Eating Better!

I have this on going battle with my weight and I think I am winning right now! Lately I have been making such good choices in the food I am eating and making for dinner. My favorite so far was I made a mock version of th California Pizza Kitchen Thai Chicken pizza. I am very proud of myself, and it even tasted good with a whole wheat crust.

Lots of fresh veggies on top make it taste light and delicious!

This is what I came home to and I was a bit worried that the pizza wouldn't turn out good.

The whole wheat dough.

Cooking it up!

Final beautiful product!

Now is the time for FUN!

Ok, so I haven't been the best blogger as of late. I figured that Jeff does such a good job of keeping everyone informed of the things we are doing and entertaining them along the way that I haven't really had much to say.

Well, here is the quick update from my side of life.

-I just finished Parent/Teacher conferences for the second and last time for this school year! Yay!

-I have been called as the YW camp director and have no idea what I am doing. I have been with little ones for so long that I have forgotten how to teach big people. I think I like it when I am taller then most of the people I am teaching.

Now for the fun news! I got a new DSLR camera! I am having so much fun getting to know all about how to use it and what it can do with photos. It has been a long time since I have done some serious photography so I am a bit nervous to get back into it, but excited at the same time. Well, I hope to take and post some great pics soon (the jelly beans were taken with the new camera and I put them up to celebrate Spring and Easter coming soon).

Wii had a great time!

Well, it has been a while since Christmas but I wanted to share how wonderful our trip to California was. Since Jeff and I stayed in Utah last year it was California's turn this year. It also happened to be a special year because my Oma turned 90 in November. This meant that all of my family got to come home for Christmas and to celebrate my Oma (who is amazing and wonderful). By Christmas afternoon I had my parents, Oma, all of my brothers and sisters (and 2 sisters-in-love, as Ann likes to call them), and five neices and nephews. We also had my Mom's whole side of the family too. I think it was the first time we had all (the extended family) been together in quite a few years. Family was the best part of it all.

Now, onto the funny stories. My parents are VERY generous people and I love them so much. We had spent Christmas morning opening gifts from each other and watching the small ones enjoy the process of ripping up paper. Jeff and I picked up a rather heavy box from my parents and my mom calls over my dad to watch us open the box. Well, he comes over and picks up his camera. This is code for a special present. I couldn't think of anything that would surprise me so I was a little confused. Maybe it is a new something for the kitchen, I thought. Well, I started to peel back the paper and it took me a second for my brain to comprehend what I was seeing.

My parents bought us a Wii! I was in shock because that was the last thing I was expecting to see. Jeff and I had often thought about getting a Wii, but never got around to getting one. Lets just say the picture speaks for itself and there were lots of hugs of thanks that followed.

The other surprise of the day was a similar looking box that looked and sounded like it would be some kind of board game. I love board games and I had put a few of them on a wish list for this year, but the present had a tag that said I had to guess what was in the box. I had a hard time thinking, but then my mom started giving me clues. "It will remind you of your childhood" was the one that finally tipped me off. I shouted, "It's the BAD GAME!"

Now most of you are probably not familiar with the Bad Game. That is because that is not the real name. It is really Star Wars Return of the Jedi Battle at Sarlacc's Pit Game. As a small child I would want to play this game all the time with my dad (he is the only one who would play with me, and for good reason). I didn't know the name so I just called it the Bad Game and I didn't know how to play. I made up my own rules (different every time, I'm sure) and I magically always won. I still don't know how to play, but it will be fun to actually find out how to play, though I might have to invoke my own rules just to make sure I still win.

Well, like I said the presents were fun, but the best part was being home with my whole family and having Jeff get to see a little bit more of who I am and where I come from.

Anyone up for some Wii?

Gingerbread Adventures

Every year my family likes to put together a unique gingerbread structure. This year my mother thought of doing an igloo. We had all the family around to help and I think it turned out cute. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time for lots of bells and whistles like we normally do, but it turned out lovely anyway.

Meg did a great job on the penguins!

My Birthday!

Well, I had one of the best birthdays ever! There were a few points which I will make to show that it really couldn't have been any better.

First, I took the day off from work so I got to sleep in just a smidgen. I didn't have to worry about what I was teaching, or which child was doing what. I simply got to get up and slowly get ready for the day.

Next, I cleaned and organized most of my guest room. Over the last few weeks somehow it became a junk room and it was a cleansing experience putting most things back in order.

Well, I really cleaned it out so the massage therapist could put her table in that room. My sister-in-law was so kind as to arrange for one as my birthday present. I just have to say that I felt wonderful after that and could have been completely happy with my day at that point, but the great thing is that there was more!

In the late afternoon I curled up on my couch with a good book and some light piano music in the background and read for a couple of hours! Jeff gave me "Catching Fire" on Sunday with the rest of his families presents so I had it out and ready to go. I read as the sun went down and until Jeff got home.

When he walked in he asked me where my phone was at in the house. I picked it up to show him it was in my lap and just then I got a text saying for me to check the (ugly, and I wish it would go away) pig, which is a cookie jar that sits on our front porch. I went to open the door and got a wonderful surprise when I saw our good friends Heather and Kayli. They brought me some cookies and a card. I felt so special that they would drive all the way up to Orem to make me feel special. We talked for a while and had some good laughs.

When they left Jeff and I went out on our date for the evening. He took me to my favorite place to eat, Jason't Deli. I just love the fresh deli sandwich and creamy broccoli cheese soup. After dinner we went to the movies and saw New Moon. It was a fun movie and we both enjoyed the story.

It was pretty late when we came out of the movie so we just went home. I walked into the kitchen and on the table was an amazing apple pie from Kneader's and some cute birthday balloons. Thanks goes out to Zack and Delta for bringing them for Jeff. We ate some pie and I opened my presents and cards. Jeff got me a beautiful necklace, that I picked out.

Overall, I just felt special and loved. I want to thank everyone for all the phone calls, e-mails, and messages that let me know how much I am loved. It felt good to know that people cared about making my birthday special. I love you all too!

Another Pair

I am so excited to write that I have added another pair of shoes to my collection. Now these shoes were not picked on a whim in a store as I walked by. These were chosen with great care and research.

I had decided a few months ago that I needed some new running shoes. My old ones were getting ratty and uncomfortable so I didn't like going to the gym as much (unfortunately that is not the only reason I don't like going to the gym, but that would be a whole different post). I went online to find the best way to pick a good running shoe for me. Well, most of the sites I visited said I should just go to a running shoe store and ask a sales person to let me try on a whole bunch.

Well, after a long time and a lot of shoe comparison I found a style that I liked and it felt good. The bad news was that the sticker price was a lot more then I was willing to pay for a pair of running shoes (maybe if I actually ran I might have thought more about it).

Here is the good news. I am smart. I figured I would just take the brand and style names of the shoe I wanted and see if I could get a better deal online. Well, low and behold, I did. I found the same shoes (in a different color) for over half of the price of the shoes in the store and at a price I could swallow. I even got free shipping with a promotional code!

Now I have cute, comfortable, and affordable running shoes that make it a little bit easier to get back to the gym.

Halloween

Well, I meant to post right after Halloween, but I had Parent/Teacher conferences this week. That usually takes more time then I think it will, but I am glad they are over and I get today off!

On Halloween Jeff and I kept it simple. After the Haunted House incident I was not in the mood for anything scary. We decided to stay home to make and decorate sugar cookies. They weren't fancy and the "black" frosting was more of a swamp green, but we had fun anyway.

After they were made we decided to share them with our friends, Tammy and Cameron. We were going to just drop the cookies off and say a quick hello, but they invited us in to play Phase 10. It was a rousing game (I lost terribly) and we talked the night away. We had a lovely night full of treats and friends. Just they way I like it

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