Amazing video

I have never been a big advocate of anything, but this is worth watching. 

I think I will forever wear my seat belt. 

Check it out!

Hey everyone.. I've been doing most of my blogging on the blog my sisters and I started. You should check it out! I just posted a great recipe!

allfourgirls.blogspot.com

Happy Halloween!

Today is my favorite holiday! I just wanted to wish you all a Happy Halloween and a Happy Nevada's Day. Growing up in Vegas we got Halloween weekend off of school every year and it was awesome!

I hope you all have a fun and safe time!

We went to a little party/get together on Saturday. Abel was Rufio and I was Tiger Lily (or really just an indian haha). We won best costume. 

New Blog!

Hey guys,

My sister Britt invited me to start blogging with her and my other two sisters on a new blog. This blog will have anything and everything we ever desire to post (most likely recipes, crafts, sewing, etc.) Anyway, I posted a GREAT recipe (Spicy Thai Noodles) on there today, so check it out and follow us!

All Four Girls

RIP Piper

Today, is the worst day I've had since Abel and I have been married. Our little dog Piper got out and ran into the street and was hit by a car. I wasn't outside when it happened, but just heard Abel yelling (not like mad yelling, but desperation/sad yelling) her name and I heard Piper screaming/yelping really loudly also. I ran upstairs to see Abel holding Piper bringing her from street. We laid her down on the grass and Abel ran inside to get a blanket. I was just sitting out there trying to get her not to move. We quickly drove to the animal hospital down the street and were immediately seen by a vet. He said that for sure her femur was snapped, she had some internal damage, and that he thought she had damage to her spine (that could result in paralysis of her back legs), but he wouldn't know everything until he opened her up in surgery. He basically told us that even if he did surgery it wasn't a for sure thing that she'd be fixed completely. So, we made one of the hardest decisions ever and decided to put her down so she wouldn't have to be in anymore pain and potentially deal with not being able to run and jump and play like she loved to do. 

We love you Piper and we will miss you so much. Thanks for blessing us with so much happiness the short time you were with us. 

Pinterest

Ya know, Pinterest is one of my new favorite things. Facebook, HA, Pinterest is where it's at! I have collected SoOoOo many things on Pinterest that I love and that I want to make.

Here are a few..

If only I would ever sit down and just make these, it would be awesome! Does anyone else want to make anything? If so, we should have a craft night and make them together!

Guess What?!

 I am the newest official member of the Aveda Institute Provo. I will start in January and couldn't be more excited to learn everything it has to offer!

Southern Peach Cobbler

I've been quite lazy lately and haven't been blogging as much as I should have. Let's be honest, I haven't been blogging at all!

So, school has started. Abel and I are in 3 classes together and sit next to each other everyday. It's a nice change from our other semesters of never really seeing each other. The only part that stinks is that we have group work in all of our classes, but we aren't in the same group, so we really don't do much studying/homework together. We're mostly with our groups.

This is my last semester of my undergraduate degree. I couldn't be happier. School is wearing me out. I figured out that school much really stress me out.. All summer I was pretty easy going (at least I thought so), and now that school has started, I clench my teeth at nights, get mega headaches, and am kinda grumpy (or as Abel puts it, unexcitable). It's pretty pathetic. Luckily it will all be over in a matter of months!

Well, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go to cosmetology school here starting in January. We are just trying to figure out the financing of it all, and I couldn't be more excited (and nervous of course, because I'm always nervous). I think I'm going to love it and can't wait to give it a try..

Anyway, the point of this post is that I made a great recipe the other week when we had dinner with our good friends. I decided to make peach cobbler since it is becoming peach season here in Utah and it was great! I found the recipe from another friend who found it from Allrecipes.com. Great site by the way.

Here it is. Sorry the picture isn't great, but I guess it doesn't have to be since I'm no photographer! :)
Try it, it's sooo good! The only change I would make is that I don't think you have to cook the peaches for 10 minutes first before putting the crust on.

Brazilian Limeade

Lately, I've been wanting to make limeade. I love citrus and what could be more tasty on a hot summer's day than limeade? Brazilian limeade! It's a fun way to jazz up the normal stuff and really easy to make. I searched for a recipe on allrecipes.com and found one that I wanted to try. It is delicious! And, yes, this is my dorky husband trying to act all suave for the picture. Haha.

Recipe:

2 limes

1/2 C sugar

3 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk

3 C water

ice

Wash limes, cut off the ends, and cut into slices.

Place the limes, water, and sugar in a blender and pulse.

Strain the mixture to remove rinds and keeping the juice.

Now add sweetened condensed milk and ice and pulse again!

I changed this a little bit from the original recipe because I thought this worked better. Adding more ice will make it a slush, and if you're like me, you'd add extra lime for even more kick!

Oh and P.S. this doesn't store very well, so only make what you can drink within a few hours!

Summer Goals

So, I was reading my friend Sarah's blog and she was talking about her summer goals so I decided that I would start thinking about mine.. Here is the list so far.. Hopefully I will actually accomplish these (or at least some of these). If I do, this summer time will be a blast!


Vacation
Play
Fall in Love (more, not again, well I guess again but with the same person again)
Get tan
Ride bikes-- leisurely as well as for exercise
Go back to the gym
Serve others (starting by helping my sister)
Go through my stuff 
Deep clean my house
Be nicer
Laugh and smile more
Grow my hair out (for Abel of course, not me)
Go hiking
Weed the garden once a week
Don't stress
Be more spiritual--> be more consistent with praying and reading the scriptures Make friends in our new ward
Re-connect with old friends Polish my resume
Set up a sewing desk
Sew/ be crafty                                                               Decide whether I'm going to go to hair school or not-- if not, look for jobs

Vacation Time!

Abel and I are so excited that spring term is almost over (it ends on June 16th). We CANNOT wait. School has burnt us out and we are ready for summertime.
Luckily, Abel's parents invited us to go on vacation with them a week after school ends. We are going to Hong Kong for 6 days, Singapore for 4 days, and Malaysia for 4 days! It's going to be SO awesome! I can't wait. It'll be my first time out of the country, so that's a little scary, but it's going to be great. I just hope that I'm not sick on all the flights that we'll be going on! I'll probably be poppin' dramamine like candy. Haha.
It's now time to get my wardrobe ready for these asian countries because I've been told it's going to be SO hot and humid and I only have long jeans. In hopes to not be a mega sweat ball the entire time, I bought some knit fabric to make a skirt to wear while we're there. I've also decided that I'm hopefully going to make a few more skirts (and maybe a summer dress). Then I'll only have to buy like one pair of shorts.
I'm hoping that this helps relieve my stress of packing. I hate packing and I'm terrible at it especially for long trips like this! Wish me luck.

Caramel Stuffed Sugar Cookies

Well, the other day at work I was pretty bored (I didn't have much to work on that day) so I was browsing different recipe/food related blogs. Along the way somehow I happened upon this recipe for sugar cookies with Milk Duds in the middle. I like sugar cookies and the idea of caramel in the center sounded great, but normally I have to have frosting with them. I figured what the heck why not try them out? So I decided I would make them for the BBQ that Abel and I were going to on Monday. And when I say going to, I mean by walking up the stairs to Syd's house to eat with her, Nick, the boys, Nathan, and Liz. It was fun and the cookies are pretty dang good-- a good combination of sweet (but not too sweet) and chewy. I would recommend them the next time you want to put a twist in a sugar cookie. 

If you didn't follow the link above to the original source, I'll post the recipe here also.  

Chewy Caramel Stuffed Sugar Cookies
(Makes 3 dozen, adapted from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion)

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 box Milk Duds
• 1/2 cup coarse raw sugar (when I made them I just used normal white granulated sugar)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Combine the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until all of the ingredients are evenly incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg.

Gradually, add the flour to the creamed mixture, stirring just enough to incorporate the flour. Shape rounded tablespoons of dough into a ball, pressing a Milk Dud into the center of each ball. (Be sure to cover the Milk Dud completely with the sugar dough.)

Roll the ball in the raw sugar and place it on the prepared baking sheets. Be sure to space the cookies 2 – 3 inches apart.

Bake for 10 minutes. Let them cool on the pan for a few minutes and then remove.

Skirt Giveaway!

For all you girls out there, I follow this awesome blog called Elle Apparel that has some great and simple ideas for sewing projects. She even has tutorials on how to make most of her projects! Right now, she is having a socialite skirt giveaway. Hopefully, you all won't enter because I want to WIN, but if you do, I guess that'd be alright ;). If you want to check it out, click here!


Anyway, I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend spending time with friends and family. Remember those who have fought for our freedom and protected this wonderful country that we live in. :) Have a great and safe weekend!

BLT Chicken

Tonight Abel and I tried a recipe that I got from my sister Sydney which she got from Rachel Ray. It is called BLT chicken. B as in Bacon, L as in Leek, and T as in Tomato. It is a good combination of savory (or as Abel would say "umami") and creamy. As I was cooking the recipe, Abel asked what we were going to eat with it.. I had no idea haha. The recipe didn't say to serve it over rice or pasta or anything of the sort, so we decided we would try it over our favorite type of pasta--angel hair. It was super easy and DELICIOSO! So, everyone should try it!!

BLT Chicken
Ingredients:
-chicken breasts or boneless thighs cut into medallions
-4 pieces of bacon
-3 leeks (diced and washed well)
-3 roma tomatoes
-1 1/2 C chicken stock
-1T flour
-1/2-3/4 C cream (depending on how much you want)
- salt & pepper
-dry white wine (I didn't have this, so I didn't use it and it still tasted great)
Directions:
In one pan, salt and pepper the chicken. Place the seasoned side down first and cook until done.
In a second pan, cook the bacon until crispy. Break up the bacon pieces into the same pan and add the diced leeks. Cook these until soft.
When the leeks are soft, add the flour and mix.
Next, add the chicken stock, tomatoes, and pepper to taste.
Then add the cream.
When the chicken is done, remove the chicken from the pan and pour a dash of wine into the pan to remove the chicken drippings.
Pour the drippings and wine into the sauce mixture.
Wa-la! You're finished!
I would serve it over your favorite pasta :)

Wedding Photos

I've had a few people ask me where all of our wedding photos are because they never really saw any... so, I've decided that I am going to have a handful of them edited and then I will post them on here for everyone to see. It's probably about time I do that seeing as that we got married over 6 months ago.. Oh how time flies.

Shaved Ice-- Gotta love summertime!

Man, Abel and I are hoping that the rain goes away soon and we head back into weather like last weekend. High 70s and all sunshine. We took advantage of the weather last Friday and rode our bikes all around Provo. It was beautiful. On a whim, we decided that we would go get shaved ice at the very best place around.. too bad I can't remember what it's called.. haha. Either way, it's the little shack across the street from Helaman halls (some of the freshman dorms on BYU campus). And it is AWESOME! If you ever wanted a mountain of the softest shavings of snow-like ice, drenched in an assortment of flavors, than this is the place for you. There are about a million flavors that you can get, a snow cap of sweetened condensed milk, and even a scoop of ice cream if you want on the bottom. We asked them about the ice cream and if it was good after we ordered and they threw in a small scoop on the top for free. It was good :)

Guava is my favorite and POG (Passionfruit, orange, and guava) is Abel's. He was so sweet to let me choose the flavors I wanted so we got half guava and half mango. Both great. If you go, I'd highly recommend the guava. That "little" baby in the pictures is a long board (medium) and it was HUGE. Abel and I couldn't even finish it all. Next time, we'll go for sharing a short board (small).

Vinyl Mail Holder

So, a while ago I saw the coolest DIY mail holder/magazine rack made of old records. I thought it was so cool that I had to try it myself. Knowing that my dad has TONS of old records, I gave him a call and he mailed a few up to me. Thanks Pops! 

So today, Abel and I decided to give it a try. It was pretty simple. You basically iron a vinyl record until it is bendable and then you shape it how you want. Our best one was made by ironing a strip close to the middle and then bending it around a book to get the flat bottom. You just have to make sure you work fast because the vinyl cools pretty quick. Here's what we came up with. 

Ignore the ugly mail. Had I been a professional photographer I would have found cool mail and magazines to put in this. But, I'm not so I settled for the actual mail at our house. :) 

Future Plans

So I forgot to update some very exciting news that Abel and I found out a few weeks ago...

No we are NOT having a baby.. Haha..

Abel got into the Marriott School of Management! We are both very excited that he was accepted and starts classes this spring. He hasn't decided on his emphasis yet, but he found out that he doesn't really have to decide until next year so he has sometime to figure out what he really enjoys. We still are planning on getting into and going to dental school in Texas in two years when Abel graduates with his bachelors degree. As for me, I decided to decline getting my masters in Accounting and graduate in December with my Bachelors in Accounting. I am currently trying to clean up my resume and this spring/summer I will be sending it out around the Utah county area in search of a job. Let's hope I can find something!

We are both very excited that we have more definite plans for our future and that things are moving along in a way that we are very happy with.

We also are very excited that our classes/schedules in the fall will match up much better than this semester! Or at least, I'm really excited about that. In fact, we will both be taking the integrated core (which is the core of general business classes). Although we won't have the same teachers, three of the five classes will be the same subject so we can help each other if need be.

We are very happy. Life is good.

Famous Sticky Buns

So Abel asked me the other day if I would make my "famous" sticky buns for General Conference which I was perfectly okay with because I LOVE them. He obviously doesn't know that my "famous" recipe actually came from my sister Sydney and I have no idea where she got it, so no credit actually goes to me.

 I think they worked out pretty dang good this time 'round.

So here they are just as a sticky bun, but if you have a mega sweet tooth like I do, then adding frosting to the top makes this treat only better. 

The recipe is SO easy..

Dough:
3 1/2 C Flour
1 Tbsp Yeast
1 1/4 C Milk
1/4 C Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 Egg

Sugar mixture:
Brown Sugar
White Sugar
Cinnamon
* I don't have an exact recipe for this because everyone likes a different combination. I personally use more brown sugar than white and make mine fairly cinnamony.

Sticky Sauce:

1/2 C Butter

1/2 C Brown Sugar

4 Tbsp Light Corn Syrup

Warm milk to 90-110 degrees and add yeast. Let it grow. When it's done mix all ingredients together and knead for 3-5 minutes. Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled. When this is close to being finished rising, start the sticky sauce. Put all ingredients into a pan and bring to a boil. Once it boils, pour on the bottom of the greased 9x13 pan that you are going to cook your cinnamon rolls in. After the dough is doubled, flour an area on your counter to roll out the dough. Roll out the dough into a nice, large square/rectangle. Spread soft butter onto the dough. Spread the sugar mixture to all edges of the dough. Now it's time to roll! After rolling, I cut the dough in half and in half again until I have 12 rolls. Place the rolls into the sticky sauce. Now it's time to rise the rolls again. Place them again in warm place and let them double in size. When they are risen cook them in the oven for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Enjoy!

Tips: When rising dough I heat my oven to 200 degrees and turn the oven off. I then cover the bowl with the dough with plastic wrap and place it in the oven to help the dough rise.

Chicken Piccatta

So, here's a delicious meal that I think everyone should try. It is from America's Test Kitchen cookbook (which I love). You can look the recipe up on their website or click here. I do two things differently. Number 1- I omit the additional lemon juice. I think that the flavor from the lemon slices is enough. If you want more, I would recommend adding little by little until it's the flavor you want. Number 2- I double the sauce. I do this because Abel and I love to eat it over mashed potatoes, so extra sauce is great on the potatoes. Try it out! You might like it too!

PIPER

We love Piper and it's crazy that we've had her for about a month.. It seems much longer than that. She does the funniest things. Some include her mad sprints/laps around the couch, her rolling on her back and laying belly-up, and sometimes sitting like a person would sit--completely on her bottom. We're definitely learning her personality and she is learning ours.. She now knows when I'm cooking in the kitchen, if I look at her it means she needs to get out of the kitchen although she always sneaks right back in. We've also been teaching her how to sit, lay down, stay, jump, and off. She's catching on and does it most of the time, but when she's distracted by new people she's not too keen to listening to us.

We're excited that the weather is going to be getting warm soon so we can start taking her outside to play and teach her to walk on a leash.. She's not too big of a fan of it now. But it'll be fun for her to play outside with Syd and Nick's dog Lucius during the summer.

Alright, I'm a procrastinator...

So I haven't posted in FOREVER and I feel like a lot has happened since the last post. Most important and was my birthday! Abel surprised me with many awesome presents and a day full of activities including a surprise hair cut (where I cut off all my hair), new make up from his parents, called my boss and got me off work for the day, took me to breakfast and dinner, and threw me a party that night. It really was a blast. Love you Abel!

Happy Valentine's Day

Abel and I didn't have much time to really celebrate, so we decided to just have a nice dinner together in our front room where we both dressed up (this made it feel more fancy smancy). 

I made a great roast, mashed potatoes, and corn.

 Abel supplied the warm fire place and the tulip.

 It was a fun first Valentine's Day together and we're both excited for more to come... 

Piper Sng-- The Min Pin

We got a PUPPY! Meet Piper Sng. She is nine weeks old and the cutest Min Pin you've ever seen. On our first day together, we took her to the store to buy her a harness and a leash. She is so small that we could really only find one harness that fit her and we adjust it to be as small as it goes. After that we went to the BYU vs. Utah hockey game and she snuggled on our lap the whole time. As hard as it is to get a puppy because you have to potty train her and teach her not to chew on the rugs, cords, shoes, clothes, etc. we really love her and are excited to raise her. 

Hainan Chicken and Rice

So, Abel doesn't cook very much, which I think is probably pretty common for the average male college student. But for the past week or so he's been telling me how he's going to cook me dinner-- some singaporean food. So finally tonight he made me this Hainan chicken and rice. Although our pantry is not stocked with all the asian herbs and spices yet, it was still really good! If you want to try it click here for the recipe.

Start Blogging!

Well, I finally decided that since I've had my blog created for about 2 months, it was probably time to actually write a blog post. I recently have been looking at my friends blog and was inspired. If you all want to see a great blog check out http://danielandchristalbridge.blogspot.com. Looking at Christal's blog makes me miss her so much! And it makes me want to hurry and graduate school so I will finally have time to do fun things like she is doing. I wish I had more time for crafts and baking and homemaking... All in time I guess. Until then, I'll continue getting my accounting degree (although I'm not so sure how much I was a career in the accounting world).

To Christal-- I miss you so much. You look like you are having a great time in Hawaii and you are becoming such a great photographer.