Cameron Weekend Stuff

Last weekend my brother came to stay with us for a couple of days. We had SO much fun. Even though they only live a few hours away I feel like I never see them. It was so nice to just spend a couple days with Cameron. 

I had to work on Friday so Jack and Cameron hung out the whole day. They hiked up to the Y and went man shopping (which includes stores like Lowe's and Sportsman's Warehouse... sad huh?) They both said they had a good time. When I got home from work that night we made junk food and started watching season 1 of Heroes. Watching TV shows on DVD make me happy. 

Saturday we spent a lot of time watching Heroes and then we all went to the nickel arcade. We become obsessed with collecting tickets. It was awsome. We earned eneough for Cameron to get this killer umbrella hat. We're a little concerned my dad will find it and fall in love with it. He has an odd attraction to ugly hats. 

I was so sad to send him back home. 

Paint Stuff

I am totally in love with spray paint. If I were Oprah I would definately give it away in my favorite things episode. I paint everything that comes through my door.  I've painted our computer desk, my movie shelf, shelf decor, drawers, etc. I LOVE it. 

A couple weeks ago Jack and I found this killer deal at the DI. It was brown and gross but I saw it's potential. We finally got around to painting it. Actually Jack did this one. Credit given. I should have taken a picture of the "before" so you knew how much better it looked but here's what it looks like now. 

Nice Saturday project eh? 

Crafty Stuff

It has been SO long since I posted. We had some camera issues but it looks like all that is resolved and now I can successfully post pictures. Hooray! 

Can you believe it's already May? This year has just flown by. We've been staying busy with work and play. Not much else goes on around here. Sometimes I feel like we're married to our jobs- and we don't even like them that much. But that's always the answer when people want to know "what's up". So there you have it. 

BUT- on the rare occasion that I find myself away from work and bored I have been doing a little of this.....  

And a little of this... 

I love crafting. Thank you for that gift mama. 

New Recipe Stuff

Well Peeps, I tried a new recipe. This was featured on Good Things Utah a few weeks ago so I thought I'd give them a try. It's all about the chicken in this one. The marinade you soak the chicken in gives it such a distinct flavor. Jack absolutely loved it. We strained all the green chili's out of the sauce- cuz seriously, they are gross. But that's the only change we made. So from our family to yours I give you.....

Honey Lime Chicken Enchaladas

1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 large limes)
2 teaspoons to 1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 large cloves of garlic, finely minced or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 large breasts), cooked and shredded
12 corn tortillas
2 cups of Mexican cheese blend, shredded (1 small bag usually is 2 cups)
1 14-oz can of green enchilada sauce (mild or medium, to your taste)
1/2 to 3/4 cup of heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the cooked and shredded chicken in a medium sized bowl. Set aside. In a small bowl, place the honey, lime juice, chili powder and minced garlic or garlic powder. Whisk together thoroughly to combine. Pour this mixture over the chicken and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to marinate while you prepare the tortillas, 30 minutes or up to 1 hour, in the refrigerator.

Heat a large griddle till a drop of water skitters across (about 350 degrees F). Spray the surface with non-stick cooking spray or a oil it with a little bit of canola oil in between each round of tortillas. Heat tortillas about 20 seconds on each side till warm and flexible and some golden brown spots have appeared. Remove the tortillas from the griddle and keep them between a couple of paper towels until ready to use. Spray the sides and bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish lightly with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl combine the enchilada sauce and the heavy cream. Spread about 1/2 cup of the mixture in the bottom of the oiled baking dish. Add a large spoonful (about 2 tablespoons) of the chicken mixture to the center of each tortilla in a line. Cover the chicken with a large tablespoon (or big pinch) of cheese, then roll the tortilla up from one side to make a rolled enchilada - it will be more of an over lap on the seam side that rolled tightly.

Place the enchilada seam side down in the baking dish starting at one end with the long edge parallel to the longest side of the pan so that you end up with two columns of six enchiladas each. Repeat with the remaining chicken, cheese and tortillas. You will use about 1 1/2 cups of the cheese for the filling and set the remainder aside for topping the enchiladas in the pan. Add the remaining marinade mixture to the enchilada sauce and cream mixture, if desired. Pour this mixture over the top of all the enchiladas. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake the enchiladas for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and starting to brown on top.

Todd Stuff

When I was exactly 22 months old my mom brought me a toy from the hospital. At least I thought he was my toy. Turns out his name was Todd and people frown on dragging infants around the house by one arm... who would have thought? 21 years later we're both grown with families of our own and we're still the best of friends.

Dear Toddy,

Remember when... we used to make forts on the wooden bunk beds and then we'd spend hours and hours playing. For some reason our forts were so much cooler than the average persons' forts. You were so fun to play with.

Remember when... we told Mom Erik peed his pants (he was little) and so she made him wear a diaper and drink from a bottle. Then we cried because we felt SO bad. Also remember how we tease Erik about it now and he tries to convince us he was like 2 years old but really he was like 7 and we point our fingers and laugh at him SO hard.

Remember when... you used to play barbies with me and you would ALWAYS name your people Thomas or Robert or Thomasina or Roberta. You used to say you were going to name all your kids in that pattern. I loved that you played with me.

Remember when... we used to stay up so late talking about everything and mom would come up and make us go to sleep. Those nights with you and Erik were some of my favorite. I love talking to you.

Remember when... you played basketball and I would sit on the sidelines and scream at the refs. I really was your biggest fan you know.

Remember when... you and Margo went on a triple date with me and Jason and Hailey and Josh. How cool is it that we could double date together. We had so much fun- it was like we were just hanging out as friends instead of siblings.

Remember when... you came and layed on my bed right before I left for college and told me you loved me and how much you would miss me. I gave you a hug and we cried.

Remember when... you got married and I gave you your first "honeymoon" items. I am THE coolest big sister in the world.

Remember when... you turned 21 and I wrote an awesome blog post about how much fun we have together? I'm cool like that.

I love you Toddy! Have a fabulous birthday!

Price Stuff

Jack and I decided that we're going to spend our weekends touring the most random towns in Utah. The only rules of the game are that we have to do something that is unique to this town and we have to eat at the hole in the wall restaurants that we couldn't find anywhere else. This last weekend we found ourselves in Price, Utah.

Upon arriving in Price we drove to Big Moe's Eatery and Bakery. How awesome is that?

 Our waitress was a middle aged mom wearing sweat pants and flip flops-she 

was such a chatty woman. I loved hearing her talk to the people at the tables. It made me miss home where everyone knows everyone and life runs a little slower. I thought the food was great-my hamburger was covered in avocado and bacon and it was SO good. Jack's was covered

 in mustard and he was not impressed but it was the ambiance we were looking for so I think we hit the nail on the head. 

After lunch we spent a little while shopping at the local Walmart and DI. Fun right? But it's our duty to experience all that Price has for us... unfortunately that was all it had. Once our food had digested and we'd spent a sufficient amount of money we went over to the Wave Pool. We used to go to the wave pool for young women's activities but Jack had never been.  The wave machine was broken so 

it was only producing small waves but it was still fun.

 

When we were done swimming we headed over to Sheralds Burger Bar to eat shakes in the snow. (someone forgot to tell mother nature it was APRIL) How awesomely ghetto does our weekend sound? Don't be jealous. I just gave you our itinerary so you can do it too! Lucky!

Zoo stuff

This weekend Jack and I wanted to get out and do something fun. Jack came up with the zoo idea. We packed a picnic lunch and headed to Salt Lake early in the morning so we could avoid the crowds. The weather was supposed to be nice (57ish... which is nice compared to what we've been getting) so I dawned shorts and flip flops, forgetting the zoo is practically in the mountains. There was still snow on the ground and everyone kept looking at me like I was nuts. It wasn't too cold though- I was fine. 

We had SO much fun. I hadn't been to the zoo since before I was married and Jac

k had never been to the Hogle Zoo so it was a first for us in our marriage. We got there at the perfect time. There was hardly anyone there. I love being able to watch the monkeys in

 the monkey house without any little kids screaming and crowding the windows. So great! 

Jack loves monkeys so we spent a lot of time with them. If anyone want's to gift us a monkey we are totally okay with that. 

After the zoo we went downtown and had a picnic lunch at a park. Knowing that nothing was waiting for us at home we decided to spend the rest of the day in salt lake. We walked around a couple stores and then we went to a Nickle Arcade. It's so much fun to get to be a kid for a day. Jack and I rock at Dance Dance Revolution! And I even gave Jack a run for his money at Street Fighter 2. (sheer luck, but still) 

Our friend Higgs treated us to dinner at Rodizio Grill. Thanks Higgs! Such delicious food. Eventually we had to go home, but all in all it was such a great day. I need more weekends like that!