The latest

We've been having some fun with the last few weeks of summer. We went to the Davis County Fair to watch the diving dog competition. It was so cute. Funny side note we were the only couple there our age without any kids. Yeah....we are cool like that.

This dog was so funny. He would really dive for his ball that kept sinking. He'd look at it a long time and then go for it and all you could see was his tail a waggin' above the water. Then he'd get his ball walk up the ramp to get out of the water, drop his ball and then it would roll back in the water. Over and over again. Cracked us up.



This little dog would jump in after lots of coaching she finally jumped, I mean got pushed in. But she was so excited and yet unsure at the same time. It made us really want to get a puppy.



About this time my camera died. Sad. Then we went to the Bunny Barn and got all hopped up on bunny love. We meandered through the displays and then made our way over to the petting zoo! Once again only couple our age without any kids. They had some fun animals like a Camel, he kept making angry noises at me so....I gave him plenty of space since they spit. They also had a couple of Llamas and they were so soft and adorable. Then a Zebra, but we weren't allowed to touch him and lots and lots of goats in various shapes and sizes. It was fun and I kind of felt like a little kid but I really wanted to pet the Llama.

After that we enjoyed some fair food. Justin got a "brick" of curly fries. Basically 3 huge potatoes sliced and filling the fryer basket then dumped out on two plates and seasoned. I really wish I could have gotten a picture. It looked like one of those eating challenges it was so huge. Needless to say Justin didn't eat it all. =)It was a fun pretty low key fair.

We've also been enjoying this delicious pairing.

That's what you get when I go to the store hungry. It was especially delicious.

It's been a good summer but I think that we are both ready for fall. I am ready for it to be cooler, it's been a challenge this summer since my bed buddy is a very sweaty sleeper. I am excited for all the fun things we have planned for September. Our anniversary, Birthdays, and da ta! The Circus! I am jazzed about that. =) We hope that you are enjoying the last few breaths of summer.

Cooking like a Newlywed

When cooking with my grandma and if she would make a mistake or accidentally burn something she would say, "You would think I was a newlywed with how I made this meal." Now as my newlywed status is slowly getting less, ( coming up on one year whoo!) you would think that all my cooking disasters would be getting less. Au contraire, lately I have been doing some really good mix-ups.

I do like cooking, I feel really good about myself when I make a good dinner that we like to eat and when it all turns out. Does that mean I cook every night, um no. Possibly 2-3 nights a week or more if I happen to make a menu that week. I like to try and make new things I've never made before like scones, breads, different meals or salads.

Last week my cooking whoops was when I was making the ever famous Stoddard Frog Eye salad. In it you have to cook these really tiny balls of pasta at the same time as making the goo. A pudding type mix that must be stirred or else it will burn. So I am going along everything is going good. The pudding is thickening and the pasta is almost done. Without thinking I dump my teeny tiny pasta into my colander, and get the water running on them to cool it down. ...Yeah...my colander has very big holes see:

Do'h! It's a good thing that I put in a little more of the pasta because a good portion of them got washed away. It's a good thing realized what was going on before I lost all of them. In the end it all turned out great and just as good as I remember.

Another time I was making stuffed shells one of Justin's favorites. Well this time I decided to add some shredded vegetables to the cheese mixture for some fun. I shredded them all and mixed them in the cheese before I read the directions that said, " Saute the shredded vegetables before putting in mixture." Whoops, oh well. I felt bad because there was nothing I could do but comforted myself in the fact that the were shredded pretty small and would probably be okay. Then I was seasoning the mixture with some salt and pepper, right after I put two eggs on the top. While dashing some pepper in, the lid to my shaker falls off and poof! Tons of pepper all stuck to the eggs and cheese. Do'h! I got out what I could and just mixed it really good.

I did a taste test to see how peppery they were. It was pretty potent. I fretted over it the whole rest of the time I spent putting the shells together. Now when I make shells it's a lot like two pans worth so I am hoping and praying that they taste ok or else....that's a lot of wasted food. After they baked and we tried them they were actually not that bad, still peppery but not as strong.

While I will probably continue to make mistakes in cooking even after not being a newlywed anymore I still enjoy it. It also helps that my husband is not that picky and is sweet enough to tell me loves whatever I cook. =)

The New and Improved Crafty

( I know that this a repeat post but my sister-in-law posted it on her craft blog so it needed some more information and pictures. But it's still cool and since I am trying to post more it all works right? =) )


Growing up my mom always had some project going on. Whether it was sewing, embroidery, knitting, or just a fun craft for us kids to do. Needless to say I picked up a lot of different skills and hobbies from it. I can sew my buttons back on, sew a quilt or make something that I saw in the store for half the price.

A while ago I was really struggling with staying awake at work and needed something to do to help me stay awake. While at my mom's house I came across this:

How cute are they right? They also had patterns for fruit, vegetables, bread and sandwich makings, sushi, stir fry, and pretty cakes. Since my niece's birthday was coming up I thought how awesome would that be. I loved playing with some play food, and dishes my grandma sent me. It was really fun and pretty easy to learn. I was familiar with crochet but usually had a hard time getting my lines straight. However, most of these items are really easy to make and had understandable instructions. I did have to do a few items a couple of times to get it the right way but I think they turned out pretty cute.

So much fun and they won't hurt if you step on them. They were about the size of the actual fruit which was fun. They also don't take that much yarn so they are a perfect project for any leftover yarn. After that I was getting a little bit bored and needed something different. Well these were too cute to pass up and were perfect for little babies or toddlers. I got the book at my local Hobby Lobby for about 5 dollars.

The elephant turned out a little wonky and the monkey really tiny but still adorable and fun to play with. . So cute and easy to make. I did have some trouble finding the eyes at my local craft stores so I ended up getting them at etsy.com. The end product measures small so if you want them bigger use a bigger sized needle and yarn and vice versa. If at first you don't succeed try again. The top is my first attempt at the elephant the bottom the second.

They make the perfect friends.

I have been having a lot of fun and at times just feel my creative juices flowing and it keeps me awake when I go to work! My next project is to try my hand at hats, slippers, and baby booties. There are a lot of free patterns out there in the internet world here are some you might like to try:

http://www.allcrafts.net/crochet/crochetflowers.htm

http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory/flowers.php

http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/patterns.htm

Or if you want something more specific check out the patterns at etsy.com . They always have super cute stuff. Happy crocheting!

Ask and ye shall receive

For my job I work with kids which I have really been loving, especially my little baby patients. The only bummer about my job is that it's at night. I watch the kids so that their parents can sleep to be able to take care of them during the day. It's not too bad it just gets really hard when I am scheduled to work 5-6 nights out of the week.

So....as you can imagine it's been a struggle for me and for my husband. Me being a variety of tired and my husband being consistently patient and kind. I have always been trying for other jobs and praying for more opportunities. It was only when I accepted my fate (for now) and changed my thoughts and prayers to having a good time at work.

I have a particularly difficult patient who on occasion can get out of control, hitting and crying and being very unpleasant. It's not only a physically but emotionally draining shift.

So....I have been praying, at times pleading ,for good times at work, able to stay awake , and more importantly a good attitude. I have also been talking to Justin about me asking to have part time hours since he is now making the big bucks. I decided to wait on asking and just keep going to save up some money and pay off our debt. All the while praying and asking for help at work.

My schedule for the month of May was rough 5-6 nights a week consistent but it went by really fast and my patients were all good. June I had less work and so-so on the patient's being good or not. Then July it got even better. I had less nights and more then once my patients would sleep all night. (YES!) Now it's not bad if they wake up it just makes me feel better to tell the parents that they slept well. Now comes August and I thought that I would have to work a lot. I didn't request very many days off and school is starting so some of the nurses are on different times.

However, I received the greatest blessing and answer to my prayers. I only am scheduled to work 11 times in the month of August. At times only once a week. I think I could get used to that.

I was so overwhelmed by the love I felt from my Heavenly Father who has heard me all these months through my tears, my struggles and pleading for a break or change. I am so grateful and amazed by this blessing. Some things I started doing at work to help was to not watch t.v. ( not that there is much on a 3 in the morning.), read my scriptures, write down what I am grateful for and read a conference talk. It only took about an hour and I almost always had an hour in which my patients would sleep. It was so great! I learned so much and I believe it made the night more bearable.

So...now that I have all this free time what will I do. Well I already made a trip here:

I've already spent the day deep cleaning my apartment, organizing, decluttering and other fun stuff.

Other stuff on the to-do list:
Go to a Bee's Game
Check out the fairs that are going on
Reading
Exercising

Visiting with Family
and enjoying sleeping normal for a while. =)

Meeting the Messengers

Over this past weekend was Justin's extended family reunion in Washington. We went with his mom and little sister. It was a really long drive to a beautiful place and great to meet "some" of the Messenger clan.

We started out driving for Washington on Thursday night around 9 p.m. Justin was a trooper and was the one to drive all night. I did my best to stay awake with him and help keep him awake, but I had to doze off here and there.

As usual with working nights the hardest part was between 2-5 in the morning. After that the sun started to come up when we were in Oregon and it was so pretty.

Needless to say that the ride got a lot more exciting after we could see what was all around us. Not that we missed a whole lot going through Idaho, but it still was nice. =) We drove by the Columbia River for a long time. It is amazing. For those of you who used to play the old Oregon Trail game, it's the river that you have to ford at the end that had rocks and other problems come at you. It really goes on forever and is super wide.

We finally reached Justin's Aunt's house in Centralia, Washington and it was beautiful. It had a huge yard with trees everywhere and just smelled so clean and foresty. We set up tents and helped get things set up as we were the first ones there. They had all sorts of fun games to play such as: Badminton, Hill Billy Golf, a basketball court, Frisbee's, and other fun toys.



On Saturday, we floated down the Skookumchuck River ( isn't that a fun name =) ), visited Justin's old house and hometown, and played a epic game of capture the flag. Followed by yummy smore's, visiting and meeting more Messengers.

We both come from a small town, but Justin totally has me beat on size. If you blink, you would miss it.

We headed home on Sunday and it took us all day. I was super excited to finally be back in Utah after what seemed like forever on the road. It was a fun trip, we were glad to get to spend some time with the Messengers, driving together and learning about the fun times had in Washington.

Day four and Five (coming home)

Day four: Island of Adventure.

On our last day in the parks we went and explored the other rides in Island of Adventure. It wasn't that crowded everywhere else because everyone was at Harry Potter Land. Some of our favorite rides there were: The Hulk! Dr. Doom's Fear Fall ( like the Rocket Re-entry) and Poseidon's Fury. There weren't that many rides there and Justin didn't want to go on the get wet rides. So after lunch we went back to Harry Potter land and rode the castle ride again and the other track on the Dragon Challenge. It was awesome because we walked right up to the front of the line. Hardly any wait. It was awesome.

So then we said goodbye to the parks and went home. We had fun but were ready to be done.

Highlights: Hardly any wait time for rides again! Getting a fast pass privilege for the Jurassic Park River Ride.

Bummers: Saying goodbye.

Day five Coming home!

After all the fun at the parks we were ready to come home and enjoy the hot but not humid weather of Utah.

Except it wouldn't be a complete trip with a stop at the Happiest Place on Earth, no not DisneyWorld but the Orlando Temple.

It was a really pretty temple and the day was really bright and the temple was so white it was blinding. It is very similar to the Bountiful Temple. They were built around the same time. Instead of arches at the front they had big white columns. But the inside layout was almost exactly the same. The celestial room was the same concept but just different colors. So it really did feel like home away from home. It was really nice to get away and just relax in the temple.

We had rented a car to get us to the temple and then the airport. It turns out that the temple was not to far away from where we were staying so that was cool. After the temple we went to lunch and then the airport. We felt a little bit better going this time since we had been there before. We get there, return our car and get everything taken care of. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 4:40 to New York then from New York to Salt Lake. Well when we got to our gate it said our plane was delayed. It continued to be delayed throughout the night. Eventually JFK was shut down due to a bad thunderstorm and rain in New York. All the people around us waiting were getting really impatient and it was a long wait. Finally at 11:00 p.m. we were allowed to board and get ready to leave. We just wanted to go somewhere! We got to New York at about 2 in the morning and nobody was there. No other planes were leaving and we had obviously missed our connecting flight so we were looking at other options.

The next plane for Salt Lake from New York was at 8 p.m. We would have had to wait over 16 hours in the same place. We were both so tired and at this point really frustrated. We ended up getting a flight to Long Beach. I figured if we get stuck there I have family close by that could come and help us. So we got on a 1:00 flight to Long Beach, then a flight to Salt Lake city later that evening. I called my sister in California and said " Hey want to play for a few hours?" So when we got to Long Beach my sister and husband graciously took us out to dinner and to get some fresh air. After waiting for almost 12 hours in the airport unable to get more then 20 minutes of sleep at a time it was a welcome break. We had a great dinner and then headed back to the airport. Of course our plane home was delayed about 30 minutes and there was a heart racing minute when we thought we almost didn't have a seat but all was well.

We finally made it home back to Utah 24 hours later then we were scheduled to. We had to wait for the 8 p.m. flight from New York to make it in so we could get the bag that we checked so even more waiting. But at least we were home! We got everything and made it home and crashed. It was quite the experience. No pictures were taken as I didn't really want to remember this . =) We did however keep a really positive attitude throughout it all. Justin was very calm and only near the end was expressing his frustration. It made it so much more pleasant to travel with. We were doing all that we could and so at times we just had to wait.

Home Sweet Home.

Day Three Harry Potter Land

Day Three: Harry Potter land and The Three Broomsticks.

We started out early and walking over to the parks since we had to be to the Three Broomsticks by 8:30. Harry Potter Land is in the Island of Adventure park in the very back so it was a long walk. I didn't realize how small the Harry Potter part actually is. It's just a "island" in the whole big park. It's like Froniter land inside Disneyland. So it was a very crowded area and there was only one way in or out so it got very congested. I was glad that we got there early cause even then there were a lot of people. We went to breakfast and I had a traditional English breakfast with pumpkin juice. It was actually pretty good and I tried a bite of my blood sausage, that was interesting. I had a little geeking out moment in the restaurant as they only play the music from the Harry Potter movies. I recognized it as the part when they dance in the 4th movie and got all excited.

After breakfast I took a trip to the Ladies room where I could hear Moaning Myrtle saying something. I only mention this because of Moaning Myrtle and I thought that was a nice touch. There were little decoration shops everywhere and a few actual shops that were just as tiny but made our way to the castle. The main ride is called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. You go through a tour of the castle essentially as you wait and then you have to help Harry, Ron and Hermione with something. It was fun and the though the wait was kind of long about 45 minutes. We were walking the whole time so it didn't feel that long. The best part of that ride feeling like you are flying.

Then they had a few roller coaster type rides. One for little kids called The Hippogriff Challenge or something like that and you get to see Hagrid's hut. Then the big ones were called the Dragon Challenge. It is based off of the 4th movie where they have to fight a Dragon. That was actually two different roller coaster going at the same time in between each other. The scariest part was when you are essentially playing chicken with the other dragon and then you turn at the last minute. It was really fun and we went back the next day to do the other track.

Then we attempted to buy souvenirs. In the tiny shops. It was a hard shopping experience for me because I like to touch and look at everything before I get it. But inside the shops was worse then the lines to the rides. I ended up just grabbing some stuff and getting out of the shops. We got some sweets from Honeydukes...but same story tiny shop lots of people. By that time I was ready to get out of there.

It was fun to be in Harry Potter Land. It did seem magical and it was fun. I just wish they would have made it bigger with more things from the books/movies. Butterbeer was kind of a let down. I was so excited to try it because ever since it was introduced in the books I wanted to try it. So you get it cold with the foam on top. The foam was delicious and probably the best part. Just trying the drink wasn't so great. However, pumpkin juice was awesome! It was like cold cider and juice mixed. Yum.

After exploring all that we wanted of Harry Potter land we went to the movie Super 8 on the IMAX screen by the park. It was a welcome break because it was blazing hot and humid there. While waiting for our movie I snapped this beauty.




It's a portable chest shocker that they use on Dr. shows. I really got a kick out of it because I had recently redid my CPR and all the instructions say do this or that..and get the AED. That's what it's called, I don't remember what the acronym stands for. But the nurse in me was glad to see it EVERYWHERE! It was I think at the end of every ride I only saw it at the end of a few, but in the airport ,all over the park and I think in a few of the restaurants we went to. I felt safer. I told Justin " If I or you collapse we need to know where they are," after pointing them out every time I saw them. =)

The movie Super 8 was pretty good. It's not the type of movie that I usually see but I was most definitely entertained. The main characters are a bunch of 13 year old boys in the 70's making a zombie movie. So it had some funny lines. Then we walked back to our hotel and relaxed the rest of the night.

Highlights: The Rides at Harry Potter land. Our Breakfast at the Three Broomsticks. A nice cool movie. Feeling a little bit magical.

Bummers: All the stinkin' lines for the shops. My goodness. The heat.