A Tea Party

If you got an invitation to a Valentine's Tea Party that was an hour-and-a-half away and openly stated that "there will be no tea, and more importantly no tea cups" you'd probably think it was a waste of time. 

But that's only because you don't know Wendy.

Meet Wendy.

When Wendy invites you to share a meal with her, you accept. Period. You are guaranteed gourmet food, good company and an all-around lovely afternoon. And who doesn't need more lovely in their afternoon? 

The place settings. Please notice the cupcakes (on cupcake stands) and the fancy-pants goblets from which we sipped fancy-pants lemonade.

The best Tomato Soup I've ever tasted. Should I post the recipe?

A grilled cheese sandwich might be boring, but heart shaped goodness? Yes please.

Fresh fruit.

My home-made gumball necklace. 

And cupcakes with the world's yummiest frosting on top.

My little brother is a genius for marrying this girl. Just might be the smartest thing he ever did. 

Also? Happy Valentine's Day. 

I hope you have someone to love today. 

Day 27 - A Very Important Person

Day 27 - A photo of someone you could never imagine your life without.


I know it's corny, but it's not like we're a perfect couple who is always desperately in love with each other - so I'm allowed to be corny every now and again. Besides, the truth is, that ups and downs, good times and bad, I really don't know what my life would be without Josh. And although there is photographic evidence to support the fact that I existed before I knew him, it's hard to remember what life was like. I hate to think of a future without him in it. That's the truth.

Us on the cruise to Ensanada.

Us being dorks at Memory Grove

The golf cart Josh drove ON. THE. FREEWAY. IN MEXICO. Listen, we might not know each other that well, but I'm guessing you know me well enough to know how well that went over.

Us in our living room tonight. Mascara smudges under my eyes and all.

An Explanation

Remember how we went on a walk yesterday to celebrate a temperature greater than my age? This pose is why that walk took 45 minutes. 

Bubbah crouches to point to and touch something new.

Turns out that 1 year olds don't walk as fast as 26 year olds. Who knew?

You've missed this smile haven't you? 

I may or may not have let him chew on that stick.

And for your viewing pleasure, this face is the one Tommy makes when I say "still chewin'?" to see if I should give him another bite or not. (For the record, the answer is usually 'not'.)

You're welcome.

Day 26 - Home

Day 26 - A photo of where you live.

Earth.

North America

United States

Utah

Wasatch Front

South Davis County

Don't you think it'd be more fun to see what I live close to? Maybe this will be a 31 day challenge and I'll add a "it's close to...." section cus that sounds like more fun. Plus then I can use fun pictures of stuff we do that's close to here.

Day 25 - bad habits

Day 25 - Your worst habit.

I talk too much.

*The fact that I'm ending this post here is my attempt to overcome said bad habit.*


[Amy takes a silent bow.]

Bike Ride

On Tuesday Josh stole my carseat and I had to go to the post office.

When I called to complain he said "why don't you just ride your bike - it isn't that far". And I (in a rare moment of maturity) said "great idea. It'll be nice to get out."

That was before I knew there was still ice on the roads and wind blowing 10 hundred million mph.

So I threw a bunch of hud in a bag and off we went.

30 minutes later we had traveled all 3 of the miles to the post office.

For real.
3 miles.
30 minutes.
On a bike.

Remember how most people RUN that fast?

It was BRUTAL. The wind and the icy "hills" nearly killed me.

But we made it.

And the ride home only took 15 minutes (wind at our backs, hills headed the right direction - lovely) and I only pedaled once or twice.

So there Tommy was on a leisurely ride home with nothing to do but go through the bag at his feet.

When I opened the trailer to see my babe, he looked like this.

Sunglasses carelessly slung around his neck and ipod earphones around the back of his neck. The kid could be 15 couldn't he? Except for his 6-toothed grin that still melts my heart.

Day 24 - FOOD

Day 24 - A Recipe.

We call these Witch Momma's Enchiladas because the original recipe (which I totally messed with) came from a friend who I only know as "Witch Momma".

Also, most of it is guess-work, but go ahead and pretend it's a real recipe OK?

Witch Momma Enchiladas
A pound of chicken breast
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1/2 onion (I like red, she likes yellow....whatever)
1 can black beans
chili powder
paprika
cumin
oregano
garlic powder
(also, tortillas, mozzarella cheese, & enchilada sauce)

Chop the veggies and cook in a pan with meat and black beans. Add some of each spice because that's why it will taste good. But don't measure, because it's freeing to just sprinkle ingredients directly from the container to the pan. I promise, you'll like it.

Cook (or soften) your tortillas in a DRY warm frying pan.

Stuff full with the meat mix and add a little cheese and roll it up.

Placed filled tortillas in a 9x13 pan (or 2 smaller pans if you wanna freeze half).

Cover with enchilada sauce and more cheese if you like. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Josh smothers his with salsa, sour cream and anything else that will make it more juicy. I smother mine with spinach and pico (if we have it - salsa if we don't).


And then for dessert:

Cook a regular flour tortilla.
Spread just a bit of butter on it.
Drown it in cinnamon and sugar.
1 scoop of ice cream in the middle.
Wrap it up and pretend it's real food instead of candy-food.
Mmmmm SO SO tasty!

The warm tortilla makes the ice cream perfectly melty and the cinnamon/sugar goodness is oh so yummy!

Day 23 - Shrink

Day 23 - A photo of something that has made a huge impact in your life recently.



Meet Paul.

He's my shrink.

I swear if you find the right shrink, there is no measuring the impact in your life.

What Keeps Me Up At Night

When I was pregnant with Tommy I became certain that I needed to own a bathrobe.

Mostly it was because at 2am I'd lay awake in bed thinking "If the house caught fire right now, I'd barely have time to roll out of bed and waddle down the stairs before I burned to death. There would be no time to put clothes on, and I don't know any of my neighbors well enough to knock on their door in my underwear at 2am and ask them to clothe the whale that I am.............................(this isn't true anymore, I have lots of whale-clothing neighbors now)
And if the house catches on fire NOW (5 minutes later) I'm going to have to tell the story in church where I ignored the promptings of the Spirit to get up and put my pajamas on so I wouldn't have to wander the streets in my underwear. That's gonna be embarrassing. Maybe I should just lay here and burn instead."


So I bought a bathrobe. Because somehow that seemed to solve my problem. And now I wear my bathrobe pretty much all day long.

And now I lay awake at night thinking "Do people put their bathrobes by their beds in case the house catches on fire?" So, I'm asking you. What do people do when their homes catch fire in the middle of the night? And where do you keep your bathrobe?

Also, what keeps you up at night?

Day 22 - Hitched

Day 22 - A photo of your wedding/future wedding plans.

The Dress

The Friends

The Flowers (and the kisses)

The Temple (and the sun! holy crap the sun!)

The Dudes Fixing The Pipe

The Cake (which was mostly a pan covered in fondant)

The Decorations (which we thought were "The Toys")

The Entertainment

The Ladies

The Gentlemen

The Happy Couple

Day 21 - I like to read

Day 21 - A hobby of yours.

I like to read.

I remember as a little girl (7 or 8 years old) staying up past bedtime to read. My bedroom was at the bottom of the stairs at grandpa's house and I slept on the side of the bed closest to the door.

We'd be sent to bed and the old people would stay up watching the news and doing old people things. The light in the stairway was always on, and although my door was supposed to be closed I'd crack it open just a tiny bit. I'd lay on my stomach on the edge of the bed and dangle my arm over the side. That way I could use my hand as a paperweight to hold the book open to the appropriate page while it casually rested on the floor. I have vivid memories of the sliver of light falling over the pages while I read - moving the book around so the light fell on the section I was reading. I'd pretend that I had fallen asleep that way anytime I heard footsteps on the stairs with my incredibly convincing "eyes closed and heavy breathing" routine.

I think I've always loved reading. I hope I always will.

My boys

I know you don't love them like I do - but you don't have to love them that much to love this, right? 

There's just something about a clean baby (and a man who got him that way) that makes me happy.

Day 20 - Skills

Day 20 - A talent of yours.

I won't lie - I don't have very many visible talents.

However, I used to play the piano.

See?

My mother actually loved me enough to demand that I play until I was like 14 or 15. I like to think I had a reasonably decent skill.

But then I quit.

And now my unpracticed fingers fumble through songs clumsily.

But I still count it as a talent. Because with practice, I can play. And I positively LOVE that.

One thing I love about Ross

One thing I love about Ross is finding treasures like this in the shoe section.

I really wish I had bought this treasure to take to a white elephant party next Christmas. It would've gone down in history with the bag of 100 tiny pink doll shirts.

But instead I needed these beautiful new shoes.

The Library

Tommy was here.

The Off Switch

The best part of cleaning up at night is turning all of the noisy toys to the 'off' position and putting them in a big pile in the corner.

A big silent pile.

I think I'll call it, "Death of The Noise"

Day 19 - Get me outta here!!!!

Day 18 - A picture of a place you'd like to travel.

I haven't been many places because of what a sissy I am. Also because I'm not independently wealthy. So my list of places to go is LOOONG.


Chiloe Chile


Someplace in Scotland


Hawaii


Beauchamp Falls, Australia (even before Oprah made it cool)


Then again I'd also settle for a trip to the wildly exotic St. George.


Or Bountiful.

Whatever. I'm easy to please.

Day 18 - mem'ry.....

Day 18 - A photo of your favorite memory.

When Tommy came into the world our lives changed forever. The whole experience was incredible. All of it. I know you're supposed to, but I loved being in the hospital afterward. I loved the sitting around with nothing to do but look at the baby. I loved talking to Josh all night long. I loved

I swear this is as far away from Tommy as Josh ever got for a solid 3 days. He wouldn't leave his side.

Megan (Josh's sister) holding Tommy.

 I sat in that chair for WAY too many hours in a row. And I loved it. I asked the nurse if I'd get in trouble for stealing it. She said yes. I miss that chair.

Our family has never felt more perfect than we did then.

Knock it off! - ch-che-ew-it (that's the sound of a camera)

I think that the best way to get Tommy to stop doing something is to try to get a picture of him doing it.

80 years from now when my grandkids are trying to figure out why I took 9,000 photos of Tommy removing every DVD from the rack, I hope they find this post.

Also, what sound does the camera make at your house?

Day 17 - Website

Day 17 - Your favorite website.

The websites I spend the most time on are hulu (hello free tv!) and the new and VERY improved lds.org (hello calling). So I tried to find another website that made me look cool.

And while I was going through my history, I found this article on Lifehacker that my brother sent me.
While I was there I remembered that I should probably print off the periodic table of cleaning (again) and do something about this sty I live in.
Which is what lead me to toilet cleaning with kool-aid.

Kool aid reminded me that I forgot to write down the glass of Martinelli's I had last night with my popcorn and Bones.
So I headed over to NutriMirror to write it down.

And there I was. It's my favorite recipe/motivational/social networking/food logging site.

Also, lifehacker has the ability to suck me in like almost nothing else. So I suppose lifehacker comes in second.

Even when I'm trying to look cool, I'm a nerd. *sigh*

So Cold

Today is cold beyond reason.

Here are some scientific facts that I just made up:

If you left something outside last night, it wont thaw until August.

If (and it's a BIG if) you go outside and breath in, the air freezes the saliva in your throat. That why you start to choke.

If you stay outside for more than 15 seconds, your exposed skin starts to ache. (That's actually true. At least for me.)

If you let your child follow you out to the garbage can, you feel like a child abuser when he drowns in the cold. (Also true.)

If you throw a cup of boiling water into the air, it vaporizes before it finishes going "up". *poof* (like that)

If you leave your space heater off, your toes will turn black and fall off.

If you make soup and eat it by your window, you will chip a tooth.

I'm glad I get to stay inside today.

Day 16: Cry Song

Day 16: A song that makes you cry.

Remember when making mixes was a hobby? My friends and I would sit around on a Thursday afternoon downloading music and making a mix for the day.

Then I went to college and took the hobby with me. One mix that Jamie and I made is called "Songs That Make Me Cry". Jamie has beautiful handwriting and can write in different fonts, so she wrote the title of the "album" all fancy. I miss Jamie. We were fun.

Sledding up Emigration Canyon in 2007. Good times.

When I ripped that CD to iTunes some of the songs were worn out from listening to them too much. I swear just after we made that CD it didn't live my 5-disc-changer for months. (Remember life before the iPod?)

Anyway, I could put all of those songs on here. And if you're looking for some really great crying songs, let me know. But the ones I love most today are:

Neither of these videos are worth watching, but both songs are worth listening. So turn them on, and go respond to your e-mails or something.

Hey Girl by Colors


and

Man of the World by Marc Cohn

5 words

It's 8:06am and I've only said 5 words so far today.

It's strange because usually by now I've had a 35 minute whine session cleverly disguised as a workout with Jess (poor Jess) and come home and reviewed my day with Josh "will you be home before 9 tonight?", and reminded Tommy that "oh my goodness there's a day out there!" and narrated the getting dressed and breakfast rituals, "let's see what shall we wear today? you need summa pants.....and summa shirt.......and summa socks.....cuz it's brrr-freezin' out there!" and "hold on baby, we're just gonna warm you up some sick nasty wheat-cream....ooooh blackberries! you lucky boy." Which reminds me. No matter how much good stuff you put in cream of wheat, it still tastes like wheat. OK? So you probably shouldn't waste too many frozen berries, or yogurt because in the end you just wind up with a bigger bowl of cream of wheat. Poor baby.

But I've finally caught Tommy's cold. And I'm losing my voice (and my sanity...but I think that my voice is the greater loss, the sanity was questionable anyway.)

So I texted-in-sick to Jess and my 5 spoken words this morning were "Josh, can you get him?"

Some people intentionally take a vow of silence. They don't speak for months at a time. So far I've been awake for about 45 minutes and the silence is killing me. I am not those people.

Day 15 - New Friends

Day 15 - A photo of yourself and a new friend you met this year.

I'm not good at making new friends. I'm actually really really bad at it. But once I do make a good friend, I think we become VERY good friends pretty quickly.

So I'm surprised by this, but it was just over a year ago that Ashley and I started hanging out together. Now she's one of my closest friends and I love her dearly.

This is from our hike to Donut falls last May. Remember it was snowy, but Bubbah wasn't wearing any shoes or socks? It wasn't nearly as cold as it looks.... May people. It was MAY!

Anyway.....this is me and Ashley.