yummy!

Why did i not ever think of this????

source: delia creates

This would definitely take s'mores to a whole new level!

Must try this Summer.  

Anyway, I really have nothing to blog about as of late.  Except that pinterest is my new favorite website.  It's basically like a virtual bulletin board.  Anytime you find a fabulous idea online, you can "pin" it to your board.  It's a great way to organize all the neat ideas you come across while looking at blogs, etc.  I have found many fabulous recipes!  Plus you can see what other people pin on their boards and re-pin them if you like the idea. You can also follow your friends and see what they pin too.  It is a lot of fun!  Now I don't have to try and remember all the good ideas i see on blogs.  The site is invite only, but i still have some left, so let me know if you want an invite! :)

p.s... i found this s'more idea on pinterest!  

a sweet story

Since the beginning of the year Dan and I have really tried to eat a lot healthier.  For the most part we have done pretty well.  I honestly got to the point where I didn't crave sugar at all.  It was fabulous.  And when I thought about sweets, they sounded almost too sweet!  Shocking, i know!  I didn't even know that was possible, but it is.  We would occasionally have treats when we had visitors, but I would usually just have a very small portion.  And then last night it all changed!  Dan was out home teaching and all i could think about were warm chocolate chip cookies!  I could not get their image out of my head (which by the way, i have an awesome recipe for and will one day post it).  So i figured while Dan was gone I would whip up a batch... in fact i would cut the recipe in half so we wouldn't have as many (that's healthy, right?).  I got to my pantry and found no chocolate chips :(.  This is what happens when you decide to eat healthy, you just don't buy that stuff anymore.

I waited til Dan got home and i told him i really needed a treat.  He told me there were popsicles in the freezer but i said "i need chocolate" (i know, so dramatic).  He finally agreed but said i had to find a drive through because he didn't want to go inside anywhere.  Which turned out to be perfect because we just happened to have a buy 1 get 1 free blizzard coupon @ the DQ.  Yes a blizzard would definitely satisfy this craving.

I ended up getting my favorite blizzard, cookie jar.  It is no longer on the menu, but if you ask for it they'll make it.  It is the BEST blizzard!  It is cookie dough and oreos all in one.  Two delicious things for the price of one :).  I ate it and i loved it and it for sure helped cure that chocolate craving.

Moral of the story: Cookie Jar blizzards are amazing!  That's all :)

Guess What?

We started our house!  Ok actually we just took the large deposit check over last night so that they can start building (it's always kinda scary writing large checks like that).  Now they are going to spray paint exactly where our house will sit on the lot and get our approval and then they can start building for real!  I feel like we have been waiting forever.  I am so ready to move into that non-existent house already!  Anyway, real building should take place starting next week.  You had better believe I am going to take lots of pictures of the progress. 

And you know what else?  Dan and I have been using those new tennis rackets like crazy!  We played 3 time last week and once this week.  We'll probably go again tonight.  It is so much fun!  I think it's the first sport I can actually win every once in a while.  Maybe that's why i like it :).  Dan is too good at every other sport.  Luckily with this sport we are both beginners so it's almost equal (he's still a little better).   

Lastly, my parents are visiting this weekend.  Yay! :)

Announcing....

my latest and greatest website (i know, it seems like i have a lot... but really only 3).  My sisters and i decided to start a blog all about dating your spouse.  It is basically a place for us to write down different date ideas.  Because if you are like us (me & dan) you end up doing the exact same things every weekend!  So we decided to get creative and collectively come up w/ lots of great date ideas.  Check out our new site here:

Dating For Eternity

We only have a few posts so far (just started last week), but we've got lots and lots of ideas in store!  And even if you're not married, you can still look at it for date ideas :). 

I want.

The other day we were at the Bosch Store (i love this store, mostly for the delicious cafe inside) and i was browsing through the kitchen gadgets when i came across this....

Color coded cutting boards!  There is a separate chopping board for fruit/veggies, meat, fish & cooked food (which seems to be way more sanitary) all in this cute little case.  Plus the set I saw comes w/ knives that correspond w/ each color as well.  Amazing!  Cute and functional.  I want this.  I'm not sure i've ever wanted a kitchen gadget this much before.  Now i just have to decide if cutting boards are worth $65.... :) 

Noelle & Jared

My sister Noelle & her husband Jared came to visit us last weekend!  Here are a few pics i snapped while they were here:

We took them to our favorite view spot, only this time it was windy & cold up there!

In the red rocks

We played bocce at the park!

I think we convinced Noelle & Jared to move here too :).  I hope!  haha... anyway it was lots of fun to see them.  They were super happy they chose to come down this past weekend too b/c it was still snowing in Provo.  In May!  Ridiculous.  I can't even remember the last time i didn't wear flip flops & shorts/capris down here....

Spoiled

Today I am posting about Dan, again!  Because he is just so awesome!  I must start off by saying I am spoiled and I'm not afraid to admit it.  In fact, I like being spoiled :).  I am 100% fine with this.  So here goes my awesome husband story for the day....

Yesterday after Dan got off of work he decided he needed to get me a mother's day present.  I told him I was not a mother and it was not necessary.  But he told me one day I would be a mother, so I needed a present.  I really think he just likes looking for excuses to get me presents :).

Later that night during FHE Dan told me he wanted to give me my mother's day present (he does this every time he gets me a present, he hates waiting to give it to me!).  I told him it wasn't mother's day and i wanted to wait until Sunday to open it.  He proceeded to tell me the sooner I opened it the sooner I could use it.  Eventually I gave in and decided since I wasn't a mother I didn't have to wait until mother's day to open it.  So he brought it out, wrapped like this...

... in a quilt we have.  That is definitely my husband's kind of wrapping job!  I think he is just trying to save the environment by not wasting paper.

I honestly had no idea what to expect.  But he ended up getting me something I am soooo excited about:

 Tennis stuff!  A racket for him, a racket for me, & tennis balls.  I cannot wait to play!  I just barely learned how to play a few weeks ago and I loved it!  The weather is going to be in the 80s and 90s this week so we are really hoping to play a few nights.

Thanks Dan for the tennis stuff!!!  You win the best husband ever award :).   

Mormon Guard

So... my husband is pretty awesome.  He recently came up with a great idea to help the church online.  In his job he does what is called Search Engine Optimization.  Basically it helps websites get found.  For example... when you search for something in Google, you usually find what you are looking for on the first or second page.  I mean really, how many times do you look through more than 2 pages of google?  I know I don't.  His job is to help websites make it to the first page of search engines, otherwise they just get lost in cyberspace.  His plan is to help members who blog about the church get their websites found.  That way when someone searches google (or bing, or whatever search engine you use) about the church, only good information shows up.  Because honestly, not all good information currently shows up.  If you want more info or have always wanted to start a blog about the church, you should check out his website: Mormon Guard.  Or if you're just curious you can check it out because his website explains it all much better than I just did.  And if you know people who already do blog about the church, maybe you can pass along his website info to them too :). 

This is one of the many reasons i love my husband.  He gets an idea & he does something about it.  Way to be proactive, Dan!  :).  But seriously... he's already gotten quite a few members to sign up and i know the idea has been emailed to Elder Ballard as well.  Whether he checks his email or not, who knows...  Another great thing is my Dad is in charge of all the missionaries online.  For those who don't know, many missions are starting to have missionaries blog & get on facebook (seriously missionary work is changing!).  My Dad is in charge of all of that, so Dan is really hoping the missionaries can use his website to get all of their blogs ranking in search engines too.  This could be a great thing to help spread good info about the church!