A New Dish!

On Sunday, I tried a new recipe it was SO delicious that I decided to share it with all of you! It was not only the most yum ever, but it was so easy to make. It had a sort of sweet taste, it kind of reminded me of Rumbi ... and who doesn't love Rumbi?

You can find the recipe (if you would like to try it) here: Mango Chicken and Coconut Rice.

A Time For Resolutions...

When I was a little kid my mom would force us all to come up with at least 5 New Years Resolutions and we would sit as a family and all recite them to one another...dumb. Ever since that little ritual ended I haven't set another Resolution, and I wonder why? Well this year is going to be different, I am in need of improvement and I have 5 Resolutions to discuss:

1. Be a better member of my Church.

2. Cook at least 3 meals per week.

3. Be patient.

4. Wake up on time.

5. Be frugal.

Now I haven't given these Resolutions a lot of though, but I have given them little thought over a long period of time. These are all things that I have need to improve on for quite a while. Starting with #1 I need to be better at attending my meetings every week diligently and participating, I would also like to magnify my callings (including visiting teaching), and be more valiant in my scripture study and personal prayer. Honestly #1 can really be never ending, but 2011 will be the start! For #2 I would like to cook more! I know I get off work late, and Eric is sometimes just at school all night when I finally do get home so it does make this difficult, but I figure if I start with a meal planning system on Sunday and decide which days I am going to cook then Eric and I will be able to coordinate our schedules. #3 I have learned about myself this year that everything in my life has to be a "quick fix" and sometimes that doesn't happen and it becomes extremly frustrating to me and I just let it get me down too quickly, This year I'm going to be patient because I know that patients IS a virtue! #4 Now I could have said that I wanted to wake up early...but Saturday is MY day, so I changed it to wake up on time. I just want to not feel rushed each morning as I get ready for the day. I want to have plenty of time to get ready, eat breakfast, and if you have heard how cold it is in Logan...warm up the car!! #5 This is where it gets more tricky, I love to spend money when I have it. As soon as I get the opportunity to get then next thing on my "want" list I'm up for it, but right now I'm thinking about my "need" list and I'm determined in 2011 to save for those needs!

Wish me luck!

Christmas is Here!

We put up our Christmas tree, actually we did it a while ago...right after Thanksgiving! I have just been under the weather so therefore I'm just getting to this blog, in fact, I took this picture of the tree while sitting on the couch! Oh well! So we usually use my parents flocked tree and I LOVE it, but it is always a HUGE mess and Eric always has to do the brave project of the stringing the lights and looks like he has been in blizzard when he is finished, because of this, we decided to use my parents (apparently they buy and rent out trees?) pre-lit tree. It still looks pretty, but I do love and miss the flock!!

And since I just can't wait for Christmas I thought I would make these yummy spritz cookies! It was my first time using a cookie press so it took a while to get the hang of it, but they do taste amazing!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Yay For Crafts...and Cake!

Craft Night has officially begun in Logan! Since moving from Orem I realized that I really missed my craft night/girls night, so I took matters into my own hands. Even though one of us girlies couldn't make it, we still had a good time and successful craft! We did have to make this a 2 day event...which wasn't too disappointing, we like to see each other and have a good excuse to do so! Check out my beautiful cranberry wreath...or should I say chanberry (if you know me, you know that I can pretty much quote friends when talking about ANYTHING) even a cranberry wreath!

Our next idea is a Christmas advent calendar, watch for our cute design idea...we are pretty excited about it!

Also Eric had a Birthday, Shout Hooray! Eric is 25 years old! Chloe, our niece, said he was now like an old Grandpa...YIKES! I made this banner to greet Eric on his special day! (it is still hanging in our home because I am not going to lie I was a little proud of it and I couldn't stand just letting it hang for one day!)

Funny Story about the German Chocolate cake... so for like a whole week I kept asking Eric what kind of cake he would like for his Birthday and he kept saying "Whatever you want, I don't really care." Keep in mind Eric doesn't really care too much for desserts generally. I usually know exactly which cake I want! Well finally the day before I decided to ask once more and he replyed with a German Chocolate cake and I was excited I said "Oh that sounds good I didn't think you would like that." and he said "Oh I didn't think YOU would like it." Funny because you can still learn something after 3 years!!

Eric and his cake, can you believe this guy is 25 years old?!?


Blowing out the candles!

Eric had a happy birthday and now we are very excited to our family for Thanksgiving!!

Fun Day Out

Since today was Columbus Day I had the day off! Ahh the joys of the financial industry! So I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with my two best girls, Mrs. Stephanie and her sweet little Miss Ella. It was So Much Fun! Ella has learned so many new words and things each time I see her, She's so smart! We started our afternoon with lunch at Costa Vida, YUM! Ella enjoyed watching the TV that showed people surfing, which she she then would say "Water" and she would say "Hi" and wave to other patrons enjoying their lunches, they would smile and think "That the cutest girl EVER." Yeah, she is! We then decided to make some fun of our dear city. We started at D.I. but didn't find much excitement there, so we traveled to Ross, and that is where our real fun began! We just went about the isles looking at this or that. Ella found a pillow that was "Soft" so she decided to take a short nap on it "shhhh" she would say. Then we found the hair pieces and decided to try them on Ella, even though they were made for adults. It was fun, and even the ugliest ones look SO adorable on her, right? here is a photo shoot of our fun...

We then spent some time at The Hobby Lobby and Sugar and Spice and our day ended when Ella began twirling her hair indicating it was time for another nap!

Thanks Stephanie and Ella I had such a fun day!!

The Hunger Games

So I've begun reading the most amazing book! Yes, it is The Hunger Games! I have heard that there is going to be a movie, which can be exciting! I have seen others opinions on who should play the part of each character, but this was before I started reading so I didn't pay too much attention. Now that I seriously can't stop thinking about this book, I thought I would make some judgements of my own!

Katniss
not only can Emma Roberts look the part, but I think she could really play the part well.

Prim
For Prim my first thought was Dakota Fanning, but she has grown up fast! Good thing she has a little sister!

Gale
for me, Gale was probably the hardest. I know he is a bit old for Katniss, but he is still hot so we can make it work.

Peeta
When I saw other's versions of Peeta I thought he looked so girly and whimpy, not Peeta. There aren't many blond actors out there for me to think of, but I finally found this treasure and he has a strong face like I would imagine Peeta would have.

Haymitch
okay so this is unfair, really. I saw that someone had chosen "House" as Haymitch and once I started reading that is all I could picture, because really they are one in the same!

Effie

at first I was going to choose Nicole Kidman, because of her poise for this role, but as I thought about it I just love Jessalyn Gilsig for Effie and I imagine her being a lot like her character from Glee with all the crazy things she would say.

Cinna
absolutely perfect for Cinna! I would just keep thinking about how in The Devil Wears Prada he would be like the motherly stylist to Anne Hathaway's character, so I can just see it!

So those are my opinions!! If you have read the book, tell me what you think!

Influenza

I have been neglecting this blog for a while. One of those reasons, as of late, would be that I have recently been so sick! I really haven't been this sick ever! We woke up Saturday Sept. 3rd, early, to make our way to Midway for the infamous Swiss Days events, and I arose with a horrible sore throat and congestion. We still went to Swiss Days and I ended up feeling better throughout the day. We stayed down in Spanish Fork Saturday night and I again woke up Sunday feeling incredibly ill, but this time worse, and this time it didn't go away. I was miserable and just wanted my own bed. Luckily the next day was Labor day and I was able to spend the whole day in bed, only that didn't help much Monday I began coughing and things just got worse. I still went to work on Tuesday because I really didn't know what else to do and since I didn't feel good I went to the doctor on Wednesday morning, but naturally, it was just a virus, so that afternoon I went back to work again and just tried to get through the day. Thursday was the same, just trying to get through the day. At this point my cough is so uncontrollable it is embarrassing to be at work. I wake up on Friday and decide that there is no way that I can make it even though I know that I have a long weekend ahead of me (I didn't have to work the following Monday) so I finally decided to call in sick. I spend Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in bed and I finally feel better, not all better, but enough to go to work and not feel like I am just trying to get through the days. I just can't wait to be all better and no more tickle in my throat and able to sing along to my music again, you know without my voice cracking! The good news is my house is all decorated for fall harvest and it is cooling down here in Logan and I can feel that crisp fall air! I love fall!