Grapefruit+Breakfast=YUM

When I was a little kid, my Mom made us breakfast all the time, every morning. We ate breakfast together as a family before school, and before my Dad went to work. (I know, my Mom is fantastic.) We sat at the kitchen table and ate as a family. Today I had a grapefruit for breakfast and as I was cutting it I remembered how we often had them for breakfast as kids at our house. I remember that my Dad, Mom and  Brothers ate theirs out of the peel, and my Mom usually cute mine and put it in a bowl. Probably because I was too little to get it out of the peel on my own. Though I won't have said that today's grapefruit was the best that I have ever had, it was still really good. . . and the best part was the memories that went with it.

How to pick out a tasty grapefruit?

The fruits should be heavy for their size as this usually indicates that they feature thin skins and therefore a higher concentration of juicier flesh. Those that have overly rough or wrinkled skin usually tend to be thick skinned and should be avoided.
Grapefruits should be firm, yet slightly springy when gentle pressure is applied. While chilled grapefruits do not have an apparent fragrance, those kept at room temperature should have a subtly sweet aroma. Grapefruits can be purchased throughout the year although the height of the season ranges from winter through early spring.

Our First Home

I think most of you know that we bought a home, this is an over due post for sure. We love it. Wanted to say thanks to all those that helped in the process. People ask me all the time "how did you decide on which home to buy?" Well for me it came down to this...
We liked this home, and looked about 20 other homes. We just kept thinking of this one. But it felt the most like the "RIGHT" place when we were able to go over to the home on a Sunday without the sales people there, and it was just our family. We met my brother Alan and Lisa over there. They were on their way home from a St. George trip. So, with their little family we went into the house. My Mom and Dad came too. Cruz and the boys were all down stairs looking things over, meanwhile; Lisa, my Mom, Jessica (Lisa's twin) and little Em, were all sitting in the family room chatting and talking. Little Em was crawling all around. It was then that it felt like My Home. I thought to myself, this is how it would be. It made me realize that this was the house to get. It was actually a pretty great experience. I am so grateful to have a place of our own.

mmm. . . chocolate!

My latest design project has hit the shelves! I am super excited to announce . . .

Chocolate Never Faileth 

by Annette Lyon and designed by ME!

You can pick up your copy here or here!
Not that I have tired all the recipes yet. . .
but these are my top 4 favorites, thus far.

1. chocolate pavlova p. 193 . . .  I had never had pavlova before, and it turns out that it is yummy and good. The raspberries are a perfect touch to this yummy goodness. (PS. . . I made the one in the picture on page 192. It was the first try, and it turned out great!)
2. classic chocolate chip cookies p.51 . . . but those are my weakness. 
3. easy chocolate pudding p.87 . . . I was surprised how good and rich this pudding was.
4. zebra/tiger tails . . . creative, and tasty; really a win, win.

Things I loved about this project are:

1. I got to set up photo-shoots, and pick out display pieces. (I fell in love with all the cute dishes.)
2. Love the scalloped pages. (You'll have to see them in person, they are cute!)
3. Love the red coil spiral binding on the inside.
4. Love all the little birds that are throughout the book.

enjoy!

Smoothie

Lately I have been having a smoothie for lunch. It is healthy, and sometimes it is just what I need.
Today had this...
1/8 c. Orange Juice
1/2 c. Baby Spinach
1 Small Peach
3 Baby Carrots (this is a new fav. to add a smoothie)
1/8 c. Mixed Berries
3 Ice Cubes
1/4 c. Protein Powder (Vanilla)

All blended together in my magic bullet. (I really do love the magic bullet.)

And the other day I had this...
2 tablespoons Orange Juice
4-5 Baby Carrots
3 Frozen Strawberries
1/2 Banana (We freeze bananas, already cut and peeled; ready to toss in.)

3 Ice Cubes

1/4 c. Protein Powder (Vanilla) 

A little water to top it off

Currently our magic bullet has been living at my work since when living at my parent's house we used theirs, and didn't need ours. Now that we have our own house, I am thinking that we may have to get another one so I can have smoothies at home and at work. Though, we do have a blender at home... it's just nosey and not quite as nice. 

What is your favorite thing to put in a smoothie?

i am happy: 09.23.2010 edition

Today I wrote an email to a friend who asked me what have I been eating? Cruz and I have been trying to eat really healthy the last year and we have had our challenges, good days and bad days. (And you know the months that you just forget all about it.) Overall we are doing better than before, which is good. I am happy. It is true. I think eating healthy does make me feel better. But I also know that LOVING YOURSELF is the true key to being happy. Then all that other stuff of eating right, working out, staying on top of your life are more likely to fall into place. So, today I have been thinking... What do you love about yourself and the life you live?

Wedding Anniversary #2!

It is true, we are so happy together. We have had such a fantastic first 2 years. It was good to have a chance to celebrate eachother.

This year was different than last year, because we were closing on our house at the end of the week we decided to not go anywhere overnight, and we tried to keep the cost down. Yet, we wanted to celebrate. So, we said that we wouldn't spend anything on gifts, and we'd just go to dinner. I followed the rules, Cruz however did not—but that is OK because he bought me a really fantastic shirt. (The one that I am wearing in these pictures.) He gave once again the traditional gift... the second year wedding anniversary gift is COTTON. I love the shirt and it was something that I needed. I too had a gift for him, one that I made. I made some coupons! (Included: Get out of doing a job/chore, 2 Get what I want and bring it back to me, A back massage, Lazy Night= Dinner of his choice...with no clean-up, as well as something of His choice.) I was worried that he would think they were too silly... but actually he really liked them. Yeah! Two thumbs up for sure.

We went to the cheesecake factory (Cruz's favorite) for dessert. Beforehand we had gone to the Olive Garden (My favorite) for dinner. We were thinking of where to go for dinner... thought about trying some new places, but decided not to so that we could eat at places that we knew we'd love the food. It ended up being so yummy.

So much fun to celebrate our love together. I am seriously so lucky (ie. blessed) to be married to such a wonderful, kind and handsome husband. We have so much fun together, just the two of us—happy as can be. Thank you Cruz for always being fantastic. I love being loved by you. I can't wait to celebrate next year.

Happy Birthday August 2010

In our family we have a lot of birthdays in August. This year we celebrated with one big party. We went up to South Fork Park in Provo Canyon; enjoyed a BBQ and each other's company. :) We gathered for the celebration on our Mom's actual birthday, which was nice... so we could all wish her Happy Birthday in person. The food was good, the cakes were fancy and overall it was a success. I love my family.

Swimming 08.28.2010

Finally we went swimming this summer.... (I was beginning to think we wouldn't go swimming in 2010.) Such a great time. Thanks Camie and Nate! So fun, and even a little fancy.

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Tin Foil Dinners 08.20.2010

This is the kind of math I can enjoy!! :)

We had such a great time. I love the mountains. It felt nice to get together with friends. I am so glad that we were able to gather. Joel had to come a little later, but he made it in time for some good pictures and a lot of chatting. These are some of the best friends that I could ask for.

Summer Hiking

This summer we did some fun HIKES!

Hike #1: To the hot springs up Diamond Fork. The little hike was nice, and the hot springs felt great!

Hike #2: This was the most challenging hike for me that we did. It was very steep,

just a little more than 6.5 miles round trip. But the view at the top was well worth the hike.
So pretty, we stayed for lunch and soaked up some sun.

Hike #3: We had a wedding this Saturday... so we had to do a short hike. :) The "Y" was a perfect one to do in little time. Actually a first for me. The view was pretty.

Hike #4: Every summer for the most part it seems that I hike stewart falls. Always a good adventure.

Hike #5: Mount. Timpanogos!! I am still suprised that I let Cruz drag me up this mountain. LOL. It was not that bad. Long? Yes. Fun? Yes. Worth the effort? Yes. I loved the view, and I was pretty pround of myself for making it to the summit.

I have to say that I have had so much fun hiking this summer. My husband is fantastic, and encouraged me to go higher and higher. I am seriously the luckiest girl I know. I can't wait until the fall leaves are here and we can do some fall hikes.

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4th of JULY weekend...

I love it when the holidays land on a weekend...

Some pretty waterfalls in the Uinta Mountains... we were headed to Bear Lake.

We packed a picnic lunch to enjoy when we got to the lake. It was such a nice day.

The Lake was so pretty. I wanted to stay forever. The water was cool, but it felt so good.

And the shakes were yummy.

The views were nice too. We went home through Logan, and took a little stop to see the temple.

When we got home the Cul-de-sac of Fire was already starting. So we hurried over and got a seat.

It was good to see our friends, that we don't always get to see.

Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band was there! Oh, and the fireworks were fantastic.

Pretty much a great way to start the long weekend.

We love sitting by a fire... and the company was good too.

We made some yummy bread. Cinnamon and Sugar... and carmel sauce. Another perfect day.

We have a tradition to have a family breakfast for the 4th.

The food was good, it was fun to be with the entire family.

What a fantastic weekend!!!

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the rest of JUNE 2010

Little David turned one. It was so cute to see him figure out what to do with his cake; he wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

Love all the little festivals during the summer. Orem was great, and loved the fire works.

We took a day drive with my parents, to scofield and other places. It was Cruz's 1st time to see where my Mom grew up. It was great to get out and see the sunny day.

Had a chance to go back to camp shalom. I only went up for Friday, but it was so fun to see the girls in all there glory. Wish that I could have gone for the entire week.

We celebrated Cruz's birthday a few days in a row. It was so fun. 1st celebration was TUCANOS. 2nd was with my family, I made a yummy layered cake. 3rd was on his actual birthday we went to dinner and a movie.

 

We went to Iceland days. We arrived just as they announced "The lunch is ready" talk about perfect timing. We enjoyed Icelandic hot dogs, and Icelandic donuts. Yum!

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happy birthday CRUZ!

I love you and I hope that you have a wonderful and the most FESTIVE birthday ever!!!

Still in LOVE

We had such a fun time. I got off work at 4, and since Cruz had to work until 7... I decided to put together a little surprise. I made a picnic dinner. BBQ chicken, grilled veggies, and arepas. Then when he got home I sneaked into the car and put everything into the trunk. Lucky, he'd called on his way home from work, so I knew he was coming. But he also said he wanted to go up the canyon for a ride. (Can you say perfect?!!) So, we did exactly that. We drove up Provo canyon, and I said let's walk around Timpanogos park. So, we pulled into the parking lot... and I told him I had a surprise. I opened the trunk, so he could see that I had packed a dinner. We then found "our" table. Set up for the dinner. Then this funny lady said "I hope you are at least newlyweds." We laughed and said... well, kinda. She then said "After 13 years, my husband would never do that." It was an interesting thing to think about. Both Cruz and I said that we hope in 13 years we celebrate in the exact same way. Love ya babe.