Chef Ramsay has ruined me

Since we are too frugal {aka: poor} to have cable, our television viewing options are limited to:

1. Only what hulu decides to grace us with
2. When we can invite ourselves over to friends' houses to watch t.v.

Because of option #1, I've been watching lots of Chef Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Since we are too frugal {aka: poor} we don't go out to dinner very often, but when we do, I've become the most obnoxious restaurant companion. In case you haven't seen the show, Ramsay goes into dying restaurants, flaunts their flaws and then makes everything wonderful again with a new menu and a fresh coat of paint. I have now become suspicious that all restaurants are microwaving leftovers and hoarding dead mice in their kitchens.

If you want to never enjoy eating out again, you should totally watch this show. Otherwise, invite me over to watch your tv so I can be cured of this terrible new problem.

W.T.

A few weeks ago we had the most W.T. {white trash} weekend we've had since our float trip circa 2009. In honor of our annual Valentine's Day tradition, we went to the monster truck show at the Sprint Center. We think it is a nice way to express our love without going too lovey-dovey over the top!

Then the following night we went to a fundraising event involving betting on mouse races and mouse roulette...with lots of kegs. Yes, you read that right.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is the first time in years that JJ and I have been in the same city for Valentine's Day. My beautiful sister has been a wonderful dinner companion during those years, but this year I was excited for husband and I to go to dinner to celebrate this hallmark holiday. I got on opentable and made a reservation at our favorite italian restaurant- and was very proud of myself!

Then 20 minutes later I got an email informing me that this particular restaurant was offering a $99 four-course special for Valentine's Day. This would be our only option for dinner. Ummm, I do not love Valentine's Day THAT much! So it's back to plan B of making dinner in our own kitchen.

Plan B was probably not the best choice of words on this romantic holiday. Let's change it to plan home-bound.

I'm sure you have already mailed all of your Valentine's Day cards, but if not here is a cute {and free!} printable card just for you.

Love List: Hint Hint

I can't get these beauties out of my mind. JJ and I decided not to do gifts for Valentine's Day since dough is a little tight around here right now but I certainly would not mind if he surprised me with these.

via

I blame Pinterest.

Perspective

I've been interviewing for practicum placement sites over the past few weeks. It has been really anxiety provoking for me on a variety of different accounts. The clients I'll be seeing will ultimately be the demographic of people that I will be most experienced in when I graduate. The supervisor at my practicum site will be mentoring me in their style- how do I know what style I want to be mentored in?

And most importantly: how in the world am I going to balance my full time job while taking classes and carrying a full caseload of therapy clients. Oy. I am feeling really overwhelmed today at the life decisions I'm having to make in the coming weeks.

Last night when I was day-dreaming about a simpler time in my life I came across this video on my computer and it put many things in perspective for me.

Sometimes we don't have to be trained to make a difference in someone's life. This stress is probably not warranted!