My Recipe's

I just started another blog that will eventually host all of my recipe's as well as my weekly menu and new recipe's with ratings. I hope that you will all join me on my recipe blog. The link is on the right hand side under my other blogs.

6 Word Memoir

I came across something that really made me think today. I want to really hear from all of you and see what you can come up with.

The Goal is to explain a life experience in 6 Words! Can you do and make a big impact?!?!

Here are a couple of mine....

years hard swimming success dreams fulfilled

Challenging being mom...become stronger woman

One that really hit me...

Held baby for four hours Goodbye

Can you believe how powerful that is!!!! I started to cry when I read that. I now want to hear from all of you...even if I don't know you!!!!

Better Idea of what I wanted

If you didn't read the post below, you wont understand this one....this is a picture of Victoria Beckham and this is a better idea of what I wanted. I guess it is a good thing that my hair grows very quickly. I will have to get it fixed as soon as it is long enough to do so.

Bad Hair Day....

I got my hair cut on Monday....bad Idea. I hate it, so if you don't see me or my awful hair cut in any pictures or in real life for a couple of months, then you know why.

I asked the lady to do the back of my hair at shoulder length, and she did the front of my hair at shoulder length and stacked the back so short that she had to buzz my neck....AHHHHHHH...I am so frustrated!

I had Jenny McArthy's hair cut in mind when I went in, except just a little longer in the front. Here is a picture that I found. It is completely different than what I had in mind.

Wedding Ring Issues

Well, I dont know if you can tell or not, but my wedding ring broke Saturday night. I don't know what to do about it. I was just sitting outside, and I leaned back to put my hand on the pavement, and I felt it just snap. Has anyone ever seen anything like this happen? It is White Gold, and I haven't gotten it resealed in a couple of years, but I didnt think that not doing so would make it break. If anyone has some explainations or advice, please let me know. I sm very sad that I dont have my ring...I might have to just go buy a fake one for the meantime.

Emma's bug bite

I don't know if Emma has juicy blood or if she is just allergic to mosquitoes to a degree or what?!? I thought that this was quite huge for a little girl. She has been complaining ever since about how much it itches. Luckily it is getting smaller.

Money Saving Goal

I just made a goal to try and save some more money. I have realized that my cupboards are stuffed with cans that are taking up space, boxes that have been there for months, and food that will most likely be thrown away if I dont use it soon. So, I was thinking the other day about a way that I could force myself to use these things.

The answer....I bet you are curious. Well, I decided to push myself a little farther than I normally would. My goal is to not go grocery shopping for 3 weeks. The only things that I am allowing myself to buy (if absolutely necessary) are diaper and whole milk for Marcus. I hope that this helps me be more creative with my meals, and I hope that I can save a little money in the process.

So, what do you think....do you think that you could just do that right now, without going grocery shopping before making the goal? I know that some people do this on a regular basis, but for me, someone who goes grocery shopping about 2-3 times a week, this is a big deal.

Let me know what you think! I am curious to see if any of you have done this before.

My favorite tool....

I have discovered a new tool. After many times of smashing marcus' meals to deal by trying to cut them with a dull knife, I decided that for almost anything that he eats that I would try using the pizza cutter. It has worked great. I have used it on everything from pancakes, nutrigrain bars, bread, apples, bananas, etc. I love it.

I only have one pizza cutter (the one shown above), and I have thought of getting another one...do any of you have a brand that you LOVE?

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

Last night I made this new recipe that I got from Annie Eats and Eric and I both loved it. It is a no-meat recipe, and Eric thought that next time I should add chicken to it, but I loved it just the way that it was. I didn't put the Jalapeno in it because I have a hard time with spice, and it was still very flavorful. With out further ado, here is the recipe (my changes are written in red)...

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

Ingredients:

4 (10-inch) flour tortillas- I used 8 in. and just filled the edges with beans and corn

1 tbsp. canola oil - I used Olive Oil

1 large onion, diced - I only used about 1/4 c. onion since I am not huge into onions (just for flavor)

1 jalapeno chile, seeded and minced -didnt use it

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp. ground cumin

coarse salt and ground pepper

2 (15-oz.) cans black beans, drained and rinsed - I soaked my dry beans over night and then cooked them in the crockpot all day before putting them in the recipe.

12 oz. beer, or 1 ½ cups water - I used water

1 (10-oz.) package frozen corn - I used a 15 ox. can of corn instead

4 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish

8 oz. shredded Mexican cheese

sour cream and salsa, for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°. Using a paring knife, trim tortillas to fit a 9-inch springform pan, using the bottom of the pan as a guide. Set aside.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, jalapeno, garlic, and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5-7 minutes.

Add beans and beer to skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid has almost evaporated, 8-10 minutes. Stir in corn and scallions and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Fit a trimmed tortilla in the bottom of the springform pan; layer with ¼ of the beans and sprinkle evenly with some of the cheese. Repeat three times, using all of the remaining cheese on the top layer. Bake until hot and cheese is melted, 20-25 minutes. Unmold pie; garnish with scallions. To serve, slice into wedges and serve with sour cream and salsa.

YUM YUM YUM! You will have to try this one. These are all things that I regularly have around, so you can bet this will be a regular for us, and we might try chicken in it at some point.

Flashback Friday

This picture was taken when I was 3 or 4 before we all moved to California. It was taken at Murray Park. Don't you love my aunt and mom's poofy 80's hair?

Emma writting her name

On Sunday morning, Emma wrote her entire name by herself. I would write each letter and then she would copy me as I would talk her through it. This is how I explained it...
E-Draw one small line, then one at the top, one at the bottom, and one in the middle.
M- Draw a straight line, then one mountain, then another mountain.
M- Draw a straight line, then one mountain, then another mountain.
A- Draw one pointy mountain with a line in the middle.

She was so excited when she did this, I thought it was pretty good for a just 3 years old.

Emma's First Day of School

We took Emma to her first day of preschool today. She was so excited. She is going to Adventure Time in Provo. Her teachers name is miss aubrey, and she has 5 kids in her class. She was so excited when they started playing with blocks. Anyways, here are some pictures. In front of the playground

In front of the preschool.

Emma playing with Lilly and Brianna.

Football season ...you can feel it in the air

On Thursday night we went to 'Meet the Cougars' at BYU. It really got us excited about the upcoming BYU Football season. Here is a list of things that we were able to do:

1. Eric and Emma played water balloon volleyball with the BYU Volleyball players
2. Emma raced around the cross country track
3. We ate BYU Dryers Ice Cream
4. We stood in line to Dunk Reno Mahe and then when Emma chickened out Eric told Reno to 'give them hell' if he was able to sign with a team this year
5. Walked around the Indoor Practice field looking for cool parafanellia.
6. Listened to Branco talk about how amazing and smart the freshman class is.
7. Looked for Cosmo the entire time and failed to find him.
8. Ran into other BYU fans that we knew
9. Bought our 'THE Qwest" shirts that Branco asked everyone to wear to the football games (and if your neighbor isnt wearing one, to tell them to get one for the next game)
10. Most of all, we got pumped up for the amazing season that BYU is going to have.

Our house is pumped for the upcoming season and we hope that you all are as well.

Hanging out with Friends

Do any of you have those friends that you are really bad (not just you, but your friend as well) at keeping in touch with. I have quite a few of those, especially when I live farther away from them. Well, Billie and I have that relationship. We were best friends in 7th and 8th grade. Then she moved away to Utah and we wrote and kept in touch, but would loose track of each other for a couple months or years, and then we would get together and say ' why dont we ever hang out?' Well, Shevaun and I went to Layton Thursday to see Billie and her so cute twins. They are the cutest little kids. Anyway, I am so glad that I got the chance to go hang out with Billie and catch up. Here are some pictures from the trip.
Me, my kids, Billie holding Shevauns daughter Elle, and Billies twins Kimball Jack and Granite.

Shevaun and Elle

Flashback Friday

This week our neighborhood friends little boy was playing with his remote control car and I thought of the one that I got for Christmas in 8th grade. I remember that the only thing I wanted was a remote control car. I loved that thing, it was awesome. At the time we lived in a cul-de-sac and I would play with it all of the time. I would tease our dog and have her chase it everywhere. I wonder what ever happened to that thing.

Just Hangin Around the House

We haven't had a whole lot going on lately, and Emma was quite upset that I haven't had my camera out, so we took it out and took some random pictures.

Sunday Best

I thought that the kids looked cute on Sunday at church, so I figured that I would try and take some pictures of the kids after. Obviously they had enough of just sitting around, and would not hold still for a moment....not to self...do it before church next time. The only one that I loved was the one of Emma at the end. I thought that turned out cute.

Swimming

Emma has been interested in why Mommy has been so excited over swimming recently with the Olympics on, so we took her swimming tonight for FHE. She has been getting more and more comfortable in the pool, which I am thankful for. I guess if she is going to be serious about this whole swimming thing I should find her a swim suit that she doesn't hang out of...oppps!

Most Amazing Swimming Moment in History...

Many of you know that I have a background in Swimming. In case you missed the Olympics on
NBC last night, her is a link to the most amazing moment is swimming history ( I am not the only one to say so...many people believe the same). It was the Men's 4 x 100 Freestyle relay. And in case you missed all the trash talk that lead up to the event, basically the France team said...."We are going to crash the Americans". Someone needs to teach them (like the Americans had been taught) that actions speak louder than words. GO USA!

Let me know what you thought if you saw it...if not, take a look from the link i provided above. Let me know if you now think that swimming is exciting, if not, I will invite you over to watch a night of Olympic swimming with me, and I can guarantee that you will like it after that.

Felt Food Project

Tara and Jenny this is for you....

I was talking to some of my friends about some Christmas projects that I am doing. One of them is felt food. Here is a link to Homemade by Jill. Her Felt food is the cutest.

Then there is a tutorial on making felt eggs and oranges at Melissa Good Sell.

Her is another link I found with so many ideas.

Flashback Friday

This picture was taken on Christmas Morning when I was about 8. I was thinking about this during the week because I was making a list of things that I needed to make for the kids for Christmas. My dad and mom made this dollhouse for my sister and I. Inst it amazing! I remember loving it when I was a kid. Oh, and take a look at the another dress that my mom made for me. Isnt it awesome.

What is in your Purse

I had 3 diapers, a diaper wipes container (with no wipes), 2 granola bars, 1 sucker from the bank, Orbit gum, a notebook(grocery/note list), Baby Tylanol, 4 pens, 1 pencil, 3 lip glosses, 2 dimes, my wallet, and some wrappers...ALL in my purse/diaper bag.

Take a picture of ALL of the contents of your purse, then list them. Here is what was in mine. Nothing too exciting. Anyone reading that has a blog....Tag, your it!

Closet Project

This shows how I put in a bottom hanging rack after raising the top bar 3 inches. I love that I have the whole bottom rack to myself and a little side space for all of my long dresses. It worked out very well.


These are a before and after of the shelving that Nathan (Becky's Husband) so kindly helped build. It has doubled my folding space. I love it. I still have to paint, but I wanted to put it back together for Eric since he didnt know I was doing a project while he was gone out of town. By the way...he liked the results.

Flashback Friday

Happy Friday Everyone. We haven't been up to much. Our pool finally opened (now that half of the summer is over) and we have been enjoying the fun in the sun by staying cool in the pool. Emma started out a little hesitant, but now she is becoming a little fish. She loves it. Anyway, back to the picture.

This is a picture of me when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. I did a book report on the box car children books. This was my mobile.... A box that I painted to look like a box car. I remember loving those books when I was a kid. The funny thing is that I dont think that I even read the book by the time this picture was taken. I convinced my mom that I had read it (even though I hadn't) and she signed off on it. Don't you love the white washed overall jeans....totally 80's.