more dear blank, please blank....

Dear raw food diet,

Cookie dough is raw too.

Sincerely, I win?

Dear text meassage,

Oh, that sounds harsh.

Sincerely, I'll just add an LOL to it.

Dear graduated cylinder,

You may have graduated, but I have more degrees.

Sincerely, thermometer.

Dear Mulan,

Does it concern you that he fell in love with you while you were a man?

Sincerely, red flag.

MayBee Baby

Meet MayBee!
She is our new baby and I am pretty sure
she is the cutest puppy in the entire world.
Hard to disagree, eh?

MayBee is a Yorkie/Min-Pin Mix and is almost 5 months old.
3.5 pounds of pure cuteness!

December 30th, 2011

Looking Ferocious (mid-yawn)

Comparing size to one of the rats :)

Strike a pose while playing with toys!
January 10th, 2012

Loving snuggle time on a pile of Mama's clothes!
January 27th, 2012

The sweetest puppy ever!
February 6th, 2012

Fat-Dog it!

Dang collar.....
February 12, 2012

Later Gator!

Christmas Lights at Temple Square

One of my favorite Christmas traditions since moving to Utah is going to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square. It is as pack as Disney on the busiest of days with wall the wall people and every year it has felt as cold as the North Pole yet the gorgeous lights and of course seeing the Salt Lake Temple make it SO worth it!

After seeing the lights, we went up to the Affleck clan's house for hot chocolate and treats with Mom and Dad Moore and the whole gang... so sad I didn't take pictures of the after party but we were having too much fun to take the time for snapping photos!

Remember When...

This is where my Mom and Dad first met!
University Villas #32, Provo Utah

Happy Daddy about to get some Winger's!

Enjoying some complimentary Winger's popcorn
before devouring my sticky fingers :)

Arrival Night

"It's that time, Christmas time is here
Everybody knows there's not a better time of year
Hear that sleigh, Santa's on his way
Hip, Hip Hooray, for Christamas Vacation"

Calling the driver to pull the limo Around...

Oh, you didn't believe me?
(Chad was happy to drive a limo for a night and an extra special thanks to Sherry and Nathan for letting us borrow their sweet ride!)


Crown Burger for dinner!


My first Crown Burger experience and it was yummy!


Finally home, Ollie wanted to welcome the Christmas company!


Hannah wasn't too sure of the warm welcome...

I can't help it!

dearblankpleaseblank.com

Dear ABC Family,

I don't think sex, violence, drugs, and lying are really "family" friendly.

Sincerely, change your name.

Dear people of the world,

Does anyone know where I can get a hippo?

Sincerely, allowed to have any animal in my dorm that can stay under water for over 15 minutes.

Dear conspiracy theorist,

But what if they just WANT you to think it's a conspiracy?

Sincerely, conspiracy conspiracy theorist.

Dear assigned reading,

I'll take it from here.

Sincerely, Sparknotes.

(Also, remember Monkey Notes? Sparknotes saved my life come Shakespeare time in 10th grade!)

Dear over weight man running,

GO YOU!

Sincerely, at least you're trying.

(I hope this is what people are thinking when they pass me running!)

Dear Restaurant,

You have automatic toilets, automatic soap dispensers, automatic faucets, and automatic hand dryers. The least you could do is make your doors push and not pull.

Sincerely, germaphobe.

Dear baking soda,

How is it that you're good for baking AND cleaning toilet bowls?

Sincerely, worried.

Dear person who overheard my conversation,

I was talking about bunk beds.

Sincerely, I like to be on top...

Dear girls,

If you have to question whether or not it's a shirt or a dress... it's probably a shirt.

Sincerely, please, just play it safe.

Dear little brother,

No no, "condo" is short for condominium.

Sincerely, we do not live in a condom.

Dear Disney,

So let me get this straight, you went from Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King and Tarzan, to..... High School Musical, Hannah Montana and Camp Rock?

Sincerely, WTH happened?!

(So true... not that I don't love High School Musical, Hannah Montana, and Camp Rock!)

Dear life,

When you give me dilemmas, I make dilemmanade.

Sincerely, nice try.

Dear food on the ground,

1... 2... 3... 4... 5... GO!

Sincerely, germs.

Dear Gatorade commercials,

You won't need special effects with me. I naturally sweat rainbows.

Sincerely, Chuck Norris.

Dear millionaires,

If you dont have trampoline floors and a giant slide that goes from your bed to a pool, you are wasting your money.

Sincerely, I'd have so much fun.

Dear "an apple a day keeps the doctor away",

Screw you.

Sincerely, Snow White.

Dear men and women of the armed forces,

Please realize that while not all of us support war, we still support you.

Sincerely, thank you.

(I am not saying that I do or don't support the war... I believe it is often an unpleasant necessity but I thought this was a great sentiment.)

girl's just want to have fun

Carol hosted our August Girl's Night and we had a blast! Isn't it great how the most fun you can have is just hanging out with your besties? We started the night off with some Pizza Hut deliciousness and some Hershey's and Reese's pies! Yum! For our activity this month we were inspired by our new obsession... Pinterest! For all you Pinterest lovers out there, you know all the cute hairstyles we all pin all the time? We got together and tried new fun "do's"! Some of them were dont's because their difficulty level was a little higher than our experience but we left with;

Debbie's hair looking gorgeous from a cute double-french braid-half up/half down-wavy ends hair style that Kasey mostly did:



Carol also had a cute sideways in the back braid inspired by:


Kasey gave me a Utah pouf (only the cute kind with enough volume to look cute but sans any rats nest or square head).

Kasey had a cute twist/fishtail braid do that Debbie gave her which looked super cute! I believe it was inspired by this:



We also played photographer to get a few cute preggo pics of Mrs. Caroly who will be having a cute baby boy so soon it doesn't even seem real! Here are my artsy tries at maternity pics (please note I am not a photographer and my fancy equipment includes my point and shooter):

Where Did the Summer Go?

Chad is at school right now. It is his first day of classes for the fall semester and I can't believe our summer has ended. We have been blessed to have had a great summer filled with so many memories and awesome experiences! I am not looking forward to loosing my husband (or so it will seem for the next however many months) since Chad will be working full-time AND taking 16 credits in school. How blessed am I with such a hard working husband? I am so thankful for his hard work especially when I realize he is doing it to bless us and our future family. Did I mention he is holding like a 3.8 GPA all the while? Amazing I tell you... not to mention he is a cutie too!

The up-side of the fall schedule starting is that our life will be more normal. It is crazy to think that I can get to a point where I crave some regularity in my day-to-day life. I am excited to get organized (I am talking literally organizing my house... I am probably half way through going through everything and organizing and tossing what we never use... feels good to simplify!) and I am excited to have more time to work on the things I need to be busy with.

For any of you who don't already know, I now own my own business called Letter Lace. I am your one-stop source for all things announcements! Baby, graduation, wedding, holiday, special events... you name it. I have been official since the beginning of summer but with everything we have been up to I haven't advertised or gotten my website up and running. Everything I have done so far has been word of mouth, which is great, but I am excited to have more time to devote to building my business and being a bigger helper with our monthly income. This is an exciting and daunting task all at the same time.

To kind of celebrate (or not...) back to school time we invited our friends Debbie and Eric over for a little BBQ yesterday evening. We usually invite more over but since they have been nice enough to share so many yummy things from their garden lately we thought we would invite them to share with them the yummy ways we have been enjoying some of the goodies along with a few other things we could enjoy. Chad grilled us some bratwurst and italian sausage burgers (Johnsonville just came out with burger patties made out of their bratwurst and italian sausage meat and let me tell you... delish!) along with some yellow squash, zucchini and honey & balsamic carrots. The squash and zucchini were both from Debbie's garden and I coated them with olive oil and italian breadcrumbs before Chad tossed them on the grill... my new favorite way to eat them by far! The carrots were from Chad's parents garden and we steamed them a bit before Chad threw them on the grill and brushed on a mixture of honey mixed with balsamic vinegar... one of our new favorites of the summer. Debbie and Eric brought dessert which was amazing. Chocolate zucchini cake with walnuts and chocolate chips. I went back for a healthy (or unhealthy I suppose) helping of seconds for the cake. So moist! Perfect topped with cool whip.

We will still enjoy ourselves with special occasions from time to time but for now we will have to get used to a simpler life for awhile. Whenever we get burnt out we will have to think back to our busy summer and be thankful for the blessings of all our activities.

"Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work and wholesome recreational activities." -The Family: A Proclamation to the World

oh, kAle No!

Oh Kale... I started my day with gagging down a kale shot! Kale is very nutritional... as you can see down below by what I stole from Wikipedia. The only problem with Kale is that it tastes disgusting. Also, if mixed with other juices it tends to completely overpower everything. That's where the idea for the Kale shot came into play. That way we get the nutrients but who said we have to savor when it isn't the good stuff? To help chase any Kale taste still remaining I made another juice to be yummier! It had spinach, granny apple, and grapes. It was delicious! Obviously fruit juices are yummy almost always however the better nutrients are in the veggies so I am trying to mix some of each to balance taste vs. nutrition.

Nutritional value: Kale is considered by nutritionists including Dr Joel Furhman to be the most nutritious vegetable in the world with extremely powerful antioxidant properties; kale is considered^{[by whom?]} to be anti-inflammatory.

Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. Kale, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane (particularly when chopped or minced), a chemical believed to have potent anti-cancer properties.^{[citation needed]} Boiling decreases the level of sulforaphane; however, steaming, microwaving, or stir frying do not result in significant loss.^[2] Along with other brassica vegetables, kale is also a source of indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of cancer cells.^[3][4] Kale is also a good source of carotenoids.^[5]

Juicy

Not Couture.

Have you watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead yet? If not, watch it! It is on instant view on Netflix.

A little over a month ago I watched the documentary on a whim during one of my nights of insomnia. (A teeny overview... seriously though... watch it: A rich Australian man is over-weight and has an immune disease. To make a drastic change he comes for a long visit here to the States and decides to go on an all juice fast for 60-days. He is closely supervised by doctors and they tell you all the wonderful reasons why juicing is more nutritional than eating fruits and veggies whole. Basically you gets all the nutrients a lot easier and faster because you would have to eat a butt-load of stuff to be able to eat as much nutrients as you can get just from the juice of fruits and veggies. Think of it as a salad espresso shot.) They day after watching it, before mentioning anything about it at all, my mom called to tell me I should watch it. It had an impact on all of us. Even if you aren't totally intrigued to toss all your processed food and start sipping all of your meals, this documentary still is a great way to make you think about what you are eating without making you feel like crap like I did after watching Super-Size Me.

My parents went out an bought a juicer right away. They have been juicing quite a bit for the last month. I also have a friend who finished a 30-day total juice fast and LOVED it.

Today I finally got a juicer!

It isn't the fancy Breville that my parents and Summer got but it was $89.00 at Costco and it seems to work great so far. If anything happens to it Costco is pretty awesome at returning anything... whenever. I figure if Jack LaLanne and his juicer can be one of the top infomercials for so long, it has to work decent, right?!?!

We've had the juicer for about 5 hours or so now and I've already made 3 juices. Now Chad isn't a super picky eater but you should have seen his face after the kale+spinach+parsley+cilantro+serrano pepper juice I first made. Priceless! Our new motto? "If You Don't Love It, Chug It!" Later we made carrot juice and then granny smith apple juice. Both of the latter were seriously delicious. The first was... healthy! At this point I am not committing to a full juice fast quite yet but I am committing to two juice meals a day and watching what I eat for dinner. Wish me luck!

P.S. Juice Rocks! Have you seen the film? Would you ever consider a juice fast or do you think we are all crazy? :)

What We Ate Tonight

I like to try new recipes from time to time and I like to brag to my family and friends when things turn out tasting delisioso! The only problem is... they ask for the recipe and I never remember to pass it on to them! Well duh! Why don't I share the tried, tested, and tasty right here?

I am not turning this into a food blog, and I am not turning myself into a foodie. These recipes are stolen from all over the web and I will try to remember to give credit where credit is deserved.

Recipe Stolen From: http://elizabethbryant.blogspot.com/2010/05/korean-beef.html

"1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 - 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1/2 - 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers (to desired spiciness)
salt and pepper
1 bunch green onions, diced (don't skip this!)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and brown hamburger with garlic in the sesame oil. Drain most of the fat and add brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, salt and pepper and red peppers. Simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Serve over steamed rice and top with green onions."

This was quick and easy (just know that statement is coming from someone who doesn't like to make Rice-a-roni because too many steps are involved... brown the rice? Really?)! I had this ready when Chad came home for dinner from work and lets just say it smells great! I think I got mad brownie points for Chad smelling dinner ready before I even said a word! I served ours over Jasmine rice because it is the bomb!

A special thanks and a shout out goes to Debbie for the side-dish tonight. I sauteed some eggplant that she shared from her garden! I don't know how I made them look like soggy pickles but they tasted awesome! Lately we have also been enjoying zucchini she shared with us as well. I am not exagerating when I say it was the biggest zucchini I've ever seen in my life... I would say 5-inches thick and maybe 18inches to 2 feet long! I have been slicing it up and throwing it on the grill... yum yum yum! I think I still have enough to try my go at zucchini bread for the first time... wish me luck!

dearblankpleaseblank.com

Dear teens,

It's "before," not "b4."

Sincerely, this is your homework, not bingo.

Dear people behind me,

I promise the line hasn't moved. Stop getting closer.

Sincerely, personal space issues.

Dear Concerned Parents,

Why was I home late? Oh, you know, the usual... landing in jail, running across railroads, and spending hundreds of dollars.

Sincerely, seriously though, monopoly is a really long game.

Dear girls who say they love nerds,

There is a HUGE difference between nerds and hot guys who wear glasses.

Sincerely, an actual nerd.

Dear people complaining about not having flying cars,

You can barely drive your car on the ground.

Sincerely, the curb you just checked.

Dear 12 year old girl who just asked me who NSYNC was,

My heart just broke a little bit.

Sincerely, you're making me feel old.

Dear ladies,

There is no such things as automatic doors... just gentlemen ninjas.

Sincerely, anonymous.

Dear Google Earth,

Thank you for making me feel like a God.

Sincerely, spinning the earth the other way.

Dear Schoolhouse Rock,

Please make educational songs for college students as well.

Sincerely, think about it.

Dear dictionaries,

You've done a great job but I'll take it from here...

Sincerely, Google.

Dear homeless guy shaking a can full of money,

Show off...

Sincerely, college student.

Dear white people using chopsticks,

It doesn't make the experience more authentic...

Sincerely, Asian using a fork.

Dear iTunes,

Current Balance: $0.01.

Sincerely, now what?

P.S. You're welcome!