Food and the good stuff

So here are few tried and loved recipes I thought I would share with you all because they are too good to pass up!

Salsa Chicken Cassarole ( this one is simple easy and takes no prep time. What more could you want?)

Fettuccine Alfredo  ( I am in love with this recipe. We have made it twice in a week. Barbecue some lemon chicken and some garlic bread, seriously could eat this for days. )

Spaghetti Carbonara, (I dropped the garlic. the first time I made it, it over powered the dish. )

Grilled Chicken Veggie Bowl  ( I swapped out the broccoli and quinoa for summer squash/zucchini and peas) With only an hour for lunch and a complete distaste for sandwiches. I try and prep for lunch a head of time, these are a super healthy and yummy option to grab and reheat.)

In my effort to ditch soda... I have been looking for easy drinks to substitute. I gave a girly yelp when I saw this in the freezer isle of Winco a few weeks ago!

Well, other than that life has been good to us these last few weeks. I got over being "sick" which was a complete surprise and took almost a week and a half to get over.

I have Pandora on shuffle at work all the time and love hearing songs that remind me of memories. I was listening to Hootie & the Blowfish, " I'm coming Home" and was transported back to my summers eating T's burritos on the boat in the middle of Lake Tahoe. My dad with his hat on backward, the twins with food all over their faces. Mary Jane, Mom, and Connor all busy with something... probably getting ready to go crawdad fishing with Swedish fish and a safety pin.

Baby Hayley- Fannette Island,Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe CA

Most days, I hardly pay attention to the music, but lately I seem to be catching memories all over the place. Makes me miss the simplicity of sitting on a boat eating lunch, laughing, and goofing off with family.

I am pretty sure Family is what makes the world go round!

-enjoy the food and take some time to appreciate life!

Easter

easter was calm and quite. We went to a friends house for a BBQ and had a fun time. Oh, and of course we took an Easter picture! 

My mom also sent us this darling box with little Easter baskets, some fun items from Peru, my new favorite picnic blanket, and fun electric toothbrushes! Thanks mom!!!! We love you! 

A little mushy

Okay, getting a little mushy over here for a quick second! 

This last weekend Kade went to Boise and had a fun time with family... I on the other had to work and expected a quite relaxing weekend in which I got sick and slept for most of it.... 

It was also over our anniversary, this sweet man of mine surprised me with flowers and hot tamales ( knows the key to my heart;) ) when he came home! it made everything better and I can't believe he is mine! Love you sweetheart! 

Fashion via my mom

My mom has the best taste in clothing! Here are a few outfits from my birthday presents!

Plus I scored on some jewelry! 

Thank you mom! For teaching me how dress, be modest, and be cute while doing it! 

Sure miss you a lot! 

Love you! 

Curtains

So due to Audrey's OBSESSION with having to be in the window all day long.

Please note, that she has almost ruined the blinds if they are closed trying to get to the window...

 I have been in desperate need of curtains. While at my parents house, I saw my moms floor length ones in her formal dining room and loved them... But there was a problem... I have a couch and a chair in front of my window in need. 

I saw these at potterybarn.com and loved that they still let in a lot of light. 

So while at Walmart of all places I saw this fabric and knew it was perfect! 

Anyways, today I whipped these out in an hour or so, ( in other words don't look too close;) ) and they do the job and give the room a bit more life! Plus, I can pull the blinds up and not have my window wide open.... So everyone's happy!

Birthday

So because we celebrated my birthday when we went to Disneyland ( because everyone had prior commitments on my birthday) it was a really fun laid back day. 

Bennett, Kade, and I were the only ones home all day. We went and grabbed breakfast Burritos at A's that morning. where we saw one of my really good friends! 

I played with my puppy for a bit in the morning.

Laid out in the best back yard ever!

The dog joined after a swim in the pool!  

Here is a bad panorama of my parents yard.

Then Bennett and I decided to go Surfing! Kade stayed home and did some homework. 

 We went to San Onofre, where after an hour of riding on my knees I finally caught a wave!

My dad's Response...

My response... 

That and the other feat was I still fit in the wet suit I had from high school! 

I had so much fun and loved spending my birthday in the water with this guy! 

That night after everyone got home, We went to see 3 Days to Kill, which was really funny.

Coming out of the movie I got this! 

All the way from tonga!

Came home and opened presents and had birthday cake. We also played this really fun game Called head's up ( it's an app for charades) 

( my favorite cake! Baskin Robbins Mint chocolate chip! )

I was so spoiled this weekend! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Poor Kitty

So Audrey was fixed and declawed( front only)

It's been a horrible expirence.
We will see when we can finally take her cone off if this was worth it....


They kept her overnight and she chewed out all her stiches but one.. So they put her under again and re-did all of them the very next day. Then taped up her little paws... This is the first night we brought her home... it was a LONG night.

She was so sick and tired all she wanted was to lay on us and sleep.   Since then, she managed to get the cone off once, chew out a stitch, bleed all over the carpet, and go back to the vet and have it super glued.

 

So some of the funny parts about this expirence:

• She HATES the vet... like they had to trick her out of her kennel by leaving the door open for her to escape, dumped her in a plastic bag, and put her out in the bag because she had bit them, scratched them, hissed at them and tried to attack them.  When she see the vet she instantly bares her teeth and hisses at him. It so funny because she has never done this to anyone else. It is like she is possed.
• She looks like dracula in her cone staring at you...
• She drags her cone agaisnt the door to get your attention
• She has to back up like a car to get around corners

 

Her paw after she chewed out the stitch.... massive!

Anyways, she gets treated like a kid around here, because I can and I want to. She is named after a TV show character and movie star. Anyone who thinks we gave her a normal name for any other reason, obviously doesn't know us that well.  

 

She is slowly returning to her normal self and jumping into things she shouldn't. Which makes me a happy camper.

So glad this little adventure is almost over!

New Years

New Year's was so great this year. We went out and bought all the missing Harry Potter movies from our collections and had a marathon New Years Eve and New years day. We spent the whole day in our pajamas.

 

One of my favorite lazy meals to do is a cookie sheet of homemade nachos.

 

cook the ground beef (1/2 lbs) in Taco or Fajitas seasoning,

preheat the oven to 350

line the cookie sheet with foil

Layer chips, Cheese( Medium cheddar about 1 1/2 cups), then beef

Next layer the chips, beef, then cheese

Optional:  I put olives, and  fresh chopped tomatoes on the tops

Cook for 5 minutes or so.

Then  add the sliced avacado and put out the sour cream and salsa for who ever wants them 

 

Then, the best part I have one dirty pan and throw out the foil!

updates

Yes, I know I have been terrible about updating the blog in the last month and the truth is... I don't really know where the month went. Honestly. This last year went so fast I am not even sure I can take it being fall already. I am sure you have heard this saga from everyone over the years, but I finally get it. It flew by. I understand what they ( usually people older then I) meant when they say," times flies, make it count." So we haven't had much happen by choices, but at the same time, a lot "happened" to us.  It is hard to explain how crazy life can be. We are in the midst of school, work, life and doing our best to make the best of everything we can.

Here are a few pictures for you.

My trinket this year from Swiss days, " Today I will live in the moment... unless it's unpleasant in which case I will eat a cookie." - Cookie Monster

Audrey's favorite thing in the whole world is laundry. 

temple days with Lisa:)

Our truck... and most nights we spend in the garage end up looking like this

A reminder to not complain when I think I have it bad. 

We woke up one morning to find this on the truck... a note from our kind neighbor informing of the damage that was now on the truck.... Pictured evidence below. 

The joys of living at an apartment complex... note: yes we are getting it fixed. 

and one more happy picture. the goofball who got herself stuck. 

4th of July Vacation {part two}

So on Friday, we slept in of course... all us old folk stayed out way too late watching a movie! Haha anyways we decided it seemed like a good day to head up to LA. Its an incredible childhood to live so close to a place people travel all over the world to see..... yet you never go there because of the "tourists" So we became tourists, with my utah license places.... we didn't even have to pretend sadly! 

we drove through Venice Beach! and stopped at the Santa Monica pier! 

So cool it has an amusement park! and such gorgeous buildings and homes along the beach walk. there is even a path specifically for bikers! { which us tourists are standing on.. locals did not like us!}

They have this sweet sign that tells you how far away the other big surf spots are! Pretty cool! 

on of the first, Hot dog's on a stick! So cool! this one had been opened since the early 50's and sadly had a demolition notice on the side of the building! 

I had No idea that Santa Monica BLVD. is the end of Route 66 and the pier is drivable, and thus considered to be the end of the trail! So cool! 

The entry way to an alley with peoples front doors, oh the life to live on the beach! Probably, no so great with all the sick nasties walking by but still, the vibrant history would be super cool!

We went to the LA temple, and took a short tour of the Vistor's center there! 

We went to Rodeo drive, and sadly{ though I would have LOVED to...} the traffic was insane so we simply drove it!

about this time is when we started sing weezer and wishing the large incredible homes where ours! 

More route 66 signs!

I have seen Wicked here, and the Lion King. 

The Dolby Theathre, with all of its Emmy and Oscar'ness just oozing into all the tourists! 

Again, we chose to forgo the walking among the thousands { about this time we started seeing what was commonly referred to as the shorty shorts people }of other people and drive by, which meant I couldn't get a solid picture of any of the "stars" on the ground! 

It's not a true vacation if you don't get all the good eats in! Sadly we didn't stop at this one, but I think the 100 people in line and waiting under canopy shades, we grateful we did not stop to enjoy the local grub!

The Skyline of downtown! We finally started to make our way back home at this point, when we got there, We went to dinner at the Embarcadero. A new restaurant in Rancho. It was yummy! then we grabbed ice cream on our way home! 

Saturday, Celesta and I did what most girls do we went shopping! Both spent a decent amount of money and were quite happy with our purchases!

We spent a good amount of our vacay eating! oh my goodness we had some good eating! Celesta and Pete got a taste of Albertaco's {yes that is one word.} and we went back for seconds!

We went to see Long Ranger that night, everyone loved it! It is was funny and cute! 

Sunday morning, we woke and said our goodbyes and I secretly{not secret anymore} cried a little. I sure love being in California there are very few places in life where you feel like you belong, and even though in high school I used to swear up and down CA was not one of them, I was so wrong. I miss it everyday. But I am so grateful for our life right now, we are where we are supposed to be and its been quite the ride. 

Happy 4th of July! and thanks Pete and Celesta for coming with us! 

Here is to more adventures!