Faux Fried Ice Cream

Last night at YW, we had what I would call Faux Fried Ice Cream. It was actually really good and pretty well resembled the stuff you buy at Mexican restaurants. I love that stuff too! I found the recipe off of one of my fave sites, Food Network. I found one that we could deep fry and one where we did not. We opted for the non-deep fried just because it was faster. You gotta love Rachel Ray, or at least love her quick recipes!! It was a big hit with all the girls and one that I think you should all try out! I don't have a picture of it but I plan on making it again soon so maybe I will post one later!

Oops!

**So I am guessing that maybe no one will just take the plunge on their own and do this, so I am tagging all the JRC girls, Julie Brady, Kristin G, Juli, Brittney, Jenn, Karolyn, and Sara...of course, the invite still stands for everyone because I really do want to hear all of your stories, I just don't want to list everyone on here!**

I was tagged by Kristy the other day about our engagement story and realized yesterday I never actually did it!! That is what happens when you have too many to do lists laying around the house! So sorry its been a few days Kristy, but here ya go!

You can't really tell our engagement story without telling how we met. It was a normal Friday night going out to dinner with my roommate, Rachel, and her boyfriend, Brad. The three of us were practically inseparable so it was our normal routine of the week. Brad had recently moved in with some new guys and invited Mike to come out to eat with us because their roomies were going on a group date. (Mike went to ask a girl out on this same group date but when he went by her work, he just decided like he didn't feel like going so he didn't ask her.)

So we all went to Applebee's in Cedar City, Utah. It wasn't a blind date or anything, just friends going out to eat. Mike and I really hit it off though and talked the whole night. It was a lot of fun! So I am wondering if he likes me and my roomie thinks I don't want him to so she is like, nah, I wouldn't worry about it. I don't think he does. But Mike looks up my number on the school website and invites me over to watch a movie the next night. I already had plans so I didn't go but we set up a date for the next weekend. We officially met around February 21st, went on our first date February 28th, and talked about marriage for the first time on March 5th.

So it's March 31st, Mike had this whole big elaborate plan of how he was going to propose and he was going to surprise me with it all when I came home from the dark room (I had to go develop a bunch of pictures for my photography class.) Only I was a slacker and called him up and told him I wasn't going to go in. He seemed a little bugged but I really didn't notice too much. So I went home before he had a chance to follow through with everything. But he had already decided he wanted to do it that night. So he and I went on a drive up through Cedar Canyon, which was gorgeous during the spring! We went for a walk on this trail up there and in this secluded spot by this creek Mike says, hey let's sit down for a bit. Then he has this poem/letter that he gives me. It was the sweetest thing and when I looked up from reading it, he was down on one knee and asking me if I would marry him. I was shocked but really excited! I don't think I actually cried, which kind of surprises me but I wasn't as much of a softy back then!! We picked out the ring together and the rest as they say, is history!! We were married June 26th, it will be 5 years this June!! Mike is absolutely amazing and keeps me smiling everyday! Our old bishop used to tease Mike that he married "up" but I think I was the one who did!
Anyone who wants to share their engagement story...I want to hear it, but I think most of you should because I haven't heard most of your stories and who doesn't like to reminisce those first days of love!!

Tooth #4

So how loud can you hear me singing hallelujah?? Hudson's top right tooth broke through finally. He had the hardest time going to sleep last night because of it. We felt so bad for him but no matter what we did, it really didn't seem to help a whole lot. Hudson did finally go to sleep which was good because Mike was trying to work on this big paper for his writing class. Unfortunately, Mike ended up staying up really late and because of this, so did I. But at least it gave me the chance to update my blog background! Yay to Hudson for having his two front teeth now!! Guess he will have to find something else to ask for for Christmas this year. (All I want for Christmas is my...hmmm)

Other project

Here is another project I was working on earlier this month. I saw something in a catalog I got in the mail that inspired this. I had never actually done an embroidery from my own pattern before but realized, it is super easy to do! I usually like to frame these rather than just hang them on the wall or whatever but that is probably just because I like frames a lot!

The Secret Life of Bees

Set in 1964 in South Carolina. This is kind of a coming of age story of a young girl trying to find the truth about her mother's life. She and her "stand-in mother" Rosaleen get taken in by three beekeeping sisters. Its a great story of women during a time in history that deals with racism and change. It focuses on loss and finding forgiveness. It is a heartwarming story that I would recommend. I rate it an A or A-.

{Main Character}

I really liked the main character Lily Owens. I found myself really feeling for her. She has gone through quite a bit in her young life: being raised without her mom and having a dad that shows no love to her. She is virtually all alone other than Rosaleen. In spite of all of this, she finds strength to brave breaking Rosaleen out of jail and venturing out into the unknown world. I love the quirks that she uses to mentally get through life as she figures out who her mother was and ultimately who she is.

The most expensive toy we have...

Who knew that when we were buying a dishwasher for me, we would also be buying a wonderful, always entertaining toy for Hudson too?? Over the last few weeks he has really started to get into it. I don't know why he didn't seem to notice it the months before but he loves it now! If only he would stay this interested in dishes when he was older, then we would really be lucky!

CiCi's

On Friday night, we had a family "date" night. When Mike got home from school, we headed out to CiCi's for dinner. We had been wanting to check out that place since we moved here and figured it was about time to splurge. It is a pizza, pasta, salad, bread sticks, and dessert buffet for all of you who haven't heard of it before. It's only like 5 bucks a person, so its right up our poor alley! And we found out on Monday's its only 2 bucks for college kids...not a bad bargain! We loved it and Hudson was entertained by all the kids around him and the flat screen with cartoon network blaring in the background. I could not get enough of those cinnamon bread stick things! I could have eaten them all night long!! I was a huge fan of the bread sticks and salad too. The pizza I had was just rated "not bad" but all together, it is definitely a 'must go again' type of place!!

Drum roll please...

Here is the moment we have all been waiting for...the reveal of my random post the other day. You ask yourself, what has she been working on? I did get a few funny comments of some items that I think would be very fun to make; however, this is what I actually did make:

This was one of my easiest projects of late! I must say...I may be decked out in headbands more often. I am planning on changing the pattern around a bit and adding a little more flair even but that will all come in good time! I did want to mention that this little sucker took me less than one nap time's worth of cutting and sewing to put together. Not too shabby!!

Fanfare!

Hudson has started figuring out the whole concept of your voice sounding different when you talk into things. He loves to blabber on inside of objects now. I caught him on video the other day. He thought it was hilarious!! Now anytime you give him something like a cup or whatever, he will talk and laugh into it. Its so funny how different your voice sounds in a cup!

Teaser...

I have been trying to get around to these for the last few weeks but since I have gotten caught up in a variety of other things, they have waited! But here is a little tease of what I have been up to today:

Guess you will have to check back again later to see what in the world this is!

Caught both of ya!

I love this picture of Hudson. Mostly because it shows his bottom teeth but also because he has the biggest grin on his face! And since it actually has me in the picture too, since I am usually the one with the camera, pictures of me and him are few and far between! I figured I better post it!!

Jack jumped high...

I love reciting nursery rhymes to Hudson. Who knew that within a matter of no time after having a baby, you could have most of the main rhymes memorized??! Whenever I say Jack jumped high...I lift him way up in the air. He squeals with delight! Hudson also loves it when his Dad lifts him up high. He always puts his arms up in anticipation. He loves to touch the top of the ceiling as you come down the stairs too!

Uh-oh

Hudson was playing really good with toys and I got busy with something. Then I noticed it was too quiet! This is how I found him:

He had pretty much undone the entire roll of toilet paper. Gotta love it!

New clothes...

Here are just some different pictures of Hudson over the last few days. I had to get a few of him sporting his new sweathshirt. I love his name on the back of it!! Looks like a future sports player for sure!!
These other two are him just playing around with his blocks. He is growing into his next size of clothes so I was excited to take some pictures in them!

Last night Hudson was playing around with Mike and took his pacifier out and put it in Mike's mouth. It was totally out of nowhere!! We couldn't stop laughing. Then Hudson starts laughing and snorted! Then he laughed even harder! What a funny little man...

The end as we know it...

Sadly, we finished up the 7th and final season of Gilmore Girls tonight. I really did enjoy the show. Mike really is probably not that excited that I ratted him out. He watched most of them with me but probably more because he wanted to hang out than that he loved the show!!

Embroidered

Hudson's Grandma sent him the coolest V-day gift. She embroidered a sweatshirt for him. He has his name on the back and everything!!We love the baseball stuff too! Hudson is going to look like a stud in these!! Thanks Grandma!!

Our lawn...

This morning Mike took Hudson downstairs to start feeding him his cereal. I came down after him and said it sounds like someone is mowing the lawn. Mike's like...or they are shoveling snow....sure enough! It snowed again! (Not quite sure why I was thinking it was the lawn being mowed. I think it was just wishful thinking!) So church was cancelled. I have never been anywhere when they have cancelled church. But I guess with people having to travel from 30 minutes away, it kind of makes sense.

Mike and I decided to go through the food in our 72 hour kits. Mmm... Some of that was a little expired. Hudson had to get in there and check everything out too.

10 months old!

Hudson is 10 months old! WOW! I can't believe he is already this old. He is such a fun kid! He loves to figure things out. He can drink from a straw but mostly he likes to blow bubbles with it. He loves to initiate peekaboo with his towel after he has taken a bath. He hasn't ever really gotten into patty-cake until I started rapping it to him lately. He loves balloons and likes to chase after them. He loves to be in the action and be around people. He loves to giggle. He likes to throw balls and anything else that he can pick up. He gives kisses and he has recently started saying mama. He loves books, especially the touch and feel ones. Hudson is fun to have around!

Girl in Hyacinth Blue

No worries...no spoilers of the book. Just a mini review of what I thought!

This was a different style of book than I have ever read before, but I really enjoyed it. It goes through each owner of the painting and shows how they obtained it and how it made them feel. I think this is a must read for those that enjoy thought provoking books.

{Characters}
I felt like there were at least a few characters throughout all the "mini" stories that anyone could relate to. I found myself feeling sorry for some of their situations and empathizing with what they were going through. Even though each segment was fairly short, I still felt like the characters were developed well enough to keep you attached to them.

{Ending}
I was a little worried that the end would be a sudden stop and sort of leave you wanting more. However, I was quite pleased with how the author really seemed to tie it all together and show the beginning, middle and I guess the end (as we know it), of the painting.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It is a really quick read, partly because the pages are fairly small but it also just keeps you interested to see how the painting ended up in each person's possession. I think I would rate this book with a B+ or A-. It's a great book but maybe not everyone's style of writing.

Yummy....

We got the highly anticipated heart pizza from Papa Murphy's for V day. There was a HUGE line for these things. A lady had called in a 1/2 hour before and they hadn't even touched her order because they were so slammed. Who knew these things were going to be so sought after?? I must say though, it held its own. A heart shaped chicken pizza on the day of love beats a regular round chicken pizza any day!

A few breadsticks, slice and a half of pizza, diet pepsi and a few episodes of Gilmore Girls with my man made my Valentine's a great day! I must say, I am easy to please!

Balloons

Hudson had his first experiences playing with balloons last night and today. His Grandma and Grandpa M sent some Valentine's goodies that also had some fun balloons in it! At first, I think they freaked him out a bit because he was trying to hold onto me for dear life. Then he started realizing that they were pretty cool! Now we can't keep him away from them...just hoping they don't pop!

My Sweet Hubby!!

Mike gave me the best gift today...sleeping in!! I never knew how much that would be appreciated! He totally took care of Hudson and I didn't get out of bed til about 7:45!!

Even though we decided not to do gifts this year...he made me this sweet poster! It has a bunch of my fave goodies on it! Plus, it was something he came up with all on his own which is always the best gift anyway~something from the heart!

I love Mike and I am so grateful for all he does for our family! He is awesome! Thanks for going out of your way to make the day special!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

These were the Valentine's Hudson sent to his grandparents!! We had a blast making them yesterday! He actually did really well with the ink too! We didn't get it on anything but the paper...yay!

Random...

I took a few random pictures of Hudson today and wanted to post him in his army getup! I love that little outfit on him. He keeps doing this funky side smile. I think its because of his tooth coming in up top. I love it!

He loves to cuddle with Fuzz's Cuz almost as much as he does with Fuzz. At least we have a close second in case anything ever happens to Fuzz!!

I have also decided that I am going to read at least 2 books a month this year. I read pretty fast so I usually can finish books within a day so I figure 24 in a year should be easy considering I will be done with book number 4 tomorrow. I am always looking for good books so if you have any recommendations...send them my way! I do have a list of about 140 or so that I have compiled that I want to check out to see if they would be worth diving into! So after a read, I will give a review on here of whether or not I would recommend it to you. But don't worry, I won't give any vital parts of the book away!

Pleasant Surprise

When I went to YW tonight, the YM in our ward had decorated the room with hearts all over. They had a box of chocolates and bubble pens for each girl and even us leaders!! I thought it was such a sweet thing to do! Now every girl in our ward can say she got a Valentine from a boy. What good YM they are!

PAT Visit

Our PAT lady visited us again on Tuesday. We had a blast! She brought some great stuff. She brought an oatmeal container all jazzed up with some bells or something inside. It is great and Hudson was immediately attracted to it. You can use it like a drum, you can roll it around or shake it "like a polaroid picture". He LOVES it! She also brought a few more laminated rhymes for us...wee willie winkle was one of them. He loves it when I say that to him. We played a lot with a muffin tin and taking things out and putting them back in it. We practiced having him bend down to pick something up while he was standing nearby the couch. That is supposed to really help build leg muscles and coordination to help them walk. She brought me this great 3-ring book that has all sorts of activities to play with kids from birth to 3 years old. It has some great ideas in there. Then she brought us some bubbles! This was a great idea...it's to help him with pointing so you blow the bubbles and show him how to point at them. He was a little cautious of them at first I think, but he loves them now.

She also brought some nesting cups so he can practice stacking them, putting them inside one another and hiding things underneath them. He really liked them so much that he kind of hid some when she left...guess I will just have to get those back to her next time!

Then she brought us over this huge inkpad! I was so excited because I had been wanting to make his Valentine's with an ink pad but I didn't have any that are big enough. I will post his Valentine tomorrow!

Grey's here we come...

YAY!! The writer's strike appears to be over...what does that mean for us?? After 3 long months...new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and many other great shows!! I am so excited! What can I say? I am addicted to Grey's!

Tooth #3

His top left tooth decided to grace us with it's presence today. Thank goodness because when I picked him up to put him down for his nap, the collar of his shirt was SOAKING wet! I mean he has been drooling a lot but nothing like this. This should be the first of 4 that will be coming in the next few weeks or so according to the doc!

Look ma...no hair!

And if any of you are wondering...we don't have premature balding on our hands at 10 months! Hudson got another haircut yesterday (his fourth to be exact!). I am really trying to manipulate those front hairs to grow in well!! Hope it works...until then we will be a little sparse in the hair department!! Plus, it's pretty blondish anyway so you really can't see it that well to begin with!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday...just wanted to wish her a great day! She is such a great example to me and I don't know where I would be without her! Hope you have an awesome day! We will be thinking about ya!

Brusha, Brusha, Brusha...

Hudson loves to brush his teeth...he must have gotten that from me because I was OBSESSED with it in college. I am talking like 10 or 12 times a day. My old roomie Brittney can attest to this, because she did it too!! But thank goodness he picked up one of my good qualities!! Maybe his enjoyment of brushing will continue on in life and help out with cavities or better yet, a lack of cavities!

Uh-oh...

Here comes trouble.....

I know I have mentioned that we have an explorer on our hands...little did I know!! He tries to figure out everything in our house! We had made a "ghetto" sort of cover out of a cardboard box to put over our DVD player and VCR so that Hudson wouldn't be tempted by the lights on them. But he has officially figured out how to get through!

He will not stop attacking our shoes. It doesn't matter where they are...he will reach and reach for them on the stairs even if they are totally away from him and still figure out a way to get them down! He loves to chew on the shoelaces and to throw them around!

He also found this random cord behind our TV that isn't plugged in. He tries to chew on it...but luckily, I caught him in time and stopped that action real quick.

He kept taking a Diet Pepsi can out of the trash today. I finally took the trash bag out and tied it up. Boys are such adventure seekers...its the best!! I think this is the beginning of a long list of trouble coming our way!