Recipes have become a new hobby of sorts for me. I enjoy trying out new recipes and Scott is always so supportive and eats everything I make! So, I thought I would occasionally post some of our favorites, especially the easy to make ones. This sunday we tried out a recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup from a book called "Missionary Meals for 2".

Chicken Tortilla Soup:
1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
1/2 15 oz can of whole kernel corn
1 14.5 oz can of chicken broth
1/2 15 oz can black beans
1/2 14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 4 oz can diced green chilies
1/2 tsp cumin
salt to taste

Garnish:
tortilla chips
shredded cheddar cheese


We didn't add any salt and instead of torilla chips and cheese we had tortillas and guacamole on the side and it was so wonderful! I tripled it, approximately and would recommend the same for anyone else making it.


A few weeks ago we also started having Hawaiian Sandwiches, the recipe is from another missionary cookbook of mine.

Hawaiian Sandwiches:
Toast 2 slices of bread
Layer sliced ham, sliced pineapple and cheese on top of toasted bread for an open faced sandwich and broil until cheese melts.

We like to use white bread and white cheese. I personally like to heat my pineapple in the microwave before I put it on the bread so it gets really hot and toasty but Scott doesn't mind either way!

New Growth

At the beginning of the semester (around september) I bought some little houseplants and replanted them all together. I was very excited to have plants because it makes me feel very wifely and nurturing. Sadly, they didn't last long. As the temperature droped they began to wither one at a time until all three had shriveled up into little black sticks. I had almost given up on encouraging life in the apartment when I had some inspiration while looking at an avacado. We toothpicked the avacado pit and put it on a cup full of water to help it sprout into a tree. For a long time the pit didn't do anything and I was about to give up when it began to crack open so the roots could come out. A few weeks ago it began to grow in leaps and bounds and sprout out the side(it's supposed to come out of the top but it was in a place where the light was coming from the side). I was so excited that it was finally showing progress!!

So, after ignoring the messy bed you will see the finished blanket folded in half!

Christmas was a very busy time for us, with school, work and making Christmas presents. In my family we are assigned one sibling and their family to give gifts to because there are too many of us. This year we had Ben and Athena and their two darling little girls. About three months before Christmas we decided to make a blanket for them and after much thought and several brainstorming sessions with other siblings and my mother we decided on a cream color for the yarn and got to work. After three months of work a rather large and impressive(at least to me) blanket was produced from my crochet hook. I have to say I am rather pleased with it and thoroughly enjoyed the learning process that I experienced!

This has been a momentous week in the life of two "first-time" married renters. On thursday, Scott's birthday I took him to work and ran a few errands. When I came home, I walked by our kitchen windows on the way to the mailbox and I could see the light shining through a crack in the curtains. I walked down the stairs to the apartment as quietly as I could and the door was slightly ajar. If I had been smart I would have called 911. But, I eased the door open and peered in to see a strange man with his head under the kitchen sink. I assumed it was the landlord because I had seen a familiar car outside and we needed our sink fixed. He didn't introduce himself but just said he was trying to fix the sink. I didn't want to leave him there alone in our apartment so I changed my schedule to stick around. I was irked!! Scott was even more angry than I was, what if I had been in the shower or something!
Scott called the landloard and he was thoroughly uncooperative and said he'd "try to call first next time". So Scott looked up the law online and it's illegal to enter our apartment without 24 hours written notice! Scott emailed him and we haven't heard back but next time I'm calling the cops!!!
The adventures of being newly married never end!

I have to say that I have what may possibly be the coolest job on campus. I work in catering at BYU and for some reason I seem to work the jobs that are interesting and fun. On home football games I work in the Blue Zone which is so easy and fun! We have different themes every week. Yesterday I catered for the President's Leadership Counsel dinner. The food was incredible(we get to eat the leftovers) ,the people were so nice(these kind of wealthy people tend to be, in my experience) and the decorations were fabulous! I only feel bad when I come home and tell Scott what wonderful food I ate for dinner and he had a PB&J....

Well folks, this is the debut post of one who has never blogged or done anything remotely close to it. My sister in law Audrey posts and I love reading about what's happening in her life(especially since I'm terrible with the phone, I hate it) and laughing at the pictures of her children so I thought Scott and I could give blogging a shot :) We've both had a lot of new beginnings lately. I'm back in school for the first time in years and still trying to adjust. Scott and I have been married for 2 months today!! Wahoo!! I never thought married life would be this amazing, maybe it's because my husband is so thoughtful and lets me be a dork without making me feel stupid...but I digress...new beginnings. Scott is still working at Fedex Office, just at a new store and I have started working at BYU Catering. So far, it's been a good experience, challenging and tiring but good nonetheless. We are in the cutest little basement apartment a few blocks south of campus that I am loving making it our own. So, all in all life is going pretty good!
You'll probably see a lot more of Scott on here than me but you never know...