How cute is that?

It doesn't help that I have the same password for every email huh? Haha. That was quite the pleasant surprise though. Thanks Ben! I love you too.

Look at this adorable little thing I found online. If I had a newborn and 45$ extra dollars to spend, I would get this Snuggle Sac for sure! Anyone know how to crochet? That is something I have tried and failed at several times.

PS- I need Spring Break vacation ideas... anyone know of a cool and cheap place for me to visit? I have the feeling we will end up spending it in Duchesne or Logan if I don't come up with something more exciting.

To Megan...

This is so awesome! I found out the password to Megan's blog and she doesn't even know I read it! Megan wrote some really nice things about me on my birthday. So, I wanted to give a few reasons why Megan is the most wonderful person I know and return the favor.

1. "She don't know she's beautiful. Never crossed her mind..." She really doesn't. Megan is always doubtfully asking me if she looks good. I am always so confused at how she doesn't see how pretty she is. Especially her eyes. She has the most gorgeous eyes. Although, I'm still not quite sure what color they are. Its ok, I don't think she knows either. Megan, aside from the fact that you are beautiful, there is more to good looks than looks. Your person is the very core of my attraction towards you. The fact that you are good lookin' is just an added benefit.

2. Megan is so much fun to be around. I get homesick when I am at school, I am always excited to come home and spend time with my family. There's no place like my home. This leads me to the next item of business...

3. Megan is so good at keeping the house in order. Our kids are always well taken care of which is a full-time job in and of itself. She always keeps clean underwear in my drawer. I never run out! The house is lways clean and nice looking. She almost always has a delicious dinner ready when I get home. The gourmet meals she has been cooking lately have been absolutely wonderful. She is learning to sew and has made Andrew some cool pajamas and is now making an apron. Wow! That is a lot of work and Megan, I thank you!

4. Megan has such a strong personality. It goes perfectly with me because I am such a push-over. We're like a yin-yang. Megan never hesitates to say things EXACTLY how they are and EXACTLY how they should be. It's a tough job keeping me inline but somebody has to do it. I'm lucky to have someone who does it so well.

5. Megan has a strong testimony in the gospel. She said of me that I am one of the most spiritual people she knows but I have to admit, I lean on her for support in everything that I do. I am so dependent on Megan, that I am simply incapable of being even slightly pleased when she is not happy. There is nothing I enjoy more than to please her and see her happy. I don't know how strong I would be without my other half. There is no one that I would rather be married and sealed to for time and eternity.

6. Megan is a wonderful mother. I start projects with our kids and then Megan gets the brunt of them when I am at school. For instance, potty training. Andrew has been going to sit on the potty about every twenty minutes since Christmas. And who has been the chauffer on the very large majority of those bathroom trips? Who was the one who has had the pleasure of cleaning up countless accidents? Yeah it was Megan. Even though I am the one who insisted it was time for Andrew to be potty trained. Megan gets up seemingly countless times every night to feed or comfort Olivia. Megan is the kind of mother that breastfeeds her children for the entire first ear of their lives! This is a tremendous sacrifice that only she can giver to her children and she does. I come home every day and hear Andrew spout off twenty new words. Megan, I am truly impressed. You are an excellent mother and teacher no if's and's or poopy butt's about it.

7. She is the mother of my children. Enough said.

8.Megan is so generous. Tho only other person I have ever known to be so giving is her Grandpa Clint Park. Megan is always making food for people who are sick or who just had a baby. She puts her all into callings that she gets. She doesn't hold a single thing back when it comes to her family or someone elses.

9. Megan is so thoughtful. She has sent hundreds of thank you notes to people since we have been married. I wouldn't be surprised to find out she sent a thank you card to someone who gave her a cold.

Megan,
Were it not for you, my life would have no resemblence to what it is today(in a bad way). I have every reason to thank you. I thank you for my children, my happiness and joy, my life, my improvement, the destiny of my very soul. I will be with you for this life, through thick and thin, good times and bad, and then into eternity. If I did everything possible to please you and make you comfortable, I would still owe you more. Thank you for your love and forgiveness and all that you give, which is everything you have.

Your husband, friend, companion
Ben

My Try New Foods Challenge!

Well I made it through the first week of my "try new foods challenge." If any of you feel like you are in a cooking rut, I would highly recommend challenging yourself to try cooking completely new things for one week. I had so much fun that I think I am out of my rut! I looked all over for interesting recipes, made a menu, went shopping, and this is what happened.

Last Friday we had... Garlic-Ranch Chicken Pizza This was SOOO good. We made a pizza crust that I got online somewhere that actually didn't turn out the best, but it was still delicious.

Saturday we had... Chicken & Cheese Enchilada Chowder Sounds gross, but this was really really good and very easy! It's like taco soup but with chicken and cream of chicken soup.

Sunday we had Ben's brother JD, his wife Maegan, and Ben's friend from high school Tyson over for dinner so we went crazy. Maegan made an amazing salad with strawberries, almonds, and avocado with some kind of red wine vineagrette (spelling?) It was amazing and very addicting. We made Kalua Pork ... which was really good over rice, especially with the gravy we made from the leftover juice. Then we had Pineapple Upside Cake that I got from the Martha Stewart baking handbook. It was really good but pineapple and cake is just not my favorite I decided.

Monday we had... leftovers. Haha. We made salads with the leftover pork, I guess it is somewhat similar to the Cafe Rio salads. Yummy.

Tuesday we had... Chicken breasts in caper cream sauce. This was not my favorite. I had never had capers before and probably never would like to have them again. Ben really liked them but they were way too salty for me. If you take the capers out I think this dish would be perfect, although it is very far from fat-free!

Wednesday we had... Calzones! I love calzones but had never made them. They were amazingly easy and very good.

Thursday we had Clam Chowder, I forgot to get a picture so I don't have proof I made it but I did and it was good. I never realized how many recipes for clam chowder there were out there. I would like to try some different ones too.
So that pretty much wraps up one week, we had calzones again last night because my grandparents came out and I knew my grandpa loved them. To mix it up and make something new Ben made fruit pizza. I am really excited to keep going with my challenge and make more new things.

It seemed like a lot of people were in baking ruts when I blogged about it... So I was thinking we could start a little recipe blogging chain. This is how it will work. You leave me a comment with your favorite all time dinner recipe that I just have to try. In return, I will leave you a comment on one of your blogs with a recipe. If you want, you could blog about cooking and ask people to leave you recipes... Then we can all go searching around looking for good recipes. Just an idea. If you are interested... leave me a recipe!

Happy Cooking!

Pay It Forward

I got this cute idea from a friend and it sounded like a ton of fun. So this is how it works: The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise.There's a small catch...You knew there would be didn't you? Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're in. Fun, huh? Remember, only the first 3 comments receive a gift.

I am really excited and have been racking my brain thinking of gifts for just about everyone that could possibly leave a comment so good luck!

Happy Valentines!

Happy Valentines! Well in a few days. I love this holiday, even though it is mostly way too cheesy. I think it gives me something to look forward to while enduring dreary winter. Andrew and his friend Kenzie got together and made valentines last week. It was hectic trying to get them to sit down for more than one minute and I think Keri and I actually ended up doing most of the work but they were cute. On Monday we had a little FHE on love and made Red Velvet Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. YUMMY! Andrew acted out the good samaritan and then for the rest of the night he was falling on the ground saying, "help me!" Last week my ward got together and made valentine cards and this is how they turned out.... Super cute and totally not my idea, I followed step-by-step instructions. I have learned I am just not creative in the scrapbooking/cardmaking/paperfolding area. In other news... excuse me if you think this is crude but Andrew went #2 in the toilet for the first time!!! Wahoo! He doesn't really have any accidents anymore but this #2 deal was a struggle. Hopefully it will be uphill from here! On a completely different subject... (I just love how my blogs all make sense and have a point, haha) I have decided I am in a cooking rut. I use the same recipes all the time and it's time to try new things so... this week I have challenged myself to have new things for dinner each night. It has been a lot of fun and I plan to blog on it soon! PS- if any of you know of good dinner recipes I just have to try, let me know. Well until then, I hope you all have a fantastic Valentines weekend.

Dave

I have been totally obsessed with listening to Dave Ramsey the past week or two. I don't even know exactly what discs I am listening to because I got them as part of a baby gift from a friend. Hahaha. She is awesome. But I think they are from his Financial Peace University program. If any of you are interested in anything financial... buying a house (or buying anything actually), learning about insurance, investments, budgeting, etc etc etc.... you should look into reading or listening to Dave Ramsey. I had heard about him a long time ago just randomly on the radio and I just thought, "Wow he totally makes sense!" Most finance lingo leaves me feeling overwhelmed and well... stupid... because I never know what they are talking about! Well- long story short, my friend got me these discs and I have been listening to them one right after the other all week. I seriously look forward to hearing him talk. The thing I like most about him is that he is funny and has so many stories that crack me up, so he makes finances fun! I hear his book Total Money Makeover is really good so I think I am going to try reading that next. Anyway- look into it if you need help with anything financial. I feel it is an absolute must, especially if you ever plan on buying a home or gaining any kind of wealth. Does anyone else out there know Dave Ramsey? Maybe everyone knows about him and I am clueless.

PS- I looked online and he is doing a seminar thing in Salt Lake on May 16. I really want to go!

Poor poor pitiful me...

I have been throwing myself just a few too many pity parties lately and in an effort to end this habit, I am blogging about it. I thought I would just write it in my journal, get the rage out, whatever, but I think blogging will seal the deal and help me to stop dwelling... So I am sure everyone throws themselves pity parties from time to time. Mine seem to be coming more often lately. Sometimes it just feels like EVERYONE has it all together but me, EVERYONE had the perfect upbringing, the perfect marriage, the perfect kids, the perfect little house with the perfect little picket fence, except me. Haha. I know this isn't true, just every once in awhile I start being a baby. The truth I have come to realize is that NO ONE has it all together and where God blesses one person, he makes a weakness in something else. When I had Andrew, I was going to be the PERFECT mom. I looked at all these other moms and said, "My kid is going to be like that..." and, "my kid won't ever be anything like that!" Ha! The thing I forgot to notice was that this person is not just my play toy and I can't mold and make him do whatever I want. No matter how hard I try, which don't get me wrong I am still going to try to raise him right, he is himself. He is my rambunctious little toddler that doesn't do a thing I say. Hahaha. Sometimes I think, why didn't I get the advantage of having a dad around? blah blah blah. Well it doesn't matter. Everyone has their little tragedies in life and everyone has their triumphs. Maybe I didn't have a dad around, but my children have one and I would do it all again to let them have that advantage. I feel like marrying Ben was just a total blessing from God, nothing done on my part because I was an idiot. Haha. Well now I just feel like I am rambling so I will wrap it up here. One of my goals this year is going to be to stop worrying about what everyone else is doing, stop dwelling on my misfortunes and past saddnesses, stop comparing myself to other people and just figure myself out. One of my favorite songs by Jack Johnson is called wasting time. In the lyrics he says, "Oh but everybody thinks that everybody knows about everybody else. Nobody knows anything about themselves cause their all worried about everybody else." My goal is to figure out who I am and stop thinking everyone else is so much better. Granted I am still going to be blog stalking because I love being inspired by all my friends lives, but I am going to stop with the comparing. A quote I heard recently that I really like says, "There is no nobility in being superior to another person. True nobility is being superior to one's past self." So I am moving on, WAHOO! My pity party is officially over.