Can YOU paint with all the colors of the wind?

This is a most important discovery. Deidra and I know why we were meant to be together. I am writing this blog only minutes after one of those late night weird conversations about childhood memories. I revealed to Deidra that as a child, my parents bought us the Pocahontas soundtrack audio tape/sing along booklet. I wore out that tape by playing it over and over in my hand-me-down Walkman that I got from my older brother. Deidra had the SAME EXACT TAPE AND BOOK!!!! Obviously, that means something. It says something about our relationship. So here is to us and to all of you Disney lovers out there.

Scott & Kylie

One of David's best friends invited us to be a part of the most important day of his life.  On April 10th, 2010 Scott was sealed to the beautiful Kylie in the Salt Lake temple.  The ceremony was beautiful.

David and I celebrate our 1st Anniversary this coming Saturday.  It was neat to reflect back on our experiences over the past year and to be reminded of the covenants we made with God and the advice and counsel we received just a year ago.  I am happy that David chose to be with me for eternity.  Over the past year it seems that my capacity to feel joy has greatly increased as I have grown closer to my husband and the Lord.  I love David so much.  I never knew that I could be treated this well and have never made a better decision.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

We have a new addition in our family, a Nintendo Wii! David wanted a Playstation 2 more that anything. On Craigslist, we found a used one with 9 games or something for a pretty good deal. I emailed the seller and was planning on picking it up after work to surprise David. The more I thought about it throughout the day, the less I wanted it... haha I talked to David about it and we decided that if we were going to get a gaming system, we wanted a Wii. The next day we got our federal tax return and decided to check around for the best deal. Basically everyone sells it for about the same price. Best Buy was our decision and we purchased our Wii in a packaged deal along with two remotes with motion plus, two nunchucks, a charging station, Wii Sports, and Wii Sports Resort. David is hooked!

This past weekend David's parents visited! It was fun to have company and we even got them to try out the Wii! They brought me a graduation gift and brought us an Easter basket. My mom also sent an Easter basket down with Derek, so we are loaded with treats. Thanks for everything, parents!These were fun little bird's nest treats I made...

David wanted to try to paint eggs this Easter. We blew out the eggs, dyed them pastel colors, and then attempted to paint. Our eggs had nothing on the ones he saw in Slovakia on his mission... We lost interest pretty fast. The best egg was painted by David's mom, Tracey.

Graham Canyon

Nearly four years ago I volunteered as a freshman to help at the senior celebration night at BYU.  It was an event with various activities and lots of food for all about to graduate and leave BYU.  I was on condiment duty near the hamburgers.  Next to me was a lady serving BYU Creamery ice cream.  She asked me if I had tried "Graham Canyon".  I had not, so she gave me a scoop.  I was a little skeptical at first. I like ice cream and I like graham crackers, but this seemed wrong. Oh was I wrong! It was the best creation in the whole wide world. It is graham cracker flavored ice cream with graham cracker swirl and chocolate covered honey comb things (I don't remember the chocolate things from my first experience...).  AMAZING.  My life has forever been changed.  

Well the school year ended and I went back to Moses Lake to work and save for the next year of school.  When I returned that fall and had a chance to get some ice cream, I was told that there was no more graham canyon.  BYU halted production on all of their varieties for a time.  I was bummed.  Occasionally I would peak in and see if they had any, but was always out of luck. 

When I started dating David I asked him if he had ever tried it.  He hadn't and I don't think he was in any hurry to try it either... After we were married, toward the end of this last summer, I heard that BYU was back in production.  I was elated! We stopped by three, maybe four times, but every time they were out of Graham Canyon... Bummer! 

Today was our lucky day! They had Graham Canyon!! David and I bought a carton.  I anxiously waited for David's reaction.  It wouldn't be the worse thing if he hated it... More for me, right? Turns out he likes it.  I am happy to have finally shared this little joy with David after my three year drought. 

You should definitely put this on your list of things to try!

R.I.P.

    Walter, also known as Wally, passed away today.   This brave beta was rescued from his little blue cup of water and adopted to my family on November 11, 2007. 

 

For a little over a month or so, he has been lying on the top bend of that rainbow rock thing.  He would occasionally swim up for food, or miss that and "eat" an air bubble. It was the poor guy's time. Walter lost most of his color this week and was no longer with us this morning.

Valentine's Day Married Style

As you know, Valentine's Day landed on a Sunday this year.  This day was our first Valentine's celebration together as a married couple.  I didn't want David to spend lots of money on flowers like the rest of the crazy boys in the world do and I don't exactly need extra candy in my life.... We decided that we would just savor the time together and I wanted to make a nice dinner. Outback Steakhouse's Alice Spring's Chicken was my main dish choice. When I told David my plan and explained what it was, he didn't seemed too thrilled.  My goal was to prove his doubts wrong.  Let's just say he was more than impressed. :)

 

Alice Spring's Chicken is chicken marinated in honey mustard, covered in sauteed mushrooms, bacon, jack, and cheddar cheese.  Delicious! I got the recipe here: http://www.ichef.com/recipe.cfm/recipe/Outback%20Steakhouse%20Alice%20Springs%20Chicken/task/display/itemid/508379/recipeid/117827

 

David wanted potato salad, but it turned out we didn't have enough mayo. :( So the only side was amazing asparagus, which was plenty.
Well, no special dinner is special enough without dessert...SO, I decided to use the ramekins my mom gave us for Christmas for the first time and I made Chocolate Souffle with Creamy Caramel Sauce. WOW. The caramel sauce was superb.

 

I tried to just drizzle it...Okay, that is a lie! I went a little over board with the tasty caramel.  I don't even regret it! You can find the recipe here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Souffles-with-Creamy-Caramel-Sauce-15813 

I love my adorable valentine, David. We are happy together and excited for all the adventures that we will experience together.  He is talented, smart, and encouraging. I can always count on him to make a hard day better or to help me with an overwhelming project. He is working hard toward challenging goals for the benefit of our family. I am so proud of him. Spending the WHOLE day with my Valentine was enough for me this Valentine's Day.  I wish every day could be like today. <3

The Tale of the Broken Cookie Jar

So strange things happen sometimes when you least expect them. For instance, you can be in the kitchen with your wife doing dishes while she is cooking breakfast and your cookie jar can just jump off the fridge and break into a thousand tiny pieces.

 So the story behind the cookie jar is that Deidra's friends took her to a pottery painting place and she made it for us. It took hours of hard work. She brought it home and was so proud of making our first family cookie jar. It was definitely cute and, of course, held special meaning for us as a new couple. Then again everything for us is a first still so anything like that holds special meaning. So, as you can see, it was seriously bustecated (broken) into about a thousand pieces. We picked up the pieces and put them in a box lid to get ready to throw them away. But this just couldn't be. How could we let this go so easily? I decided to buy some super glue (Gorilla Glue brand) and piece together the broken shards of our cookie jar. It was more than just preserving a receptacle for cookies; it was about memories for us...well, we like cookies too. So, after an evening of trying to piece this thing back together this is what we have.

We like the busted look. It has character. It tells a story. Plus it is 40 dollars and a few hours of effort to try to go and make the same one over again. So, we have a disaster, a moment of despair, a moment of hope, and then, a busted glued-together cookie jar.

 Once the cookie jar had given up hope of ever seeing cookies again, David saved the day! Deidra made cookies this very day and the jar is happily back to full operating condition (with some nice battle scars ;)).