The Sholls Make Sushi

We looooooooooooooooooove sushi! A few years ago for Christmas, Alicia got me a sushi making set. Cory and I have tried it once or twice in the past and it is always quite the ordeal. Now that we got our rice cooker it makes that part much easier, but prepping all the stuff that goes in the sushi still takes a while. We made it twice this past week, mostly because we had fish that still needed to be used after the first time! The Marshik's came over for take 1 and seemed to like it. Here are some pics of take 2, which went much smoother. We're getting pretty good at this, and I think if we make it more often, we'll get even better. Bring on the sushi!

This is actually a picture of the table set all pretty for take 1 with the Marshik's. They got us a bunch of the sushi dishes for our wedding so it was fun to be able to use it with them over for dinner!


Here is the sushi from take 2. We made Philly Rolls (cream cheese, smoked salmon, onion), and then made up the rest with combo's of tuna, fake crab, cucumber, jalapeno, avocado, and shrimp tempura. We also made some tempura vegetables with the batter leftover from frying the shrimp. YUMMY!

Dogs do the Darndest Things

I realize this is another picture of Cosmo on the ottoman, but she is so funny with that thing! She gets herself in these positions and just chills there. I love that silly dog!

Blast from the Past, Second Edition

Time for another picture from the past! Let's go way back this time... This is my family in about 1985. I'm not sure the exact year, but I'm guessing me and Heather are 4 or 5? Something else I don't know is which one is me. That's the thing about being an identical twin; I'm not always sure which one is me in old pictures. I'm gonna guess that's me on the right, maybe my mom can leave a comment and let us all know if I'm correct!

Just for reference, here's what my family looks like now. This is us at me and Cory's wedding in October.

Space-Dorks

For the past week, Cory and I have both been hard at work in the ISS Flight Control Room. We're both working the current Shuttle mission, STS-119/15A. On this mission, the ISS will get it's fourth and last solar array, which will make the vehicle symmetrical again. There will also be some work done to allow the beginning of a six person crew!
Discovery docked to the Space Station last Monday, and since then, we've both been manning our respective consoles every day. Of course we're on opposite shifts, but we're sleeping when the other is at work, so we get to spend a few hours together at home each day. I'm on the overnight shift, which is kind of rough, and Cory is on the shift right before mine, which means he gets to go out with friends and co-workers after his shift for a drink. I am jealous. Here's a picture of each of us in the MCC!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Happy birthday to the best Mom ever! You've been the best mother a girl could ask for, and now that I'm all grown up, I'm so glad that we're friends too. I wish I could be with you today!
Here's my mom at our wedding in October. Ain't she purdy?

The Sholl Blog Gets a New Look

I figured since I took this thing over from Cory, I might as well make it look like I want it to, eh? Thanks to Jaime for pointing me to http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/! Let's see how long it takes my super observant husband to see what I've done ;)

Our Crazy Dog

Apparently this is comfortable...

Blast from the Past

I thought it would be fun to start a segment on here featuring old pictures that were taken before we started our blog. Some will be real old, others not as much. Don't think you're safe! Even you Houston friends, you probably think you look the same as you did when we met you, but watch out; you too could end up here!
To be fair, I'll start with me and Cory. This is from fall of 2004, when I lived here in H-town and he was still at school. I had gone up to Penn State to visit him. Oh to be that thin (me) and have hair (him) again ;)

I realize this isn't that old and we don't look that different, but too bad, I like this picture!

Doggie Cousins

One good thing that came of our trip to Pennsylvania, other than getting to see our families, is that Cosmo got to meet her doggie-cousin, Kingston! Cosmo is a little older, and doesn't have quite all that puppy energy that she used to, but Kingston still does. So I think she got a little sick of him sometimes, because he just wanted to play 24/7! But they did enjoy playing tug with Cosmo's wubba, and we enjoyed watching!
Kingston, Cosmo says 'Woof woof!'

Oh and the best part was how much my mom loved having two dogs in her house ;) Yes that's sarcasm, she's not the biggest dog fan, but I think her grand-dogs are growing on her. My dad loves them for sure!

Goodbye Grandmas

Cory and I had a rough week last week. On Sunday morning, my grandmother (my dad's mom, Grandma Shoemaker) had a stroke and passed away a few short hours later. We also found out that Cory's grandmother (his mom's mom, she's Grandma Grube) was given about a week to live. So after looking for plane tickets and realizing they'd set us back a whopping $1500, we packed up the truck, Cosmo and all, and drove up to Pennsylvania last Sunday. It was a long 24 hours, but it ended up being nice having a car so that we could drive back and forth between our families, and then we could play it by ear on when to come back to TX.
Our Grandma's deaths left us a little shaken. Both were old ladies, my grandma was 85, and Cory's was 87, so you never know what's going to happen, but until pretty recently, they were fairly healthy and truckin' along. Both Grandma's had been living on their own in retirement communities that progress from independent apartments/rooms, to assisted living, and then to nursing. Several weeks ago Grandma Grube moved to assisted living, where she fell and broke her shoulder. She caught pneumonia in the hospital and had also recently been diagnosed with lung cancer. All these combined to weaken her old body, and she spent a week at a hospice before she passed. Grandma Shoemaker's stroke and death were completely unexpected. She was also my last living grandparent, so combined with the suddenness of it all, it hit me pretty hard. Cory has one grandmother left, the unstoppable Grandma Sholl who will be 93 this Spring.
It was a tough time, but it was nice to be with our families, and see extended family too, and to reminisce about times with our Grandmas. One of my favorite memories is of the haunted house me and my cousins made in Grandma's basement that we made her go through; she was a good sport!
Here are our Grandmas at our wedding last October, mine, then Cory's. We're so glad they got to be with us on that important day.

It was a hard week, and it's still sad, but we survived it together and with the love of our family and friends. I just hope that 'after' is everything Grandma hoped it would be. I like to picture her up there with those that have already passed, and maybe even Grandma Shoemaker and Grandma Grube are hanging out, watching over us. Love you Grandmas, we'll miss you.