the richards

growing

2012-02-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

pretty sure my belly doubled in size this week

this little baby is on a growing spree for the next 4 weeks

it's supposed to double in size

which is pretty miraculous

sam got to feel them moving around for the first time last week

and now pretty much every night when we sit down to read together

the baby reminds us that they are there too

it's such a reassuring and comforting feeling to feel it move everyday

can't wait for the weekend!!

breakfast

2012-02-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

Source: macheesmo.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

we tried a new breakfast on saturday and i'm hooked

it's super easy to do

just bake an egg in a muffin tin

(350 for 15 minutes)

toast your whole wheat english muffin

melt a little cheese on the muffin

sandwich the egg

(dip in ketchup if you are like me)

and enjoy!

josh

2012-02-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

the richards have a sweet tradition for birthday's

when you give your present your tell the birthday person why you love them

last year josh's reason why he loved me was, 'because your my sister in law'

otherwise 'because i have to' :)

well after being teased for an entire year he redeemed himself

he wrote a poem of all the reasons he loved me

and i loved it

Amanda, Amanda you know what they say?

Good things come in small packages and we like you that way.

Long long ago you married General Guice

Before that you were uno but know you are deuce.

Boots are your thing, and buying them online too.

And you love easy cheese when you are feeling blue.

Games you like, Ticket to ride to be specific.

Did I ever mention, I think you are terrific.

Whenever I see spots, its you I think of.

And I also think of that little bundle that soon will come from above.

So you have a new house and go to bed around six.

You know another great game you should try? Pick up stix.

Now I know you don’t want to know what sex your baby shall be,

But if it’s a girl you could name her Joshie

As you plan for your little bundle, You’ll probably utilize some lists.

Something like get a crib, get a bumbo, oh and a yellow onesie for IT.

So the fact is I love you for many reasons its true

And not just because my sister in law are you.

For example I love you cause your fun cute and full of sass

And lets just be honest, you’re an amazing lass (with irish accent).

So tonight is the super bowl and your birthday party too.

I hope that my being here demonstrates my love to you.

Happy Birthday kid.

surprise

2012-02-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

sam never ceases to amaze me

every year for my birthday he has something up his sleeve

he is so good at keeping secrets!

(the delicious ice cream, reeses peanut butter with oreo crust, so much for the low fat diet I was advised to follow)

this year he went to an extreme

it was my last birthday without a child

and it was also my 25 birthday... kinda a mile marker!

half way to 50, quarter of a century. wowsa

well friday night we were going to go to the utah gymnastics meet

i was so looking forward to it because it had been a rough day

i had an unexpected baby appointment to make sure things were alright

which resulted in blood being taken and some tough conversations

(luckily everything appeared to be good)

at about 630, I was just finishing dinner and getting ready to pick sam up from work

one of his coworkers called me and told me he fell while helping in the OR and hurt his ankle

he was in the ER and I would have to come in and get him....

by get him I mean, WHEEL him out

I completely lost it, I had all these great plans for the weekend and now everything was ruined!

but I knew I had to keep it together because the poor guy was hurt.

I have to admit I was suspicious of the whole story

but Sam sealed the deal when he called me pretending to be emotional

I picked him up and wheeled him out of the hospital while lugging all his stuff

helped him into the car and drove him home

(here's Sam all bandaged up, his ankle was numb by the time we got home)

I tried to hold my emotions in on the ride but it was really hard

(i can't believe Sam didn't tell me it was all a fake when I was struggling)

but we got home and I walked up to the back door to unlock it and noticed some streamers

Some of our closest friends had come and decorated the house

picked up the drinks and ice cream pie's Sam had ordered

not only did they come to my party, they created the party!

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

It was a fun night, I loved having everyone over

the company, the games and the food was perfect.

Thanks for making me feel so special

over the weekend

2012-02-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

I always look forward to Saturday!

it's project day at our house

I try to do all the cleaning during the week so Sam and I can just work on the house on Saturday

(I even threw the died poinsettia away)

Lately we have been trying to just tie up lose ends...

which honestly can be a little boring because I have so many big ideas I want to start on

but we gotta finish the other stuff first

(I take full advantage of the day and stay in my pajamas all day long, so comfy!)

Having this baby growing inside of me has made it challenging to get things done

I feel like I rely on Sam to do mostly all of it

But this weekend he taught me how to caulk with the gun so he could finish up painting the trim

later that night I sat on the counter while he hung up these pictures in our kitchen..

(doesn't it look awesome!!!!)

wish you could have seen how bad it was before.

super nice guy

2012-02-06T15:39:00.000-07:00

(mr. nice guy reading the funnies on sunday)

I new I married a super nice guy but Sam showed a whole new softness this weekend.
We went to home goods to make a return but of course I we wandered the store as well.

It was awesome!

I've never seen the store packed with so much great stuff.

well I've been searching for some nightstands

we were so excited(huge understatement!) to move into a house with a room big enough for a nightstand

so I've been on the lookout I've had tons of ideas of what I want

but we found some cool metal tv stands at homegoods

they were going to be about 100 bucks cheaper than what I had budgeted

so I left Sam to stand guard and went to grab a cart.

by the time I came back some other lady was checking it out

Sam was showing her how to fold it up so she could put it in her cart.

Mr. nice guy couldn't even tell her that he wanted the pair of them

of course he felt terrible afterwards, but one day he'll learn to stop being so nice!

we still bought the one tray and put it up at home, and luckily I didn't like it

here are the three ideas I'm trying to decide to do instead.

Source: bhg.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

(this is an old tv stand, revamped into a stylish nightstand)

Source: takethesidestreet.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

(this is a cheap-o ikea dresser that you paint yourself, amped up with some extras)

(here's the same dresser just a different idea, much simplier because you are just adding hardware not cutting and gluing wood).

midget

2012-02-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

here's a picture of sam and me.

Sam called this morning to ask me to double check that our 'secret key' was still there

(the key we have for the contractor hiding)

I told him no, I wouldn't double check

he laughed thinking I was teasing

but I was dead serious

'babe, I can't check I'm not tall enough'

oh to be married to a midget

guess only tall people will be breaking into our house

surprises

2012-01-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

sam is a man full of surprises.

it seems like he always has something up his sleeve

he surprised me with a wedding band on our anniversary

(I honestly told him I didn't want another one)

he surprises me often with romantic dates

candlelight dinners

cleaning the house head to toe

hot tubs waiting for me after i've gone to the gym

weekend getaways to park city area

I must admit a lot of the time i prompt such surprises

with not so subtle hints

yesterday I had a surprise after work

before i could walk from the garage to the house sam was pushing me back into the car

he forced me to eat a snack because he knows i was hungry

and whisked me away

he planned a couples massage to celebrate hitting 20 weeks

half way yahoo

it felt wonderful

thanks to sam for preparing me for a surprise of a lifetime

waiting until birth to know the gender of this little one.

debut pregnancy picture

2012-01-12T14:28:00.000-07:00

technically i'm 19 weeks and 2 days... can't wait to hit half way!

but at 18 weeks our baby was the size of a mango

we walked past them at the grocery store and snapped a picture

to celebrate the babies size we bought some mango sorbet

it was delicious

even though we aren't finding out the gender of this little one

we are so excited for the ultrasound next week

I am just so excited to see this little person forming

and also, hopefully know that it's developing healthy

not to mention eliminate any possibility of twins!

while our baby has already been spoiled by family

i finally caved and bought my first item for the baby

i bought the cutest little emu boots for next winter

it'll only be 6 months old and i definitely want all 10 toes nice and warm

the basement

2012-01-11T16:54:00.001-07:00

it was a big weekend at our house

our renters move in

and we are thrilled to be done with the basement remodel!

even though the basement took a lot of resources

money, time, energy, hard labor(especially sam)

we are so happy with the end product

and happy to have someone living in it paying us the mula!

here are a couple pictures we snapped right before they moved their stuff in

before, front room

before front room

after: the walls look much whiter in this picture, they are more cream/beige

I wish I had a picture of the kitchen on this camera but here it is after

the hickory cabinets add a lot of personality to the place

and we love the flooring, especially because it hides any dust.

exercising

2012-01-05T13:25:00.000-07:00

these last four months being pregnant have sure messed up my exercise routine
i'm interested in trying some pregnancy yoga or pilates
before going and buying a bunch of videos I was wondering if there are any recommended
so if you have tried one let me know if you liked it or recommend it.

the year in review

2012-01-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

One of my 2011 goals was to blog more frequently

It was a poorly written goal because I never defined 'more frequently'

but considering I almost doubled the amount of post from 2010 in 2011 I feel satisfied

and there's always room for improvement. ;)

I'm so glad I did blog more, yesterday we reviewed some of the post

it was a great way to remember some events that may have been forgotten or overlooked.

job change...

lots of valentine crafts and neighbor presents(since I missed christmas)

celebrated my birthday all week long, never felt so loved

last day at cardiac rehab- going away party

purchasing our tickets across the world for the trip of my dreams to europe, let the planning begin

enduring my first tax season

sam getting pretty much all straight a's all year long

taking our first post tax season trip to the homestead

planned the surprise birthday party for sam's dad, and completed his goal of running the 5k with the family

ran in the dirty dash, cleaned dirt out of our ears for a week

traveled to europe, ate crepes, maguums and lots of great food inbetween seeing all the sights and soaking in as much as we could

raised money in the MS walk

convinced my work i needed an iphone

gave sam an awesome birthday date package, and have been enjoying monthly preplanned dates

celebrated our third anniversary

did my first zipline and loved it

went to hebgen

ventured to nebraska

dressed up for halloween... and even got a picture to prove it

purchased our first home

announced this baby to family and friends at 14.5 weeks

gutted and finished a basement

moved right before christmas

ended the year with one last trip to the cabin in woodland(where we rang in the new year last year)

and celebrated 2012 at 8PM with all the nieces and nephews

I feel so blessed to have had such a great year.

I have very few memories that I wish to forget(if any)

and amidst all the turmoil and trials going on in the world right now I am fortunate

I am looking forward to so many huge changes in our life in 2012!

Happy new year.

moving

2011-12-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

this is week is the big week

we are moving.

i'm so excited to finally get to enjoy this house that we have been paying for

and slaving over

it's been such a blast working on projects with sam the last couple weeks

we spent this last weekend painting until about 130 AM

naturally we were both a little loopy and slap happy, everything we said was hilarious

it's so rewarding to see things come together

but i've never really moved before

so send your tips and pointers my way as we get prepared

over the weekend

2011-12-05T07:44:00.000-07:00

over the weekend we shared these with our families

let it all begin

2011-12-01T15:47:00.001-07:00

tis the season for traditions, parties and events galore

we can't wait to spend the night at home tonight

after a week of Christmas events every night

my family has been doing a tree for the festival of trees for the past 8-10 years

it's turned into a family affair

our theme this year was on giving

everything was centered around things you'd give as neighbor gifts

after months of working and crafting we were proud of our tree

all my sisters went on bid night together and were so pleased our tree had more than one bid

when bidding was about to end we had two crowds wanting our tree

bidding war

we were thrilled to have earned money for the primary children's hospital

and thrilled that our tree turned out so great

do you remember?

2011-11-22T11:23:00.001-07:00

do you remember last year on this day

the storm of the century

we all got to leave work early,

I went home and prepared for the worse

and then it never came...

kinda wish we had that threat today, i'd love to go home.

tears

2011-11-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

do you cry every time you read a birth story
or at least get teary eyed

Source: Uploaded by user via Amie on Pinterest

i'm totally guilty of blog surfing during quiet moments at work
whenever i stumble across a birth story i have to read it
and no matter what it says i shed a couple tears.

yesterday i read one featured on the daybook from the rockstar diaries
it's the second down if you read it today

http://www.thedaybookblog.com/

on happy note my sister in law is in labor as we speak!!
so excited for her.

hair woes

2011-11-16T11:06:00.001-07:00

yesterday my kind sister informed me that out of the four girls in the family i have the worse hair

'jeepers thanks'

but it's true i was blessed with fine thin hair with nothing fabulous about it

Source: Uploaded by user via amandajayne on Pinterest

don't worry she didn't just flat out say that

I was asking her what she thought i should do with my hair

I have a hair appointment on Friday(seriously can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!)

and i'm kinda fed up with the do

I want to try something new

Source: google.com via Anna on Pinterest

whenever I ask for feedback on here I never get any

(yes I wrote that to pressure you into saying something)

what hairstyle should I try

Source: myfashionaddictions.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

things you should know I don't like to go too short

I love wearing my hair natural wavy/curly and when it's too short I feel so limited

also I'm really having a hard time deciding about the bang issue

seems like the new trend is the part in the middle and no bang,

I think it's really cute but I've had a bang for so long

Source: google.com via Katie on Pinterest

obviously I'm torn here!

help!!

Source: google.com.br via Wendy on Pinterest

pictures are possible ideas but definitely not limited to

stolen

2011-11-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

Just a couple days ago we were having a conversation with the family about having something stolen

I've had a couple things of mine stolen in my life, my first experience was my camera

I'd just returned from my study abroad and two days later my camera was stolen

I hadn't uploaded my pictures yet, which was the worse part someone not only had my camera but

200+ memories that could never be replaced.

A couple of years ago Sam's bike was stolen off campus

he'd been studying for a organic chemistry final for a few hours and packed up at about 1130 PM

he went to hop on his bike and it was gone

cable cut and nothing left

One time I drove my parents fancy car to teach a class at the U and thought I'd locked it

it's so fancy schmancy I didn't realize I hadn't locked it

someone walking by must have noticed and stole an iPod and my tithing money

which both had been stashed away in the center console

the worse part of that was feeling completely violated

someone that I didn't know was rummaging through the car when I wasn't around

Well unfortunately we have a new stolen item to add to the list

sunday morning we left our house early for a church meeting at 7AM

Sam 'couldn't find our car' because our bike rack was stolen

someone in the middle of the night decided to maneuver our rack off the top of our car

I should add that the rack is locked onto the car and it had to have taken some skill to get it off

we are extremely grateful no real damage was done to the car

but again I have that violation feeling

someone was touching my stuff

needless to say we can't wait to have a locked garage in a couple weeks

Seriously though...

I almost feel more sad for the person stealing things than for the victim

how sad that someone is so desperate that they take other peoples things

they have no self worth, or self integrity.

I've always been taught when faced with a temptation ask myself

'is it worth my integrity'

the answer is always no.

hero

2011-11-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

meet james

he's my 8 year old nephew.

i was so lucky to 'nanny' james and zachary for about 4 straight years

sometimes i feel like i have a special bond to them

we love having them and their sister hazel over for sleep overs

this last april when james was baptized i was shocked to have james ask me to speak

last week james had to think of a hero to talk about in scouts

we assumed he would pick someone like obama, because he's just that kinda kid

well turns out that he picked sam to be his hero

I couldn't have thought of a better person

sam was super flattered to hear that james picked him as his hero

james said sam was his hero because

'he always makes everyone in the family happy'

whenever james is around you'll find him glued to sam's side

they have a special bond and friendship that is so fun to see.

movie anyone

2011-11-10T09:55:00.000-07:00

have you heard of TRAVELZOO?
Sam and I have gone on a few weekend getaways thanks to travel zoo
they have some great deals
every Wednesday I get the top 20 email
this week had a deal too good to pass up.

here's the link
http://www.travelzoo.com/local-deals/deal/7991

It's a two for one movie pass from fandango. Pay $12 now and get two tickets of your choice
you just gotta go the movie before January 12, 2012

What a perfect low key date for a cold winter night.

struggles

2011-11-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

I was looking so forward to our extra hour of sleep this weekend
but now I'm having a hard time adjusting to the new hours
by the time I get off work the sun is close to setting.
I think I have a small case of the winter blues.
After we eat dinner my body just wants to go to sleep because it's so dark and cold!
Hopefully my body will adjust quickly so I can get back to a more productive lifestyle.

How do you cope with the lack of daylight.

After talking to my mom about this last night she told me her favorite part of the day is between 5 and 6
she said it's the most beautiful part and feels so peaceful
i'm going to try to enjoy it today.

keys

2011-11-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

we did something scary on halloween

however it wasn't the typical spooky halloweeny scare

we closed on our first house!!!

we felt like we kinda signed our life away after autographing about 40 pages

but after spending some time at the new house over the weekend we are thrilled

we are so excited to have a place of our own

our living space has at least doubled

we couldn't be happier about living in sugarhouse close to so many things

driving to work has been cut in half because of awesome freeway access

we are planning on moving sometime in december

we're having some work done on the house especially in the basement

we are going to be renting it out so if you know anyone getting married over the holidays

if they need a place to live ours will be brand spanking new and in a great location

let us know!

it's funny to think how much life changes

in january sam and i made all of our goals together

none of them included a house, the opposite to have 'x' amount saved

needless to say i think we would have met our goal if something better hadn't come along

we'll definitely have a house warming party most likely the first of the year

so keep posted!

looking forward

2011-11-03T16:51:00.001-06:00

we are back to Friday's off at my office

i'm looking forward this extra day a week

words can't even begin to explain!

this weekend i'm looking forward to

making some of these and trying them out

Source: macheesmo.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

picking out a color pallet and finding some paint chips

Source: design-seeds.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

hanging out in something cozy like this

Source: hush-uk.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

crafting with my sisters, for the Festival of Tree tree

Source: scrapbooksetc.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

plus I just got asked on out a date! can't wait for that especially.

anything that you are looking forward to?

even though...

2011-11-01T16:27:00.000-06:00

even though everyone is cursing the colder weather told
especially the snow
I kinda enjoyed it

Source: wildnatureimages.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

of course i am sad to say good bye to warmer days and warm day activities
but something about the snow is magical
it's mesmerizing
just like watching a fire crackle
i could watch it fall all day long

Source: bergoiata.org via amandajayne on Pinterest

every season has it's time
i feel super lucky that fall lasted until november
and i know that winter will end eventually too
bringing back our warmer weather
until then i'll try to embrace the beauty around me

Source: flickr.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

disclaimer: I probably won't have this attitude come March!

yet another birthday date.

2011-10-31T16:40:00.000-06:00

I had planned a couple options for our October date.

I tried to plan something that wasn't Halloweeny because October is always filled already

However our two options that I planned conflicted with the UofU football schedule

BUT if you know anything about us at all then you know we(Sam) can't miss a game

so I had to think on my toes and plan something new

we headed to a pumpkin patch,

I've always wanted to go and it turned out to be quite fun

not to mention it's beautiful... I'm a country girl at heart

I love rows of fields and crops and tractors.

we found some pumpkins with character and later carved them

Happy Halloween.

daily rant

2011-10-28T14:02:00.000-06:00

A couple months ago we were chilling with some friends
they were telling us how they just got their auto insurance lowered
they told us how much it was and it was like 40 bucks less than us

I'd been feeling like we have been paying too much for awhile
but this motivated some serious action
Sam called our agent and told him the scoop
the guy 'made some phone calls' and said that we were getting the best deal out there

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

well a couple months later...
we were shopping for home insurance
our loan officer introduced us to an insurance broker
she helped us get home insurance for about 200 dollar/year less than through our other guy
so i had her shop around for auto insurance.

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

drum rollll.....

our auto insurance will be cut in half
starting monday

Source: cheyennemeetschanel.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

yes that's over THREE THOUSAND dollars extra we've paid throughout our marriage
that's a really nice trip
or a baby(i've heard they cost about that much)
new bikes!
a lot of work on house
etc. etc. etc.

Source: thevirginiabelle.tumblr.com via Francesca on Pinterest

so if you think you are getting ripped off, you probably are
even if your guy says your not ask an outside source
then celebrate!

The pictures added are what I'm buying with my new saved money!(a girl can dream)

people

2011-10-25T15:22:00.000-06:00

last week was a big week here around the office

it made me a little embarrassed for any small complaint

because some of my fellow coworkers were enduring much more

and with much more class than i ever could.

If you are ever in need of reading an inspiring story click on

kris and kecia

blog on the left hand side

earlier this year they began the process of adopting a down syndrome girl from ukraine

they already have one down syndrome girl of their own and felt inspired to adopt

by the way this is after kecia had miscarried 3 times!

so after spending a crazy amount of time and money they finally got their girl

watch the videos on the blog and you'll be balling

well shortly after they got home they found out they were pregnant

with twins!

3 new kids in 1 year

they are thrilled but just went through a scare of almost losing the babies

last week they had to fly to LA for a procedure to save the babies

it worked, but kecia's on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy

it's truly inspiring to read their stories

it's truly uplifting to read her stories

i'm sure you know what i'm talking about

it's great to read nie nie or rockstar diaries but reading someone who you rub shoulders with

it changes it drastically.

it makes you want to become better

appreciate more

and give.

baby

2011-10-24T12:22:00.001-06:00

sam asked me; aren't you worried people think your pregnant since you have a baby board on pinterest?

nope I'm not nervous because nursery's and anything baby for that matter can be some of the cutest things to check out. It's going to be challenging decorating a nursery some day so many different directions you can go. here are some of my favorite pinterest nurseries/ baby items.

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

i love everything about this nursery, the colors, the feeling, the warmth, the bold rug

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

awesome

Source: maryelizabethinspire.tumblr.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

such a cute and affordable wall statement

Source: decorpad.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

pom-poms

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

awesome

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

getting ready for the cold

2011-10-20T12:35:00.004-06:00

the one bonus to cold weather is wearing cold weather clothes

i love boots, sweaters, coats, scarfs, hoodies etc.

Source: iamagreedygirl.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

doesn't that hoodie look devine?

Source: sahalie.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

love love love boot socks

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

yes please.

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

loving trousers and belts

Source: vi.sualize.us via amandajayne on Pinterest

rugs

2011-10-19T11:02:00.000-06:00

pretty soon we are going to need to invest in some rugs for hardwood floors
I've never had to purchase a rug
it's total pressure because it can make or break a room
do you have rugs?
where'd you find them

Source: google.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: design-elements-blog.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: house36.wordpress.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: hollymathisinteriors.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: fivedaysfiveways.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: mymodbaby.blogspot.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

boy

2011-10-18T13:09:00.000-06:00

my friend just found out she's having a boy today
which made me think of these

Source: doityourselfdivas.blogspot.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: filminthefridge.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: ohdeedoh.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: brynalexandra.blogspot.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

how fun.

latest loving

2011-10-17T13:24:00.000-06:00

been loving white kitchens lately. especially paired with dark mocha flooring
if i could pick i'd have mocha cork tile, white cabinets and some dark contrasting counter

Source: centsationalgirl.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: google.ca via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: wfharchitect.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: google.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: styleathome.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

highlight

2011-10-17T12:43:00.000-06:00

the highlight of our weekend was a long bike ride
sam surprised me the other day with a new bike!
i sold my mountain bike and immediately missed not having the option to bike
he took the initiative and picked me out an awesome
(and incredibly good looking commuter bike)
we rode all around town on saturday
loved the weather, the company and energy involved!!

screaming it from the rooftop

2011-10-05T12:42:00.000-06:00

Last night I discovered something fantastic

(if you are reading this thinking, she just discovered that... shame on you for not telling me!)

Pretty much I love to cook

Chicken is in a lot of great dishes but I really don't like boiled chicken,

what a pain, boil for 20 minutes, wait to cool, then cube the whole thing and I still don't like the flavor

well who would have known that you can just put whole warm chicken breasts in your kitchen aid

after about 2 minutes on low you have perfectly shredded chicken

and it tastes so much better since it's shredded.

YAHOO

thank you to pinterest for teaching me this and so many other great ideas!

sam's september date

2011-09-30T10:07:00.001-06:00

planning an entire year of dates has it's challenges

especially this month

i had planned for us to head up to snowbird for stargazing

which only happens 2 a month

the first one was on Wednesday- no way we can go because of YM/YW

and the second one fell on a night that we had a lot already going on

but it was totally worth it!!

if you ever have the opportunity to check this out do it!

it's twice a month where you have a stargazing class

and then once it's dark you head up on the tram to the top of the mountain

the tram ride was pretty much a roller coaster ride in the dark

once at the top there are 5 awesome telescopes and astrologists

they had these huge star wars lasers that were so powerful it would point at the constellations perfectly

even though it was a little cold it was an amazing view and worth every goose bump

I tried to be a good date and leave my phone in our car

didn't think twice that we'd want to take a couple pictures.

this birthday present has been a blast.

I have some really fun dates coming up and I love having one awesome adventure a month

happy friday!!

Tis the Season

2011-09-22T13:36:00.000-06:00

We've been celebrating a lot of birthday's these last few weeks

Grandpa Peterson turned 95!

we had a big family BBQ to celebrate

we tied 95 balloons to homemade stakes and stuck them into the front lawn

about 3 minutes later the pressure in the air changed and all the balloons popped

we didn't even have enough time to take a picture

Next we celebrated Grandpa Richards 85 birthday

we had an even bigger family party since the Richards are about 3 times the size of my family

last we celebrated my mom's birthday

it's not very often that she's in town for her birthday so we had to spoil

we had a family dinner that she wasn't allowed to bring one thing

all the family got together and zachary gave her a great card(day after the UvsY game)

it said;

U are the best Nona

Y are you getting so old

There are still more to come so HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND LOVE TO ALL.

losing my mind?

2011-09-15T11:19:00.002-06:00

This morning when I knelt down to say a morning prayer
the first thing that came to my mind was

haynie and company....
(for those of you who don't know, that's the name of the office I work at)

guess I've been working too much. :)

almost halfway through september

2011-09-13T12:03:00.000-06:00

You blink your eye once and an entire month has passed.
My dad was the bearer of bad news when he announced he'd be closing the pool after labor day
summer's over
and now i'm longing more than ever to jump in the pool
wear my white jeans and trouser pants(I still will, I don't follow fashion rules)
and spend an afternoon on the lake

I feel like now we are scrabbling to fit everything in for the last time before fall truly comes
we hiked mt. olympus with my nephews the other day
we are still planning boating outings with family and friends
planning tennis into the cool evenings
walking to get a frozen yogurt
and riding our bikes
going up the canyon for fires and desserts

however luckily fall brings plenty of things to look forward to
wearing my boots
that new leather jacket from the nordstrom sale
putting up fall decorations
eating soups and stews
and cozying up to the fire
changing of the leaves

**everyday I think how eternally lucky and grateful I am to live where I do and to enjoy what I see, hear and experience. This world is such a beautiful place and we are trying all we can to enjoy every part of it

2011-08-23T10:00:00.000-06:00

i learned the hard way last week why you are told to leave your phone home at girls camp

I couldn't find my phone for about a day

when it finally showed up it was destroyed

got rained on and ran over multiple times

it feel out of my bag when I was hauling all the gear to camp

isn't it amazing how well the case held up

didn't protect the phone much.

at the time it wasn't very funny

but now that I have my new phone in hand i can laugh about it

the weekend

2011-08-08T10:31:00.001-06:00

we had a pretty exciting weekend

sam finished summer school officially on Thursday!

now we have two weeks of true summer

we celebrated sam's birthday again

august adventure was the park city zip line

I showed my true love for sam being willing to do so a thrilling activity

but it was a blast

as timid as nervous as I was before I jumped off the ledge

it was way fun

I totally get what all those folks on the Bachelor/Bachelorette are talking about

we definitely took our relationship to a new level by taking that leap of faith together

Afterwards we headed to Deer Valley to celebrate our anniversary

we love LOVE travel zoo deals!

it was great we relaxed by the pool and ate a fantastic dinner

they upgraded us to a suite for free which was awesome

and mostly it was just great being away from all distractions and being with my boy

we slept in for the first time in forever

and then prepared to boat the night away with some friends

the lake was beautiful

we were one of the last boats off

it was such a great time.

(all our pictures are on the real camera)

(this is Beckham playing with his birthday present,

Sam and I like to give a box of kleenex's to the 1 year olds

they love just pulling out all the tissues and playing in them after)

finally we celebrating little prestons' birthday on sunday

we had a scooby do themed party

sam and i were Shaggy and Velma

we spent the rest of the night swinging on the porch

talking away with the family

it was a wonderful weekend and we have great things planned for the week

hope you have a marvelous monday

fruit flies

2011-08-04T15:54:00.000-06:00

Source: theidearoom.net via amandajayne on Pinterest

fruit flies have been driving me bonkers lately due to all the fresh produce sitting around our house
I'll have to give this a try, any other remedies?

love this and love her

2011-08-02T15:29:00.000-06:00

Source: gardenviewcottage.tumblr.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Modest is Hottest, Ladies. "I find the whole concept of being ‘sexy’ embarrassing and confusing. If I do an interview with photographs people desperately want to change me - dye my hair blonder, pluck my eyebrows, give me a fringe. Then there’s the choice of clothes. I know everyone wants a picture of me in a mini-skirt. But that’s not me. I feel uncomfortable. I’d never go out in a mini-skirt. It’s nothing to do with protecting the Hermione image. I wouldn’t do that. Personally, I don’t actually think it’s even that sexy. What’s sexy about saying, ‘I’m here with my boobs out and a short skirt, have a look at everything I’ve got?’ My idea of sexy is that less is more. The less you reveal the more people can wonder. - Emma Watson

I'm not implying that I dress modest to make people wonder but I definitely agree with her opinion on revealing clothing. I also admire her attempt to remain true to herself despite all the media attention. What a great example to all the young women in the world.

nebraska..

2011-08-01T11:34:00.001-06:00

yes we went to nebraska for the weekend

when telling people where we were headed everyone asked why?

well i grew up visiting my great grandma every summer in nebraska

so many wonderful memories of such a beautiful land

we ventured out again this year with all the nieces and nephews

almost all siblings

to relive the past and make some more great memories

lucky for us we flew instead of driving like we used to

double lucky we volunteered to be bumped

(why were three flights to omaha overbooked??)

we earned 2 400 dollar plane vouchers! and got to fly first class

lucky for us our first day was overcast

we visited 3 cementaries in one day

and the church my great great grandpa helped to build

we purposely went during the saunders county fair

enjoyed seeing all the animals

especially the petting zoo

especially getting licked by the dogs with worms

memories flooded through me as we visited dolores' house for dinner

some smells never change

... don't worry it was a good smell

my nieces and nephews got really good at catching frogs and fire bugs

marijuana supposedly native to nebraska

we shot off fireworks

played at many parks

and of course enjoyed the famous 'hot roast beef sandwich' from Rezac's

visited winter quarters on our way back home

we loved sharing our memories with the nieces and nephews

sam was such a sport being the only boy besides my dad to join us

it was wonderful to show him where everything happened.

thanks for the wonderful weekend nona and pops.

Genius

2011-07-27T15:07:00.000-06:00

Source: laughinacorner.tumblr.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

agreed.

2011-07-26T11:04:00.002-06:00

Source: fromupnorth.com via Jessica on Pinterest

true or false?

2011-07-21T14:38:00.002-06:00

Source: None via Melanie on Pinterest

why wednesday?

2011-07-20T09:42:00.000-06:00

I love Wednesday!

First and foremost, wednesday=hump day

we're almost through with the week

16 hours left of the work week for me

also have you heard of 'travel zoo'

you're missing out if you haven't checked it.

every wednesday they post the new top 20 list

since we're hoping to go cruising with some friends in the winter i love checking for deals

even if i'm not planning a trip i love checking the deals...

dreaming is totally healthy

also on wednesday

a new week of coupons are added

i love checking it to start planning my meals around the 'five star' items

and it also gives me plenty of time to cut the coupons for my saturday shopping trip

Also all my favorite shows are up on hulu by Wednesday

makes those 16 hours at work go a little quicker

current addiction

you gotta check it out if you love cooking or eating

Last YW/YM on wednesday

YW/YM is one of the biggest stressors of my week

once we get through the weekly activity we're set to relax until Sunday.

birthday

2011-07-14T13:09:00.001-06:00

last month sam had a birthday

we enjoyed parties with family and friends

lots of yummy food and cake

i had been planning his present for months and was so anxious to give it to him

i'm horrible at keeping secrets from him but was so glad i did

i gave sam a date box

what's a date box? you say

well i planned 12 dates, 1 for every month of the upcoming year

i pre-planned and pre-paid for each date

every date is something we've never done before

at the beginning of the month sam opens up that months envelope

it tells us what we are doing, and all the details

yesterday was our first birthday date

it was documented on the iphone

we headed to deer valley for a beautiful and fun outside concert

we loved every minute of it

we enjoyed great people watching, yummy food including

tomato, basil, mozzarella sandwich, turkey with fig chutney sandwiches

and the fresh air along with the beautiful sky!

can't wait for next months birthday date

people

2011-07-07T12:38:00.000-06:00

one of my favorite things about working at the hospital was the friendliness of people
in general everyone was very friendly, especially the staff to one another

whenever you passed someone you always smiled and said hi

stairwell's were no big deal you just talked to each other
'how's your day going'
'don't you love the weather..'
stuff like that
no big deal to talk to strangers, i loved it
once i quit i noticed how unfriendly the rest of the world is
so i go to great effort to be friendly where i am

mr. r. enjoys the entertainment when we go running together
...i like to say hi to everyone we pass, people rarely reciprocate, i don't get it
mr. r thinks that i yell at people and that's why they don't say it back

anyways
i really see this at the post office every morning
yesterday i waited for this chick to exit by holding the door
no thank you or any acknowledgement

hhhheeeelllllloooo, i was just nice to you, be nice back
grugh, that sure made me day start sour

i'm on a rant but really do believe what i'm saying
come one, can't we all be a bit friendlier.
so hello to the next stranger you pass and see how they respond

i double dare ya.

mia

2011-07-05T16:17:00.000-06:00

we've been mia lately
we enjoyed a wonderful week away at the cabin at hebgen lake
as we drove out of town i realized we completely forgot to pack a camera
who does that?
guess i should keep our smaller camera tucked away permanently in my purse
it' big enough that's for sure
every year i seem to enjoy our hebgen trip more and more
of course i loved all of the 'normal' things we do
boating, skiing, wakeboarding, playmill, yellowstone(we saw a bear!), and being with family
but this year i loved feeling so detached from the world
crappy cell phone service, no internet, and not many other people around
one day mr. r and i were alone at the dock for about 2 hours
not one person in sight, just the bald eagles soaring over head

let's just say it was a bit of a rude awakening heading back to work today.
ahhh summer how i love you.

help, please!!

2011-06-23T10:02:00.000-06:00

dear family, friends, loved ones, and strangers
please put on your creative caps cause we need help
we're headed to hebgen soon and have to take a family video with us
we aren't very funny
and we need your help
what should it be about?
where should we start?
there any guidelines or restrictions so the sky is the limit

so have you seen anything funny videos lately that we could copy..
or do you have a great idea.

Please help!!!

much love
sanda

reading

2011-06-21T09:32:00.000-06:00

i hardly read a book a year while in college
any free time i had i avoided being behind a book
now things have changed
my mind longs for substance and deep thought, a challenge so to speak
i've really enjoy reading again
much thanks to my sister katy for giving me a stack of 'must reads'

i love how when i am reading regularly my thoughts develop
i begin to notice details and my thoughts almost become poetic
as i try to capture the details into words
as soon as i try to write what i'm thinking it all disappears and comes out in mush

just like this post

does this happen to anyone else? or is this just crazy talk
my respect and admiration for you eloquent blog writers

realization

2011-06-20T07:17:00.000-06:00

while in london we stopped by the imperial war museum

such an awesome museum especially cause i love anything ww2 related

here are some missile's

mr. r asked which one do you think you is closest to your height

automatically i thought the biggest one for sure

quickly i learned i'm quite shorter than i think

i even removed a shoe for accuracy

good things come in small packages

the best

2011-06-13T11:12:00.000-06:00

**warning, sappy post

i've been getting this questions alot lately, 'what was the best part of your trip?'

it's the hardest question to think of a great answer to

I think of us wondering the streets of paris; eating gelato and crepes, discovering the hidden treasures of the city, then my mind wanders to provence where we drove the countryside and enjoying the care-free life. Exploring the unchartered waters, eating true french food not knowing exactly what it is.

Then being in England, one of my favorite places to visit, riding the buses, getting lost in the windy streets, and eating at pret, my favorite place

but none of those things top the person i was with. i feel like i fell in love all over again. not that i ever fell out of love, but i bonded in a different way that's really challenging to explain. we bonded over tired and tender feet, sharing gelato, planning our day, discovering where we were on the map, and holding hands all the while.

traveling with my husband has been the greatest blessing. we got to rekindle our relationship. i don't get me wrong, we're completely head over heals for one another at home but it's different being so detached from the world.

we get to forget about our home responsibilities. and we get to be selfish just worrying about one another and pleasing our instincts.

because our life's are typically so far from this behavior i think it's incredibly healthy for us to run away every so often and enjoy the wonderful people we are.

i'm so happy definitely 'the best' part of the trip being there with my husband falling in love.

ps. it's his birthday today, happy birthday baby.

money money money

2011-06-08T11:13:00.000-06:00

about 2 years ago i posted about a couponing class that a friend invited us to
honestly we went just for the hang out not really to start couponing
but i was surprised by how easy the lady made couponing
so i decided to give it a whirl, i collected coupons from my parents paper at first
and now we get our own weekend paper only
i'm not at all a master but i do save about 5-20 dollars per week
which by the end of the month adds up

since then i started looking into other ways to save
why pay full price if you can get a discount??
so here are some things I've read and used that have been useful

favoritecouponingsite
grocerysmarts is the best couponing website!
every wednesday it's updated
it lists pretty much every store in the state with their corresponding deals
then it tells you if there's coupon available and where to find it
(which is why i save newspaper coupon books)
it also rates the deal, 5 star being a stock up deal
sometimes things are free
BTW the password is g84cac

* i like grocerysmarts because i'm still buying the same products i did before, now i'm just getting them for 50,60, 70% off.
and my 30$ a year payment for the newspaper was definitely worth it

bountifulbaskets
my latest obsession is bountiful baskets
basically it's a food co-op
every monday i sign up for my basket and pick it up saturday morning 7am... yikes!
it's a total surprise what you are going to get
here's an example: veggies- 8 ears of corn(ate some last night... delicious!), 2.5 pounds of potatoes, bag of fresh carrots, one head of green leaf lettuce, and celery. fruits: 4-5 apples, 8 bananas, bag of grapes(delicious!), strawberries, cantaloupe(delicious) and 3 tomatoes
guess how much I paid??
15 bucks!
i love it because the folks at bountiful baskets try to buy as local to area as possible, which cuts down the cost and improves the produce flavor. it also really encourages me to eat a lot of fruits and veggies as well as try new recipes.
when the produce is about to go bad I just cut it up and freeze it for later use(but i hardly ever have to do that)
did I mention that they have add ons. once I got 7 dozen of homemade tortillas for 10 dollars. 3 doz 13inch, 2 dozen 6 inch and 2 doz corn. i have enough to last the summer.

tips to use what you have
i hate wasting things
throwing food away is about the most discouraging thing for me
buh-bye money
here's a list of ways to keep things fresh
i haven't bought any of the products suggested but i have tried some of their other suggestions

these are my favorite ways to save money on groceries
how do you save money?
what your favorite resources?

i've heard of this site called kostizi? has anyone ever used it? please share.

provence

2011-06-07T08:51:00.000-06:00

after 3 days in the hustle and bustle of paris we packed our bags and headed south

i don't have as many pictures from this part of the trip

probably because i was in awe the entire time

southern france was beautiful

it smelled of fresh lavender and roses

we spent time visiting multiple little cities that were built on a cliff with the most spectacular views

the kind not even the most fancy camera could capture

we spent afternoons by the people enjoying the warmth of the sun and 90 degree weather

we even bought some nice european swim suits

it was relaxing but filled with so much activity at the same time

part of the joy was staying at a family friends bed and breakfast

she has the most beautiful chateau and the kindest spirit about her

and one of the funniest dogs, utah

i'd highly recommend it

www.lelavandinprovence.com

here we are on the train, mr. r was disappointed that the train whistle never blew

the next pictures are from a market in gordes

i love all the yummy cheese

i dream of the day I can wake up walk to the market and buy just what i need that day's meals

fresh soap

look at those delicious olives and garlic

absolutely the most beautiful rock walls

we ate some of the most delicious food

salmon inside that fancy wrapping

roman aquaduct, port du gard. this was built about 5 BC and it's still standing and if used on occasion

i love fresh mozzarella, this restuarant was owed by a young couple, they only take about 15 costumers a night, he does the cooking and she does the serving and prep. it was the most delicious meal. i came home completely defeated feeling like i should never cook a casserole again.

for some reason i struggled looking at the camera.

oh provence, how i miss you. we will be back.

paris

2011-06-04T18:49:00.001-06:00

we went to paris

day 1, 2, 3 of our journey

this was the view from our hotel room

gorgeous

traveling so far with my husband was a dream come true.

before leaving our neighbor advised,

'just get lost in paris, you're never too far from a metro'

so we did

we wandered and discovered wonderful things

this cathedral was one of my favorite

saint chapelle was built by a king for personal worship

after waiting in line for 30 minutes and paying 15 dollars you get to enter

you enter a room with many murals

i admit that i thought, 'this is it'

but once you climb about 40 narrow spiraling stairs

to come upon this

and entire cathedral on top of the other

each square of stain glass depicts a bible scene

starts in genesis and ends at the resurrection

it was absolutely breath taking

one of the most beautiful unexpected sights

we also saw some not so beautiful sights

which kept us laughing

i discovered that the french have the most beautiful parks

complete with carousals

beautifully groomed

well equipped with comfortable lounge chairs

orchards, tennis courts, bands, ponds

i could spend my entire day people watching in the paris parks

but we didn't we enjoyed them long enough to rest our tried feet

and then scurried away to see some other wonderful beauties

some of which include

home

2011-06-02T15:31:00.000-06:00

we made it home safe and sound late tuesday night
our trip was like a dream that i'm still unsure if it really happened
i desperately miss waking and looking out the window to see the eiffel tower
or walking through a rose fields to breakfast in provence
or wandering the streets through markets and good will shops in london

but i love sleeping in bed
showering in my nice shower
eating fresh food
and being able to contact my family and friends

more to come soon, plenty of pictures!

favorite things

2011-05-18T15:03:00.000-06:00

i have been slightly obsessed with pinterest.com lately

my friend started her own board and invited me to do the same

well now i'm addicted.

i love it because it puts all my inspiration/ideas/and favorite things in one place

if you want to check out my boards or pinterest.com let me know and i'll share the love

i have also been loving being in my kitchen again

after being sick for about two weeks straight it feels great to cook

monday night we were pulling out the left over home made ice cream and decided we needed warm cookies. well i'd already cooked two dinners and just finished cleaning so we tried a recipe from another friends blog. flourless peanut butter cookies. three ingredients

1/2c. sugar

1/2c. peanut butter

1/2 egg(I had egg beaters to use up)

plus i added some dark chocolate chips

bake 350 12-15 minutes, make 8 cookies

delicious, simple and completely satisfying the next day

my sewing machine

for young womens we made darling bags to earn money for a girl who's earning for a young ambassador to Australia. well being the leader i felt like i needed to make a practice one so i could teach the others. well making bags is so simple and addicting. i made five bags in a couple hours and it was so fun mismatching colors, patterns, making pockets. can't wait to learn how to make more.

little girls

2011-05-17T12:00:00.000-06:00

when i was little my sister and cousin were my t-ball coach

now my aunt and cousin are my nieces t-ball coach

we went to watch this saturday

luckily it was way before the thunderstorm

Coach C. and Charlotte looking really ready for the next play

Emilie covering 1st.

Hazel... aka Daisy Duke waving to the shortstop as she runs to 3rd

Emilie leaning to run threw third straight to home plate

If you ever need a good laugh go watch some kids play t-ball, soccer or any sporting event I promise it'll brighten your day. After we enjoyed burgers around my parents pool. Unfortunately I was too busy enjoying to even think about pictures... hopefully there are plenty more pool parties to come.

the surprise

2011-05-17T11:47:00.001-06:00

i was disappointed in blogger with the glitch this weekend. all my comments deleted. :)

well this weekend was rather eventful.

we surprised mr. r.'s dad Papa R.

he has been wanting the family to run a 5K together.

you see he hated running, he was a biker. so he came to me and asked for help. i put him on a running plan to gradually ease into running, and now he can run and not completely hate it. to celebrate he wanted the family to run together. well due to injuries and sicknesses and distance not everyone could run but we agreed to all try. we set a date may 13th. as time went on MR R. made plans for may13th, scout camp. no other day would allow us all together until the family trip in June. well 2 weeks ago MR R. was called to the stake presidency so he didn't have to go to scout camp. we decided to surprise him with a run. we all gathered after work and waited for him to come home. ... he only showed up about 2 hours late. got stuck in surgery... so we rested

played volleyball and soccer

he was surprised

he loved the t-shirts we made for the occasion

mr. r. wore a special shirt just for the race....

and he loved that everyone ran together

and i really loved the stuffed bananas we made after on the grill, and homemade ice cream

communicating

2011-05-12T11:50:00.000-06:00

I've always been grateful for the ease at which Mr. R and I have been able to communicate throughout our relationship. In my adolescence I was very much a people pleaser and my opinions and thoughts were swayed easily by those around me. It took one significant relationship in my life for me to learn to form my own opinions and not to be afraid to express it. Although this relationship ended in a terrible heart break at the time I will forever believe that the relationship was significant in my life because I learned my own voice. Which I am so grateful for. I've also learned once you have your own voice you must learn when to express it and when it's just not worth it.
Well in the last week I've been put in a horrible situation, twice, where I've had a really hard time communicating my feelings. It's so frustrating because the topic we are communicating lies very close to my heart and I feel like the person I'm talking to isn't even listening. I feel like he already knows what he's going to say to me before I've said one word. He's inconsiderate and interrupts me when I'm sharing my concerns. He doubts my judgement when I believe in this particular situation my judgement should be honored. I don't know how to deal with it. It's not just about getting what you want but feeling like someone at least respects you and understands the needs.

How do you deal with these types of people in your life?
I know that we are surrounded by people who communicate in different ways.
Do I just back on a wait it out? or continue to try to work with this person?

(right now it feels like the more I try the worse it gets)
I should say that this is nothing between me and a family member all is good at home :)

fantastic friday's

2011-05-09T09:46:00.002-06:00

Friday's have always been one of the best days of the week.... for obvious reasons. but Friday's shine even brighter in my life because from May until the end of August I get paid Friday's off. After working my first technical four day work week I've decided that's the way to go. It allowed me a day to myself and then because I got so much done on Friday it allowed me and Mr. R. an entire Saturday to do as we please.

Because Friday is my 'day off' I've decided to have some sort of 'me' time. I decided that every Friday I want to try a new recipe. I am totally guilty of drooling over recipes and pictures on line during the week at work and Friday now provides a day with ample of time to try something new. This week I made inside-out carrot cake muffins. They were delicious.

Also Fridays are for re-kindling relationships. I've never been really good at 'staying in touch'. I think of all the great and wonderful people I've rubbed shoulders with throughout my life, Friday's are for touching base with them again. Last Friday I revisited cardiac rehab to provide a proper thank you for how nice all of them were before I quit. I was planning on only staying about 30 minutes but ended up talking the afternoon away.

Last Friday's are for projects. I have list and list of to-do lists and Friday is for picking at least one and checking it off. This week I cleaned the mattress.. yes seriously. Forever ago I read an article on 'real simple'... which cleaning a mattress seems far beyond real simple but anyways they gave me a short cut version and long version to clean my mattress, I took the short cut version because our mattress is fairly new and in good condition.

This weekend was topped off my two tennis games in the awesome sun shiny weather, tasty dinner at citrus grill, James baptism, Roland's MBA graduation, mother's day parties and a run around the block to prepare for some upcoming races.

Have a great Monday everyone. Hopefully the sun will be back and shining for the weekend.

the lastest happenings

2011-05-02T15:21:00.000-06:00

it feels so nice to normalize now that tax season is over

i can't believe what a recluse i was for those last few weeks

i think... i'm finally starting to act normal in social situations again.

friday night we went to anna's (mr. r's younger sister) final art show.

she is so talented

her show was compiled of portraits and sam was lucky enough to be showcased

she even captured sam not smiling which is a huge challenge

then after it dumped about 4 inches of snow through the night

we woke up and participated in the MS walk at the gateway

considering that my dad has MS I felt especially happy to be supporting

I was especially overwhelmed by the generosity of my family and friends

I was proud to raise the most money for the UofU young alumni team

luckily we walked without snow or rain dumping on us

this past couple weeks i've been so grateful to be surrounded by great people

there's a good chance in the future we will be moving where we won't know anyone

sometimes it can get overwhelming having so many family parties and things to do etc...

(i'm not implying that we are popular, so don't take this the wrong way)

but i'm sorry for ever complaining about it

i feel so blessed to be surrounded by such great people

everyone is loving, kind, supportive, fun and great examples

thank you

the weekend

2011-04-28T12:07:00.001-06:00

mr. r surprised me with a weekend getaway.

yes he is the best possible husband for me

we spent a night at the homestead

the theme of the trip=relaxation

have you ever been to the homestead?

i really enjoyed my time there

definitely a place to return to

we swam in the crater... slightly creepy

easter was celebrated with family

egg tosses

delicious food

too much sugar

and of course some michael jackson dancing on the wii

a blast from the past

2011-04-21T12:01:00.000-06:00

remember these great things!

confession

2011-04-08T14:16:00.000-06:00

i'm sorry to admit but it's my fault that it's still cold and dreary outside

i prayed that spring wouldn't come until after tax season was over

future forecast april 19th=sunny.

hope you all can endure one last week of winter

future forecast is based only on my prayers for spring time.

sisterly love

2011-04-07T18:32:00.001-06:00

for saturday night, priesthood night,
i wanted to do something fun with my sisters and mom

i thought making doughnut holes(which i've never done) would be fun for everyone

and it sure was

we decided to not just fry doughnut holes but why not zingers, and girl scout cookies??

well by the end of the night things got a little caddy

and one sister ended up slapping me so hard on my tush i was furious.

well of course we got over it a couple minutes later
but i was still a little ticked that she did that when i left

saw her yesterday and things were completely back to normal.

i love that about my family we forgive each other and move on

i hope that the quick forgiveness never changes

to be or not to be

2011-04-05T16:32:00.000-06:00

this past weekend we enjoyed watching general conference. originally we planned to head to the cabin for the weekend as a mini-getaway but are plans changed and we enjoyed it from home, which hasn't happened many times in our marriage. it was wonderful to lounge around our home together and allow the voices of church leaders fill our walls. the messages of peace and love couldn't come at any better of a time than during this time of turmoil and disasters in our world. I always walk away from conference weekend with a couple messages in the front of my mind, they are motivation that I can persevere and keep moving forward and upward in my life. and I really love being able to revisit the messages during the months to come. words seem to take a new meaning as I experience new things and challenges.

I'm not one to share much about religion on this blog. I have a spiritual journal that I like to keep my spiritual thoughts and inspirations all together in one place. however one message from conference applies to everyone religious or not. the talk was centered around 'to be or not to be'. he discussed the difference between doing something and becoming something.

i am a list maker and huge talker, i seem to always have great ideas! but i have the hardest time executing these great ideas. lately it's something i've been working on. it's one of the reasons we've planned this trip to europe. instead of just talking about how wonderful a journey through europe would be together it was time to start planning it and making preparations. this is quite a dramatic example and quite different than the point of the speaker but along the similar lines. his message stretched my way of thinking and reminded me of something that is a life long process. from just doing something to get it done, check it off the list, to becoming and being someone better through a task that has to be done.

anyone can do something and complete a task but it takes someone special who completes it and becomes a better person because of it.

good luck to each of us as we try to become better through everyday things rather.

conference talks are available for viewing and listening on lds.org

and reading this thursday

monday

2011-04-04T15:11:00.000-06:00

sometimes, monday's are a little daunting. especially when you are embarking on a 6 day work week. and when you're recovering from an evil cold that decided to take over your body on your one day off. but if you break down on monday what does that say for the rest of your week. you gotta keep on going. so here's some pictures that made me laugh on this monday morning.
here's too a good week.

power

2011-04-03T18:35:00.000-06:00

The pioneer theatre had an amazing production of the diary of anne frank. I've never been to the play and was excited when offered tickets. Of course I didn't take any pictures, but I wish I would have. Maybe one day all the regret of forgetting the camera will make me remember it! We went to red butte cafe for dinner and i didn't even order the soup because the weather was so warm. it was perfect for walking up to the theatre and back. i love not being cold all the time.
the play was amazing. if you ever have the opportunity to see it DO!

i've always been fascinated by world war 2. despite the tragic stories and statistics i always want to learn more. whenever i'm out of town and there's a holocaust museum it's top on the list for me to see. like plays do it brought anne frank to life for me. i knew that she was a real 13 year old girl but i never stopped and thought what that meant. watching young anne on the stage developed her into a 'real' person. she was just like one of my young women; boy crazy, loud, energetic, naive, and trying to figure herself out. yes she was living during WW2 but before she went into hiding her life was very similar to any 13 year girl.

i can't imagine living life and then all of the sudden one man, just one person decides to take control and gets a group of supporters. all the sudden you can't walk on the sunny side of street, you can't be out past 8, you can't go to the movies, you can't go to the same school... all of the sudden your life is filled with all these things you can't do. it gets so extreme that you can't live at your house anymore and that you go into hiding, where you can't talk from 8 to 6, use the bathroom from 8 to 6, wear your shoes from 8 to 6, go outside, look out the window etc. etc.

anne frank had so many admiral qualities. she was brave and strong. she was smart and amazing with words. she was thoughtful and a concerned friend. she was loving and kind and forgiving of those around her.

her family, the von don family and dr dussle all stayed in hiding for over 2 years before they were captured. when they were captured britain and america were invading the germans in france but the nazi's were still killing and capturing in the eastern parts of europe, they were just moving more rapidly. Only Anne's dad survived until the end of the war, Anne died three days before her concentration camp was saved. Anne's diary was the only piece of the family left for her dad. The play ends with her dad coming back to the annex and finding Anne's diary. i didn't even want to clap, it was moving. words can't express how it felt to sit and watch this family struggle to survive and then all die within days of freedom.

it's amazing to me how much power one person can half. naturally it makes sense. when i was in sixth grade there was one girl who didn't like me. i don't know why. i never really knew her or did anything to my recollection to make her not like me. but she happened to be in a class with all my friends but one. that year ended up being so hard for me, all my 'friends' started to treat me different, they wouldn't talk to me sometimes, or wait for me to do to recess. and when you are 11 that's devastating. of course now i've forgiven the girl, i haven't seen her since 6th grade but it's a small example how much power we all have.

we have the power to do what's right or wrong. and although those choices might not impact thousands of people they will impact those close to us. one of the most important things about history is that we learn from it. this is part of my application to world war 2. i have power. i am going to use that power for good to better those around me.

back to it.

2011-04-01T14:27:00.000-06:00

this week was back to normal.
spring break has come and gone, even though spring has stayed away
yesterday i enjoyed the warmer weather with a jog after work
afterwards i just sat on my stairs letting the sun beam onto my face.
i forgot what the sun felt like.

mr. r. spent most of his days and nights at the library studying for tests
and i spent most of my time after work and dinner doing this and that
and some much needed time in the tub

i adjusted quickly to going to bed without mr. r.
but being such a light sleeper he never failed to wake me up when he came home
here are our nightly tales from this week.

monday night:
mrs.: sits up rather abruptly when the door opens with a 'urrrggghh'
mr.: 'babe it's okay i'm home'
mrs.: rather annoyed, 'urgh i know' followed by collapsing back into bed and back to sleep

tuesday night:
mrs.: woken up by mr. reaching around me poking at my eye, 'what are you doing?'
mr.: 'i'm just looking for the screen, where's the screen.'
mrs.: laughing, 'what are you talking about, I can't wait to make fun of you in the morning.'

i think he was washing windows or something.

wednesday night:
mrs: I was over tired at YW on Wednesday. You know how sometimes when you are so tired that you can't fall asleep!, I hate that. It makes me so mad, you toss and turn and just stress over not being asleep yet. well apparently i fell asleep earlier than i thought because when mr: walked in the door and told me he was home, 'oh okay, are you back from picking up the ice cream'
mr:'haha no but I can go get some'
mrs: snoozing away.

thursday night
we were rather disappointed that neither one of us could recollect anything exciting from the night.

I should note that every night this week I woke up around 5, be grateful you don't have a bladder the size of a cashew, with the same dream that my desk at work was overflowing with tax returns and that the partners of the office were lined up to give me outside my door...

I used to have reoccuring dreams about tetris, probably cause I was playing too much, this dream must mean that i'm working too much... 17 more days!!

all blogged out

2011-03-30T12:20:00.001-06:00

I haven't had much interest in my blog or anyone else's lately.

I think it's because I've been stalking a new found website

www.pinterest.com

I especially love the DIY and home sections.

Check it out.

late night dinner

2011-03-24T16:11:00.000-06:00

my highschool lover's mom always made a green dinner for st. patricks day

green food coloring was her best friend and she pretty much died everything

well this year i wanted to be more festive and decided to plan an irish 'feast'

so i found an irish guiness stew

i looked it over and realized it needed alot of simmer time but decided it'd be fine

well by the time i made the stew I completely forgot how timely it was

I started it much later than I should have

and even cut down the simmer time

and it wasn't done until 1030

we were both hungry and the soda bread finished right around then too

so we crawled out of bed, watching ncaa bball

and ate our irish feast.

and it was delicious.

spring break

2011-03-24T15:59:00.000-06:00

after we traveled to san fran for fall break, we decided that we should take advantage of these small breaks and get away. so we kept checking the weekly top 20 deals on travelzoo and almost traveled here

cabo, the perfect spring break destination right?

wrong, after telling my family they thought we were crazy for going to mexico with all the safety issues.

no wonder there were so many great deals to mexico

so then we were going to go here, but the deal sold out before we purchased

puerto rico

then we found out that with my new job there was absolutely no way i could leave town 25 days before the biggest deadline of the year

so instead we are home planning our future trip to here

london, england

and here

paris, france

and here

southern france

so I really have no room to complain that I'm not somewhere fantastic enjoying time off with the my great husband, because I definitely have something to look forward to.

I always said that I would go to Europe with my husband before we had kids and we are finally doing it

I know it'll be an experience and memory that we'll cherish forever

and it's definitely something we've saved really hard to make it possible

but i know it'll all be worth it

it'll be mr. r.'s first time in Europe and I haven't been since 2007.

we're going to places I've never been and places that I'll forever love.

I can't wait!!

neglect

2011-03-18T07:24:00.000-06:00

Well like most resolutions go by March you've lost your motivation and great desire to really make that change. I had high hopes to blog more frequently-about every other day ish. And now life seems too crazy to even pull out the computer and jot down my thoughts
Ironically though as I look back on the past week and half nothing out of the ordinary sticks out to me. It's pretty much been just normal life around here.

February and March is total birthday season around here, it's like Christmas all over again celebrating so many birthdays. I kick off the celebration, then emilie, katy, lizzy, josh, andrew, amy, dave, lyndsay and our newest edition this year peter. and that's not counting any cousin or aunt/uncle. I love getting together for birthday's. especially with all my nieces and nephews around. there's so much energy as we sing happy birthday again. sometimes i even feel like a kid again as i live vicariously through my 7,8,and 9 year old niece and nephews.

this is ella, andrew's oldest 6, same age as me when he started dating amy.

Last Thursday we celebrated Andrew, he turned 40! holy cow i know. Andrew is my oldest brother in law, but he's more like a brother. Andrew started dating Amy when I was just 6 and half.
i grew up with him around. i did what all little girls did and followed them around the house, trying to show off and have him like me more than amy. so many times i sat on the couch holding his hand. as I thought about andrew turning 40 I thought, 'wow that's way old, he's getting up there'. 10 more years and his 50 getting a colonoscopy and using a walker. then it hit me like a ton of bricks, holy cow i'm only 6 years from 30 and 16 from 40. the older I get the more time flies by without me even noticing.

this is andrew imitadating his daughter, ella is pictures.... mexico 2008

Andrew was a good sport with his birthday. kind of a funny, maybe too much for some of you family tradition is to hang bra's on trees and all over the porch with a sign that says, 'help support andrew he turned 40'. he was grateful he lived at the end of the circle where not very many people travel. the entire family crashed an after dinner party with 40 balloons, pies, cakes and presents. i wish i would have had my camera to capture it all.

what would we do without family to travel through the journey of life. this is amy, andrew and girls. girl number 3 arrived just a couple weeks after my wedding.

trying something new

2011-03-09T16:41:00.000-07:00

being the baby of the family meant that sometimes i got babied

my mom made me breakfast and packed me a lunch

up until the day I moved out

sometimes she'd make me oatmeal

she'd put about 1 tablespoon of butter in it and a bunch of brown sugar

it always tasted good but it was never my favorite

boy does time change

and i swear i become more like her each day

(which is good considering how wonderful she is)

i love oatmeal now!

seriously every morning i have my bowl of oatmeal

after working in cardiac however i don't add any butter

i love how it keeps me full for the entire morning

i love eating something warm especially in the winter/fall months

i love that i am getting a serving of whole grains and fruit

plus it's delicious.. to me

for months i've just added fruit and sugar, maybe some nuts

but lately i've been creative

if your an oatmeal person like me try these add-ins next time

yogurt, any flavor will do

i prefer peach greek yogurt

it adds protein without fat or added sugar

it creates the best creamy texture

throw in some blueberries or strawberries... fantastic!

or today I tried peanut butter

it also adds protein with 'healthy fat'

i thought i'll put some banana in there

i love anything with peanut butter

i wasn't really loving it, didn't have enough flavor

so i added mini dark chocolate chips

that did the trick.

apparently this combo has a name- elvis oatmeal

yum!!

can't wait for tomorrow.

do you eat oatmeal? what do you put in it?

you did what??

2011-03-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

many of you have been asking me how i like my new job.

thank's for your concern and for thinking of me

i am acutally loving my new job

i have been pleasantly surprised at how much i've enjoyed the rather dramatic change

however..

**I'm not sure this is a blog appropriate story, this is my disclaimer

read at your own risk, you will most likely say eww gross at the end

the flu bug has been going around the office

knock on wood I don't get it!!

well the other day 2 ladies were talking about how they were up all night

back and forth from the toilet

they called it 'acid butt'

gross i know...

but it gets worse

this one lady that works here... i call her crazy lady

she goes on to tell us that she made a diaper

out of plastic bag and paper towels

she was nervous that if she fell asleep she'd wake up to a big mess

who does that??

crazy lady.

ew. gross.

loving my freezer

2011-03-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

one of my new year

goal, resolutions, ambition, hope, dream

or whatever else you call it

was to waste less

I decided that by using my freezer more

I could waste less

PERSONAL EXAMPLE

since we've been married mr. r has made fun of our ice cube container

each cube is filled with 1 Tbspoon of tomato paste

I was so fed up with buying 1 can of paste and only using 1Tlbspoon

my mom told me to freeze it and everytime I use a cube I think how I saved a dollar

I've saved 12 dollars so far buy just freezing my can of tomato paste.

I have to admit I've never been a freezer lover

I always put my nose up to freezer food

meaning left over meals that were frozen

this goal was going to challenge me for sure

so why did I pick it?

well I read a fantastic article on the ins and out of the freezer

I had no idea how many things your could freeze

milk, cheese and herbs were a surprise

so i've been trying it out

here's some tips that i've tried and loved

when my milk is about to go sour

I pour it into ice cube trays and let it freeze

then transfer to a ziploc

frozen milk is perfect for our smoothies, or cream based soups,

or my favorite homemade ice cream

you should only keep it for 3 months frozen

i love not having to guzzle the milk or pour it down the drain

this method works great with any liquids i.e. broth, juices

fruits and veggies

we pretty much eat fresh fruit and veggies

i avoid buying canned and frozen goods when I can

so whenever there's a sweet sale on produce I like to stock up.

i learned the best way to freeze produce

cut it up into the size that you will mostly like use it

lay it out flat on a cookie sheet

once frozen transfer to a ziploc

this keep the produce from sticking together

most fruits and veggies don't need to be thawed before use

just throw it into the skillet for your stir fry.

my freezer totally saved me this past week

we had new beginnings and made 350,

yes three hundred and fifty fresh baked cookies!

thanks to my wonderful counselors and our freezers

we made the dough ahead of time

and everyone enjoyed warm from the oven cookies

general guidelines

anytime you freeze a meal

freeze it in 1-2 serving sizes.

the smaller size helps to maintain flavor

try to lay things flat as often as possible for organization

always mark your bags with a permanant marker: include the date

plan ahead (i know it's hard but it's worth it)

and take it out 24 hours to thaw in the fridge before use

and remember if you are going to put forth all the energy to freeze

use it

i love nothing more than pulling something out of the freezer

and know that had i not frozen it it would have been wasted.

and one day we'll have freezers that look like this...

don't forget the ben and jerry's

oh duh

2011-02-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

i say a lot of dumb things

most the time i don't even realize how silly i sound

a couple days ago we were driving down 3rd west

we had just been to target and were heading north

if you've ever driven you know that some parts of that street are sketchy

particularly once you cross the railroad tracks

at that point most of the stores are

small car shops, mexican restaurants, and run down furniture stores

well in the middle of now where is this darling cookie shop

amanda: 'sam don't you think that little cookie shop is out of place'

sam: 'where?'

he's not nearly as observant

amanda while pointing:'over there the one that says doug h girl'

that's a weird name don't you think??

what do you think it stands for

doug hit girl

doug hump girl

doug her girl

hm....

sam: 'actually babe i thinks it dough girl'

amanda: 'yeah your probably right, duh!'

and so we fought

2011-02-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

I don't want this blog to be a 'look at me i'm so cool' blog

or a 'my life sucks, feel sorry for me blog'

i hope that i never come across like i'm bragging or looking for attention

that's not my intention ever

i use this blog to share random thoughts and events

and am really sorry if it ever comes across any other way

tuesday i finished "the help"

it was a fantastic book

it came out a year ago and i've been wanting to read it for about that long

if you haven't read it, do you'll love it

so thursday i started another book.

(i've really been loving to read while doing the elliptical or bike lately)

my mom gave me and all my siblings a book on communicating

it's specifically about communicating in 'critical conversations'

as i read the beginning pages the book nailed 5 situations i'd been in recently

so after i had put in my time on the elliptical i packed up and headed home

all week i'd been looking forward to thursday

mr. r had 3 test plus a quiz on thursday and i couldn't wait to have him back

i expected him to be ready to hang-out, catch up etc.

but he wasn't

he was drained and incompetent

one bad comment lead to another and all the sudden we're both so upset

pretty much over nothing

our fights are always pretty mild

and we never go to bed mad at each other, we try to but never can

everything just spun out of control

we were literally fighting about nothing

the worse part about being married to mr r.

is he is the most wonderful sensitive man

he's always the one to come and make things right

i'm the prideful brat every time

it's usually my fault we are in a tiff anyways

and he always fixes it

good thing i'm reading a book on how to communicate better!!

i have to add

we have friends who claim they have never fought

which is amazing

but sometimes i'm grateful for these little tiffs

we've probably only had 1-2/year married

but they make us so much stronger

after we work it out the unity is a little bit stronger

our love a little bit deeper

and our understanding for each other that much better

declutter

2011-02-22T13:03:00.000-07:00

I must have spring fever(who doesn't) because I can't wait to get home and clean

Spring cleaning

I love our little house but it lacks in storage

we have one tiny hole in the wall 'closet' which barely fits our coats alone

we've had to get creative and be organized in order to find space for anything

well as we all know organization is a constant thing

you can't just organize once and be done forever

what happens when you buy something new??

you have to find a place for it

well it's time to pull out the drawers, open the cupboards

i have to empty them all out

and make my piles

keep, donate, trash

i always have the hardest time knowing what to keep

so what I haven't worn it for a year-it's the top I wore to christmas dance in 2002

which was also my first anthropologie experience

this is a pretty pathetic example

here's another;

I have a stuffed animal(I know I said this wasn't pathetic)

it's my first recollection of buying something for myself

my mom had me save enough money to buy it

sometimes I think I should never get rid of it... but what should I do with it?

what if somebody else could love it?

how do you decide if you can get rid of something?

not just clothes, but letters, tokens, things from your childhood etc.?

or if you've decided to keep them what are you doing with them?

saying goodbye

2011-02-17T06:57:00.000-07:00

a week ago I said good-bye to cardiac rehab

you know how when you have a birthday you don't really feel any older

it was similar i didn't really feel any different

and i still don't

i loved walking up to the trax stop each morning

the world is so peaceful during that 7-8 o'clock hour

not to mention beautiful

i love watching the sun rise

however on days like today, after a fresh 2-3 inches of snow i don't miss walking

i loved helping people

typically you get two types of patients

those that are grouchy and mean because they are sick and in a hospital

and those who are pleasant, patient and willing to do what you ask

i'll miss both types

i enjoyed the challenge of making the grouchy ones like you

and i enjoyed the ones who thought you were bff whenever you knocked on their door

i had some great coworkers

they threw me a fantastic going away party

after i showed sam my presents and told him about it

he told me i should have quit long ago...

discovery

2011-02-15T20:41:00.001-07:00

this week i downloaded my first app

when i first got my itouch sam downloaded every app i could ever need

and more

but he missed one

and it's my new favorite

if you have an iphone or itouch you gotta check it out

it's called the

nike training club

there are four different components for training available

the workouts are hard!

they are great for being at home

you can do them with little equipment or no equipment

it tells you what to do while letting you listen to your music at the same time

it has video clips if you aren't sure how to preform a move

and it has three levels

the more you use it the more you earn tips and feedback for nutrition and exercise

i'm really excited to be able to run to the track

and then do a workout outside

make sure you check it out

you won't be disappointed!

birthday 2011

2011-02-13T20:58:00.001-07:00

i had a birthday not too long ago

i can't remember a time that i've felt so special as i did this year

there wasn't one event that or gift that made me feel that way

we didn't do anything to out of the ordinary

you know how sometimes your birthday turns in a birthweekend

we started celebrating last friday

we went to our families favorite chinese restaurant

it has a HUGE room where my entire family can fit

the little kiddo's can run around and don't have to sit still the entire time

the food is delicious

sam loved eating left-over chinese all week long

i love simple parties because if allows you time to talk and hang-out

i got to sit next to my grandma

she made me feel special by bringing me a favorite birthday treat

kolache's

you probably haven't ever had one or heard of one

it's a pastry and it's declicious, i had four

apple, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry

(singing 'underwater style with all the kids)

sam surprised me with an afternoon of shopping

we went to all my favorite stores

i felt so lucky to find clothes that actual fit!

then he took me for a much needed polish change

i was surprised when two of our closest friends joined us

for dinner, dessert and games all night long

we got addicted to just dance, and had to buy our own the next day

random people at church new it was my birthday

they went out of their way to say it

family and friends called and said the nicest things

the richard's treated us to a delicious feast

mama richards made both desserts that i suggested

they were so yummy

(the richards' have the tradition to say why you love the person

who's birthday it is, luke loved me because I'm his brodder) so cute!

everyone's presents and comments were thoughtful

heart felt sincere comments that melted my heart

my last birthday treat...

one of my YW and a leader surprised me with chocolate fondu!

i scraped the bowl clean.

i hope this isn't a brag post

i'm writing the way i did mostly for myself

selfish i know

but i was so touched this year

and that's what i want to remember the most

how much love i felt.

thank you thank you thank you!

the red rocks

2011-02-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

have you ever been to see the REDROCKS??!

they are fantastic!

it's no surprise that they get more spectators than utah basketball

they play really fun music all meet long

everyone dances and cheers

the girls are extremely talented

the team is ranked in the top 5

well guess what??!

it's your lucky day

I have a stack of free tickets

you want one??

2-11 Washington

2-18 Michigan

3-4 Florida

random

2011-02-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

I think it was pretty obvious

that with the new year I had high hopes to blog more frequently

I loved re-reading a years worth of posts

it's so convenient to have the story and pictures together in one spot

so I tried to put my 'people pleaser' behind me

I tried to not worry so much about what people thought about my post

I tried to stop competing with some of my favorite blogs to read

and I tried really hard to just be me (why can that be so hard??)

writing what's important to me

well it's been 3 whole days since I have written a post! ;)

and I'm too lazy to upload the pictures from the weekend

but I have a few random thoughts that have been passing through me today

it was my birthday and it was one of the best birthday's i've ever had

(more later)

today I thought for sure my fish, Red was dead

our stairs are finally completed, come on over!

I have just one day left at cardiac rehab, I hope I can get through it

my friend went into labor today,

and I can't wait for the time that I get to experience that feeling

(not an announcement)

our power was out for about 3 hours today, of course right when the sun went down

resulted in reading my book using 2 candles while sitting on the floor

and I'm totally experiencing an extreme weekend hangover

Hope you had a happy monday!!

posts to come:

birthday

menus

what i'll miss about work

don't come knocking on my door

2011-02-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

I came home from work yesterday

with our stair well leading to our door looking similar to this..

nobody was around to explain what was going on

and considering it was 20 degrees outside

waiting around outside wasn't an option I had to get in

I climbed over our railing and carefully lowered myself into the pile of mess

later that day I heard a lot of noise outside the kitchen window

mr. s was climbing in the window

so for the rest of the day we used the window to get in and out

I wonder what our neighbors thought

we'd have to walk through their yard to get to our window

for all you criminals our window is locked and the screen back in tack

because now we have this to get in and out instead

we have to keep the tarp covering it unless we need access to our door

it is such a pain to move the huge, seriously huge dirty and kinda heavy tarp

so I do ninja moves every time I come and go.

their replacing our top four stairs because they were falling apart

makes me grateful for full functioning stairs

everything is so much harder when you have to propel yourself to get out the door

all the sudden taking the garbage out is the hardest chore

but good news the cement should hopefully be dry tomorrow

our stairwell should be good as new(literally)

happy groundhog day

2011-02-02T13:40:00.001-07:00

february 2nd, happy groundhog day

I don't think that the groundhog ever predicts winter's over

but it's a fun tradition

and with the 20 degree weather outside I think I could predict that winter's not over

here are some classic flicks from 'groundhog day'

thanks to my brother for always watching it

2011-02-02T13:33:00.005-07:00

helping

2011-01-31T22:01:00.001-07:00

I was recently made the young women's president in my church

since we moved in over two years ago we have worked with the youth

it started out as being youth sunday school teachers

then 1st counselors in the young men's and young women's

now we are the presidents

i love working with the youth

i remember one youth leader in particular who made all the difference in my adolescence years

I can only hope to have a similar positive influence on at least one of my young women

however in between church and weekly activities these girls need additional help or attention

for example one girl turns 16 in April and texted me with great excitement that she passed her test to get her learners permit.... hopefully she never tries to convince me to let her drive.

another girl showed up at my doorstep needing help with a homework project due the next day

but today I experienced something I never could have imagined.

I was just finishing at the gym when I noticed I had a missed call and voice message.

one thing I have learned with the youth is they only call if it's serious stuff

concerned that one of my girls needed some 'real' help I called her back

she beckoned me to come over and that she really needed help

when I got to her house she was duct taped from mid thigh to about her neck

i wish I had my camera!

she wanted me to finish duct taping her, her sleeves and neck

her mom was helping her and had to leave so she was stuck in this duct tape dress.

this cute girl just got a sewing machine and wanted to make her own dress form

she youtubed a how-to guide and was trying to make her own.

I finished duct taping her and then had to cut off all the duct tape

When I left she was duct taping the dress back together and then would stuff it with paper

quite creative

obviously since I didn't have my camera this isn't my young women, but I wanted a visual of what I was doing

I was surprised at how many pictures there are with you google duct tape dress form

(if you know the girl I'm talking about, which I'm sure a hand-full of you do, you can't say anything to her because she'll kill me for this... pinky promise?? thanks)

changes

2011-01-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

Sunday's seem to be the day that I write my longer posts...

must be my deep thinking days

well this week I did something I've never done before

for the first time I gave my 2 weeks notice

I was so scared, I didn't really know how to say or approach the situation

oh man, it felt so good once it was over

20 pounds lifted from my shoulders

thanks for the text's of encouragement and support from those of you that knew

I have felt so loved lately and I appreciate all of you taking care of me.

I was offered a full time job at an office

I already work there on my days' off from the hospital

One of the ladies husbands just got called to be a mission president, adios to them

so going into their busiest time of the year they desperately needed help

lucky me i desperately needed a change

When I had to decide between working at the hospital doing what I went to school for and being FT at the office I felt like my decision would effect the rest of my life

I felt like this sign, the consequence of this decision would result in either success or failure

I kept thinking, 'if I quit the hospital I might never work there again....'

well hopefully in a few years I'll start a family and never work full-time again so what does it matter where I work for the next couple years, as long as I am working

it's good to take things seriously but sometimes you have to take a step back

I had to stop worrying about 5 years from now and worry about now

what will make me happiest, my spouse happiest, and provide the best opportunities?

that was the bottom line for me

so I accepted the FT job and gave my 2 weeks.

my whole life I've never had a full-time, salary paying job

I've been a free-spirit, with a wandering weekly schedule

I'm not saying that working 40 hour weeks is something I will enjoy

but I will enjoy the security, consistency and paid-Friday's off in the summer.

I feel simply overwhelmed with gratitude for this opportunity

I recognize that many people are without work right now and I feel truly blessed to get to chose which job I works best for me at this moment of my life

cheers to a new adventure coming my way in two weeks.

this and that

2011-01-27T22:15:00.001-07:00

I am a 'plan ahead person'

at the beginning of every week I sit down with my planner and write my list

my list consists of each day-to-day task i.e. work, gym, dinner etc.

I make a list of 'have to's' i.e. young women's, meetings, any obligations

then I make a list of needs/wants i.e. any cleaning, crafts, normal to-do's

and it seems like every week I have unrealistic expectations

I seem to think I have way more time and energy than I really do

Sunday night I thought I'd have more than plenty of time to do this and that

but I feel like I am running around with my head cut off

let's be honest today I was so excited that I had time to cut my finger nails...

I love them short!

of course now I'm happy to be in bed,

in my comfy pants that I have practically had on everyday since we bought them

writing this post

I wouldn't have it any other way

I love to be busy

I almost thrive off of it

however I am currently thriving off of my week last week when I stuck at home sick

lucky for me I was just sick enough I couldn't leave my house

just sick enough I couldn't clean, cook, etc

but not bed ridden

and enough energy to twist yarn around frames and wreaths

and enough energy to paint letters on burlap

here's what I did

one of my new years resolution was to be more resourceful

at the office they had a tree from the festival tree up all Christmas season

when they were taking it down no one wanted the tree skirt

it was just a piece of red burlap

I didn't want to see it get thrown away so I brought it home

I still have so much more, maybe I'll make a pillow or something

I'm really pleased to have a little Valentine's decor

amanda's crafts=simple

planning.

2011-01-25T10:21:00.002-07:00

we've been saying we are going to Europe in May since last May

here we are coming up on February and we finally get to start planning

our basic plan is to spend 10-14 days while visiting 4 different cities/countries

have you ever been?

where'd you go?

where do you want to go, why?

what is the must see/do while we are there. .

I'd love your input! help me out.

realizations

2011-01-23T20:48:00.004-07:00

being denied the promotion at work was one of the hardest trials I've had in my life

I admit I've lived a blessed relatively uneventful 'easy' life

you want something so badly but you just can't have it and it consumes you, completely consumes you.

you feel like you are in the middle of a bad dream and you can't wait to wake up.

but you never wake you, you keep moving day-to-day almost in a blur.

all my thoughts were centered on not getting the job

lucky for me I have a great husband who had the patience to help me pick up the pieces

he distracted me

he allowed me to cry, complain, and ramble(usually saying the same things)

he called ahead to family and told them the news

asking them to not mention it

his love and support spoke volumes even though he didn't have to say a word

nothing he could say would make me feel anything but

he just held me tight and loved me more and more

a friend shared with me the importance of keeping yourself busy when you are sad, or trying to endure a trial.
The more you sit around 'thinking' or feeling sorry the worse it gets
get busy
do something for someone else

get active.

and I've found that to be true throughout my life, but especially recently.

sitting in my little basement

no matter how clean it is

won't make my problems go away or make me feel any better.

as I read through the comments that you shared on my 'lemon' post I will admit I was surprised by some that shared.....I didn't know that many of you read my blog I was touched that you took the time to share your thoughts and love I realized...even though I don't have a friend besides my husband that I talk to every day or week for that matter there are alot of people around me who care.and it goes both ways.I care about you guys too. I would want to help my neighbor, church member or friend if they ever needed anything.but what keeps us from getting that help?

I think it's because we never stop and ask.

I can't ever think of a time that I called a friend or a friend called me and said,

'hey i'm having a hard week would you mind bringing Sam and I dinner?!'

I want to appear strong

I want people to think I've got it all put together

I don't want to be that person who always needs help

Well we certainly shouldn't be running around feeling sorry for ourselves

and making everything a big deal for attention

but...

we shouldn't be walking around all tough either.

letting other help us helps them... does that make sense??

it totally does in my brain but I'm not really sure why it works so well.

My last comment before I get off of my soap box

some of the most joyful happiest times of my life has been when I have thought of others(not just my husband) but those around me more than myself.

I truly gave myself, talents, time, energy to those around me.

while doing that I was happy and everything else fell into place.

This week I am going to seek opportunities to help those around me.

I'm not planning on volunteering or going out of my to find those in need

but I will be listening closer when a friend shares a concern

I will send a text or a phone call when I think of someone, just to check and see how they are doing

my goal is each day to do at least one thing for someone else, besides Sam.

I'm not doing these things for self-recognition but to give back to everyone who gave to me.

Join in, and focus your week on others too.

I know these photos are completely random, but I was reading a blog about taking your own self-portraits and while I've been home sick this week I decided to give it a try.

Sam eventually joined in too

check out littlemissmomma.blogspot.com

new diet.

2011-01-23T15:16:00.000-07:00

this week I explored with a new diet

sprite and saltine crackers

yum.

Let me tell you if you want a slimmer tummy section you should try it

well we've been sick with the stomach flu around here

Sam stayed home all day tuesday

he felt weak, nauseous, woozy, faint, tired and extreme stomach discomfort

lucky for me I got it too

Wednesday I came home early from work feeling similar

I laid in bed hoping I'd feel better for YW

ended up missing YW, ACLS training and everything in between.

as Sam started feeling better and was able to eat again

I just felt the same

if I tried to eat I'd regret it

I'm small

I feel like whenever I get sick it effects me 5x's more than the average person

so once I knew I was completely cleaned out I started my new diet

maintained it

and just felt extreme starvation

everything sounded fantastic

hamburgers, chili cheese dogs, sweet potato soups, panini's, sushi

you name it I wanted it

so last night after it had been about 24 hours since my last flu episode we went out

millie's burger

I had a burger and fries

it was delicious!

not exactly the best food for your first meal after the flu but it settled just fine

I'm so happy to be feeling better before the week is over.

of course I got sick just a day after I bragged to Sam about being so healthy due to my consistency in taking my vitamins.

karma can suck.