January was a month of birthdays....

January 19

I turned twenty! (Olive Garden makes the best Lemon Cake. Yum.)

January 27

Sage turned twenty six! (My mom's cheese cake recipe is so much better at her house but this was a pretty yummy second.)

Please Excuse My Absence. . .

Dear Blog,

I know what you must be thinking. January is out the window and February is close behind. My days have been pretty busy lately and it is not that I don't want to post, I just don't. Instead I go to class, work my several small college student jobs, try to make it home in time to make dinner, do some homework, and if I am lucky, spend some time with my husband. There is not a lot of time for anything else these days. So you see, I had to make a choice; neglect school, not a good idea. Neglect my jobs, good bye groceries. Neglect my house and my husband, not an option. So I had to neglect you. I hope we can still be friends. I am planning on coming back this weekend if everything goes as planned. Thank you for not disappearing, even though I had.

That's all,

Goodnight. 

Still Here!

This break from work and school has been everything I hoped it would be. It has been so nice spending time with my husband, seeing family, eating good food, celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and welcoming in the New Year. I hope that you all have had a safe and happy holiday as well. I took a few pictures over the break that I thought would sum up the fun we have been having pretty well. Here you go!

The day we left our little home in Logan.

In-law's house. (Before presents.)

In-law's house. (After presents.) Not sure how I managed to get feet in each picture :) Check out the stocking I made Sage! It is on the far left of the mantle. I have  one just like it. The white fabric is super soft.

Temple Square visit with my side of the family.

Beautiful Salt Lake City Temple.

Tucanos Brazilian Grill with In-Law's. (Celebrating my father-in-law's birthday) Delicious grilled pineapple.

Skype video call with brother-in-law on a mission to Chile. 

Cute sister-in-law and mother-in-law playing Jenga during Skype call.

Back in Logan now and still playing Jenga. Thank you Holly! Had no idea that Sage loved it so much.

First day with Naomi for the semester! Naomi and I have been good friends for a little over a year now. Here is a picture of her the first week I began my nanny job last year: 

Love this little darling.

We have a lot of fun together.

And that is what we have been up to for the past few weeks.
Have a great Day!

Ps. I have finally updated the About Me tab! Took me a while to get those baby pictures. Click here to check it out.

Final note: For those who were keeping track, I have not posted the remaining twelve dates of Christmas. I was having too much fun to post all of them. (that and I just stopped counting!)

Finals Week...

Tomorrow is going to be a great day. Tomorrow is the last day of finals week. If all of college were like this past week I might consider dropping out. It sure has been a busy one. I have my last two last finals tomorrow morning (7:30 and 9:30). Then I am all done until the spring.

Even though this week was very busy, I realized that I can do hard things. I really can!

My brain feels a little fuzzy from long nights at the library and I am aching for some quality time with my husband but tomorrow is coming and it is going to be a great day.

My old roommate Randi  shared this song on Facebook in celebration of her last day of finals. Today, I share it in anticipation of mine. Enjoy. And to all you fellow students who still have test to take of projects to be turned in, good luck! Your happy day will come, too. I promise. 

Our Fourth Date of Christmas...

Today we enjoyed a nice dinner date in the engineering building. One thing that I love about our marriage is that we always have dinner together. Even on our busiest days we will find a place to meet and eat. I so look forward to that time we get to sit and talk together. I am really excited for winter break when we can spend more than just a few hours at a time together. That will be very nice.

Here is what we ate tonight:

Chicken Fajitas:
Cut chicken breast into strips, cook in a skillet. When almost done cooking add sliced green pepper and sliced red onion and a little butter if needed. When veggies are tender add a little water to your skillet along with one packet of taco seasoning. Let simmer for a little bit. Put in a tortilla with your favorite topping. We like black beans, cheese, salsa, sour cream, and tonight we are adding some baby spinach, cilantro and chopped green onions (leftovers from Thai Curry Soup). Wrap it up and eat. (If you feel like it, you can toast the tortilla after it is all assembled by placing it on a clean skillet or griddle over medium heat. Watch it closely so it does not burn. We like to do this sometimes because it gives the fajita it a nice crunch.)

This recipe is pretty simple and I probably do it a little different every time. That is why I was not very specific with this recipe post. Enjoy!

Our Third Date of Christmas...

Yesterday we had a wonderful Family Home Evening Date. We played the piano and sang Christmas songs, ate dinner, and played a "dating game". Sage wrote down some questions earlier that we each took turns answering. A few were, "How many different kinds of cheese have you tried?", "What is a family tradition you want to establish?", "What scripture has helped you this week?", and "What is one of your favorite memories of our dating and courtship?" It was such a nice date. I love Sage :)

Have a great day! 

Our Second Date of Christmas... With a Recipe!

Yesterday was our second date of Christmas. (If you missed the explanation of these dates click here.) We ate good food and watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. I love my husband! We had so much fun together on our sweet and simple date.

This was our devotional setup. Very cozy :)

 Devotional Goodies: Kettle Corn, Hot Chocolate, and a Christmas scarf from my sister Kelley!

Dinner: Thia Curry Soup with mozzarella and basil toasted whole wheat dipping bread.

To make bread:
Cut any bread you have on hand into slices. Arrange on a cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and basil. Turn oven to broil and watch closely until cheese melts or turns slightly golden if you like it extra crunchy. (The middle is not supper crunchy but it is perfect to dip in soup!

To make soup:
I got this recipe many years ago from an online source that I do not remember. I was looking for a recipe similar to the Thia Curry Soup at Noodles and Company. This is perfect. Here you go!

Thia Curry Soup
prep time: 15 min.
cook time: 35-40 min.

Ingredients:
- 2 oz rice noodles
- 1 T. olive oil
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 1/2 T. minced lemon grass (I just used a little lemon juice)
- 1 t. ground ginger
- 2 t. red curry paste
- 1 (32 oz) carton chicken broth
- 2 T. soy sauce
- 1 T. white sugar
- 1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk
- 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms (if you like them!)
- 1 (10 oz) bag baby spinach leaves
- 2 T. fresh lime juice (I used lemon juice because that is what I had)
- 1/4 c. chopped cilantro
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add rice noodles and cook until al dente, about 3 min.
2. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir garlic, lemon grass, and ginger, about 30-60 seconds. add curry paste and cook 30 seconds more. Pour in about 1/2 c. chicken broth, and stir until curry paste dissolves, then pour in remaining broth along with souy sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce head and cover. Simmer 20 min.
3. Stir in coconut milk, mushrooms, spinach, lime juice, and cilantro. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer 5 min.
4. To serve, place some noodles into each serving bowl, and ladle soup on top of them. Garnish each bowl with a sprinkle of sliced green onion.

Tips:
- if the package says, "Rice Sticks" they are either the same thing or they work just the same.
- if you don't have lemon grass or line juice, lemon juice tastes fine. The real ingredients will taste better but the soup I made without them was very yummy.
- I don't like a lot of spinach in my soup, the whole 10  oz is kind of a lot for me. Maybe add a little then go from there instead of adding the whole bag all at once.
- getting your ingredients ready to go before you start cooking will make things go so much better.
- I am not a huge fan of mushrooms so instead, I like to put in thinly sliced red onions.

Enjoy!