Veggie Tales

Let's get one thing straight-- I love grocery stores. But when work gets busier, going to the grocery store is one of the last things I want to spend my free time doing.

So I devised a plan that would make it so I only had to go to the grocery store once every other month. It was a three-pronged approach involving (1) Costco, (2) shelf-stable soy milk, and (3) a produce delivery service. It was genius, or so I thought.

My first shipment of vegetables came. It was huge. More than huge. And on top of that, it was filled with things that required cooking, slicing, or baking (i.e., effort). That was not what I had signed up for. To avoid a 2-hour trip to the grocery store, I ended up spending many more hours baking squash, juicing beets, stir-frying baby bok choy, and looking at a spiky romanesca (below) that was frankly just weirding me out.

Maybe one day I'll sign up again when I'm ready for a cooking adventure, but for now, it's back to the weekly grocery store trips.

Just Another Day in February

It was over 70 degrees and sunny, so we decided to go for a walk along the 280.

This is why we love Califonia.



Take a seat and enjoy the view.

Putting in the Time

Some of you who know me well know that several of my habits could lead you to question whether or not I am actually a human being. These include my ability to eat the same thing every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for extended periods of time, the fact that my favorite running temperature is below 40 degrees F, and my dislike of writing about my feelings in blog entries. However, I'm going to break with tradition and have a human moment. I apologize, Valerie, in advance, that this blog post has the top two qualities of a bad blog post-- long and no pictures.

It's been an interesting first few months in California for Aaron and I-- not interesting in a bad way, but in a growing way. For those of you who aren't familiar with the investment banking industry, it's one that brings new meaning to the words "hard work." On average, they work 80 - 120 hours a week. There is no busy season-- that's just how it is almost all the time. For instance, today Aaron left for work at 6:15 this morning after having only gotten one hour of sleep (since he got back at 4 in the morning for the second day in a row). I stopped by his office to meet him for dinner at 7:30. One hour later, he was able to leave. So we went to McDonald's together (foodies, don't judge), for a quick dinner. It was the first time he'd eaten all day since 9:30 that morning. Then he headed back in to the office. It's Friday night at midnight, and he's still not home yet.

Has it been hard? It is what it is (easy for me to say, right?). We went into this knowing what we were getting into. And we've had to get creative. Our family dinners consist of me picking Aaron up from work so we can get Chipotle or Baja Fresh to go. We talk on the way there and back, but don't eat together because he usually doesn't have time. I spend a lot of time at work so I can keep myself busy and surrounded by people. We have a dry erase marker on our bathroom mirror so we can leave each other notes.

It's an interesting decision we've made to throw work-life balance out the window. Of course, there comes a time when you need to make a decision about whether or not something is really worth it. But there is also a time for sacrifice and a time to lay the foundation for a career you love. If it was going to be like this all the time, we would never have signed up for it. But the hours and the quality of life do get better. The last thing I would ever want is for Aaron to be stuck in a job for the next forty years where he saw no potential for growth or upward movement.

Are we crazy? Probably. But we established that already in the first paragraph (at least we established that I am crazy). The way I look at it, the best things in life don't come without hard work. And that's what we're doing now-- putting in the time.

American Idol

Aaron and I don't watch a lot of TV, primarily due to the fact that our TV doesn't actually work. We have, however, gone to extra lengths to watch Season 10 of American Idol in nine-minute segments courtesy of those altruistic folks who go to the trouble to upload videos for the rest of us. Without them, I might not have known how hilarious Steven Tyler is. Aaron and I laughed out loud long and hard over how excited he is during Caleb Hawley's audition. He's like a little kid at a Raffi concert-- just lovin' life and a great song.

And, of course, what kind of an accountant would I be without giving a shout out to Steve Beguhn, an auditor at PwC who made it through to Hollywood. It made my heart swell with pride. Way to represent, Steve.

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

We celebrated Aaron's birthday on December 23. We went out to eat, and I made a mini ice cream cake, which was actually super easy and kind of delicious (since it's mostly made out of ice cream sandwiches).

Merry Christmas! (Better late than never!)

On December 23, Aaron and I celebrated our first Christmas in California. (It was also Aaron's birthday*, but since I already committed the cardinal sin of wrapping his birthday presents in Christmas wrapping paper, I figured the least I could do was give his birthday its own blog post.) 

On the 24th, we flew out to Boise in the morning. Aaron's mom made all of his favorite foods for dinner and the whole family came over to celebrate his birthday. Then Christmas was the next day, so it was a holiday marathon and a ton of fun. Only 11 months until Christmas 2011!

*Excellent tax planning, Purcells!

Good Times in PA*

My parents came and visited for a whole week in September (please ignore the fact that I am writing this two months later). My brother had the week off for work, and my job hadn't started yet, so it was just the four of us hanging out like old times (Aaron had to work**).

My lovely parents at Half Moon Bay (location of the Mavericks Surf Competition-- apparently the waves get HUGE at a certain time each year)

My dad and I at Half-Moon Bay (I guess we took all our pictures on the same log)

The Lone Cypress on the 17-Mile Drive near Pebble Beach

Matt, my Dad, and I at the Carmel Mission

Outside of a cute inn at Carmel-by-the-sea

Aaron got Labor Day weekend off! We decided to walk across the entire Golden Gate Bridge and back. Note for future tourists: the second half is about the same as the first half--save yourself the time and energy and just walk out halfway.

In other news, I am officially one month into my new job in Lead Tax Services at Deloitte in San Jose and am loving it. The people are great, it's a reverse commute, and I am learning a ton each day.

*PA = Palo Alto
**I hate it when people brag on their blogs and in Christmas letters, but I'm going to be hypocritical and do it anyway (but in a small font). Aaron works 80-120 hour weeks every week with very few exceptions. And I have never once heard him complain.