Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Starting out the New Year right!

I'm sure you don't want to here about our house searches, but we are so excited we can't hold it in. This last month we sold my Jeep and that provided us with a great down payment for a house. We met with the bank and got pre-approved on the 17th of December. We then met with our Realtor on the 18th. Unfortunately he was leaving for Christmas that weekend. He sent us some listings through email while he was gone. We were so excited to see some of them, we drove around and peaked in windows.


Our realtor got back yesterday and is going to take us to look at 3-4 of the houses we want to see, tomorrow. I'm so excited I can barely sit still. This is way more exciting than Christmas (not saying I don't love the ballroom dancing lessons Loren got me), but I've always wanted a house and now the time is coming.


Here are some of the house we will be looking at. There is benefits and downfalls for each house. From all the pictures, peaking in the windows, and location; Loren and I are liking the first one the most. It has 1522 sf, 3 bed, 2 bath, family room, bonus room (we like this option), dining room, and huge kitchen. We'll have to see tomorrow what everything else looks like inside, but we really like this one. Oh, and it sits on a .24 acres. This would give us an area for a huge garden. I'm sure I'll keep you posted on what happens. Hope you all have a great New Year!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Christmas Lights

Loren and I have a tradition of going to look at Christmas lights each year. We don't look for just any lights though. We are looking for the most outrageous and goddy looking houses. Here are the one's on the this years list. We made it a double date by taking our friends Justin and Amanda out to Nampa to our favorite restaurant. Then we started by looking at this house in Nampa. The lights cross the street onto the neighboring property, has a working 21 foot tall fariswheel, a lit up igloo, four working train sets, and to top it off; Santa was in the igloo passing out hot cocoa and candy canes. It was totally worth the drive.After looking at the amazing house in Nampa, we wanted to show our friends the neighborhood that had lighted trees along the drive and almost every house was lit. This is the best house out of them all.We then headed up to the hill. You can see this house from anywhere in Boise. The back yard is decorated in an angel. Sorry the picture is so blurry, but we were far away without a flash.
This is the view from the front yard. There were cars lined up all the way down the street, so we decided to get out and walk. And good thing we did.
This is the view of the front yard on the left side of the driveway. This is the view of the front yard on the right side of the driveway. We couldn't believe our eyes. They had everything and anything with a light on it. These houses were great. I can't image the time and energy it takes to put it all up and down, but just think of the electric bill. I do believe that these houses will be a tradition every year.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

So it's finally here...


The sale of the Jeep is finally here. While in Rexburg this past weekend getting our eyes checked and visiting family, we got a call from someone interested in the Jeep. They had gotten the info off of Craigs list and wanted to know more about it. We pointed them to the ad on Cars.com. They decided to buy it sight unseen. They ended up being from Rexburg, so we drove back to Boise Sunday night (7 hour trip with the snow, yuck) and brought my father-in-law back with us. He took off Monday morning with the Jeep, and by 5:00pm that day we had the money in our hands. We just can't believe it. We haven't had any calls within the past 2-3 months. I guess this economy and weather isn't Jeep buying time. Our prayers were finally answered. They wanted it in time for Christmas. How exciting for us. With the sell of the Jeep we will have a nice down payment for a house. Now the new adventure begins...buying a home.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Beautiful Sunset

Last night before we went to dinner, Loren called me out to look at the sky. The past two evenings the sunsets have been so beautiful. This is a view from our front door.

New Haircut

It's been months since my last hair cut and my hair was getting way too long. So I told my hairdresser to do anything she wants. I got a new dark color with some red and an A-line cut. I love it. I've never had my hair cut like this. The pictures were taken pretty late last night, so sorry about the bad photos.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Life's too busy

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Life has just gotten so busy. Work has really picked up since most of the accounting team is now in the new building. I feel like things at work are just piling up, and all I'm doing is playing catch up. Me being at home sick today isn't going to help either.

I also got a calling in the Ward. I'm the Valiant 9 class. My first week teaching was last week, and I'll tell you...those kids are wild. I'm very excited about this calling though. I've taken time preparing the lessons and also making a FHE packet out of each lesson for future use.

Recently we had a craft activity night for relief society and I chose two projects. I love them. They came out so well. I can't wait to do the block pictures of my children.


Friday, November 21, 2008

Great deal!

Loren and I ran to Wal-Mart last night to pick up some eggs. While walking down the main aisle, we spotted Campbell's cream of mushroom and cream of chicken on sale for $.50. Wow, we thought. You can't even buy the imitation brand for that price. Since we have been working on our food storage this past year, we thought we would stock up. I think the lady at the check out thought we were crazy when we checked out with 24 cans of Cream of Chicken and 72 cans of Cream of Mushroom. Now...those weren't all of ours. 48 cans of the Cream of Mushrooms were for Loren's parents. It is one more step on being prepared for anything (recession, famine, job loss). I really do believe that each one of us should have a food storage, even if you only buy 1 extra can of food each shopping trip. The prophets wouldn't tell you, if it wasn't important. It has been hard storing everything, but we've found a place for everything (under beds, in totes, in the garage).

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

8 things

Here are the rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Answer the six "8" items.
3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

8 Favorite TV Shows:
1. The Office
2. Heroes
3. Americas Next Top Model
4. Dancing with the Stars
5. Biggest Loser
6. Arrested Development
7. Gray's Anatomy
8. Desperate Housewives

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Slept
2. Ordered scrapbook pages
3. Worked
4. Watched TV
5. Checked email
6. Ate
7. Wiped the kitchen table down
8. This is pathetic, I really didn't do anything.

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Owning a home
2. Starting a family
3. Not having to work
4. Christmas
5. Flying to KS
6. The weekend
7. Sleeping
8. Eating

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Olive Garden
2. Panda Garden
3. Wingers
4. Tablerock
5. Red Robin
6. Chili's
7. Texas Roadhouse
8. The Cheesecake factory

8 Things On My Wish List:
1. Adobe photoshop Elements (hopefully I will be getting this for Christmas)
2. Trip to Hawaii
3. More time to do what I want
4. Less bills or more money
5. A nice house to live in
6. To go skydiving
7. Lose weight
8. Start a family

8 People I Tag:
1. Alexis
2. Trixie
3. Desta
4. Koreena
5. Anna
6. Emily
7. Arlee
8. Any one who wants to do this.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Things I have Done

I got this off of a friend's blog. It sounded fun. You are supposed to bold the ones that you have done.
1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 18. Grown your own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing- 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie- 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching 63. Got flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chickenpox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Digital Scrapebooking

Anyone that knows me, knows I love to scrapbook. I even tevo Scrapbook memories on the BYU channel. They always have an section where they do digital scrapbook and I started to get interested in it. One day while I was at work, I researched it and came home and downloaded the trial version of Adobe. I've fallen in love with a new hobby. Not like I don't already have enough hobbies. I love the thought of being able to make a layout and change colors, textures, and pictures and have another page already done. I've downloaded all the papers and embellishments for free and now I'm learning how to make my own. You might wonder how much it cost to print of a 12x12 page, but it's not much. I get them all printed at Costco for $2.99. Not bad thinking of everything I would need to purchase. You can even print out a 12x18 for the same price. My goal is when we have kids to print off the 12x12 for me and then 2 6x6 of the same page for the grandparents. Whala! Christmas and birthday gift, done. I do bring the pages home and add more ribbons, buttons, and flowers, just to give it some texture. Here are the pictures of my first 3 pages.


Friday, November 7, 2008

Deer/Elk Stroganoff

We purchased a Crock Pot with all the gift cards we got from our wedding and have loved cooking in it. Loren is a hunter and we have tons of frozen deer and elk meat in our deep freeze. I found a recipe the other day that used both the Crock Pot and all that frozen meat we have, and it came out wonderful.

Deer/Elk Crock Pot Stroganoff
1 1/2 pounds elk roast
1 1/2 tablespoons steak seasoning
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of onion soup
1 cup water
1 cup sour cream


1. Season the roast with the steak seasoning and sage, and place into a slow cooker along with the onion, garlic, cream of onion soup, and water.
2. Cover, and cook on Low until the meat is easily shredded with a fork, 5 to 7 hours. Stir in the sour cream, and cook 30 minutes more. Shred the meat before serving.
3. Serve over rice, noodles, or potatoes.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Looking in our window!

A couple of nights ago, we came home to a frog looking in our window. The wood pole was a support for our window air conditioner, that we hadn't put away yet. But it was so weird that the frog took the time to climb up this long pole to sit on the top. We haven't seen any frogs around our place until this one. It was just too weird not to blog.




Yummy

I went to cheesecake factory the other day and instead of getting cheesecake for dessert I got their layer cake. It is the best thing I've ever had. The cake consisted of layers of brownie, chocolate cake, fudge, coconut walnut frosting and cheesecake. The picture doesn't do it justice, probably because I had already eaten half of it. Thank you Cheesecake factory for putting all of my favorite desserts into one.

Halloween Night

Happy Halloween! Hope everyone had a good night. We decided to stay at home and pass out candy, since we were in a neighborhood and expected kids. We didn't get a single tricker treater until 8:00pm, and we ended up only getting 3 knockers. We were expecting more with the amount of kids around our neighborhood, but I guess they didn't want any candy. A nice photo of me and the cat. He helped carve the pumpkins and light them. I thought it would be good to get him in the photo too.
Loren wanted to make his pumpkin a little happier this year. I dedicate my pumpkin to the neighborhood cat.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Friday's Recipe

I'm going easy today and giving you a quick and easy chip dip for the holidays.

Chip Dip
1 container Sour Cream
1 packet Ranch Dip

1. Stir together
2. Serve with ruffles.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Totally Bumbed

So...after two weeks talking back and forth with the guy who was going to buy the jeep, everything fell through. I guess he got pre-approved through Wells Fargo 2 months ago, and when he went back in, they wouldn't follow through with their pre-approval, economy and all. He then went to a credit union and got approved for $5000. He offered us the $5000 plus payments, but no way...he could totally jump ship and we would be out. We told him about our credit union (they didn't do any of those funny housing loans and they are sitting pretty right now). We are now crossing our fingers to see if things go through. I just hope this all wasn't a big scam. Do you think it was?

Thursday, October 16, 2008

A walk around my block

Yesterday I was feeling restless with Loren being gone and everything, so I decided to take a walk around my block. I could believe all the flowers I saw (it's already freezing here and they are still alive). The leaves are at their peaks and it was just so beautiful with all the colors surrounding me. I was taking these pictures right at dawn without a tripod, so sorry they might be a little blurry. I tried being as still as possible.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Saying good bye to the jeep

While working at Ashley Manor as a Marketer, I used a company car to do all of my driving around. In February they decided to sell all of their company cars and since I was still working out of the car, Loren and I decided to purchase the car from them. We got a great deal. They sold it to us for $3000 and it blue booked at $5000. For the past 8 months we have owned 3 cars (Car, Jeep, Truck). We drive the car everywhere and use the truck for moving, camping, and other things. So in June we put the Jeep up for sale.
It blue books at $11,800, but it needed new tires. We priced it at $11,500. As the summer drifted away and funds got tight without me working, we continued to lower the price. The economy isn't the best place to sell a car right now, especially one that is used mostly for fun. Then last week I got an email with an offer of $10,000. Instead of paying for insurance this whole winter when no one drives it, we decided to settle on the lower price. I think we were a blessing for the gentleman buying it. He got approved for a loan but it had to be under a specific mileage and he was having a hard time finding a jeep with those specification. We will meet with the gentleman and his bank on Friday and sign over the title.
So this is my ode to my jeep...its been through a lot with me. Moving to Boise not knowing a single person and not even having a place to stay the first night. Starting my first career, and then switching it twice. Finding the love of my life and marrying him. I loved my jeep. Being able to take the top off and go rinding through the mountains was awesome.
As life goes on, so does the vehicle. I know someday I'll own another Jeep Wrangler. Right now in my life and where my future is leading (children and what not), the Jeep isn't right.
Good Bye Jeep.

10 min drive from Boise

Loren and I love to go for drives in the Mountains. We usually take the top off the jeep and enjoy the nice weather. This fall the price of gas has been so high, we haven't ventured out. Until this last week, we hadn't gone all year. So when we got an offer on the jeep, we decieded we better plan a date. We didn't go too far, only about 10 min from Boise. It was a little too chilly to take the top off, but it was a farewell drive. The colors were beautiful (you can't really see it in any of the pictures). We saw two deer and Loren saw a bob cat when we stopped to pee in the woods. These are some of the pictures from the drive.





Friday's Recipe

Cheesy Potato Chowder

2 c. diced potatoes
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. grated carrots
1/4 c. chopped onion
2 c. water
8-10 oz. Velveeta cheese

White sauce:
6 T margarine
1/4 c. flour
2 c. milk

Cook vegetable for 10 minutes in the 2 cups water. While vegetables are cooking, make a white sauce. Add white sauce to cooked vegetables (do not drain vegetables). Add Velveeta cheese to soup and simmer until melted.

The view from my office

Working at Dickinson Frozen Foods, has it perks. They barely moved into a new building in Eagle Idaho. Our office consists of the 2nd floor back side of the building. We have a gorgeous view of the pond, trees, and park. The only thing that isn't good, is that bright sun shinning in the morning.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Free Handbag

If you want to enter to get a free handbag go here. It's Handbag Planet and they are giving out a free handbag every hour on October 15. Check it out!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Chicken Pot Pie

1 15oz pkg Pillsbury
1/3 cup margarine or butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1.5 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2.5-3 cups shredded or cubed chicken or turkey
2 cups frozen mixed veges thawed and drained

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Prepare pie crusts for 2 crust pie (in other words, take them out of the package!) using 9" pan.

2. In a med saucepan, heat margarine, add onion & cook 2 min or until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth & milk. Cook stirring constantly until bubbly & thickened.

3. Add chicken and vegetables. Remove from heat. Spoon chicken mixture into pie shell. Top with second crust and flute edges. Cut slits in top to help vent heat.

4. Bake at 425 for 30-40 min or until crust is golden brown. Let stand 5 min before serving.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Kitty Kitty

I always had cats growing up, so when the next door neighbors cat starts hanging around, I just have to adopt it. This cat comes a running every time our car pulls up in the driveway. I'll let him in, but the whole time he is in the house he is following us around and wanting to be played with or petted. He is just the sweetest cat. He wants to be involved with whatever I'm doing, as you can see in the bottom picture he is helping me cut the blanket I was working on. He loves sleeping on the end of our bed. If he could he probably would stay inside all day, but we only let him stay in for a bit each time. He is the cutest thing though, messed up ear and all.



The cutest idea

My friend Camille got married a couple weeks ago and her wedding was beautiful. I love the little details she put into everything. I thought I would post a picture of how beautiful she was also. The second and third pictures are pictures of small tables she had around the reception. They included pictures and candies in her colors. I loved how she had different kinds of candies on each table. The use of different frames and candy dishes was a good idea, so you don't end up with 10 of the same vases. It was a wonderful wedding.







Driving to the Wedding

Meghan and I were traveling to Burley for a wedding and we both hate wearing dresses. The fix for that is to wear shorts under it. It was wonderful to be able to slip the skirt over the shorts and be ready for the wedding, or slip the skirt off for the 2 1/2 hour drive home.













Friday's Recipe

Ham & Broccoli Shortcut Stromboli

1 pkg refrigerated pizza dough
1 can cream of celery soup
1 c. cooked chopped broccoli
2 c cubed cooked ham
1 c shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Unroll dough onto greased baking sheet. Set aside.

Mix soup, broccoli and ham. Spread soup mixture down center of dough. Top with chees. Fold long sides of dough over filling and pinch to seal. Pinsh short sides to seal.

Bake 20 min or until golden brown. Slice and serve.

Loren and I have also tried it with a broccoli cheese soup and we loved it. Experiment with all kinds of soups, veggies, and meats. It's all up to you.

Haircut

Loren's hair has gotten a little too long over the past couple months. One night we decided to give him a trim. I used the clippers on the bottom half and then used scissors on the top and in the fade in. I think it turned out pretty well for my first male haircut. Look how much hair I cut off though.