize)

This is what was awaiting me when I got off work for Valentine's.

After our Valentine's day date.

For one of my valentine's day gifts, Cody got me tickets to see one of my favorite artists "Lights".  So the weekend after Valentine's we headed down town to the Granada Theater, to go see an amazing concert.  The opening act was a band named "X Ambassadors", neither Cody or I had heard of them.  They blew us away.  The pianist was blind!!  He felt the music with his whole body and it was really neat to watch.  The lead singer had an amazing voice, played the saxophone and the guitar!!  The energy they brought was just so amazing, especially for just an opening band.  It set the tone perfectly for the headliner "Lights".  She was absolutely spectacular!!  Just as pretty as in her videos and her voice was beautifully on pitch.  I haven't been to concert in a while so I almost forgot how incredible they are.  Needless to say we had a great night!   On Saturday I got to Skype with my family and sing happy birthday to my wonderful mom.  And later that night we met up with Cody's parents for pizza and a movie.  It had been a while since we'd seen them because I was sick for basically forever. At dinner we caught up on life and wedding stuff. Then we saw the movie McFarland USA.  I highly recommend that movie.  (Watch for a post about that later in the week.)

X Ambassadors.  Seriously look at the guy on the keyboard.

I think Cody and I found our new favorite band.

Lights!!!

Everything was perfect.  She was amazing!

Concert selfie.  Also Comic book shirt selfie.

This week we got freezing rain, sleet and then snow.  And a lot of snow (for Texas that is) 3 inches that stuck to everything. It was beautiful, cold, amazing, and a little terrifying.  Texans hate snow.  They have no idea how to drive in it and they don't have any resources to clear it.  Everything turns into a giant ice skating rink and you just have to wait until it melts on it's own.  No snow plows, no salt or sand on the roads.  Nothing, it's every man for himself.  Still Cody and I ventured out. We bought him his wedding suit!!  Then saw the movie "The Lazarus effect".  Which I do not recommend.  And last, but certainly not least we hit up our February restaurant.

The view from the third floor patio at my work.

What did your February have in store?  Did you pack in all the fun in the shortest month?

Dear Future Child

Dear future child(ren) of mine,
I want you to know that I can't wait to feel you inside me and then hold you in my arms. To look you in your perfect eyes and kiss your flawless little cheeks. The idea of you brings tears to my eyes. Very happy tears. Your dad and I have discussed you many times and each time it has been special.  We try to guess what you'll be like.  What you'll look like. If you'll be picky like your dad or up for anything like your mom.  If you'll have his nose and my chin. Most importantly we talk about what it will be like to have you to complete our family.  You are already loved more than can be expressed in words. 

We don't care if you're male of female. And honestly we don't know when we'll be ready to have you,  but we know we are going to love you.  I can't wait to teach you everything.  To hold you in my arms, to kiss every inch of you.  To comfort you in every way. I want you to know that you may not have everything you think you want in life, but I promise we will give you everything you need. 
I promise to love you unconditionally.  I promise to have patience when it seems impossible.  I promise to protect you.  I promise to care for you and to always be there for you.  I promise to provide for you in every way possible.  I promise to cherish you and every single moment I'm with you. 

The idea of you right now is overwhelming and we're not quite ready for you yet, but know that I think of you often and really can't wait to be your mom.


Sincerely,
Your Mom

***Discloser: Cody and I are NOT expecting nor are we planning on expecting anytime soon.  I just thought I would write a letter that my future children will be able to read someday.***

January Restaurant

Cody and I have lived in Texas for 18 months.  We aren't the best at venturing out to try new things when it comes to food.  Well we made sort of a New Year's Resolution to try a new restaurant every month and that Cody had to try something new at that restaurant.  So far so good.

Our restaurant of the month for January was a  little Italian place called "Patrizio".  It's in a cute outdoor mall called The Shops at Highland Village just up the street from where we live.  We walked in and all the decor was black and white.  It looked very fancy and romantic.  We were seated right away and given menus.  They had a good list of wines, but we didn't order any.  We looked over our menus and decided since I still didn't really have an appetite, we would just share an entree. I of course let Cody pick.  He basically opened the menu read all the options, closed his eyes and pointed. He ended up ordering "Conchiglie Con Spinaci".  The description read: "Shell pasta tossed with spinach, smoke bacon, sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil in a robust alla penne sauce."  Essentially it was shell pasta with bacon, spinach in a sun dried tomato sauce.

I quite enjoyed it, not the greatest meal I've ever eaten, but it was good. It was definitely something Cody would NEVER order, but he did.  And guess what?  He ate all of it.  All of it. I asked him what he thought and he jokingly said, "It's better than your cooking." In all seriousness he didn't love it nor would he ever order it again, but he is committed to his goal of trying new things. I'm proud of him and I get to try lots of new thing in the process, which makes me a happy girl.  Overall I say we are off to a great start with our New Year's resolution.

Stay tuned for next month's restaurant of the month!!

Have you ever tried something new and discovered it to be your new favorite food?

The Flu

It feels like it's been forever since I've blogged.  I didn't feel good over New Years and it just kept getting carried over day after day.  It started with just feeling yucky like I had a cold, then I got a night time dry cough.  Then I got a cough all day and a wet night cough.  After about two weeks I decided I needed to see a doctor.  I went to see the doctor last Tuesday to get my lungs checked out since I was having a hard time breathing.  They did all the regular stuff, blood pressure, oxygen levels, temperature.  I had a fever of 103, yikes!  So automatically they check me for the flu.  I told the nurse, "but I seriously only have a  cough."  She smiled and said well let's still check.  Sure enough I had the flu.  The doctor came in told me the news and I basically said the same thing to him.  He told me how this year, that is where the flu is mainly focusing.  That he didn't think it started as the flu, but the cough did a number on my immune system.  Therefore making me an easy target for the flu. They took an x-ray just to be safe, but that looked good.  I was sent home told that I could return to work when I had gone 24 hours without a fever.  Also that it would get worse before it got better.  So I picked up my prescriptions from the pharmacy and headed home.  I was stuck in doors, basically in my bed, too sick to get up for 3 straight days. The doctor was right (as they always seem to be) it got a lot worse before it got better.  The cough, the lungs, the achy pains, but then it got better.  By Friday afternoon my fever had finally broke without medication and I could move without a cough attack.  I still took it super easy on Friday. Yesterday was the first day I ventured out of the house since Tuesday.  It was a gorgeous day. We did a little shopping and then last night we went out to dinner.  I definitely don't have my full strength back and living on the third floor is kind of a killer, but I feel tons better than I did.

An Open Letter to 2015

Dear 2015,
Welcome, welcome.  I'm eager to see what new and exciting things you bring for me.  I want to let you know that I have quite high expectations for you.  I don't want to go as far as saying I have a few New Year's resolutions, but I do have some goals.  My first and foremost goal is to finally marry Cody Myers!!! The second one is to be more healthy.  This includes physically, mentally and everything in between.  My third goal is to be more fiscally responsible.  As in paying off debt and saving more.  Another goal is to keep in touch with my family more.  Skype them regularly and call them whenever I just want to talk.  Send them birthday cards (As in they receive the card before or on their birthday not a week later) and call them on their birthdays.  Cody and I made some joint goals for you.  The first one being that we will eat at a new restaurant every single month.  Our second one going along those lines is, Cody will try something new at every restaurant.  Cody wanted to throw in goal and 2015, you will NEVER believe!!! Cody promises to go on the TALLEST roller coaster at Six Flags this year!!  Say what?!  I really just want you to be the best year yet.  And honestly I have no doubt in my mind that you will be!

Sincerely,
Your soon to be best friend,
Marissa

Year In Review

I wasn't feeling very well on New Year's Eve (or New Year's Day for that matter), so I wasn't able to post this until now.  Happy New Year!!

Dear 2014,

You have been a great and eventful year.  I've accomplished many things and been on many adventures.  It's had it's highs and it's lows, but I'm so glad I experienced every single moment.  As you know I didn't make any specific goals for you, but I think I got a lot done.  Cody and I got engaged. We've had a lot of fun times exploring D.F.W.. Road tripping through Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. Spending time with friends and family in Utah.  And enjoying each others company.  Thank you for a great year.

Love,
Marissa