Dreams DO come true!

The Boys! :)

This may come as a silly post to most of you but...

Last Tuesday night one of my childhood dreams came true. I got to to see New Kids on the Block ( and the Backstreet Boys) in concert. I can't even begin to explain how much it meant for me to go. My parents never had the money to take me to something like that. During the concert so many childhood memories came rushing back, and at one point I was in tears. I sang along loudly to all their hits, squealed at their dancing, and loved every second of it. I'm still on a bit of a high from it.

I owe all this to my wonderful husband. He is the one that bought the tickets and went with me. He smiled and sat through 15,000 screaming 30 year old women (there were maybe 100 guys in the whole place). I'm pretty lucky. Pretty sure I have a keeper.

Pacers...and Dad's visit.

My Dad came for a visit! He was here April 21-April 30. Abhay and I throughly enjoyed having him here...and I was very sad to see him go home. I don't realize how much I miss my family until I am around them.

We got the opportunity to attend our 15th Pacers NBA game this season while he was here. Here's us decked out in our gear...

My two favorite guys!

Earth Day--a few days late

We had plans to plant two new trees in our yard on Earth Day, April 22. But it rained for days before...and after...so we had to settle for planting them today. We choose a Yoshino Flowering Cherry for the front yard and a Belle of Georgia Semi-Dwarf Peach for the back yard. Now we have 3 trees! Wooo! :)

Yoshino Flowering Cherry now

What the Yoshino Flowering Cherry will look like

Belle of Georgia Semi-Dwarf Peach now

What the Belle of Georgia Semi-Dwarf Peach will look like

Spring!

Spring has sprung at the Rawal house. I couldn't resist this planter of beautiful pansies. I LOVE the colors.

New Patio Set :)

We bought ourself a new patio set! Poor Abhay worked for 2.5 hours assembling it today. (I'm so thankful I married a engineer!) But it was all worth it in the end. It looks so cute on our patio. I can't wait for the weather to warm up a few more degrees so we can enjoy it.

Abhay hard at work assembling

Finished product!! :)

Indian food Sunday

I played sous chef to chef Abhay today. We made Chicken Tikka Masala and oven baked Naan. We tried something a little different with the chicken this time. Normally we'd bake the marinated chicken cubes in the oven and then add them to the "gravy" and simmer it on the stove top for a couple of hours. Today we grilled the marinated chicken cubes on the outdoor BBQ and added it to the "gravy" in a Crock Pot and put it on low for 5 hours. It got super tender and yummy! :)

DC!

A and I took a little spring break trip to Washington DC this past week. We were there for 4 days, and 5 nights...and loved every minute of it. The weather was perfect, and it really wasn't all that busy.

Here's the low down of what we did and saw:

Georgetown Cupcake (a show that is aired on the TLC network is filmed at the cupcake shop. They had the YUMMIEST cupcakes. They were worth the 1.5 hour wait), Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, White House, US Capital, WWII Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Smithsonian National Museum of American Indian, Smithsonian National Museum of Air and Space, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Wheeewh, I got tried just typing all the stuff.

We walked a ton, rode the bus, and had lots of fun on the subway. While we were in DC we also go to have dinner with our friends Rachael and Josh, and spend a couple afternoons with our friend Aadil.

Georgetown Cupcakes

US Capital

The White House

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

Before and After

Sheldon before a haircut (doesn't he look SAD?!)

Sheldon after a haircut! :)

Super Bowl Champs!!! Green Bay Packers.

Packer Cupcakes made by me!

I love him enough to wear a Packer's shirt

Sheldon watching the big game!

Yummy food. Chips, dip, beer bread, cupcakes, and 2 types of wings!

A boy and his dog!

Snow fun!

Abhay and I shoveling out our driveway after a day of constant snow! :)

(my parents backyard on 12-26-10)

We spent a WONDERFUL Holiday break at my mom and dad's house in Minnesota. We spent lots of time with family, caught up with friends, ate lots of good food, and did a whole lot of relaxing. :)

2010 was a great year for us! Many good things, wonderful people, new opportunities, traveling to fun places and a wonderful dog came into our life. We're excited to see what 2011 will bring.

It's the most wonderful time...

Christmas treats that Abhay and I made for coworkers (these trays are for Abhay's coworkers): peanut butter cups, white/dark chocolate cookies, chocolate covered ritz/peanut butter crackers. chocolate covered marshmallows, Oreo truffles, chocolate covered chips, and brownie covered Oreo! :)

Our little Santa!

--MMR

Turkey Weekend Fun!

Abhay and I were unable to be with family over Thanksgiving this year. (This was my first thanksgiving without my family). Instead of staying home by ourselves feeling sad...we decided to take a little trip! We went down to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg Tennessee. We rented a cabin in the mountains complete with a hottub on the deck and a fireplace. It was a cozy, relaxing weekend! Just what was needed!!!! Here are some pictures from our adventure into the Smoky Mountains while in Tennessee!

Abhay and I @ The Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Hangman's Cove in the Smoky Mountains

Clouds! You can see how high up we were!

Water trickles that formed into ice

Diwali Fun!

We went to Chicago this weekend to celebrate the Indian festival, Diwali with some of our dear friends. Here are a few picture.

Abhay and I

Abhay, Shruti, I and Rajat :)

Shru and me!

Sheldon's B-day!

We celebrated Sheldon's 1st B-day on October 22. :) His celebration was some yummy treats! (We don't actually KNOW when his birthday is since he is a rescue dog. But numerous vets/groomers have told us his development and teeth look like he was born mid-late October)

--MMR

Happy 31!

My Birthday gifts from Abhay--an iPod touch and flowers...:)

--MMR

Family

Us!

Catch up

I'm catching up in one big post of pictures...:)

I got Mhedni at the Ethnic Expo in town! :) 10-09-10

Abhay and I went to a pre-season Pacers game 10/8/10

Here is us at our friend's wedding reception 10-2-10

Here is my "niece" Bailey and I. Bailey and her Mom/Dad came to visit us the last weekend in September. :)

--MMR

Cinnamon Toasted Pumpkin Pie Tarts

Today I tried out a recipe that i've been dying to try for the past few weeks...Cinnamon Toasted Pumpkin Pie Tarts. They turned out delicious...like mini-pumpkin pies. (This was my first time using cookie cutters for cookies, believe it or not) The recipe said to top them with melted chocolate, but Abhay and I put whipped cream on top of ours. YUM! For the recipe you can visit one of my favorite blogs Picky Palate.

Doggie haircut

Sheldon got a haircut today (he needed one SO badly). We also found him 2 new bandannas at the local Farmer's Market. I am a huge Snoopy fan so I was excited to find this fall Snoopy one. They are designed so the collar goes through them. This kind doesn't seem to bother him at all (he's hot a huge fan of the tie kind).