We're Baaaaaack!

Chris and I have just returned from a super fun 10 days in Haysville, KS with his family. Things were a little crowded at times with 12 adults, 3 kids and 3 dogs, but it was a lot of fun too. I'll post some pics of the good times once i get all the laundry started and stuff put away :)

Hope you had a super great Christmas and have a fantastic New Year!!!!

Oh Christmas Troy

Need a laugh?

If you want to see more awesome and hilarious stuff, go to icanhascheezburger.com :)

Hungry for a good read?

I've recently been totally enthralled with a new series of books by author Suzanne Collins. You may have heard of it, The Hunger Games. Run, do not walk to the library or bookstore and pick these books up!

These books follow a girl names Katniss who lives in a sort of post apocalyptic world where her country has been divided into districts to serve a powerful capitol. All those who live in the districts are terribly poor and the capitol citizens are very wealthy. In the past the districts rebelled which was put down forcefully by the military, and one district - 13, was blown off the map.

As a show of their power, the Capitol puts on the Hunger Games each year where each district must give tribute of one boy and one girl, chosen at random to compete to the death in survivor/gladiator style combat.

I love this story because it's about so many themes: adolescence, survival, love, strength, injustice, tragedy, friendship, family and lots more. The characters are realistic and have depth and the writing is descriptive without getting too bogged down. The author does a great job of creating a new world that is believable and the action propels the story at a great pace. I read the sequel, Catching Fire in one evening, but i had to take breaks because my heart was beating so fast :)So if you have some time off coming up over the Christmas break, check these books out, they're fantastic. But just to warn you, the 3rd book doesn't come out until next fall and for me the wait is going to be a hard one!

Happy Birthday - Baby!

Today is the day, when forever in history we can be grateful for the birth of one man. A man who has been influential in the lives of tens maybe even a hundred people. Yes, that great man, Christopher Nelson.

It's you day and I just wanted to tell you and the whole world - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! And as the first of many gifts to be showered upon you today, I would like to start with the Top Ten Things That Make Chris Totally Awesome:

10. He brings me breakfast and picks up my pre-ordered book so i can read in bed.
9. He doesn't get mad when i avoid doing the dishes for a couple days.
8. He tries to help me when he knows i need help, but refuse to say i need help.
7. He does funny voices.
6. He laughs at my jokes.
5. He makes really awesome beef ribs.
4. He's a kid at heart.
3. He likes my family :)
2. He's a very manly man.
1. He likes to try new things, including my crazy recipes :)

So if you see him today, tell him Happy Birthday and why you think he's awesome!

We're a Modern Stone-Age Family

This year I really wanted to dress up because Chris and I have never really gone all out for Halloween since we've been married. I thought it would be fun to go as Wilma and Fred Flintstone and it turns out it was a great idea because the costumes were easy to make and they turned out great!


We invited the neighbors and a few friends to drop by for a open house type party. We had lots of good treats like "Hair Balls" that were chocolate truffles, "witch fingers" that were almond cookies complete with sliced almond fingernail, as well as "blood" punch with dry ice and pop corn balls! I just love how my table turned out. It was spooktacular - Ha ha, oh i'm the only one laughing :)




My brother Derek was a Tuskan Raider from Star Wars. His costume took a month and a half to make, but it was totally amazing!!! He almost won a costume contest, so that makes me wonder what the winner was dressed up as :) Derek's girlfriend Jen came as a dead hunter.







My friends Crystal and Craig brought their kids by. Here we have a super cute Indiana Jones, Woody and Harry Potter.

Here me and my friends Hilary and AJ are playing the Halloween

classic - Eat the Doughnut off the String - game. Hilary was a witch, hence the green face, and her husband was dressed as a character from the movie "The Hangover". Hilary totally beat me and AJ, but all together it was pretty funny :)

So thanks everyone for coming and we'll invite you over for our next party, in about 3 more years :)

Happy Pre- Halloween

We each carved half the face of out pumpkin and then covered it so the other couldn't see. Then at the end we had a big reveal. Somehow the mouth and nose always match up :) Hooray for jack o' lanterns!

And We're Back !

On Carbs that is. Chris and I both got to the point where we would rather not eat at all than eat the food we were allowed on the Atkins plan. We've decided to instead make healthier choices and we joined the gym. The plan is to work out 3 times a week with an optional Saturday. Oh, and we're exercising at 5am! I didn't think i could do it, especially since i can barely wake up at 7:30, but i was suprisingly alert :)

I think we both feel a lot better now that we're eating a more balanced diet and variety really is the spice of life. But i know i learned a lot of important lessons while on Atkins that I will remember:

1. Don't be lazy. There are a lot of hidden sugars and carbs in prepared foods. I want to take the time to prepare meals using ingredients in their more "natural" state.

2. Read the labels. This goes along with no being lazy. I was just grabbing things off the shelf based on price or if it was a brand i liked. Now i take the time to read the labels and choose items that will be of the best benefit to our bodies.

3. Planning out all the meals for the week leaves less options for eating out. By having something on hand for all 3 meals a day, and listing them out so they're easily accessible makes it easier to avoid the "we don't have anything, let's order something" trap.

4. Jello is your friend. Sugar free and a variety of flavors is the perfect treat. Also Reddi Whip in the can is only 15 calories a squirt and is made of real cream. Hello! Whip cream makes all desserts better :)

It's been a lot more work for me, but making sure we get a balanced menu makes me feel good both as a wife and as a person who is just looking to be healthier :)

You'll never get away with it

Chris and I were watching one of our favorite TV shows, Castle. This show is about a writer that follows around a homicide detective as "research" for his books. It's totally hilarious BTW. In the most recent episode, we find out at the end that the lead suspect killed a woman because she threatened to expose a secret about his family and of course, he thought he could get away with it. When his wife found out, she was understandably shocked and outraged. For some mysterious reason this triggered the following conversation:

Blaire: Chris, if you're ever going to kill someone, don't do it cuz' you'll never get away with it.

Chris: I'll just tell you first if i'm going to kill someone.

Blaire: Don't tell me, just don't do it, you won't get away with it.

Chris: Really? Shouldn't you say 'that's bad Chris! you shouldn't kill people.' "

Chris: (mockinly in a blaire voice)No chris don't do it you'll never get away with it!

Blaire:(laughing) Oh I guess the morality of the situation didn't really occur to me.

Sometimes I don't know what makes me say the things I say :)

Inconcievable!

Today is only Wednesday - day 3 of our Atkins diet and already we're seeing results. I've lost 3 pounds and even though it's been a struggle, I'm starting to think this is totally going to be worth it.

To be honest, Chris is doing better than me at facing reality and not cheating. That's one thing I really admire about him. I told him the rules of the diet and that it would only work if we followed the rules. He has been sooooo good about being committed and if he's not sure if something is allowed, he'll ask. I on the other hand feel like I'm barely holding on sometimes. I really want to cheat (But i haven't!) and my desire for cake, cookies, bread and SUGAR are at times almost overwhelming. I'm hoping that will fade as time goes on and I'm making due with an Atkins approved treat - almond balls. Here's the recipe if you want to try it. Only 2 carbs per serving, which i think is 2 :)

2 T shredded coconut
1/4 t almond extract
3 T almond butter (like peanut butter except with almonds)
1 T marscapone or cream cheese - which ever you can find
2 T artificial sweetener

Mix the coconut, almond extract and 1 T of the sweetener in a bowl
In another bowl, mix almond butter and cheese and other 1 T of sweetener to make a dough.
Form the dough into small balls (approx 1/4") and then roll in coconut mixture
Place on wax or parchment paper and put in freezer for 10 mins to firm up
Enjoy 1 or 2 if on Atkins diet. If not, eat as many as you want :)

Farewell to Carbs

Although I've never taken much stock in diets that promote anything other than a balanced diet which includes items from all the food groups, the time has come. What I mean is that the whole balanced diet thing hasn't really gotten me anywhere. I've tried writing everything i eat down in a journal. I've tried counting calories. I've tried diet & exercise and guess what? Nothing, acutally i guess it's more like almost nothing.

Earlier in the year i made a goal to slim down, and i did. I lost 6 lbs, but recently i found them again :( I just can seem to keep momentum and get to that goal - and in the mean time i found a couple of extra pounds too.

So Chris and I decided that we would diet together. My dad talked us into doing the Atkins diet which has recently helped him to lose 25 pounds. That sounded pretty good to us, so we made a goal of doing the Atkins diet for 30 days. If it's not working for us, at that time we'll re-evaluate what we want to do. If it is working, then we'll keep on going.

Coupled with walks around the neighborhood, we're hoping to drop those stubborn pounds and get a jump start on a healthier life style while also reaping the benefits of having looser pants :)

And so, this weekend we bid farewell to some of our favorite high carb foods. A last supper if you will. Goodbye pizza. Goodbye pasta, Sniff. Goodbye mashed potatoes. Sniff, sniff. Goodbye Bread, I'll miss you most of all. Au Revoir, Auf Viedersen, Adios, Farewell to my dear sweet carbs.

You'll never see spanish the same

Here's a clip from a really funny new show called Community. Enjoy!

Domestic Diva

I don't know what's happened this week, but I've launched into the wonderful world of domesticity. I've gone food storage shopping and Tuesday night I made peach freezer jam.

I know - I can't believe it either :) But suprisingly, freezer jam is really easy. The hardest part may be getting the fruit. Lucky for me, my Grandma Perkins had a bumper crop of peaches and forced them upon us when we went over for grandpa's b-day on Sunday. I thought, we will never be able to eat all these, they'll just go bad. I KNOW, I'll make JAM!!!

If you want to know how to make freezer jam, buy a box of fruit pectin and read the directions. All you need is fruit, sugar, lemon juice, pectin and jars to put it in. No major boiling and super sanitizing or you'll kill someone steps :) So if your grandma gives you a bushel of fruit,

you can turn this . . .

Into This!

Just call me "Ant"

You've probably heard the fable about the grasshopper and the ant, where the grashopper plays all summer and makes fun of the ant who works all summer putting food away for the winter. Then winter comes and the grasshopper doesn't have any food.

Today you can definatly call me the ant because Chris and I went to Macey's case lot sale and we stocked up. It was great!!! Eventhough we spent a goodly ammount of money, all the cans in the pantry really do give me peace of mind, especially in these tricky economic times.

Granted, we wouldn't eat the most exciting things if we had to break into the storage, but at least we would eat. Luckily, my stake is putting out a food storage cookbook, so I should get lots of ideas on how to use this stuff and ideas on what to get next.

Before and after.

All together . . .

ooh . . . ahhh

So if the mountains fall down and the power goes out and you're hungry, come on over and you can share some vegetable soup and pancake with us. But it'll cost ya some firewood :)

Also, Macey's case lot run through tomorrow - Sept 22 - so you can still stock up too. They have great deals on everyday stuff like TP, paper towels, and Campbells soup. Check out the ad here.

Tasty Trailer

I know, I have a problem, but this movie looks so much better than the first. Squeal!

It's Fun to the 3rd Power!!!

On Saturday, Chris' Elder's Quorm had an activity at the park. It was supposed to be a volleyball tournament and i was thinking to myself, oh goodie, more forced athleticism in the name of fellowship. Fortunately we played this fun game instead :)

Behold! The super fun Sweedish game that's sweeping the nation, it's Kubb (Koob). I know it doesn't look like much, but if you like throwing sticks at blocks you LOVE this :)

Each team has a row of 5 blocks in front of them. Each team also gets 6 sticks. The goal of the game is to knock down the other team's 5 blocks and then hit the big one in the center, which is called the king.

Things get interesting when you knock down an opposing team's block. It remains in play and when the the round is over they toss it over to your side as close to the center as possible. They still have to knock it down, but it's closer and easier. However, if they fail to knock it down, you get to come up to that point on the field so you're in a better position to knock down their blocks on the other side.

It's a little complicated but really fun once you start to play. Chris was super good at it and earned the nickname "Tomahawk" from one of the opposing players who i called "Viper" because of her throwing style. She knocked those blocks down like crazy, even when she was holding her baby!

I'm totally into this game and when we build our own set you'll have to come over and play! We'll have a super fun time² i mean kubbed :)

Good News!!

Maybe no one cares about this as much as me, but i am super excited that Project Runway switched from Bravo to Lifetime because now i can watch it online - YES!!!!

I'm a HUGE fan of reality TV, but i prefer shows where you have to be able to do something besides fight with your roommates, get drunk, and hook up with people in the communal hot tub. Shows like Project Runway showcase people with talent and they have to perform at a professional level every week. Occasionally there's a little castmate drama, but mostly it's about the clothes. And as a seamstress myself, i can identify with all the sewing and the gratification of seeing people enjoy the things you make.

Anyhoo, the season premire is posted and it's a great one. If you love fashion and sewing as much as me, check it out!

CRAZY August

Oh my goodness, things have been super busy this month, which is weird. Considering i was out of work at the end of July, i thought i would have all the free time in the world to do whatever i felt like.

What actually happened was I got my old job back at Global Accessories, except they have been purchased by another company called Covercraft, so technically i work for Covercraft now:) This has been pretty good because it's full time, although i'm not sure how long it'll last because Covercraft is eventually moving customer service to their headquarters. So I'm still on the job hunt while I'm working so i can have all my bases covered.

Also i had a booth at the Cache County Fair with my group Made For Cache.We got some pretty good traffic and everyone sold something . . . except me :( I'm hoping the Box Elder County Fair coming up next weekend will go lots better.

Last weekend we had a mini vacation at my Mom's house in Layton. We puppy-sat her dog while my parents went to Lake Powell with my Uncle Mark and Aunt Marianne. Chris and I had a great time - we went to movies, ate at Red Lobster and got to enjoy the Air Conditioning and Cable TV, which we don't have.

So, only 2 weeks left and I'm kind of looking forward to August being over.

My First Harvest!

I know they may not seem like much, but i am VERY proud of my two cherry tomatoes :) I got this plant and one other for mothers day in my ward and it's taken until now just to get these two beauties.

Thankfully there are a bunch more on the vine, which is great because these tasted super delicious and I can't wait until I can pick some more.

On a completely unrelated note, I belong to this group of people who are all makers of handmade items. Our group is called Made For Cache and right now there's a giveaway going on. So if you want to win some free stuff, head over there and get yourself entered!

Still Crazy After All These Years . . .

Ok, so it's only been 3 years since Chris and I were married, but it feels like longer - in a GOOD way :)

Last year after planning a wonderful 2nd anniversary all by himself, Chris said he never wanted to have to do it again. I guess the pressure of planning a "perfect" weekend was just too much. So this year we planned it together and it was a lot of fun!

To start things off on friday(17th) we had a yummy lunch at the Training Table in Layton. I have 2 words for you: Cheese Fries :) Then we went to the Little America Hotel and checked in for a night. We went deluxe and stayed in a Tower King Suite, which is basically a big room with a King size bed in their high rise building. We got the room as part of a package that included breakfast in bed Saturday morning, which was AWESOME!

These are just some of the condiments that came with our in-room breakfast. Just for size reference there's a coke can on the left. I know what you're thinking, that IS the smallest bottle of tabasco ever created :) It's actually 1/8 of an ounce! The people at the Little America aren't messing around. There's nothing like teeny bottles of ketchup and jam to make you feel special.

Also on Friday we went to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was pretty good, but for once i felt the movie didn't capture all the inner turmoil and drama of the book. Especially the end, it liked the book version better. Harry seemed like he was ready to kick butt and take names.

Saturday was fun too! After our luxurious breakfast :) we went to Hoagle Zoo. This just shows how much Chris loves me because he knows i LOVE the zoo and he only sorta tolerates it. For a Saturday things weren't too crowded and I had A LOT of fun. I just love animals, especially the monkeys, they have the greatest hairdos :)

After the zoo, we headed over to my mom and dad's in Layton to cool off and wait for Tepanyaki to open. It's one of those cool Bennihana type restaurants where they flip spatulas and light your food on fire for your dining amusement. The food was pretty good and so was the show. Sorry no photos of the flaming food, i didn't want to break the cooks, concentration - someone could have lost an eyebrow :)

And then there was today, our actual anniversary. We exchanged gifts at lunchtime which follow the traditional schedule. Anniversary 3 is supposed to be leather, and before you start thinking naughty thoughts, here's what we got eachother:

Chris suprised me with these CUTE sandals. I didn't know he had such an eye for shoes, but I'm glad he does. I got him this leather notebook for writing his recipies and doodling.

It's been a great three years, and I know I'm lucky to have a man who makes me so happy.

You Have to Read This!

This book, City of Bones is the first in a super awesome fantasy series by author Cassandra Clare. I was perusing the YA section at my library, when i saw the last book , City of Glass and it looked so intriguing I put in a hold for this one.

It was worth waiting for! This book sora reminds me of the twilight series, but ony sorta. I would say the romance factor is about %20 of the story, humor is another 20% and totally awesome action and butt kicking is the last 60%. In these books there are vampires, werewolves, faeries, etc, but not everyone can see them. And when the main charachter Clary starts to see them all sorts of crazy stuff goes down. There are tons of great plot twists and it was so good, i stayed up all night to finish it - i couldn't put it down. Chris liked it too, but not as much as me. I think it was because he's read a lot fantasy books and had higher expectations than i did.

I've put in a hold for the second book, City of Ashes, but it looks like all of Cache Valley is in line to get that one, so I might cave and buy it online. If you're patient and have a library card, you should check it out. Otherwise you can pick them up at Amazon.com for about $10 each :)

I Win!!

I won( meaning my shop Elliette Baby) the Best in Show award for last week on this fun blog called Cafe Handmade. Basically it's like summerfest but without the walking around. There are lots of "booths" on different "aisles" and you can find anything from jewelry to soaps, clothes and even make up. Take a look, there's bound to be something you want and find you can't live without :)

I just had to brag - but i guess that's what blogs are for, right?

Oh say, can you see?

As any good, red-blooded American will tell you, a barbeque is an essential part of any celebration relating to the founding of this great nation. And so, on the 4th of July we did our part by cranking up the propane and grilling beef and pork ribs using Chris' secret sauce recipie and some new Ultra Top Secret preparation methods. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

Mmmmm, don't they look delicious? Lucky for Chris and I, almost all of my family was in town, so we didn't have to try and eat all these ourselves. Dad was up taking care of grandma, Derek was visiting his girlfriend and Brooks didn't have to work, so we were able to eat, chat and later, to blow crap up :)

Chris and I seem to have accumulated a lot of fireworks in the almost 3 years since we've been married. We had a fun time digging through the remnants of 4th of July's past and finding all sorts of stuff. My dad and bro had a fun time picking stuff out to set off.

God Bless America!!!!

Jam Packed Texas Trip

I've only been to Texas once before and that was a quick trip through the panhandle to see Chris' home town of Pampa and to eat a steak at The Big Texan. We went again last week for his sister Lianne's wedding and boy was it a jam packed 5 days!!

We left Wednesday afternoon and i thought i had planned so good because i got us a non-stop from Salt Lake to Dallas. It seems fate takes great pleasure in ruining my plans. We ended up having to land in Ft. Worth because the Dallas airport was closed "due to weather" and we had been circling so long we were out of gas :( We waited 2 hours at this other airport for clearance and then flew 10 more minues to Dallas. I felt so bad because Chris' sister Jill was waiting for us that whole time.

We christened our trip with dinner at a steak house and got to spend a lot of time chatting with the fam and getting caught up on life.

We had a lot of wedding related activities to attend and it was pretty fun to get to know Lianne's in-law's at her bridal shower. We played wedding "memory" and a bridal shower bingo. Which by the way you can download cards for this game at bachelorette.com and they're free!

We also had a great groom's dinner at a yummy place called Brio. Their food is a little more italian than the Olive Garden and the portions were HUGE. The best was the dessert though. The creme brulee was soooooo yummy and came in a cute little espresso cup. After that it was time for the bachelorette party. We kept it pretty tame and went to a chick flick.

Lianne got married on Saturday the 6th at the Dallas Temple which was pretty and kind of gothic cathedral looking. It also has huge spires that make it very hard to photograph, so this was the best I could do.


Lianne and her hubby Derek are so cute and i am so happy we could go and be there for thier big day! Now everyone in Chris' family is married until it's time for the grandkids. So I guess we've got about 20 years to relax :)

And here's the happy couple. Congrats to Derek and Lianne Clements!

I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl

This has not been posted with Chris' consent and I don't want my schoolgirl silliness to reflect poorly on him but eeeek, this is so awesome. I can't wait for November to get here!!!!!

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer in HD

Happy Memorial Day!

So usually i think of Memorial Day as the first BBQ day of the season. I consider myself a fairly patriotic and family oriented person, but I don't really spend a lot of time contemplating Memorial Day or what it means.

Anyway, today my dad came up to Logan as he always does for this holiday and I decided that i would go too. First we went to the Logan Cemetary to "see" Grandpa Saunders (my dad's dad) and Uncle Randy (who was killed in Vietnam at age 21). While we were there, we saw a few of my dad's Aunts and cousins and they caught up a little. My dad said in his day, Memorial Day was like a family reunion and everybody got together at the cemetary- kind of like a party, sort of. We also saw my cousins Brady and Matthew while we were in the neighborhood.

Next we went to Providence Cemetary to visit my Great Grandpa and Grandma Olsen. I don't remember them at all, they died when I was little, but they were born around the turn of the century. Cemetaries make me wonder about all the things these people must have seen - the history, the advances in science and medicine, what their families were like.

As we were leaving my dad said it was too bad that more people don't remember what Memorial Day is about. It's an impportant tradition, he said because you can't know what will be if you don't know what has been. Or in other words, you can't know who you are without knowing who you came from. I agree.

I found one!

Well my prayers have been answered, i hope. I recently got a job working as a server in a new restaurant here in Logan. The place is called Elements and it's being advertised as a fine dining place, so hopefully the tips will be good.

It's not my first choice of work, but they were the only ones who called me back for an interview, which is pretty sad. So instead of holding out for something else, i went for it. I hope i'm not sorry later :) One really good thing about working in a restaurant is it's very slimming. All that walking back and forth to the kitchen and lifitng heavy trays makes for a good work out. Hopefully I'll drop another couple of pounds in the process. YAY!

So if you're in town in the next couple of weeks ( it opens in June) stop by for some great food and you can leave me a big tip :)

It's ALIVE!!!!

I never thought it would happen, but finally Cache Valley has broken into Spring. My hopes are high that winter is finally behind us, but at the same time i'm trying to remain realistic as there always seems to be a late snowfall sometime in May. We did have a little snow last Saturday, so hopefully that'll count as the last snow of the season :)

I went to the temple this morning because it's a good place to go and because i still don't have a job, so why not do some work for the Lord? The flowers there are so pretty and there are a ton of hyacinths so it smells incredible too. Those groundskeepers really put a lot of work in to make the temple grounds a little slice of heaven on earth.

Unemployed . . . Again

I hoped for the best but ended up with ...uh... not the best? Anyway I'm on the job hunt again and there are a few prospects that sound interesting. I've already sent in my resume to be the Shelter Manager for the Cache Humane Society. They were looking for someone with PR and fundraising skills and so I thought it would be perfect for me. The job closes in a few days so I won't have to wait too long (hopefully) before I find out if they're considering me or not.

Right now i'm pretty optimistic, we'll be ok money wise for a couple of weeks, but I'm hoping it'll only take me a week or two to find something. When we got the bad news at work, they said the deal to buy the company might still go through and they may be calling us to come back to work. Right now i'm not sure if i would go back, but we'll see if I'm singing a different tune in a week or two.

On the up side I've had time to get my living room set up complete with things on the walls and nothing on the dining room table :). And when we moved i found a Bed, Bath and Beyond gift card so i got a new bath mat and towels for the bathroom. The apartment is really starting to feel like a home. Yay!

Super Depressing

I just did the saddest thing of my life. I spent an hour applying online to work at . . . WalMart. We've got another one opening in Cache Valley at the south end of town soon. Yes it's true, the current state of the economy is driving me to "keep my options open" in case things at my current job go south.

Why would things go bad at my current job? Well it's an automotive accessories company and when the major automotive companies aren't doing so hot, guess who else isn't doing so hot. The company is in negotiaions for a merger or buy out which means i could be getting a raise and a t- shirt with a new company logo, or i could be kicked out on my ear and looking for any job i can find. I'm hoping for scenario 1, but keeping an eye out in case of scenario 2.

Blah, blah, blah, woe is me. Ok i'm done pouting :) See a smile. If anyone knows of a job that pays more than 7.50/hour and doesn't involve me wearing a blue vest with a happy face on it, let me know.

In other totally awesome news, i have a new sofa and loveseat combo in microfiber. Everybody now -Ooooo, ahhhh! I'll get some pictures up soon, but it's a little dark now for photography. My apartment is starting to feel like a real place now and we own 3 pieces of nice furniture that feature us as their only owners :). As Martha would say, "it's a good thing." Btw, if you know anyone that needs a loveseat, check out craigslist for my listing. You might be able to get a better deal than the listed price ;).

When pocket-protectors and salesmen mix

Or, Presenting for Government Grants

Wedding Buffet

Ok, so this is a story mostly about this happy couple. Chris' youngest sister Britany got married to a great guy named Dan in the Bountiful temple on March 18th. They came all the way here from school at K State (Kansas that is) to be married close to both their families. Dan is from Provo and the Nelson/Bennett clan mostly lives in the Salt Lake Valley. I'm so happy for them and the new adventure they can embark on together. It's great to have a partner to share your triumphs and disappointments with, especially one who you know is committed to your relationship beyond just this life.




So enough of that mushy stuff. Here's where me and Chris come in. When Britany got engaged, she asked us if we could help with her reception food. Knowing us for the awesome cooks we are and that we catered our own wedding, she made an excellent choice :)

We were also itching to give the catering business a try since we may want to do it for a living someday. So we started to plan and this is what we came up with.




The menu consisted of chicken salad sandwiches on french bread,pork egg rolls with sweet & sour sauce as well as sweet chilli sauce,
chocolate covered strawberries in milk and white chocolate, a meat and cheese tray with a variety of rolls and mini cheese cakes in 3 flavors. I know, kind of a weird combo, but that's what they wanted.

It was A LOT of food and we planned on everyone being a lot hungrier than they turned out to be so we ended up having to send a lot of food home with extended family members.



These little jewels were the best and hardest thing we made. I spent the better part of the day dipping these and then trying to find places to put them all. Thank goodness for our new pantry or we would have had strawberries all over the place!






Here is the cake. I wish i could take credit for it, but this piece of art was created by my sister-in-law Melissa. She is amazing as you can see. She even made all the calla lilly flowers - OUT OF SUGAR!

Too bad she's moving to California or she could make you some sugar flowers :) The woman even makes her own fondant and the cake inside was great too. I'm working on a slice right now - yum, chocolatly . . . .





And here is the happy couple feeding the cake to eachother. It was very disappointing, no cake smashing at all. They just laughed the whole time like it was the funniest thing in the world.

I'm so happy for you two, enjoy eachother!

Welcome to Our New Home!

Here' s the home tour for our new apartment. Try not to judge too much, i haven't unpacked everything or hung anything up yet. Someday when you come to visit us, you will be amazed at the awesomeness of the decorating :)



This is out living room as seen from the kitchen. The door in the back is technically supposed to be our front door, but the way the apartment building is set up has people coming in through our kitchen. The laptop is set up as our TV at the moment. Cable is so expensive, we're experimenting with not having regular tv.






This is our laundry area and my pride and joy Washer and Dryer. I've run several loads and it's been a dream come true. The cabinets above are super great too because it holds all our laundry and cleaning supplies









Here is our fabulous pantry. Now we have a place to put all our weird kitchen appliances like the food processor and pop corn maker that were cluttering up our counter at our last place. There's also room for the food storage- it's out of the way but easy to access :)








This is the kitchen. We've got lots of cupboards and and drawers, but out fridge is a little old school. As in it needs to be defrosted every so often because ice builds up. Oh goody, i can hardly wait to do it.




This is our master bedroom. We got creative with our "dresser" and used two cheap-o bookshelves with baskets to hold all out non-hang up clothes. So basically we got a 6 drawer dresser for $50 which was a better price than actual dressers at the D.I.





The closets here are huge compared to our last place. I finally have a place for my shoes other than in a big 'ol pile on the floor.







And finally here is our second bedroom. You probably can't tell, but I've actually put some of this stuff away. Once it all gets put away, thrown away or set aside for a yard sale, this will be our craft/computer/guest room. I'm hoping this will become a reality by April - here's hoping :)


We have a bathroom too, but it's not super photogenic. We did make an upgrade to the shower though. We have really low water pressure and it kind of just dribbled on our heads, so we installed a low flow head like they have in hotels and now the water shoots all the way to the back of the shower :)



Come and visit us some day, but call first so i can get things tidied up! We can play dance dance revolution untill our ankles fall off :)