Taylor Stuff

I'm not afraid to admit that I love Taylor Swift. She can totally sing my sorrows away. I listen to her in my car, at work, at home. I think she's adorable. It wasn't until today that I figured out WHY I love her so much. She totally gets me. Her lyrics are super deep for someone her age and they totally apply to my life. Need examples?

In "Fifteen" she says.... 'In your life you'll do greater than dating the boy on the football team, but I didn't know it at fifteen'. I feel like I had such a surreal High School experience. I felt like I was on top of the world and everything seemed to be going my way. Then I graduated and real life set in. People outside of Duchesne didn't know my name or all that I had accomplished in High School. I freaked out. I turned super shy and lost my self confidence. It wasn't until recently that it really set in that I was awesome in High School- but I am awesome now. When I'm old it's going to be super cool that I won State Drill Team but that's not what defines me. Life doesn't end at High School graduation. It truly begins. In my life I'll do greater than....

In "Best Day" she says.... 'I'm thirteen now and I don't know how my friends could be so mean, I come home crying and You hold me tight....' I'm 23 and I still don't know how people can be so mean. Sadly we don't all hit a magical age where we grow up and treat everyone with respect. Some people who were snotty 18 year olds are still snotty 45 year olds. I feel so lucky to have my family through it all. My mom and sisters are my best friends. When I have to deal with life's drama I know they are on my team. There are still days I come home crying. I still need my mom and I'm so lucky to have the greatest mom in the world. Love you!

In "You're not Sorry" she says.... "You don't have to call anymore I won't pick up the phone. This is the last straw, don't want to hurt anymore" I know this is technically about a boy- but I think it totally applies to my life. I know I have those people who are constantly bringing me down. I'm just realizing that I get to choose the people I surround myself with. I'm not going to beg and plead for you to treat me right. I don't need you around if you're going to bring drama and stress me out. It feels so great when I can be in control and stand up for myself.

So there you have it. I love Taylor Swift. Her and I are tight. Now you know why.

Delicio Stuff

Thank you mom, for blogging about how I will blog about my "Delicio (dee-lish-o)Wraps". Since I can't make a liar out of her I figured I better post this recipe for everyone to enjoy.

This is a recipe I made up when Jack and I were first married. It's sort of a tostada type meal (sorry I have no pics). I have no exact measurements. Just make as much as your family will eat.

-Start with homemade Tortilla Shells.

2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 c. shortening
1/2 c. water

Mix all dry ingredients. Add water to ingredients, gradually while kneading. Work dough until smooth. Form dough into 2 inch balls and let stand for 5 minutes. Roll out each dough ball with rolling pin to desired round shape. Cook on hot griddle on each side until lightly brown, turning frequently. (We fry ours in oil, but you can just use a hot griddle too)

-Prepare white rice (approx. 1/4 cup prepared rice per person) Once rice is cooked, combine it with canned chicken or cubed baked chicken (as much as you want) add a packet of taco seasoning and prepare as directed on the taco seasoning packet. Set aside. (you can use less than a packet of seasoning- depending on the level of spice you want)

-Heat a can of refried beans.

-You can use whatever toppings your family likes. Some that we've used
cheese
tomatoes
lettuce
sour cream
guacamole
salsa
ranch
mixed vegies (my mom claims it's really good)

Once you've got everything heated up and all your topping ready it's time to eat. Start with a tortilla shell, spread a layer of refried beans on top, then spread a layer of rice/chicken mixture and top with whatever toppings you like.

Jack likes to fold his in half and eat like a taco. I like to keep mine flat and cut into pieces. You can pretty much do whatever you want.

It's super easy and SO good. Give me your feedback if you decide to try it.

Party Stuff

You all know that Jack and I are super fun people, so of course we would have a super fun birthday party. I wanted it to be a surprise but Jack is AWFUL at surprises. (like when me and Todd and Dana tried to surprise him with birthday lunch at Rodizio and he got super mad cuz I wouldn't let him drive so he decided he wasn't going on our "drive" and went back and pouted at the apartment.... yeah) Anyway, I gave up on the surprise and together we planned the perfect party.... for a seven year old.

We started with dinner at the Training Table. They have amazing cheese fries and you get to order over a telephone. Which is obviously super cool. Todd and Dana, Sam and Tiffany, Adam and Angeline and Higgs and Meri all came out to party hardy with us. We enjoyed greasy food and good conversation. Which is lame-o! Who wants conversation at a birthday party- we're not geezers yet. So then we ran home and ate cake and ice cream while watching an episode of House. Way more "hip" don't ya think?

After all the food we headed up to Sandy to the Classic Fun Center. Jack could not have been happier. We spent an hour in "bouncing fun" and then played lazer tag and went rollerskating. I'm awful at roller skating. Enough said. But having all 10 of us running around like little kids was SO much fun. Seriously it was awsome. We'll probably do it again next year. Cuz we're super fun like that.

Birthday Stuff

We have a birthday in our house today! My sweet hubby just turned 25! And doesn't he look SO good for his age? Birthdays are super fun at our house. Mainly cuz we're super fun people. I planned this oober sweet party with some friends. It's totally the party you ALWAYS wanted when you were like 7. It's gonna be so great! (I'll post pics)

Jack's my favorite person in the entire world. He knows I love him for so many reasons. So I'll say DITTO to my mom's words and share some of my favorite memories with him.

-A couple years ago we took a road trip to Canada. One of the funnest vacation ever. Anyway, at one point in the road trip we were driving through Idaho or Montana- some baren patch of land- listening to Brian Reagan. It was after 2am, we were exhausted, we hadn't eaten anything but licorice and peanut m&m's for hours and there we were, holding hands and laughing our butts off. It was one of those moments when I stepped back and said, "Wow, I really love this guy".

-When Jack and I were dating we spent most of our "dates" at one of our houses. We watched some incredibly awful movies. Did a bunch of smooching. And talked a lot. One of my favorite memories of us dating was dancing in his parents front room. Jack is really into music and would always play me CD's and we'd dance. He'd sing me songs while we danced and I always thought it was so romantic. I always wanted to marry a romantic guy. Moments like that made me realize, "Wow, I really love this guy".

-Jack is SO talanted when it comes to the guitar. He can sit down and play a song without even looking at the chords. He just kind of figures it out in his head. It's crazy. I love listening to him play. Sometimes he'll sing me to sleep. He'll bring his guitar in and just play till I fall asleep. Moments like that make me think "Wow, I really love this guy".

-Jack is SO helpful when it comes to "womans" work. He vacuumes, does laundry, mops, washes dishes, scrubs bathtubs, dusts, cooks, EVERYTHING. I feel like we're really a team. If I ask him to do something he just does it. Most days the house is spotless when I get home from work. And if people are coming over and I don't have time to pick up I know he's gonna pick up my slack. It's great. When I see him on his hands and knees scrubbing our bathtub, or mopping our kitchen floor while I watch, or making me sit on the couch while he cooks dinner... those are moments when I know "Wow, I really love this guy"

-For our very first Valentines Day Jack bought candles, wine glasses, and a table cloth. He blindfolded me and drove me around Ephraim till we ended up at our destination. He led me into McDonalds where he had set up a table in the back corner. It was SO adorable. People mocked him when he told the story later, but it was seriously so cute. It was perfect. We ate dinner by candlelight and then went home and cuddled on the couch and watched Ghost. The fact that he went to all that work to make valentines special for me reminds me that "Wow, I really love this guy".

Happy Birthday Jack .

Just so you know, I really love you.

Sick Stuff

Isn't life just so hard? Today was one of those days for me. While I was washing my hair I had an epiphany- I don't have to do anything I don't want to do. And I REALLY didn't want to go to work. So I called in sick to life today. (technically Jack called in sick for me.....) I was so giddy I could hardly stand it. I washed all the dishes that had been sitting in my sink since sunday, I did 4 loads of laundry- washed, dried AND put away. I ran errands and went to lunch with my fabulous husband, I finished shopping for Jack's birthday presents, bought cake and ice cream for Jack's party, now I'm watching American Idol and wishing I never had to work again.

I was surprised at all the things I was missing while I slave my life away at work.

Like when I was at Wal-mart I happened to get in line behind this super cute couple. Not gorgeous by any means but cute. You know the type. Anyway, not even kidding- their entire purchase consisted of Lean Cuisine, 100 calorie cracker packs, sugar free ice cream, Rice Cakes, etc. Then I started thinking... what if this guy is emotional abusive. And he told her she was fat. And that she HAD to eat Lean Cuisine, and SUGAR FREE ICE CREAM- like does he not know that stuff has ASPERTINE! What a Jerk.

I also went to Ross today. I saw a cute little girl who totally reminded me of THIS girl. On average I get to see this comercial like once a night. BUT if I stay home all day with the TV on I get to see it like TWICE. Reason eneough to quit my job.

Also I realized today that the world is good. Yes world, you have redeemed yourself. You kept Danny in the top 12 and sent Tahtiana home. And did you see how weird Tahtiana is? I mean seriously.

And there you have it. Now I must convince myself that I can't be sick again tomorrow.

Rachel Stuff

In the last month we've spent over $500 on a car we hated. We finally decided it was time to trade in for something that would actually work. This is how Rachel came to be.

Luckily I am amazing and work at a car dealership. So Friday afternoon Jack came down and test drove some cars and fell in love with this Hyundai Elantra. 3 hours later we walked away the proud owners of a new car!

She is beautiful and fits into our family so well. She's a Charcoal Gray 2007 Hyundai Elantra. She has 31,000 miles on her and 29,000 more miles of warranty (my favorite part). Because I work at the dealership we were able to get her at wholesale price- so our monthly payments stayed the same.

I heart my new car one ton!

Valentines Stuff

So this year was the first Valentines Jack and I had spent together since 2006. Sad huh? Usually my parents are off spending money on some exotic island and I'm taking care of the kids. Gotta love being the oldest child eh?

But this year Jack and I got to spend it together. I told him I didn't want to deal with the crowds and the endless hours of waiting at restaurants. So we had a nice dinner for two at home. We ordered our favorite Orange Chicken from China Garden in Provo (totally recommend it- SO amazing) and we ate in our living room.

Jack was a sweetheart and bought me chocolate, flowers and an awesome Spanish balloon. We watched some All Star Basketball action and the movie Serendipity. It was practically perfect.

I love you baby! Here's to us, spending infinity valentines days together. Cheers!