I Wrecked Our Blog!!!

I need help. Somebody needs to coach me because I just destroyed my blog and have no clue how to fix it. I am ready to cry. Help me!

Welcome Liam!!

We just want to tell Candra and Deej how excited we are for them to bring Liam home. He is the cutest ever and we are so in love and can't wait to meet him at Thanksgiving.

We are also super excited for Ace and Mich to have "Brayden" (ha ha) here sometime in January or maybe if they are extra lucky he will wait until the due date. And excited again for Mat and Chanae to have baby number two on the way and arriving in April. Congrats to all the Christensen babys who were prayed here by Mom and Dad C when they were in Chile, but who all waited until Guatemala to come. :)So many babies!! We love it. That means lots of cousins!! Which sisto will be next?

Too Behind On Postings

I have done about 10 posts in the last two days to cover events that have long since come and gone. Read on and even to go older posts to see what we have been up to. Sorry I have been such a slacker.

Twilight Fever

I am a little behind the times I know. Last fall the girls that sat at my table in one of my classes talked about Twilight all the time. I just listened. But if we sat together now, I could full on be part of the discussion. I missed out. Anyway, I started Twilight in August and finished it in just a few days. Then New Moon in September with just a few days of reading. Now that it is October, I really want to begin Eclipse, but I am reading a few other books right now so I am making myself finish the others before I start devoting my every minute to Eclipse for a few days. Devin used to think it was all really lame, but then he came home from work and asked me if I had seen the trailer for the movie. I hadn't but he told me that I had to watch it because it looks really good. I am thrilled. He really actually wants to see the movie. Lauren and I even got Jordan to watch the trailer and he seems mildly interested as well. That Stephanie Meyers can even ring in the guys. Lucky us!!

Waterfall Hike?

So Devin and I have decided to try to enjoy nature and the amazing weather that fall brings by taking some Saturday hikes, if of course Soccer season will permit. Anyway, Devin needed to break in his new hiking shoes for his backpacking trip so a few weeks ago we set out for some waterfall hike about 45 minutes north. We were very excited, but found when we got there that the trail to the falls was closed. How lame. We considered taking it anyway, but decided to just experience the other dusty trails that led elsewhere. The names of the trails were amazingly deceiving, and the scenery ended up being rather disappointing. Regardless, we enjoyed ourselves and did manage to find a itsy bitsy waterfall and some gigantic pine cones. Hopefully our next adventure yields better results.

Little Lu-Lu

So Lauren is a Senior this year. How crazy! She went to two homecoming dances, hers and her friend Jordans. They looked so cute. Jordan was a sport and took Lauren and three of her friends to his homecoming and then he and Lo went to hers the weekend afterward. As always is McFadyen fashion, I was still sewing parts of Lo's dress, the green one, when Jordan arrived. If our Mom doesnt make the dress, then it always has to be severely altered. Which is easier? Lauren was so excited to go with Jordan because she can wear heals and he will still tower over her since he is 6'7". I think her shoes only made her 7" shorter than him instead of the usual 10! Both her dresses were darling and so different from what the other girls were wearing not only in style, but so modest in comparison. She looked so great. Modest is really the hottest.

Apple Hill

While all the boys were gone for far too long, the girls had to get out and have some fun too. Especially me to keep my mind off of how much I wanted Devin to come home. Anyway, Friday the girls didn't have school so we went to Apple Hill with our good friends Mark and Angela and their crazy kids whom we just adore. I babysit them every week and Emily has been watching their kids since the twins, Cade and Carter, were born 2.5 years ago. They are just another addition to our family. Myles, the 4 year old, thinks Devin is my cousin even though he knows that we are married. Whenever I go to watch them he always wants to know where the other guy is. So funny. Anyway, we went to Apple Hill and it was beautiful and so much fun. We went all over and had the most amazing peaches and of course apples, not to mention apple doughnuts and homemade fudge. It was great. Maybe Devin wants to go soon?!

Mr. and Mrs. Newsom

One of my dearest friends from BYU-I and her love have finally tied the knot. They had a similar dating experience to Devin and I, although ours was much more traumatizing. Ace heard all about it since he was Sarah's religion teacher during the break-up. Ha Ha. However, they made it and got married Oct. 10. She looked beautiful and he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Oh young love. HA HA. Are WE past that yet? Somebody let us know.

The KING Has Returned

My little, bigger than me, brother Chaddie is home from his mission to New Jersey. He came home on September 30 at 10:25pm. This post is long overdue, but the pics were on my Moms camera and I just kept forgetting. We were so excited for him to come home! We even missed him coming down the escalator. His flight had arrived when we got there and because the pilots came down before he did, we just assumed we had missed him so we went looking for him. My mom actually confused Chad for an Asian man and was so excited she took a picture. We were all laughing our heads off as this poor man was coming down. Chad has always been one to take his time and just mosied on down when we had all walked away to find him. I sobbed when I saw him, but quickly pulled myself together for fear of embarrasment. Chad and Devin had never met and from what I see they are getting along. I am so pleased. :) Chad is so awesome and it is so fun to have him home although the first thing he said to me was that I looked old. Whatever. He was in severe shock at the airport, but already he has gone on a few dates and rid himself of the comb-over. He still wears socks with sandals, but everyday makes more progress!

Soccer TIME!!!

Soccer rules the weekends around here for pretty much every family I know, but I think my family gets more action than anyone. There are at least 4 soccer games every single Saturday from the beginning of August until Mid-December. Talk about insane!! Anyway, we are loving it because it gives us something fun to do on Saturday if we can't think of something ourselves. Now that the weather has begun to cool off somewhat, the games are even enjoyable and we can pay attention to the sweet moves the McFadyens all know. I can't believe how amazing the kittens all are and it just makes me wonder what kind of amazing talent I could have had if I had been given the opportunity like the others. Anyway, we have most recently watched Lauren and Emily and hope to get pictures of Ryan and Sarah this weekend. Its hard to make it to all of the games and my parents usually have to choose who they are going to take. Usually Dad travels with Ryan and Mom goes with Emily. They are both playing competitive this year which makes the soccer schedule even more insane with up to 6 games on any given Saturday. Lauren usually is her own cheerleader but I have been trying to watch her games when she has time to fit a soccer game into her busy Saturdays because of taking the ACT a million times to prepare for BYU and going to homecoming so many times! We love soccer and we love our teams!! I especially love cheering for everyone because it always makes them laugh. Last week was great because Lauren was on defense and was basically standing around the whole time and once when I was talking to her, she got tripped. It was sooo funny. Love the game!!

Kitchen Trauma

Just hours ago, Devin and I were fixing dinner. We were having a lovely time enjoying the smell of chicken browning in the skillet for our delicious stir-fry when an accident occured. To begin with, I put the can of juice in a bad spot in the freezer, a really bad spot. Some of the juice we buy comes in a plastic container instead of the usual cardboard, and I guess it doesnt freeze well because we the freezer was opened disaster struck.... Grape juice concentrate all over the kitchen. OH NO!!! I was terrified thinking it was going to stain everything it touched, but so relieved seeing that it had not gotten on the carpet... a near miss. We really lucked out because a gillion paper towels and a few clorox wipes later, the floor, the walls and the fridge were juice and stain free and dinner carried on as usual. A lucky night for us and our first accident in the kitchen... maybe. Aren't we proud.

The Tale of the Fruit Drink

For me, fruit drinks began when I was in Jr. High. My grandma started mixing up a bunch of fruit, some weird powders, and juice. Sometimes, she used algae which was disgusting to smell, but didn't really have flavor mixed with the juice. Anyway, I would take a fruit drink with me everyday on the way to school. Sometimes things would not get blended perfectly and there would be peels, or chunks of fruit sitting in with the drink. This was all fine and dandy until one day, I found a big peel in my mouth. I am not a fan of eating just a plain old apple peel, so I began to take it out of my mouth to discover that it was a band-aid. True story. My grandmas band-aid fell of and into my smoothie and was blended up and I had been drinking it the whole time. It was sick. It took me a long time to get over that band-aid. Now that I am grown, I can make fruit drinks of my own. I dont use fresh fruit, I use frozen. And I add a little yogurt, but essencially it is the same thing. Devin has this handy contraption called the "Magic Bullet". It was ordered off an info-mercial and quite frankly I am surprised that Grandma Bon Bon never bought one. So anyway, we have been married over a year and I have just started using it for the first time. It really is the coolest thing ever. Way easier to use than a blender, much quicker clean up, and it works so quickly. So I have started making smoothies for Devin and I in the morning. I decided that I wanted to try adding spinach, just to see what would happen. I was afraid to add too much, so I only used about a 1/2 cup, but guess what?! My smoothie was delicious and since I used blackberries and raspberries, it was a dark purple color. Not a hint of green to be found. I am hooked and love that I can make my own smoothies and never again do I have to get a Jamba. I mean I will, I love Jamba, but I don't have to cuz I know I can do it myself.... sort-of. And to think this magic bullet has been around the whole time!

Confession Time

So we drove away from Rexburg on July 26, almost two months ago, to the great state of California. I was so pleased to know that Devin was excited to move to the place he said we would never live. It only took him 11 months after getting married, to come around and see the light. It has been so much fun living here. We are really enjoying everything about being here. The heat, the hot heat, the swimming, my family, the heat, the outdoors, the shopping, the city life, the heat, the millions of restaurants to choose from, Devins job, my non-job jobs, the weather, the new experiences, and about a jillion other things. This is where I have wanted to be for the past 2.5 years since I moved away from Roseville to Provo, and then Rexburg. But something has gone awry. I MISS REXBURG!! (gasp) I heard it from all of you. I was as anti-Rexburg as they come. I mean come on. The nine month winter had everyone there crying for help from the weather man. But honestly, I miss all of the things that I loved about Rexburg and sometimes I even get a little teary when I think about what I wont ever have again. I miss our dear family and friends there. Our time with Aaron and Michelle was amazing and it brings me so much happiness to talk with them on Skype and hear Landon say "Devin, Hi" and "Ashie, Hi" I was really scared that he wouldn't remember us after a while. And I love hearing Taylor laugh and I miss all the times that we had with them. My little fights with Ace, and my girl time with Michelle. She was there for me through thick and thin. I cannot believe how comfortable and close I became to her. She is like a full on sister to me and I feel like I have known her forever. I miss all of my friends there, and I really am missing Grandpa and Phyllis being next door to us. We could always just walk over and chat with them and we wont ever have that experience again. I hope that some of you will be able to come visit us and do some of the fun things that we are able to do here in the sunshine. I cant believe how hot it is here still in comparison to Rexburg. I feel like summer is never ending. Anyway, so to everyone, I miss Rexburg. Never thought I would ever EVER say that ever, but I really do. We were so blessed to be able to be there for the time that we were and I learned so much about the importance of taking advantage of the places that we live. Mom C always told me to learn to love Rexburg, and while I must say it wasn't Idaho, or the city of Rexburg, Americas family community, that I loved it was the people and the experiences and I will forever cherish the time we spent there... but I hope we wont have to go back. Ha Ha.

Oh Remember Remember

So my long lost friend from elementary school and jr. high had this on her blog and I remembered some great memories from our time together, so I thought this would be fun.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you remember me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you! If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing and leave a memory about you on your blog!

If you dont know me, leave a memory of Devin. I would love to hear what other people have to say about his past. :)



*also, a side note about this picture of Devin. It is a dear memory that I have of him. Many of you will not know about this, so here it goes. Our first Christmas together, we had been dating about 2 months. Now, we were in such a position where we really liked each other and were exclusive/boyfriend girlfriend, but still a little on edge so Christmas was just confusing. I decided that I would make Devin a blanket because I was going to California for a while and I wanted him to remember me all the time. It was cute and he used it on his bed and he loved it. His idea of a sentimental Christmas gift however, was far from anything I could have imagined. Devin and his friend Rick took a trip to Dad C's land and did a little photo shoot. This very picture was blown up to the size of a poster and given the title Abercrombie and Fitch Winter 2006. Then Devin wrote me a little message and signed his poster for me. How dreamy. Needless to say when I opened it I was confused, shocked and laughing my head off. How random right?! Anyway, I still have it and really should frame it and put it up in the guest room. I cant wait to show our kids. LOVE IT! Love Him!! What a gem. Who else would have done that?*

CALIFORNIA UPDATE

So we have lived here for just a little over 6 weeks and I am a blog slacker but I have great news. Devin did his research and we got our internet hooked up just this afternoon. Devin called me after the internet man left and when he asked what I was doing, he knew I was internetting. So here I am updating the ol' blog-a-roo! Two weekends ago, we got to go camping and to University Falls up in the beautiful Sierra Mountains. We tried to get a lot of time in with KT and Brady before they headed back to Utah for the winter. They are kind of like old people moving during the hot season, expect they are a bit backwards. Anyway, so we went camping with them, and then we got to go to LA to visit Ericson and Chelsy and KT and Brady got to come with. Our trips were such blast. We fell in love with Kalem and I got to give Devin a taste of Disney magic in Downtown Disney. Chelise and I decided that we are going to have to get season passes in order to make our lives work out the way we want them to. Ha Ha. Devin said I have to get a job if that plan is going to work out so we will see. Anyway, we are loving it here and cannot wait for all of the adventures that we have planned. Also I know some people were wondering when my brother Chad gets home from his mission. He will be home Sep. 30 @ 9pm. I cant wait. He and Dev are going to make me laugh my head off!! YAY!! Oh and I forgot to mention that a few weeks ago we celebrated our first anniversary. It was so fun and its just crazy to think that a year has already gone by. And to think that we are still so happy. I just want to comment that I have never really been a big red rose fan, but Devin gets me the most beautiful red roses and now I just love having them around. What a gem! Love that kid.

My Husband

Grandpa Bond gave Devin and I some torquise gifts from the reservation in NM and I got a beautiful ring that I love and Devin picked this cowboy tie. Who knows when it will come in handy. And oh how it already has. He wore it when he went hometeaching with my Dad. What a geek. Of course the widow they visited loved it. Way to go DEVO!!

Rocklin Ranch

So we are all moved in and I have gotten everything stowed away and all we have to do is put up pictures and we will be ready to go!! It is so exciting to be settled and we really love our apartment. It is so perfect for what we need right now and we couldn't be happier, well if it was cheaper we would be happy, but we are loving life. We moved everything in last Friday with the help of Katie and Brady, my best friend from HS and her husband. They live about 10 minutes from us for the time being until they go back to Utah for the school year. We will be so sad to see them go. So Friday we moved while my Dad and brothers were away at a Scout encampment and we surprised my Dad with an empty garage when he got home. Then Saturday we went to the farmers market, Denio's, a real gem of Roseville and bought some awesome produce. I would love to make Denio's a Saturday morning habit. Monday Devin went back to work and I started the organizing and un-packing process. It was really not my first choice of what I could do all week. So instead I went swimming every day and worked out everyday and went shopping and enjoyed my beloved home. It was grand. Then finally Thursday, I was fully in the mood to unpack and finished everything. Our guest bedroom and bathroom were chock full of boxes and junk Thursday morning, but by the afternoon everything had been put in its place. I was thrilled and couldn't wait to show Dev what I had done. When he got home we open the storage room door on the patio and found that all 86 of his memory books had crushed the boxes underneath. We did a rescue mission to save the goods under the memory boxes and I will have to find a new place for Deenas life blood to her children. We love the memory boxes and books, but they are heavy as heck. If anyone knows a great way to store them, let me know. Anyway, so the apartment is rarrin' to go and we are having our first sleep over with some of my siblings tonight. Can't wait. Sorry we haven't had pics in a while. I will try to find something worthwhile to photograph. :)

A Place To Call Our Own

It has been fun living for free, eating for free, doing laundry for free and even having two cars, but it seems as though our time is up, and we are embarking on "our" life here in California. We put a 72 hour deposit down on an apartment after we attended the ward in which we would be in. We went to two different wards on Sunday after we found 2 apartments that we really liked. We had a hard time deciding because the rent just seems so insane, but we keep reminding ourselves that Devins paycheck is going to be huge compared to what it used to be and that we can afford it even though it seems insane. The apartment is in Rocklin and will be about a 15-20 minute drive to get to Devins work depending on traffic and lights. We will see if we can make a decision, just wanted to give a quick update.

My Husband is Officially A California Resident!!

Just really quickly, we made it to Roseville safe and sound. The drive was extra long because we towed our car behind the moving truck so Devin was very cautious. My mom so kindly told me a story of an accident she saw involving a truck towing a car and that got us a smidge worried. Anyway, we are here with all of our stuff in my parents garage sleeping in my little sisters room. Thankfully not on twin beds anymore since we were able to bring all of our beds with us. We put one up there and moved hers out. Devin started work today, Tuesday, because yesterday we had to take a trip to San Ramone, the bay area, to pick up some furniture my aunt and uncle gave us before they move at the end of this week to Atlanta. We have been blessed to have been given several great pieces of furniture and hopefully all we will have to buy is a table for our tiny apt. kitchen and a couch of some sort. We are glad to have IKEA close and lots of discout furniture stores around. We will see what we can fit in our apartment. I hope to find us a place soon and will begin my search today. If any one knows of any great complexes in Roseville or Rocklin, let us know. We are so excited to be here, but we keep talking about how weird it feels to actually live here because for 3 years Roseville has been were I go on vacation, and all Devin has known of Roseville is vacation. So I am excited to get settled and start feeling like we actually live here!! Love you all. Thanks to all of the Christensen side who helped us move and to my family who helped us fill up the garage. XOXO!!!

Mummy Kids

Sunday was rather slow and we all started getting really bored and sleepy around 7:30. Lucky for us we are moving and Michelle handed me the plastic wrap to put around our furniture so that it stays in one piece. GENIUS Mich. I decided to wrap Jacob in the stuff, and then the other kiddies wanted in on the fun. It was so funny and they were trying to jump all over the place and they got all sweaty. it was so funny. We were dying laughing!

Our Girl

I realized that most if not all of my friends do not know anything/much about Chantel so I thought I would just give a little info about her life and about Rett's Syndrome. Mom C, if any of this seems innacurate, please let me know so that I can be right. :)

Devin's oldest sister Chantel has what is called Rett's Syndrome. I am not positively sure of when she was actually diagnosed, but I think that it was sometime in her youth. Rett syndrome is a neurodevelopment disorder that began to become noticeable in Chantel when she was about 2 I think. Her brain development began to slow and Mom and Dad C knew something was wrong, although many doctors did not know what the cause was. Rett syndrome is very common among girls because the gene for it is on the X chromosome.

Chantel has many outward signs of Rett syndrome, although in her heart I am sure she just laughs her head of when people act like there is something terribly wrong with her. Some people will talk to her very loudly, although she can hear perfectly fine, or they will act like the things that she does that are normal for her, are signs of something wrong. It is so funny to hear stories of how people who don't know her act toward her. Anyway, Chantel wrings her hands, grinds her teeth, avoids eye contact with others, shows a lack of interest at times, has scoliosis, and other things. If you ever saw Chantel, chances are she would have a chew toy, preferrably her hamburger, in her mouth to preven her from grinding her teeth or chewing on her wrist.

Chantel has been such a tremendous blessing in my life for the short period of time that I have known her. While there are times when she could care less whether or not I was around, there are other times when I know that she loves me and cares about me with all of her heart even though she can't tell me with her words. She has taught me so much in this past year that I have been able to grow close to her. I am really going to miss her and being able to laugh with her and see her smiling face when I show up with a new shirt with lots of pictures or detail. She always pays attention to my shirts if they aren't boring. She is always making us laugh, which she just gets a kick out of. It will be so fun in the next life to hear in her words what it was like for her when she teases us all. She is such a sweetie and is so close to our Father and I just treasure that about her. I know it was so hard for Mom and Dad C to leave her behind, but she is in such great hands, and we can tell all the time how happy she is. We all adore her and would do anything for her. Love you lots Chantelly.

Miss Celestial Kingdom

On Sunday evening, we were all going stir crazy so we decided to take a walk up to the temple. While we were there, Chantel was being so funny and super cuddly with me. I was loving it because I love it when she acknowledges me. She was laughing and hugging me and was just so happy. She wasn't thrilled that she couldn't get into the temple, but she got over it. I wish we had gotten it on video so that everyone could have seen it, but it was really fun to be there with her and the rest of the family. I love that girl!

Here We Go!!

Well friends we are very excited for our first big move as a family. We are heading to Roseville, CA. Yup my hometown. Devin got a job in Granite Bay so we are leaving Rexburg on July 25th for our first big adventure. I must admit that it has been a little bittersweet imagining the things that we are going to be leaving behind here. Contrary to popular belief, I enjoy Rexburg most of the time, just not in the -25 degree weather and when winter lasts until June. While there are things that I don't love about Rexburg, there are other things that I love and that I am really going to miss when we leave. I have already started crying thinking about what we are leaving behind, which isn't saying much since I cry all the time, but still. So here is my tribute to Rexburg/ Idaho. I hope it makes my Rexburg boy proud to be my husband. :)

1. I am really going to miss Michelle. This is one of the things that makes me the most emotional. She has really been my closest friend the entire time they have been here. She has always been there for me and I just think the world of her. Plus Chantel of course. She is so funny. It takes time to get to know her but once you do, you just adore her. She is so great! Love you girls. Oh and Ace, I don't have any pictures of you, but I will miss you too! Who will harass me when I am gone. Certainly not my siblings. We just have a relationship that will be hard to match with anyone else. Ha Ha.

2. I am totally going to miss these kids. We spend just about every day playing with them and it will be sad to not see them anymore. They are so dang funny and they make us laugh all of the time. We love you so much guys.

3. I am going to miss the river. It is so beautiful and you can see it everywhere you go because it just meanders all throughout the state.

4. I am going to miss having the temple right up the street. While we should have gone all of the time since it is within walking distance, it is just so re-assuring to see it from throughout town and to see a reminder of the Lords love for us.

5. I am going to miss all the land. In California, every bit of empty ground gets developed quicker than you can believe. Everytime I go back home there is more being built. Here there are huge farms and fields forever. So many people live on big pieces of land and that is definitely a dream of mine that would never happen in California.

So there are things about Idaho that I will miss, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't so dang excited to go to California with Devin. I think he is going to love being there and I am so excited for us to live there together. YAY! Well so long Idaho, you are loved.

My Wonderful Hubby!

My 23rd birthday was on Friday and Devin totally surprised me by taking me to a Chukkars game. I have wanted to go for a long time and was so excited when we walked closer to the field and I realized that we were going to a ball game. I love baseball and the weather was absolutely perfect for baseball watching. Then we walked around the green belt in Idaho Falls and went to dinner at one of my favorite places, The Sandpiper. It is right on the Snake River and you can sit out on the patio and it really is so serene and tranquil, not to mention romantic. However, our romance was ruined by a spider that came crawling out from under Devins plate and our dinner was over. LoL. We are not spider fans at all. Whenever I see one I just yell for Devin to come and kill it and every night Dev checks the bed just in case any spideys think they can have a sleepover with us. Anyway, so my birthday was great. Devin made me crepes with strawberries, raspberries and mangoes and gave me a purple little i-pod shuffle and sent me gorgeous flowers at work. It was such a wonderful birthday. I sure love my man. And just look at how dang cute he is. Ha ha. This trick had me rolling everytime he would make a different face. What a goober. Love him!!

Califorkneeya!

Family.... isn't it about..Time?

After a lot of chaos here in Rexy, we took a much needed break and went to play with my family in Roseville. It was so awesome and such perfect time for a vacation. I have never needed one so bad ever. We left on Thursday night at 7:30pm and arrived to surprise my family the next morning around 5am. Insanely enough Devy drove the whole way and drank only 1 Mountain Dew. What a maniac right?! We did so much while we were there and had such a blast. We got to go to Tahoe for a few days and learned just how much we love the outdoors. We had almost forgotten since it had been such crummy weather here. We even got tans! Yahoo.

Tahoe was gorgeous and we had the most perfect weather while we were there. It was so great. We hiked, biked, and jet skiied even though the water was dang cold. Tahoe certainly is the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. It is so big and so gorgeous, but the water is soo clear. It was just amazing. From the trip I was inspired to get two things. Well three. A pair of Chaco's, a mountain bike or cruiser bike, I really want both, but I think I should just pick one, and a bike for Devy. We can be outdoorsy as long as the weather cooperates with my tastes right?!

Are we cool or what?

Sissas with Sass

Ry was tired so he wanted to find nice meadow

or a hollow tree and one just popped up!

What a Kodak moment with all the guys.

The water was freezing, but it was so fun!

UTARDS!!

About a month ago, we got to spend the weekend in Salt Lake for a job interview. We had so much fun just relaxing. It was the first time we had gone ona trip and just spent the time by ourselves (for the most part) since our honeymoon. It was so much fun. We were so lucky to be able to meet up with my Dad while he was in town for a wedding and had lunch with him. He even let us take the car that he had rented for the trip. We discovered that PT Cruisers are really small cars that are not very comfortable for grown men. Who would have thought. We got to go shopping and went to the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point that were absolutley beautiful. My favorite part were these gorgeous plum colored tulips. The gardens inspired us to spruce up our yard a bit. (We just planted flowers in our planters.)

Devin even took me to Cabelas! It wasn't that exciting to me, however the humongo fish tank really made me want to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We also got to spend some time with Devins mission trainer Jason and his wife Cassie. They were great and showed us how weird they are with their surgery game on the Wii. Ha Ha. JK guys. But really it was a weird game. However, it was such a fun weekend and I really enjoyed all the shopping and R&R I got to do!

EATIN SOME GOOD GRUB!!

So I have turned a new leaf and decided that I am going to learn how to cook some new things that are deliciousand moderately nutritious. I have created some of my own dishes and mooched off of others, but regardless we ate good last week. Here are some of the recipes because the food turned out great and it was all pretty easy.

Homemade Mashers: Cut up desired amount of potatoes and boil them until soft. Add green onions, milk, salt, sour cream and cream cheese if you want to make them really fattening. Just use however much you want of all of the ingredients. I rarely measure, I just use whatever amount looks good. These mashers taste delicious and are way better for you than the boxed kind plus they are pretty easy to make.

French Dip Sandwichs: I got this recipe off of a friends blog, so she gets the credit, but it was delicioso and Devin ate it up as though he had never eaten anything in his life. He LOVED it so much that when we went grocery shopping again, he picked out all of the stuff to make it!

2 Tbsp butter

1 shallot, chopped

1 Tbsp flour2 cans beef stock, or what I used2 bouillon cubes dissolved into 2 cups of water

1 1/2 lbs. thin sliced roast beef

Grill seasoning blend for steak, salt and pepper, rosemary and thyme

sourdough bread-I used San Luis

In a large skillet over moderate heat, melt butter. Add shallots to butter and saute 2 minutes. Add flour to butter and shallot and cook a minute longer. Whisk in beef stock in a slow stream. Bring sauce to bubble and allow to simmer over low heat until ready to serve sandwiches.Pile meat loosly across your cutting board. Season meat. Set cups for dipping sauce, plates and sourdough. To assemble, using kitchen tongs, dip meat into loose au jus sauce and pile across sourdough. Set cups with extra dipping sauce.

SouthWestern Pita Salad: I had originally wanted to make something along the lines of Pita Pit, but when that idea failed, I ended up with this delicious salad that I think I could eat every day. I call it South West Pita Salad. It was really good with tomatillo ranch dressing, but when we ran out, I just had it with salsa and sour cream and it was still amazing!! Check it out!

Tomatillo Ranch Dressing

1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (make as per recipe)

2 tomatillos (tomato like vegetable with a husk around them)

½ bunch of cilantro

1 clove garlicJuice of

1 lime

1 jalapeño (Use the seeds too if you like it spicy. You could substitute a few drops of green tobasco for the jalapeno.)

Use a food processor to blend all the ingredients well. Refrigerate.

Make the dressing before hand so that you wont have to worry about it.

For the salad, I used 1 head of green leaf lettuce cut into small strands like shredded lettuce would be. Then I added a bit of red onion, some corn, tomatoes, cheese, black beans and avacado. Put cheddar cheese on the pita as you would a quesadilla and put in the oven at 350 until the cheese is melted. Grill up some chicken to your liking. I just use the George Forman because it is really quick with a little PAM and garlic salt. It works well.

Put the salad mixture on the melted cheese pita, then the chicken, add a bit of salsa and sour cream and then use the dressing if you want to.

Roasted Potato Salad: I made this for a bbq that we had. I was a little wary of it because I am not a Miracle Whip fan, but it turned out delicious and we hardly had any left overs even though I doubled the recipe. It was relatively easy to make and very good hot or cold.

4 large potato, peeled and cubed

1 C miracle whip

2 boiled eggs chopped

2 slices bacon, diced and cooked

1/4 C green onions

salt and pepper

Heat oven to 425. Place potatoes on baking sheet sprayed with PAM and bake for 30-35 minutes until potatoes are tender and golden brown. Stir once. Mix Miracle Whip, crushed bacon, onions, eggs salt and pepper together in a large bowl. Add potatoes and stir together.

YOGI!!

I bought my first yoga mat yesterday. Or should I say Devin bought it for me. Regarldess, I got one. I have been doing yoga for a few months now. My favorite pose is the relaxation pose, but I am just learning and not very flexible at all anymore. I have decided that I would like to start doing it in my house. I have plenty o' room so why not. Anyway, so does anyone know of any good yoga dvd's? Chelise and Chenae I am sure you do. Right? And guys while I was looking online today I found this. ITSY BITSY YOGA: Poses to help your baby sleep longer, digest better, and grow stronger. Its totally for real. I am so going to have my children become yoga masters. Kids are so darn flexible I am sure they are great at it. Interesting.