Pork Chops

I made Pork Chops for the first time not too long ago.  Actually I have done them twice in the the last few weeks.  Both recipes were really good.  This is the most recent one I did.  I got this recipe from Food Network, but I changed it a little

Marinated Pork Chops with Spicy Orange Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
Marinade
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
2 Tablespoons (normal) chili powder
1 Tablespoon chipotle chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 pork loin chops (I used boneless)

Combine all ingredients (except pork) in a jar with a tight lid.  Cover and shake well.  Reserve about 1/4 cup.  Pour the rest into a baking dish, add pork and turn to coat.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.  Put about 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and heat over medium-high heat.  Add pork and cook for about 6 minutes on each side (until inside temperature is 160 degrees), drizzle reserved marinade over the pork while cooking.  Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Spicy Orange Vinaigrette
2 Tablespoons Orange juice concentrate
2 T white vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1/2 cup olive oil

Heat orange juice concentrate in the microwave until warm (I did about 1.5 minutes).  Combine orange "syrup," vinegar, mustard and chili powder in a blender and blend 30 seconds.  With motor running slowly add oil.  Serve over the pork.  (I put more on the side to dip my pork in as well).

Serve with rice and black beans, if desired.

6 Days Until Christmas!

I cannot believe Christmas is this week!  I am looking forward to it, but it seemed to come really fast this year!  Here is a picture of James enjoying an ornament off the tree. 

He loves the tree and Christmas lights.  Whenever we drive around after dark, he will point and say, "Wook it!  Wights!" over and over.  It is really cute!

Sad Story

Jon's Dad sent us an email yesterday with the new of a fire at the Provo Tabernacle.  You can find the story here.  I have so many good memories of walking to Stake Conference in this building.  I think every stake conference I had while at BYU was in this building.  Sad to see such damage to such a beautiful building with so many memories for me. 

Teddy Bear

This was my teddy bear growing up.

It is nice to see it is loved by others too.  You might also notice he still has a car in his hand.

Baking?

One of the drawers in the kitchen James likes to get into is the one with my hot pads.  Here he is all ready to do some baking, or just run around the house.

Please ignore the watermelon juice all over his shirt.  This boy LOVES watermelon!

Signs

How many remember the tin foil hats on Signs?  James is protecting his thoughts from being read by aliens.

Something New

It is fun to still be learning new things.  Jon and I were watching the Army vs. Navy football game on Saturday.  A commercial came on for the Navy, and it was talking about the five oceans on the Earth.  When I was going to school there were only four oceans so I thought it was really strange that the commercial would say there were five.  Naturally, I googled it.  In 2000, it was decided that the water around Antarctica was different enough from the other oceans that it should be it's only ocean.  So now there are five oceans. Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Indian, and Southern Oceans. 

12 Days Until Christmas!

I cannot believe Christmas is so close.  Maybe it is because we just barely got snow that has stuck to the ground.  Maybe because I still feel like I am missing two months.  Whatever the reason, Christmas is coming, and I am happy and excited as always.  I love this time of year!

Jon has been home a lot the last week or so.  He is doing a month of research, which for him means that he is working on writing a paper from the research he has been doing the last three years.  If you want more specifics you will have to talk to Jon about it.  Since Jon has delegated some of the writing of this paper to other members of his team, he has had a lot of time to hang out with James and I.  It has been really nice.

Also giving Jon more time at home is the fact that he has cancelled his last 6 interviews.  He felt that 12 interviews in Pediatrics was a good number where most other applicants in his area are doing 5-6.  We have 4 programs/cities we really like and do not see a need to have more at the top that we need to decided how to rank.  Now, the hard part comes with us trying to rank the programs he has seen.  We will likely be taking some second looks in January and February.

With Jon home, we have been enjoying going to the gym almost daily.  We have watched lots of movies, mostly Christmas movies, but we have also watched all the Harry Potter Movies including the new one in theaters.  We really likes the new one, and it was fun being in a theater with only one other couple.  We have also be doing some Christmas shopping.  It has been hard to decide what to get James this year, but I think we have helped out Santa well, and James will like what he gets.

Not much else going on right now that I can think of.  Today, we are planning to stay in the warmth as much as possible.  Right now it feels like -2 outside and it is not supposed to get much warmer today.  Hope everyone else is able to stay warm today!

Someone Love Daddy

James loves his daddy!  He is so glad when he is home.  Here is a picture of James giving daddy a back massage.

Lights Before Christmas

We were able to go to the Zoo to see the Christmas Lights between Jon's interviews this week.  It is always fun.  This year we were lucky enough to be able to go with the Carters, Tollers, and the Wierschkes!  Here is a slide show of the pictures we took.

(Sorry, if the slide show is not working.  It works when I try to edit the post, but not when I publish it.) 

James got to see Santa, too.  He walked up on the stage right toward Santa, looked at him, and kept walking.  There were some giant blocks on the other side of Santa that James wanted to play with.  It was fun to be there one last time with our friends!  We will miss the lights at the Toledo Zoo!

Wake Up Call

What is worse than waking up to your child yelling your name? 

I walked into James's bedroom this morning and found blood caked on his face and in his hair.  There was a big spot on his sheets, too. 

Yes, that is blood.  I quickly checked to find the source of all the blood and found he had a bloody nose last night.  He went in the tub, and I clean everything else up.  It was not too bad, but a little bit of a scare in the morning.

Back In The Kitchen

Our gate broke, so James has enjoyed being back in our kitchen.  Now he can get things out of the drawers too.  His favorite thing to get out and use is the whisk. 

He runs off with it a lot and when I need it, I have to search the house.