Ready for Random?

This is going to be a very random read. I've been taking pictures of things and not blogging so now is the time to catch up.

First up. Jacob and I made cards for Mother's Day. It was funny to see how much of a disaster the living room was after only making 4 cards. (The other two were for a birthday and Jacob's sister on a mission). When I initially thought about posting this I was going to ask you to guess which ones Jacob made and which ones I made but now they are sent and the guessing would be too easy. So I'll just tell you. Jacob made the birthday card and the yellow and blue flowered card. I made the other two. And it was a good time.

Also, do you love the vacuum in the middle of the floor? It was there for days. I'm a little ashamed to point out how lazy I've been lately. At least I vacuumed :)

We also expanded our garden this year. And when I say we, I really just mean Jacob. We've actually planted already but I haven't taken any pictures of that. While Jacob was busy toiling away, I had a camp chair pulled out and was sitting there watching him work. Actually I was preparing my lesson for Beehives, but was less active in the garden expansion just the same.



We got a meat grinder attachment for our kitchen aid as a wedding present. Jacob wanted it. I thought it was something that we would never use. But I can't get in the way of Jacob and his gadgets/tools/toys. At least not sometimes. And we have used it a couple of times. These pictures are gross. But I thought they would be funny to send to Jacob's sister. She'll get a kick out of it. I stayed away from the meat grinding myself. Ewww....

It's chicken in case you are wondering. I have some new recipes that call for ground chicken and Jacob found some cheap chicken thighs while we were grocery shopping. So, now I'm set. And again, ewww!


Yep, random.

For the Love of...

Cooking!

I find that I'm getting back into cooking (and eating) again. I really like to try new recipes and sometimes I'm brave enough to make up my own. Sometimes they go really well, sometimes not so much. I think Jacob prefers when I follow a recipe.

And tonight I did. It was delicious! A friend of mine had linked to this blog for a different recipe (which I also intend on trying) but for now I made this one. I had more veggies and less orzo than the actual recipe and it still turned out great. I also used the low fat cream cheese and found it to be just fine. Yummy!

Jacob liked it too. But he picked out all the mushrooms 'cuz that's how he rolls.

A Quick Poll

I'm looking for a little advice from all you pros out there. I am debating the pros and cons of taking an official childbirth class or not. And I'd like your feedback.

So, if you took a class tell me more about your experience. What was helpful? What did you learn? Would you recommend it? Etc.

For those of you that may have passed on taking an official class, I'm also curious about your experiences. What did you do to prepare for birth? What would you recommend? Etc.

I'm also looking for some good advice coming from the male perspective as well.

Thanks for playin'!

Mother's Day and Journals

So, I taught my first lesson in Young Women's today. I think all those comments about Beehive gals were true. They are great. So eager to participate and please. I'd have to say it went pretty well. And I was somewhat skeptical after the morning I had! -But that is a story for another day.

The lesson I taught was on journals. I'm pretty sure I remember this lesson when it was taught when I was a Laurel and I know this is the lesson I attended when Shannon was teaching one Sunday shortly after Aubrey was born. I pulled a good portion of my lesson form President Eyring's talk from conference entitled "O Remember, Remember." I invited the girls to join me this week as we try to be a little more like President Eyring and write down how we have seen the Lord's hand in our lives every day this week. And I think I'm going to do that on my blog.

So, for today:

As previously mentioned I was not having the best of mornings, for several reasons, but I began to feel less than great as I was just about ready to head to church. I was somewhat worried I wouldn't be on my A game for the lesson and I didn't want to be feeling so bad while teaching. But, I know I was blessed by the Lord to feel well and be able to teach the lesson the girls needed to hear.

I'm sure I could also talk about the influence of the Lord in my life in leading me to a fabulous husband who makes me breakfast in bed on Mother's Day even when I'm not technically yet a mother. (My mom said something about me growing close to motherhood. I guess that's a nice way to describe the "growth" of pregnancy.) He also bought me a gift too. A new cell phone!
I've been wanting that.

I guess it would also be appropriate to say that I have been blessed by the Lord in being the 6th child of my amazing mother. I'm pretty sure I appreciate her amazingness more now that I am expecting a baby of my own. She would have had to do nothing more than carry and birth all eight of us to go down as "amazing" in my book. (And I haven't even experienced the birth part of this whole process). But she also raised us well, with good values and beliefs. And in many ways I am like my mother. And in other ways I can only hope to be as good as she.

Indeed I am blessed.

Spring Has Sprung

I love lilacs. Certainly one of my favorite flowers and I just love the way they smell. Currently my whole house is filled with the smell due to these beauties (highlighted by a few blossoms from our neighbors tree).

Two Things...

...that I have come to loath since becoming pregnant:

1. Brushing my teeth.

2. Showering.

That is all.

Happiness Is...

...A renewed love for the Indigo Girls. I was listening to them all day yesterday and today while driving to and from work and such. Their music made me happy. It also brought back a lot of good memories from my high school and early college years. "The Girls" fell out of graces with me for a while but sometimes you just need a little Swamp Ophelia or Rites of Passage to make you smile and sing along

...Enjoying a fresh strawberry milkshake while curling up on the couch to watch Fringe with my husband. There are several things about this that create some happiness. But maybe it was mostly the ability to enjoy ice cream again. The past three months I have NOT enjoyed sweet things, or much of any food really. Ice cream, I have missed you! Welcome back.

...Being debt free. I just made the final payment on my student loans. Well, technically, I just scheduled the final payment on my student loans. The actual transfer of money will take place on Monday. And then, no more debt. (Aside from a mortgage...)

...The prospect of a King Size Bed coming my way in the very near future. Our tax return came in today and we have some spare money from my pay check now that the loan is taken care of. And I have my eye on an upgrade in bed size. Sleeping in a queen isn't terrible, but I'm certain the extra space will be appreciated by both of us.


...Rolling into the month of May. I'm excited for spring to REALLY arrive. I know, technically it's here. But we had snow yesterday morning and it's pretty chilly today. I'm ready for outside parties and barbeque's. I'm ready for sun and shorts and thongs. (Not those kind of thongs, silly. I'm talking about what are now called flip flops. Sometimes I'm old school like that.) And I'm ready to plant things that will grow and give me veggies and flowers. I was getting excited as I was driving to work thinking about having some pots on my front porch this year and what I may put in them. Any suggestions? Bare in mind, I'm not a great gardener.


...Friday. 'Nough said.