Harry Ritchie's Jewelers Takes us out to Dinner

May marked Zak's one year anniversary with Harry Ritchie's Jewelers. To our happy surprise, he was told the company would pay for the two of us to go out to dinner to celebrate! He was also told he could choose between a gift certificate to a chain restaurant (which he turned down, since we basically only have fast food chains and...Applebee's, no thanks!) or be reimbursed $50 for dinner. So I got to work on researching some places to go, since there are a few places we haven't been to yet, and we wanted to go somewhere a little nicer than our usual spots. I ended up choosing the golf course club restaurant, and made reservations for us.

It was a beautiful night, the sky was clear and we had a lovely view of the rolling green hills, with the comfort of sitting inside. Our waitress was great and the food was amazing. We both had steaks and boy were they tasty! We also split a yummy flaky pastry dessert with cream and strawberries, mmmm. It was nice to go out and dress up for dinner, and to enjoy HRJ picking up the tab for us! Here are some pictures.

some cool clouds on our way to the restaurant

our view

tasty!

I got the filet mignon...and it was worth it!

the heavenly dessert

Date Night!

We have just had the crummiest week, weather-wise. Snow and snow and snow and ice and freezing cold and snow. Oh, and snow is in the forecast for the next week or two. Apparently, the end of February is typically like this: stupid and deceiving. Here we were, getting excited for spring, what with the weather being sunny, clear and in the 50s almost every day. But no.

So yesterday we decided to have a Date Night, since we rarely do that, especially with our crazy schedules. We needed a break from being inside and ventured out into the cold Idaho weather. We are definitely thankful to not be walking around in such awful cold, like the 'good old days' in Rexburg.

We picked the place we went to for our anniversary/Valentine's Day dinner a few weeks back: Sangria Grille. This time we didn't have to worry about being back for work, so we were able to enjoy ourselves. And, randomly, we were seated at the table we had previously dined at. Next time, I guess we have to demand 'our' table. I noticed there were sweet corn tamale cakes on the menu for an appetizer, and asked Zak if it'd be alright to get them. I have something of an obsession with the Cheesecake Factory's sweet corn tamale cakes. All other appetizers fail in comparison, in my opinion. So we got them and boy, were they a good choice. The cakes were a little bigger and denser than I expected, but every bit delicious. [Side note: I found a recipe for them that I guess is a copy-cat version of the C.F.'s dish, and I am excited to try it. Will write a review with the recipe when I try it.]

Last time we ate there, Zak got this amazing skirt steak with fried bananas, that was just incredible. I could not resist and opted to get it this time. It did not disappoint. I normally don't order steak, I think the last time I got it at a restaurant was over a year ago, but I made the right decision this time. I couldn't eat it all (darn!), so I plan on having it for leftovers later today. Zak debated between a few options and finally chose to order the half-rack of ribs. He hasn't really had experience with such an order, so I walked him through it. My brother Kenny is like a ribs
connoisseur, so I have plenty of knowledge about them. The ribs were very tender and had just the right amount of sauce. We were both too full to try for dessert, but that was just fine with us.

We quickly grabbed some groceries (and candy) from Winco and headed to the movie theater. There weren't a lot of options to choose from, but The King's Speech with Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush was playing, and I persuaded Zak to go see that with me. I had heard rave reviews about it, and I love Colin Firth (duh), so I knew it'd be good. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and thought it was just beautiful to watch. It was a bit too slow for Zak's taste, but he appreciated it as a good film and that I liked it. I was just happy that he came with me and had a good time being with me.

We came home and quickly ran inside to escape the clear, cold -9 degree air and snuggled up in blankets and turned on the t.v. It was so nice to go out and do something other than be at work or getting groceries! Of course, no pictures because I ran out of the house without the camera! Oh well, maybe next time!

Three years.

Yesterday marked three years that Zak and I have been a couple.  I know, not as exciting as a wedding anniversary, but I think it's worth noting.  I'm proud of our relationship history; we stayed together despite school problems, distance, jobs, and every day complications.  I think it's pretty cool that we took the time to get to know each other before we got engaged.  At times it was frustrating, but it has been worth it in the end.  Last year, Zak proposed to me by the elephant periodic tables, and we spent the night telling our family and friends.  The year before that, we were in opposite sides of the country.  I sent him homemade chocolates and cookies and he had a beautiful rose bouquet delivered to my apartment (it completely made my day, considering I had come home from a 2 hour soul-wrenching drawing class). 

This year we had a fun evening out.  We went to a concert at school and to Idaho Falls for dinner.  The concert we went to was the school Symphony Orchestra with a special guest, Stephen Beus.  You can find his website here.  He is an amazing pianist, especially for his young age.  I heard about him about a month ago in a class (a girl showed a clip of him playing) and decided to get tickets for us.  The day before the concert, when I went to get the tickets, I found out that he was going to play Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in A Minor Opus 43 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, one of my favorite favorite pieces of music.  (You should listen to it, it's incredible.  Here is Mikhail Pletnev playing it.)  I was excited before, but now I was S U P E R  E X C I T E D. 

Last night we got dressed up (gotta love concert dress) and arrived with plenty of time.  Once the concert started, to my horror, I realized the seats we had chosen didn't let me see Mr. Beus' hands, which is half of the performance of any Rachmaninoff piece (Rachmaninoff's hands were huge; an average person usually can spread 8-9 keys, he had like an 11 finger span).  I was a bit upset, but got over it, because he was absolutely incredible.  I thought it was just perfect.  I had tears in my eyes, it was so beautiful.

The second half of the concert was just the Symphony Orchestra playing Anton Bruckner's Symphony no. 4: Romantic with four movements.  It lasted a little over an hour and, for the most part, was beautiful and interesting.  I had never heard it before, so I was happy to be exposed to something new.  Although, it did drag a little in a few places, and the final movement had several 'gotcha' moments-the orchestra would build into a crescendo only to reprise an earlier section.

We quickly left, so we would have enough time to eat.  My parents gave us a $50 gift card to Outback Steakhouse, so that is where we went.  We both have only been once, and that was a long time ago.  We had a lovely time, while waiting for food, we enjoyed the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony on the tvs.  Unfortunately, we did not realize how gigantic the portions were; we were unable to finish the entirety of our meal.  Zak had the 'New York Strip' and I had a combo of a third rack of ribs and a 6 oz. sirloin steak.  Neither of us could remember the last time we had steak, so we enjoyed our meals.  We left around 10:45, and at 11:10, right as we got into Rexburg, I realized I didn't have our leftovers.  I felt so stupid and mad at myself, we each had enough leftovers for another meal!  Ughhhh. 

Overall, it was a success.  I got Zak some awesome books about the Hubble telescope and its pictures of the universe; he sweetly got me a hair product I only briefly talked about.  When I got my hair cut, my friend used Moroccan Oil on it, which makes it shiny and beautiful.  I told Zak about it that day and didn't expect anything, because it was pretty expensive.  But I guess he found a good deal and got me a bottle of it!  What a sweetheart I married. :)

Here's us in our fancy clothes before changing.