Crockpot lovin

My wonderful sister gave me a fabulous crock pot for Christmas. I have used it a few times and I really like it. I start dinner whenever the girls take naps and then dinner is ready by 5pm or 6pm instead of our usual 7-8pm. If the girls nap in the morning I put the crockpot on low and if they sleep in the afternoon, I put it on high. Either way the recipes turn out fine. My friend Shelly works all day so she told me that she will get the ingredients ready the night before, put them in the fridge and then throw them in the crockpot before work. That way when her, her son and husband get home at five, they can all eat and not wait.

Sometimes it is hard to translate normal recipes to be used in the crockpot

So I just found the greatest blog for *awesome* crockpot recipes: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

There are tons of recipes that sound yummy and really easy to make. There are a lot of tips to make the recipe come out looking good and tasting good. The chicken parmesean one is yummy. I am going to try the taco soup one today.

She even has recipes for cake and brownies! Say what!? Gonna have to try that one. Word.

Book of Mormon Challenge

Some of you may have noticed the Hinckley challenge on the right. I have decided as part of my personal spiritual goal to read the Book of Mormon. I realize that it is just that, personal. But I do need to have some type of accountability, so that is why I posted it on this blog, because I check the blog everyday, but I don't read scriptures every day, so I am going to use this forum as a reminder. I don't want to "show off" or be "holier than thou" or anything crazy like that, you guys know me. Some spirituality will do me good. So there you go. The Hinckley Challenge. I'm already 121 pages behind so I have some catch up! Wish me luck.

Cuties

The girls love Dan soooooo much and they miss him terribly while he is working. Dan and I love our little family and it is so amazing to see how precious theses little girls are. They do things that crack me up almost everyday and I want to write them down before I forget so here are a few things they have been up to this week:

• Ash loves to dress herself I love seeing what she comes up with because sometimes the outfits are quite creative (I have a whole post coming up with all the pics but I have to get them developed first-yes, developed, as in film)
  
• While I am using the elliptical in our bedroom Ashton likes to run back and forth across the room saying "look, I run fast". Or she bounces on the exercise ball and says, "I'm exercising". (in Ash's way of pronouncing it) And Adrienne loves to sit on my bed and rock/bounce up and down with the music. She seriously catches air sometimes because she gets so into it.

• I had some music playing while I was washing the dishes, Ash was in the other room so I checked on her and I found her sitting in front of the speakers, with my piano music, belting out her own words to the song. lol.
  
• Today at church, me and the girls were in the foyer, when this cute, bald, old man walks towards us, Ash being the friendly girl she is says loudly, "hi" he says hi back then turns the corner. Ashton looks at me and says, "where'd hinkey go?" "Where'd e go?" I say, "what?, I don't know?" By this time a few other people had come into the foyer too. Well the old man comes back and Ash points and yells: "Hinckley right there, he's right there, hi Hinckley!" I couldn't help but laugh, she thought the old man was Pres. Hinckley. Maybe we should have had that dying talk a little earlier......lol.
• Adrienne is growing like a weed and developing like one too. She loves to be where Ashton and I are all the time. If we leave the room she crawls as fast as she can (which isn't very fast) to where we are.
• These days Adrienne doesn't like to sit down any more. She always has to stand. If I am holding her and then try to set her on the floor she won't do it. She stiffens up like a board then refuses to sit down until I hold onto her hands and "walk" with her. Ash likes to "help" the baby "walk" too, but usually just ends up dragging her along. Or Adrienne will crawl up behind me, stand up by grabbing onto my pant legs and then want to walk with me.
• Adrienne still sleeps in my bed most of the time and Ash has taken full advantage of this to still sleep in the crib, or cib as she says it. Whenever I lay Adrienne down in there, Ash climbs right in with her and neither of them sleep.

They are so fun. Papa, we wanted to share this with you. I love you, Ashton says wuv you papa and Adrie screams really loud (I interpreted this to mean: I miss you). See you soon!

Who Knew?

Okay I am looking for a double stroller and I need some input from you all. I looked up strollers the other day and found this website http://www.tinyride.com/ It has hundreds of strollers from various companies. I thought "this will be awesome, I can research the best ones, narrow down what I want and then find it on sale or used on ksl.com, ebay, or craigslist". ha. That did not happen.
After looking at every single stroller produced I'm not any better off than before I started looking. There are so many options: sidebyside, front and back, sit n' stand, jogging/bike trailers (okay I've kicked this one off my list because who am I kidding I'm not going to go running or biking with both kids.) I need one that is compact for airplane rides, fits in my honda trunk, has room for water or sippy cups, practical to take into stores, and is sturdy. Here are some good ones:
The front and back one,

The side by side,


The Quinny is super super compact (it can fit in the front passenger seat's leg room) but doesn't come in a double-maybe ash can stay by us now?,

The sit and stand where the back seat comes off and the child can stand up or sit on a little bench thing. And the handle bar is extended a little so the toddler fits,

The question is: which one is best?
If anyone has experience or an opinion please let me know because this has been quite the eye opener for me and I still am undecided.
Thanks

Girls Night!

Me, Lara, Ashlee, Mandy, and Emily

Last Saturday a group of my friends from high school and college got together in Salt Lake at the Gateway. It was so fun to get out of the house and hang out with women and actually be able to carry on a conversation with out interjections like "hang on a minute sweetie, mommy is talking" or "yes you can have some juice", or "be nice to your sister or you will go to timeout". Without these interruptions we were able to cover a multitude of subjects which are never boring with Ashlee, Lara, Emily, and of course Mandy around. We went to a restaurant called Z'tejas which was supposedly mexican food but I had not heard of half of the things on the menu and the waitress seemed irritated that we kept asking her to explain each dish, but it was amusing that college attendee's and graduates still had trouble with it.
Anyway it was awesome to be free of the family for one night and to stay out past eight o'clock, I actually didn't get home until 11:45pm due to the commute. We met in SL because I live in Logan, Ashlee and Emily live an hour south and Lara and Mandy live another hour south of there so we all decided that SL would be a good meeting place.
Next girls night is going to be in April so anyone who wants to come is welcome, just leave me a comment or call me or write on my facebook page. Everyone is invited, friends of friends are welcome, the more the merrier! Our purpose: have a laugh, have a break, have good company, and to always have a good time!
Loved it, can't wait till next time. See you all in April.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

I just want to wish everyone out there a Happy Valentines Day. Hope you all have a very romantic day filled with hugs, loves, kisses, and fun.

2 tags, 1 hers, 1 his

Ok ok, since Ashlee and Lara tagged me, I guess I'll do it! And it gives me something better to do than complain about this frozen tundra we live in. Since I've already been tagged I am going to include a husband tag also (see below), because I am just not that interesting.

10 Years Ago: I was in 9th grade at Lakeridge Junior High. I hung out with my friends Kym, Stacey, Adie, Jamie, and Autumn. I spent most my time crushing over boys and researching for Model United Nations where I represented South Africa. I can't remember a lot about 9th grade, 10th grade on the other hand...too many memories! I am going to refrain from saying what Dan was doing ten yrs ago. Okay I'm not: Dan was back from his mission and going to Ricks college. lol.

5 Things on My To-Do List Today:
1. Apply for substitute teacher at Ash's school
2. Organize the bookcase and side table in my bedroom
3. Go shopping for Valentines dinner tonight
4. Send out late payments letters for the rental
5. Read another chapter of Harry Potter year 7

5 Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Frozen snickers
2. Triscuits and cheese
3. Granola Bars
4. Ice (the small rabbitt kind from sonic)
5. Anything chocolate! (like thats a surprise to anyone)

What would I do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
I would pay tithing first, then I'd pay off our rentals, then I'd invest the rest in a 10% interest return account and live off the interest for the rest of my life, buy a cute house in Oceanside or SanDiego California, I would build a new orphanage in Ecuador and help my babies down there, I would hire a personal shopper maybe Stacey and Clinton from "What not to Wear", hire a nanny, a cook, a personal trainer, go on a world tour, buy anything for Dan that he is too frugal to buy himself (E55 AMG or anyother car he wants) Dan would probably just invest it all in some businesses and find a way to "save" it from being taxed.

5 Places I Have Lived:
1. Orem, Utah
2. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
3. Shrewsbury, MASS
4. Cuenca, Ecuador
5. Logan, Utah

5 Jobs I Have Had:
1. Kara's Chocolates
2. Convergy's
3. Carousel at USU
4. Alliance Marketing
5. Property Manager for Hampton Ridge

5 Things You Don't Know About Me:
1. I want to be a professional photographer and work for National Geographic
2. I want to adopt a ton of babies/kids from Ecuador
3. I want to live somewhere it never snows
4. I am so disorganized
5. I love listening to all kinds of music


Okay, now that's over, here's the good stuff:

HUSBAND TAG:
1. What is your husband's name? Daniel Nathan Stevens

2. How long have you been married? We were married June 25, 2004. So almost 4 years.

3. How long did you date?We dated about two years and then were engaged 4 months

4. Who eats more? I eat way more than Dan on any occassion.

5. Who said 'I love you' first? Dan did but I'm sure I thought it first.
6. Who sings better? Well, our FHE hymns are definitely interesting vocally.
7. Who is taller? Dan is by 7 inches.
8. Whose temper is worse? That is questionable. I ususally start the arguments and I'm quicker to get angry at the kids. Dan's pretty calm, but I sure know how to press his buttons
9. Who does the laundry? I do most of the time, but Dan will every once in a while. He's a lot better at folding and putting away than I am.
10. Who does the dishes? Dan does the dishes most of the time. And he is way fast at it! Comparative advantage right?
11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Dan
12. Who does the cooking? I do, although Dan likes to feed the girls.
13. Who is more stubborn? Once again, questionable. We're both pretty dang stubborn. But I give in easier.
14. Who proposed? He did. It took him almost a month after we had originally talked about it to officially propose. He said he carried the ring around in his pocket until it was "the right time". I think I had already started planning the wedding....
16. Whose parents do you see the most? Mine because they live closer.
17. Who pays the bills? I do. He's too busy earning the dough.
18. What does he like to do? Work. He thinks about it, talks about it, dreams about it, and loses sleep over it. I think the last time we had a conversation that didn't turn to work was when we were dating. Also Dan likes to talk about cars, if you get him and Loni together that's all you hear about, which eventually leads to how they can sell them, which leads us back to work....
19. Who wears the pants in the family? Dan.
20. Why do you love your husband? Wow I ask myself that everyday. I love him because he is so unique, no one else is like him. He has such an active mind, he is always thinking up great ideas. He is sooo goal oriented, nothing is too hard for him. He can stay calm when I would have long freaked out and given up. For someone who thinks about money so much he is so non materialistic. He could be a billionaire and would probably still drive the Greyhound ('92 nissan truck he bought 8 years ago for $400) and wear tennis shoes. He likes outdoor activities and of course basketball. I love that other people think he is so funny. I only think he is when we are arguing and he says something ridiculous that makes me laugh and I can't even be mad at him anymore. I love his blue eyes and the way he laughs at something really funny. He is a great dad. Our girls love love love him.

There you go. I tag Kristy, Lauren, Cassi, Karie Harmon, and Jennica Burnett. You can choose either one of the questions or do both! Then choose five more people to tag.

Snow, Snow, Dreadful Snow!!!

I have to vent my extreme dislike of snow! There has been so much snow this year. I get calls daily of whiny, complaining tenants saying that there is so much snow, as if it is my fault. Yea right, like I intentionally go up there with my snow making machine and spray it all over the parking lot and sidewalks. Not to mention that they think that Dan or I can just sit in their front yard and shovel every ounce of wet, slippery snow off of the walkways. They have no idea that if you shovel when it is still snowing that it will immediately be covered up! I am sick of naive girls who just don't understand the amount of work that goes into maintaining a house because their parents have done everything for them their whole entire lives.
I wish we could just sell the apartments and move somewhere it does not snow. I would much rather battle extreme heat than the alternative.

San Francisco

My mom called a few weeks ago and told me that my cousin Mark and his wife Stacie were having a baby shower for their cute little boys they just adopted. She said that we were all invited to come. And I am totally pro adoption and I want to support anyone who is willing and able to do so.
Also, I really needed some time away from my babies so that I could appreciate them fully. So I wished Dan good luck with a teething baby and a very adventurous 2 yr. old and flew to SanFrancisco with my mom, her twin sister Janice, and my sister Kristen who also helped her husband have bonding time with their boys.

It rained sooooo hard the first day that our sight seeing in the city got cut short. We all purchased umbrellas and bought new jackets. Although we did get to eat at a fancy restaurant in Ghiradelli Square that overlooked the bay. Kristen got the seafood Jambalaya with whole crabs that looked like it was a scene straight out of The Little Mermaid. I got a boring sandwich. That night we drove to the Santa Rosa Marriott. (which btw has really nice beds)
The next day we went to the babyshower in Santa Rosa. It took literally and hour and fifteen minutes to open all the presents! Stacie is so hooked up now, I've never seen so many clothes before. Not to mention how cute those little boys are. I love them and loved playing with them. (I can't post pics for privacy although I wish I could because you would all fall in love with those cute little faces.) Mark and Stacie are natural parents, it seems as if they've had the boys all along.


The last day of our weekend excursion, we went to Sausalito and walked around all the cute little shops and bought souveniers. We also went back to SanFran to buy some famous sourdough bread and biscotti. I forced everyone to stop at the Golden Gate Bridge so I could take some pics and improve my photography skills(to Dan's dismay, there are not people in them so please bare with me).

We made it to the airport on time and ended up waiting for two hours for our flight to leave. This is the great part about traveling without children; normally that would be a disastrous situation trying to keep the kids occupied in a confined space for hours on end. So, Kris and I took advantage of the situation, went into Brookstone and sat in their massage chairs and listened to an awesome 90's love/relaxation cd. We had so much fun. I was energized for our two hour flight home.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to such an awesome vacation for us. Although I missed the girls and still had to pump every few hours. I loved SanFrancisco and seeing our family.