A little bit country!

Mitch had a great opportunity this past weekend to drum for a band that traveled to Price. I wasnt sure if country was quite his cup of tea but he looked like he was having a blast.

The rest of the family was not able to attend. We took our "nearly yearly" camping trip up to Willow Flat. Cant wait to hear you guys next time Mitchell!

STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP, PUTTING YOURSELF DOWN, and SELLING YOURSELF SHORT, Dont be a doormat!

my new favorite quote this week

What a special weekend it has been spent with family and friends. I am proud to live in such a wonderful country.
2 days full of eating, laughing, reflecting back on past holiday memories.
I am proud to be an American and proud of those who have gone before and served for our freedom. God bless America

Today I am grateful for the best parents anyone could ask for. A husband who is loving and understanding unconditionally. A Sister that has become my best friend. A Brother who would help anyone in need. The USA that I proudly call home.

While on vacation in Mexico I have had time to reflect on a few things. Do I take things that I have at home for granted? When it is hot, I turn on the AC. When it is cold, I turn on the heat. When I am tired I get a very comfortable bed to sleep in. When I dont feel very well, I take some medicine. When I need to "rush to the store," I grab the car keys.

Yesterday I met a boy who didnt have any shoes and was walking on the dirt road running from one side of the road to the other to get into some cooler shade. He approached me saying something in Spanish. I am assuming he was asking for money since he kept fanning his face. My sister grabbed a 1.00 bill and handed it to him and he put it in his pocket. After searching around I found a $5.00 and handed it to the little sweaty boy. He looked grateful. The next thing I knew he was buying icecream to cool off. He walked past us skipping, eating his cold icecream popcicle.

Just makes you look back and reflect on what a blessed lifestyle we enjoy and might just take for granted at times.

Our new place

Well we have had our hands a little busy recently trying to get our house put together. If you havent heard from us in a while, that is why. This is my view from our kitchen table

This is the room that Mitch keeps all of his "boy stuff"

This is our "green chair room!" We found this green chair and had to bring it home and incorporate it somehow!

I love black and so this kitchen has ended up working out perfectly!

This in on our upper deck that overlooks the golf course. Dont you love this time of year when everything is so green and beautiful

This is our lower patio where we love to just hang out in the shade and BBQ.

Our little rat dog! Huntie buntie

home sweet home

we found these planters today at J and J

When we moved in, this house was white white white!!! My mom has spent so many hours over helping to get our house put together. This was our project on my last day off. We painted the walls red, got a new ottoman, found some great paintings and went to work.

From another angle.

Our bathroom downstairs

Our bedroom

strawberry soup?

Have you ever heard of Strawberry soup??? Chances are you havent but when I saw the recipe, I though I must try!

I know that looks nasty but just trust me! Its yum! You put in about 2 cups of strawberries, 1 cup of orange juice. 1 cup of vanilla yogurt and a Teaspoon of vanilla. then blend blend blend! In the end, I added some ice to make the "soup" thicker.
I think next time we will just stick our soup in a glass with an umbrella and call it good!

It wasnt super duper sweet like a smoothy, just refreshing. We will be trying this one again.

Im trying to copycat!

Ever heard of the bun basket? Its this great place in Fruit Heights that sells cinnamon rolls and sandwiches. They have these great breads that are stuffed with meat and cheese and I thought it has to be simple to copy cat!

These photos didnt load in order but you get the point. I rolled up the dough and brushed them with egg wash before I baked them.

As far as I could tell, this is what they use at the Bun Basket

My way of cheating! haha

yum yum, arm lickin good!

Are you stuck in a cooking rut?? It seems like the never ending battle.... What the heck is for dinner tonight? Sigh....

I found some ingredients that I had in the pantry along with some Asian ingredients in the fridge. We made a marinade for the pork and let it rest for about 3 hours.

We grilled the pork ribs and reduced the sauce. It was delish!

Draper my old home!

Would you dare do this? I have always thought that I might try it, well that is until I watched how it was done!

I think that I will stay put!

This was in Draper up on the Mountain. A week before we moved, I decided I would drive up and watch how it is done! I have to admit, it was fascinating!

happy birthday!!

Have you ever wanted to be just like your parents? Well, I will never even come close but I sure want to try. Have you ever met someone who rarely thinks of their needs before they make sure that others are comfortable? My dad (and mom) are my best friends and I am proud to call them parents. Today is my dads birthday and I just want to say how much I love him and hope that he has the best day ever.

Doesnt the snow just make you want to cuddle under a blanket by the fireplace and sip hot cocoa? Outside the air is crisp, the lawn is covered in white and all I want to do is sit at home in my pj's and shop online...

There is not better feeling than going to the paint store, picking out your new favorite color and buying all of the items needed to transform your room.

I normally can't wait to run home and get the paint brush out and get started.

How easily I forget what a time consuming process that it actually becomes.

The taping, the wiping down of walls, the prepping the paint, stirring the color in after it has separated. Its not quite as much fun as I had originally thought but boy does it make a difference! We are slowly getting our house ready to show but until then we need some turpentine!

We Moved!!

After what feels like millions and millions of boxes, we are finally near the end! On Sat Feb 27th 2010 we moved in to our new home. We couldnt be more excited about it. For the past 2+ years we have lived in a 1 bed room tiny crammed apartment in Draper. It was small but it was home. We hired the best decorator that we could find, my mom! She had our house feeling more and more like a home within 2 days of being here. I couldnt have done it without her and my dad. While Mitch and I were moving things in my dad spent hours trying to figure out how to make our washer and dryers work. No one complained for a single minute. Audrey spent 2 entire days helping me clean and sort through things that needed to be send to the DI. I dont think that I have ever seen someone work so hard. Chris and Ally helped us load and unload trailors and cars until they were exhausted and they both still had things that they had to get done that day. Mitch had Oliver come and help lift the heavy heavy things. Long story short I love my family more than they know.

One of Mitch's customers let us use their big moving truck. It had spanish written all over it advertising the customers entertainment business. I still dont know what the van said but it was a very nice truck and we were grateful to have it... This picture above is not us, just how we felt as times!

We are so grateful to be in Bountiful closer to friends and family (except Audge but hopefully they are right behind us shortly) As soon as we get things completely finished we will post some pictures!