nobody likes it when you're 23.

Not a very good blog title, but it was the first thing that came to my mind when I started to write... Well, 23 was a great birthday. It started out with Halie and Kendall calling me at 6:50AM while they were driving to school/work in Texas. They chatted with me for a bit and definitely woke me up, but it was ok, because they were doing it out of love and not to make me mad.. Don't get me wrong, it was a little mean, but I definitely felt loved.

My birthday continued by going to work and being surprised when flowers were delivered. This was great because for the first time, Ben was able to completely surprise me and I didn't suspect a thing! He usually gets too excited and if I bug him enough he tells me. Surprises are awesome. Then, I got home and Christopher and Cassie left me some cupcakes. They are the greatest. It was another great birthday surprise (especially since I told Ben I didn't want to make cake or anything because we always have too many leftovers). Personal cupcakes just topped off the night. 

Grandpa took us all out to eat and I got a FREE sandwich at Firehouse Subs. This place is delicious and I definitely recommend it. (sorry, no pics up to this point.) 

Then we got to go shopping for a little bit at Ross and went to Grandpa's for a bowl of ice cream. When we got home Ben gave me another present (aside from the flowers and shopping). It was the holiday collection of Charlie Brown movies. I was SO excited. I love Peanuts/Charles Schultz/etc. It's one of my favorites.

Can you tell how excited I am??! 

We then immediately watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"and really had a nice evening together.

Here's us with the flowers, movies and awesome bowl grandpa gave me. 

Saturday consisted of DELICIOUS Tucanos with both sets of Ben's grandparents, his parents and sister (gotta love the free birthday meal)... and then relaxing afternoon designing wedding announcements with Katie for Christopher & Cassie's wedding. Ben's mom also got me a super cute scarf and a gift card to Old Navy. I'm excited to go shopping and find awesome black friday deals.. :) I also bought my first pair of boots. I am kinda excited for them. They're super cute. It was a great day.

Us after Tucanos... Jackets stayed on to hide the full stomachs. :)
Pretty colored leaves, huh?

I also got to talk to my family who is in Iowa right now on the phone (when the called and sang to me) and on google hang-out. It was so great to see them and visit for a bit. That's all for the birthday celebrations... Next Post--Dan get's ordained an Elder. 

Elder Foell and the MTC drop-off

Well, as some of you know my brother, Riley went into the MTC this last Wednesday and I had the privilege of taking him. It was such a surreal experience. Is my little brother really old enough to go on a mission? Did I really just get teary-eyed as I drove away from the MTC? Is he really ready for spiritual boot camp and a new language? Does my mom really only have three kids at home? ..... It has taken me a few days to digest it, but YES. He's ready. I did. He is. She does. I am so proud that my brother has chosen to serve a mission for our church. He will change so many lives, including his own. I had a great time during the 24 hours (literally) that I spent with him before I dropped him off. We spent most of it shopping for last-minute necessities and skyping with Halie/Kendall and Mom, but it was a great time. 

What was great about dropping him off was that as we were driving to the drop-off spot, there were TONS of elders just waving and welcoming him before he even got out of the car. They were even nicer after he got out. It gave me such a peaceful and joyful feeling to see and know that he will be taken care of while he's on the Mission. I wish my mom could have seen it. Then again, she probably would have started to cry almost immediately. It was such a cool thing. I'm glad I was able to be a part of it.

I think the reason this was such a great experience for me is because Riley and I never really got along growing up and still have a hard time talking to each other as young adults.. but he's my brother and I love him. I know he will do great and I hope when he comes home we can see a little more eye-to-eye then we have before. Love you, Elder. I hope you stay warm this winter.. It's still a shock to my system every year. and I still try and wear flip flops... Good thing you're not allowed to wear those. :) adios.

Elder Foell
Baltimore, Maryland Mission
Spanish Speaking

For Real?

Random Note: Between Ben and I, our cars were hit three times in 10 days. First was Ben, on his way home from work. Some crazy person decided to turn from her lane, through Ben's, into a gas station. Guess what happened? He T-Boned her. Luckily she was totally at fault, Ben was ok, just a little sore, and her insurance covered EVERYTHING.

Second was me, while driving grandpa's car. We were on our way to the airport with Uncle Todd and the freeway came to a complete stop. Lucky for us, the guy behind us was going way to fast and couldn't stop in time so he rear-ended us.. then someone rear-ended him. Lovely, right? So we pulled over into the construction area and found no more than a minor scratch on grandpa's car (can't say the same for the other two cars). Since the damage was so minor to our car, we exchanged information and left as soon as possible to make our flight. We were pretty sore during the flight and the next day, but everyone was ok.

Lastly was my car (that we flew to vegas to get, which is why we were going to the airport when we got hit). The best part of this one was that I wasn't even in it! It wasn't even moving! It was parked in a BYU staff lot while I was at work and the person left a note. I was definitely grateful for the note, but it was a little annoying because I had owned the car for less than 4 days and hadn't even gotten a license plate for it when it was hit...

ANYWAY... About 6 weeks later, both our cars have been fixed and we did not have to drop a dime on it. I LOVE INSURANCE. I'm also very grateful for honest people and the fact that they actually had insurance to begin with.

But Still.... For Real? Three times in 10 days? oh yes... only to us. :)

Projects.

Well, it's been a busy semester at the Chambers home... Ben has been busy with tests, presentations, work, and more tests. I have been busy with work, cooking new pintrest meals, attempting to keep the house clean, and more work. I also have periodically in a bad mood so I try not to blog during those times. I figure it's just not worth remembering the random PMS moments that are stupid to begin with. So... I remember the good ones. And today I am in an especially grateful mood. So I thought it'd be best to blog. :) First off, in our random few moments of spare time (that we have to schedule into our week) Ben and I finished some projects and got lots of cleaning done. 

Have I already mentioned that we organized the storage under our bed? If not, we did and it's been wonderful. I know exactly where [most] everything is.. and if I forget, I just look at these pics and can remember.

Aside from the cleaning, I am done cutting up my t-shirts for my quilt and just need about a half-yard more of interfacing to iron on the pieces. I'm hoping to take my machine to CA and sew some of my quilt with my mom (IFwe can actually go to CA for Christmas--fingers crossed!). While waiting to sew my quilt pieces together, I've been making table cloths. Here is the first one on the table. and the one I'm about to make before I got to bed tonight.. I LOVE this yellow fabric!

As for Ben, he has wanted to make some end tables for our bedroom ever since our landlords gave us a TON of free wood.. So, we decided to do it. Here's the process and finished products:

 We also bought little tubs so we could put storage underneath them. Mine has all my socks, tights and other random clothes I never wear. I think I'll be able to part with most of it after this winter (depending on what I use and don't use). It's nice to have a little extra space in the dresser.

 While Ben was making those and when he didn't need me to hold something in place while he sawed or drilled, I was busy cutting up my paint samples to make a menu calendar for our kitchen.

 Here's the finished product. It's in a frame which makes it dry-erasable. It's pretty precious and I like being able to see what's on the menu without having to search the house for my little scrap of paper I wrote it on..

I think that's it for the projects. We've had a great few weeks and I'm feeling very accomplished. As my mom has told me and Ben has learned, I always need to be doing something... Luckily, Ben understands and is sometimes the same way. We have fun doing projects together. Well, I need to go write another post on something else... that's all for this one. :)

under budget

Well, after 1-month of our strict budget and we totally did it! We budgeted $250 for food this month and we came in at $248.77! In addition to staying within our super sweet budget, I'm happy to have discovered is that our budget would probably be a little more realistic at about $275 since grandpa had us over quite a bit this month. Although I feel proud to have accomplished our goal to not go out for fast food more than once this whole month (other than with grandpa).
It was a long month.. but we did it.

I was going to post my month of recipes on this blog post, but then I remembered that I have a recipe blog... So, I'll go post it on there. =] Should be exciting. That's LOTS of dinners.

Hallo-we did nothing

Well, everyone's posting about Halloween and Ben and I did absolutely nothing. No parties, no costumes, no candy (except the loot Gpa has on a regular basis). We sat at home while Ben did his paper and I planed dinner meals for the week. On the up side, I got to skype with my family for a long while. It was great just chatting with my mom and dad. My brother goes into the MTC in a few weeks and I get to pick him up at the airport/take him to the MTC. I'm kinda excited, but kinda worried he'll be bored with my life. I'm having to plan two weeks in advance to make sure we stay busy. It's an exciting time for him and I'm excited to be a part of it.

So, my Halloween was good but not for the same reasons as most. I got to spend it with my family via skype. It was not chaotic and I didn't have to stare at hoochie girls in costumes, nor be around screaming/excited kids running around the cultural hall. It was nice. AND President Monson is speaking in 12 minutes at BYU. I'm going to go watch it online while I answer emails. It should be a good time.

p.s. It's BIRTHDAY MONTH! Me, Brother 1 and Brother 3 all have birthdays this month AND My favorite holiday (Thanksgiving) is coming up too. It's going to be a great month (Except for the cold/rain/snow/wetness).

lately..

We haven't been up to very much lately... so here is a quick update:

Ben is rocking his classes, especially accounting.

I say everyday that I'm going to blog because I'm so bored, but I never do because I don't have pictures to go with my posts. Anyone who knows me, knows that I hate posting without pictures.

I started the recipe blog and haven't posted anything yet... How embarrassing. Maybe I'll do that now since netflix isn't working.

We cleaned under our bed this past friday night (we put our winter storage under the bed, it wasn't just random crap like when you were 8). It was a great feeling to get it all reorganized and find so many things I'd forgotten about. Despite my track record for being a grinch, I suggested that we get the Christmas tree out (it's still in the box, don't worry) so we didn't have to do it in 6 weeks.

I also found about 20 t-shirts that I NEVER wear... so I think I'm going to start my t-shirt quilt. My sister made an AWESOME quilt earlier in the year and I'm hoping mine will be just as awesome. Probably wont be, but I can dream. Hopefully I can stick with it and not get too overwhelmed. I should also probably send out my graduation announcements soon. I've had them printed for a while I just have been too lazy to address all the envelopes. So, when you get them in the mail SUPER LATE I apologize. =] That's all for now. the cookies are ready to eat! adios.

bad example

I just sent an email to a student recommending that she use the hyperlink function in a digital portfolio or a list of links. (instead of just providing a super long URL) Want to know the example I gave? "Baby found in Mine Shaft" CLICK HERE -- Except I couldn't find an article where that had happened. So, I google searched it, and came up with this: "Woman's Foot Found in Mine Shaft" CLICK HERE. I've been watching too much Greys Anatomy.

Happy Weekend Everyone! I promise I'm going to write on my recipe blog soon.... i think.

rude. & recipe blog

Sometimes I feel like people steal my hopes and dreams... then I make myself feel better by saying they're ugly, weird, and bogus. Which is so rude and I don't even know why I think those things, but it makes me sad when I have goals/plans for myself in a few years and these people are stealing my plans right NOW! Then I remember that I'm not in debt, I have a great job, and I'm happy. I just wish I wasn't so rude about it all. Although it does help. Even they aren't ugly, weird and bogus.... except they are.

I'm rude. I know. It's a work in progress...

Also, I just woke up from a nap, so none of these feelings really count. I'm just a little crabby right now. =] but not really, this is just how I feel sometimes.

On to happier things. I made a recipe blog! It's called: happinessislickingthebowl.blogspot.com. it's pretty precious. I think you'll enjoy it. If you'd like to share a recipe with me, there's info about that. Ben and I love trying new recipes and once I try it I'll totally post it on there for people to enjoy. There's also a link to it on my left sidebar... Although, I'm in a bit of a lull with cooking... But tomorrow is a new day and I'm excited to get my kitchen clean again and get back on track. (I'm slightly motivated by need to be better than those people that are stealing my dreams)

That's all for now. adios. 

sing-off

BEST SHOW EVER...

fo' reals.

eatin' good in the neighborhood.

We decided to plan meals from now (Sunday) until the next pay check (next Tuesday) so we wouldn't have to go grocery shopping next Saturday, like we have the past two saturdays... (If you've ever been shopping in provo/orem/UT on a Saturday night, you know it's INSANE.) On the upside, we're going to be eatin' good in the neighborhood for the next 10 days. :) On the menu for this week:

SUNDAY - Parmesan Chicken, broccoli and garlic bread (with Chris&Cassie)... I add quite a bit of Lawrys seasoning salt to make the breaded chicken more delicious. and Cheesecake (Recipe from Mom Foell) -- Both of these things are Ben's favorites that I make. He had a great Sunday!

MONDAY - Shepherds Pie (combination of 2 recipe sites)

TUESDAY - Creamy Rice, Chicken and Spinach (recipe from Halie)

WEDNESDAY - Skillet Taco Supper (Can't remember what website it's on.)

THURSDAY - Italian Soup (from a cookbook the wives of the bishopric gave me for my wedding) - Gpa&Tia are coming over for this meal

FRIDAY - Celebrating my job by going out with Gpa/Tia/Meredith

After Friday, I can't remember what we have planned for what days... but here's our other menu items:

SATURDAY - TUESDAY

Cheesy Chicken Bacon Avocado Quesadillas

Brown Butter Ravioli with Rotisserie Chicken, Toasted Walnuts and Crispy Sage (possibly with Ben's family if they are in town)

Egg McMuffin Cups (Except we'll probably just do egg, bacon & cheese biscuts, but this made us think of it... and it's a really fun idea)

Taco Salad

SIDE-NOTE: I'm thinking of starting a recipe blog... Mainly so I can share recipes with my sister/mom as well as have access to them even when I'm out of town or somewhere without my recipe cards/books... What do you think? (I love how I act like more than 3 people read this..)

tonight!

Ben and I are going to see Rascal Flatts tonight to celebrate me getting my job. It's going to be THE BEST concert EVER. It's Ben's first time at one of their concerts, my third. As you can see, I really like them. They're the only people I'll pay to see in concert. My last two experiences were so great that as soon as its over, I'm wondering when they're coming back... Always leave me wanting more... I have about 3-4 posts that i'm only 1/2 way done with writing, so I'll hopefully get to those this weekend. Enjoy one of the greatest RF music videos there is... Happy weekend to everyone!

that means it's for real.

Christ and his sacrifice has been on my mind a LOT this morning. I've had the "MormonMessages" YouTube Channel, playing in the background while I answer emails at work. This one gave me goosebumps. That means it's for real. Enjoy.

don't jump off a bench w/ high heels on

Today Ben was nice enough to take me out and do a graduation pic re-do. I hated some of the pics that were taken back in April, so I decided to re-do some of them so I could make some graduation announcements. I really wanted a jumping picture for my announcements, but a ghetto camera and low battery don't work well for that type of pic...

These are what I ended up with...

Although the one in the middle is semi-decent... I really wish my mouth wasn't open and that it wasn't blurry... (but my hair looks awesome, right?) =] Like I said, ghetto camera and low battery both don't help the cause. I also learned a very valuable lesson: don't jump off a bench 9 times with high heels on and land on brick... it HURTS! Since my feet were killing me, we decided to stop there.

I'll try to post more pictures from the last little while. I keep promising them, and I never follow through. It's a little sad. I find out about my job next week sometime. The interview went great, but isn't that what everyone thinks before they get the "we went another direction" phone call/email..? I'm hopeful, but I'm still trying to imagine myself working somewhere else and how on earth I would find that other place.... I really hope it doesn't come to that.

Arms folded. knees bent.

job interview..

is today. I'll let you know how it goes. I want to keep my job so much because I love it, but be warned, I'm not afraid to share bad news on this thing... I just hope this is where the Lord wants me right now.. with him, I've got nothing stopping me. :)

Spirit of the Y

This is a great video my friend posted on facebook. If you get through the whole thing, you might cry at the end... Especially if you love BYU like I do. It's about 9 minutes, so sit back and relax while you learn all about BYU and then cry at the end because you love it so much.. ;)

Brigham Young University- The Spirit of the Y from Brigham Young University on Vimeo.

just a thought.

no offense to anyone who is, but I'm glad I'm not fat and pregnant. It's just a blessing right now to not have that trial/blessing in my life at the moment. Someday... Maybe, yes. just not right now. and I'm grateful for the fact that HF hasn't told me otherwise. just a thought. Pics/posts to come this weekend. Its been a busy week.

all two stop lights of it..

We spent last weekend in Kanab.. hiked the K-Hill and did some other things too. I'l post more pictures and details when I get a chance. For now, here is us at the top of the K-Hill.

by the way... There is NO TRAIL to get to the "K" and a high chance of seeing a rattle snake (or so I've been told). The trail that we decided to blaze, happened to be STRAIGHT UP. It was like that dream where you climb and climb and climb and your feet keep sliding out from under you so you never get to the top.. except it wasn't a dream. It was REAL. It probably took double the amount of time it should have to get up, but the view once we got there was awesome. I'm glad we did it, even though getting there was lame. Turns out there was a small trail (not very prominent) on the other side of the hill. We couldn't see it from where we were, but once on top of the hill, where you can see all of Kanab (all two stop lights of it) we found the trail. Let's just say getting down was a LOT easier than getting up.

More about our adventures to the sand caves and graduating and loving the free time I have later... adios.

p.s. did you know that on predicted text, lanab, Jamba and Kanab all use the same keys to type them. For some reason, that makes me smile. Probably because I spent a few too many years working for Jamba and I married a guy from Kanab. Both great things. =] lanab is just a lame word that comes up before both of the other options. It's really just in the way.

Bachelor of Science... What up.

Written after my last final exam: August 10, 2011.

So, life is officially GREAT. I am done with my undergraduate degree and I never knew how good this would feel. It's INCREDIBLE! For anyone who is contemplating finishing, stop debating and go do it! The time/money/tests/stress/papers/walking in the snow to class is TOTALLY WORTH IT! I can't imagine how my sister feels after finishing her MA degree. She's even more incredible than me. Anyway... I just want to make a little shout-out to all the people who helped me through this:

Thank you to my PARENTS. They always encouraged me to keep going even when I wanted to give up (which was most of my first two years). Their support emotionally (and financially) made getting my degree possible. Thanks for always pointing me in the right direction and being great examples of faith and endurance. I love you both.

Thank you to my HUSBAND. Ben has been so supportive as I finished up my last year of college. He has set a great example to me of patience, kindness and service. When I was doing loads of homework or finishing a late night quiz, he'd be there listening to me study or doing the dishes so I wouldn't have to come home to a dirty kitchen. I love him so much and am so grateful for his help. Now it's my turn to be the supportive, patient and kind one as he finishes up his last two years... I'm really working on the supportive and patient part. :)

Thank you to my SISTER who helped me with signing up for classes, studying tips, encouragement, criticism (the good kind), love, support and all that other sisterly stuff. She and Kendall both helped me to rediscover my love for school and enjoy my time at BYU while it lasted. Halie also helped me find/get my job as a secretary in the COMMS Dept. where I have been able to work the last 2-1/2 years. It was so great to sit by her at graduation and walk across that stage with her back in April. I miss her so much, but I think we get along better now that she's in Texas. :)

Lastly, Thank you to my friends and teachers who have helped me through life (all the way back to Ms. Billstead, my kindergarten teacher). I have enjoyed learning from everyone and have come to love everyone even more (well, most everyone, 7th grade history was a rough year).

I remember when I got into BYU and Dan and Janay Hunt (my Sunday School Teacher and Young Women's leader) came and sang the cougar fight song on my door step. THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH and HECKA LOUD! I had no idea what was going on at the time, but it is a great memory. I have had so many great examples in my life, the Hunts being one of them, and have been very BLESSED with so many people supporting me throughout my trials/experiences. This post is for you guys. THANK YOU.

Bachelor of Science... What up.

Locked Out

So... I decided to go home a little earlier than usual so I could cook ben dinner. nothing special, just having food ready when you get home is really nice, and I wanted to be nice. So I'm walking home and about 6 houses before I arrive, I start digging for my keys... Guess what? They weren't there (not much of a guessing game since I titled this post "locked out"). ANYWAY... Apparently I should have thought about the whole, coming home early/making dinner plan when I was getting ready this morning because I left without my keys.

So... when i got home THREE HOURS before Ben was expected to get home, I texted him and told him how badly I had FAILED again (yes, this was the second time) and how diner would not be ready when he got home. He offered to come and unlock the place for me but I was enjoying a nice conversation on the grass with my landlord so I said, "oh, it's ok... I'm just chatting" But he came anyway... What a great husband. He probably realized that we may run out of things to talk about over the course of THREE hours. so, I'm in the house now not wanting to make dinner. but I guess I should, shouldn't I?

Better go get started!

p.s. I applied for my own job today. Yes, you heard me right. I applied for MY OWN JOB today. I'll keep you updated. :/

Free at Last!

"Free at Last! Free at Last! Thank God Almighty, We are Free at Last!" So, I hope it's not too horrible of me to quote that (b/c it says "god" and it's something that represents the equality of blacks and whites), but that's kinda how I feel... FREE! I just spent the last two weekends (yes, only like 5 or 6 actual days) doing my independent study class (ENGL 312, Persuasive Writing). I started back in April and completed all the easy stuff (5, 10-question quizzes) and then just waited to do all the big readings and essays until I had the time. I soon realized that it was now August and I will NEVER have the time to write 48 pages and read 300 pages of text, so I should probably just do it ASAP. So I did. I worked on it during the weekends for the last two weekends and just now got it done (5 minutes ago, Sunday 8/7/11). I definitely did not read those 300 pages, but I did write those 48 pages and it didn't become horribly agonizing to complete until the last page and a half. I was 500 words away from finishing and I had a complete road block and my mind just went blank. ANYWAY... that doesn't matter...

(Although the deadline to complete it to ensure I graduate on time was the 22nd of July, I don't really care because I got it done!!! 2 weeks, 2 shmeeks, it's done!)

I still have to do a 25 question final for this class and an 80 question final for ECON 110 which will be complete agony (the 80Q, not the 25Q), but after that I will be a college graduate. Now I can move on to bigger and better things, like getting an official job so I can get Ben through college (debt free, that is). He's going to finish, but without a job, we just might have some debt. So start praying... I know I am. I'll be sure to keep you updated (who "You" is, i'm not sure, but i'm ok with that).

The last note before I go to bed... I was wanting to wait to post this until I was for real, FREE AT LAST, but that won't happen until wednesday and by then i might be so sick of typing on the computer that I won't touch it for a week! (yeah, right..) But I'm also not one of those people who can write blogs and not publish them. I feel like I would go back and feel embarrassed about what I wrote days before and then I'd never write anything. So, I am writing/publishing/finishing this post. Just like I did my class (almost).

Sorry this was so long, if anyone gets through the whole thing and isn't asleep, and lives in the orem/provo area, I'll buy you a $0.99 frosty (the best kind of frosty). p.s. I also just watched "you've got mail" and LOVED IT. but i'll talk about our movie habits in another post (with pictures) We've been watching a lot lately. ok, ok. for real. that's all. goodnight!

-Natalie

don't want to be crabby anymore.

I've been really swamped with school (I'm in the middle of a four-page paper as I type this) but I've been trying to work a little less and make time to prepare dinner every night for Ben and I because if I don't, we end up not eating (and are crabby) or we eat crap like a plate full of deep fried zucchini & green beans with parmesan cheese and ranch dressing and call it a meal (and end up being crabby because it's not a meal). So, after deciding that we don't want to be crabby anymore we started planning and shopping for meals.

$150 shopping trip and 18 straight nights preparing the planned meals (sides, veggies and all) later......

we were trying to plan for the rest of this week and Ben says, "It doesn't have to be gourmet every night." My initial response was, "I know, but still, we have to eat something!" Then I thought about it for a second and asked, "Wait. Does that mean my meals are gourmet?" To which he laughed and responded with a "Yes." It was one of my prouder moments in life. Not that I'm amazing or anything, (because sometimes anything you don't have to cook yourself is gourmet), it was just nice to know that my husband thinks I'm a good cook. It's things like this that make planing and preparing meals rewarding.

Here are some of the things we've made the last few weeks (links provided when available):

Cajun Pasta Fresca w/ Cajun Chicken, Salad and French Bread (yes, I made bread!)

Italian Beef Sandwiches

Buffalo Chicken & Ranch Wraps

Feta & Bacon Stuffed Chicken w/ Onion Mashed Potatoes

Skillet Dinner (Draper Family Tradition/Favorite)

Pizza (chicken/tomato/spinach/alfredo)

Hamburgers (with lots of Lawrys and grilled onions)

Navajo Tacos

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas w/ black re-fried beans

Spinach Tomato Tortellini (about two months ago, but it's REALLY good)

Thin Mint Crackers (Dessert for a double date)

and LOTS OF LEFTOVERS! (I'm still learning to cook for just two, instead of 6 or 8... or 12.)

There were more, but I don't have my calendar of meals in front of me... Guess that just means another post will be coming with more recipes!

Try some of the stuff I listed or if you just want to come over, call me and invite yourself. I love having people over for dinner. :)

Guess What?

It rained again yesterday. Just as I was heading to the bus. No hail this time. Just thunder and lightning galore (and rain drops the size of Texas). I was again in a skirt and flip flops, but this time I had checked the weather before I got dressed. I figured 86 degrees and 20% chance of rain was in my favor. I figured wrong.

Today, I don't care what the forecast says, I brought an umbrella and am wearing pants and closed toed shoes. I also brought flip flops just in case I have to walk through puddles or something. My bag is heavy enough without an extra pair of shoes and an umbrella. With it, it's like lifting weights every time I pick it up. I need to learn to live with less stuff.

10 bucks says it doesn't even rain.

True or False...

True or False it looked like this when I got ON the bus?:

True.

True or False it looked like this when I got OFF the bus?:

TRUE.

But don't worry, instead of walking home in it I just sat and waited for it to clear. 20 MINUTES LATER I started my walk home from the bus stop. No rain, just massive puddles that went up past my ankles that I couldn't avoid because of the 40mph cars that were passing me and giving me a little mist of their dirty tire water. Sounds yummy right? WRONG. It's super unpleasant and while I usually enjoy the cool relief of rain, I also love being inside while it pounds to the ground. That's all for now.

Oh! did I mention I was in a skirt and flip flops? there are pros and cons to it. Pros: not too worried about stepping in the puddles (other than the gross oily, tire/dirt water that got all over my legs). Cons: Hail really hurts when it hits your bare feet. It's cold too.

Well, I'm off to fix something for dinner. I'm thinking leftovers sound good. But that defeats the purpose of planning meals for two weeks and spending over a hundred dollars on groceries in one trip. oh well. :]

you better not MELT my SISTER!

well, this morning we said goodbye to some of our best friends. Halie & Kendall left to TEXAS today to start their new life at optometry school. Well, Kendall will be at school Halie will be trying to keep busy with work/life/unpacking while he's busy with lenses and other scientific stuff. =] We will miss them and our fun times together. Texas better not melt my sister before I come to visit! I've never been to Texas so it will be pretty exciting to see how big everything is. =] haha love ya sister. You won't read this until your back on the grid in a few days but I will still miss you and we will see you soon! Like when we go on our CRUISE together! (the four of us, not just me and Ben.) =] adios amigos!

we must really love these people.

right now I'm waiting for some bread to rise so i can put it in the oven. It is the most successful batch of bread I have ever made/attempted. I don't have a bread maker, i don't have a kitchen-aid/bosch and i'm not nice enough to let ben help... so, basically i'm pretty excited for these loaves of french bread to turn out amazing. Granted, they take about 45 minutes to cook. So i'm going to have to be up for another hour or so, but that's ok. because they are going to be awesome. (or else!) I will try to post a pic when they come out of the oven and they look divine. All I have to say is that our dinner guests are pretty lucky because I just made them HOME MADE FRENCH BREAD! that's pretty much unheard of these days.. . (well, maybe not in utah, but in the real world it's unheard of). Also, our cajun pasta fresca with cajun chicken and a ronne-style salad (just lots of ingredients) is going to be awesome as well. You can tell we really love these people coming over, right? Well, we do. It's ben's best friend and his girlfriend. we're going to have a great time. Hopefully they like good food. because if they don't i'll feel like a failure and probably never invite them over again. so we'll see. I'll return and report later. (hopefully with pictures) our camera battery doesn't hold a charge so we kinda just turn it on and hope it lasts long enough to snap a picture. that's all for now. sorry this is so long and doesn't have any pictures. i hate posts like this one. and because i hate them so much, here's two pics that i like. the first one is from a google search titled "hecka funny stuff"

and the other is something i miss a lot right now... Sacramento, California.

I apologize for the spelling and poor punctuation/editing... it's 2:34am. what do you expect. =] goodnight (well, in an hour when the delicious bread is done.)

better the next day

for the record...
chicken, spinach, tomato, alfredo pizza is ALWAYS better the next day. Well, for me at least. Come to think of it, pretty much ALL pizza is better the next day. No need to re-heat, just straight cold pizza from the fridge is delicious to me.
that's all for now.

God does not believe in not showering.

When I woke up, I didn't want to shower because I had just straightened my hair the day before. So I didn't. Because I don't have to if I don't want to. and when you just sit at a desk all day, it's not like you sweat or get gross or anything. but apparently God does not believe in not showering, because he sure felt the need to shower tons of huge rain drops on me on my walk home from the bus today. So, now i've kinda showered and my hair is 'sick-nasty' from the rain.

OK OK... i get it! I'll go shower. (again)

This one's for you heidi. (the post, not the shower--that's for my own health)

In modern revelation the Lord has said: “Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord” (D&C 133:5).

-Gordon B. Hinckley, April '07 Conference, "I am Clean"

The bar has been raised. I guess I'd better raise up with it.

great day for soup.

Sometimes I wish I had more to say... I also wish I took more pictures/had a better camera. But for now, I will be happy with my little ghetto camera that my parents paid for 5 years ago. Maybe someday I will buy a new battery for it and it wont die everytime I turn it on. Well, I'm going to make dinner now... maybe some pics will come of our apt. that is finally set up completely and relatively clean since we had dinner with Molly & Rex on Sunday. (YES! it's lasted 3 whole days!) Anyway... great day for soup, don't you think... (yes, you do--it's raining outside). :) adios.

-natalie

during my break

So, here at my new job, I work so much I'm required to take at least a 1/2 hour lunch break. It is because of this break that you are receiving this blog post. So, with 20 minutes left, and a whole cup of noodles to finish, here I go...

Details from the previous post:

As most of you know I will be finishing up my classes this summer and so to accommodate my family and trick a lot of comms students, I decided to walk this past April with my sister (graduating with her MA in Mass Comms). It was so fun and I almost want to do it again in August so I can get better pictures. My favorite one comes from halie's blog..

Next on the list is my new job... I used to be a secretary at the Comms dept. but our Internship Director retired so I was offered the job and accepted! I love it here so far and feel like I am doing good things for the office. My drawers are color coordinated and beautifully labeled (yes, just like my closet at home).

Since we moved, we got a new ward... that's a given. Here is the only pic we have from the actual move... Chris was nice enough to take a gross pic of Ben and I right as we started to load the truck (excuse Chris' finger). Big "THANK YOU" shout-out to Chris, Halie, Kendall, Rob, Jami and Ourselves. It was a quick move and couldn't have been done without these guys and Sam's Club Pizza. :)

that's all for the updates. Any other questions?

As for the up and coming events.. No, we're not getting re-married. Ben's younger brother Dan was brave enough to propose to his girlfriend a few months back and they'll be getting married the first week in June. Hopefully I'll have some pics to show after the event happens.

Also, Katie (Ben's younger sister) is performing in the Stadium of Fire in July. We're excited to go. It's the first time I've been since I was really little. It's going to be great.

and aren't you all excited for our 1-year anniversary??!! I am. I can't believe it's been a whole year (well, almost). not sure what we're doing yet, but hopefully we can save some dinero and go to vegas for a show and some shopping! =] We went to vegas back at the beginning of april and had a blast. More pics to come later. Breaks Over! adios.

as much as you do.

Sorry for the lack of posts for the last 3ish weeks... we've moved and we still don't have internet..

Things that have happened...

Gradumakated.

New job. (both of us)

new ward.

new apt.

fam was in town for 2 weeks (just mom for 1 of those)

gpa is now an empty nester... (again) ;)

Todd's madg alaska adventure has begun -- see magicalalaska.blogspot.com for more details.. COMMENTS are very welcome.

Coming up....

Wedding in June

stadium of fire in july

diploma for natalie in august

1 year anniversary in 3ish months (aug)

school for ben in september.

that's all for now.. sorry i'm not blogging much. I miss it as much as you do.. ;) haha

adios.

Save the Date:

Food, Drinks and Fun provided. Call/Text me if you're free to help us out. We'll be starting at 9:30 or 10:00am and we will have delicious pizza (not 5$ hot-n-ready, I promise) or something else... I'm taking requests.. We will also have a special/delicious bundt cake that if you knew how good it was, you'd be begging to help us move. Come help us and you'll get a slice of this TO DIE FOR cake. and if it's just the Stouts & us.... well then, more cake for us. ;) jk. we'd love your help. There's plenty of cake to go around. =]

And So It Begins...

We've officially started packing today... Conference is a great thing to listen to while packing. It keeps you calm when the boxes don't fill up as neatly as you'd like them to. I'm considering renting a u-haul and just throwing everything we own inside of it. No big deal right? haha anyway... for now, we are leaving this mess to come back to after dinner tonight at gpa's house. We made him a roast. it will be delicious. =]

the Church is True

We have been very blessed recently/our whole life. but the last 24 hours have been especially amazing. Ben got a new (FULL-TIME) job that he will start at the beginning of summer and have through fall we just made the most amazing bundt cake and we found a place to live starting in summer that is even CHEAPER than where we are living now! somewhat smaller, but still a great deal!!!! (still kinda ghetto, but who cares it's definitely worth how much we'll be paying) We're excited to continue to live our life and save money and also continue to be so greatful to our Heavenly Father for blessing us so much. He really has helped us find all these great things (job, apt, bundt cake recipe, etc) :) We owe it all to him and will TRY to continue to read our scriptures/say our prayer/fast/pay tithing/try to be righteous... basically, we need to be just saying thank you all the time to our Heavenly Father because he is AMAZING. That's all for tonight. The Church is True so check it out.

LDS.ORG

helpful hint.

Well, after taking 2 tests (92% on one, and high hopes for the other) i have started to study for test #3... in doing so, i have discovered this helpful hint that I am going to try to remember for the final:

When studying for your finance test... don't start at chapter 9... It will make no sense because you haven't read chapters 7 & 8.

That's all. Until next time, --go in order.

just a day.. :]

guess what we made???? -- APPLESAUCE MUFFINS!!!!! they were DE-LISH.

I was so glad my mom emailed me the recipe. we made them tonight for dinner (b/c we weren't hungry for anything that took more than 20 minutes to cook).

Also, we went to a wedding/sealing today in Salt Lake for Ben's cousin Michael. It was a great ceremony and their colors were LIME GREEN and ROYAL PURPLE. it was a bright and unusual combo, but still beautiful. I only got one pic of the happy couple and it was of their heads cut off. Lame. Right? and I got a new outfit to wear to the wedding and it looks weird in this pic because you can't see my hot shoes. but ben thought I looked good so I believe him. =] I'm still adjusting to the new hair and pretty much only like it straightened... so we'll see.

This is us after the ceremony right after Mike and Chloe came out of the temple. funny thing is.. I bought that shirt just the other day and it pretty much matches ben's tie PERFECTLY. so we're super precious and matchy. =]

Also, we made some good chicken/pasta salad stuff.

this was the BEFORE pic from the delicious calzones we made. only lame thing is.. i forgot to take a pic of the AFTER!! jeeze. Well, they were de-lish and ben was really good at combining the ingredients. if we make them again, i'll try to take an after pic.

that's all for now. until my 3 midterms are over. adios.

blog slacker/busy.

So I've been trying to figure out what to post... hence the reason I haven't posted since AnnMarie's birthday. Well.... i'm back with not much to say... Back a little while ago aka beginning of february we went to the Ice Castles. They weren't as cool as they were the first year... but they were still awesome.

Also, as usual.. we like to cook and try new stuff... this is chicken cacciatore. it was pretty good.

Meatloaf with the delicious ranch mashed potatoes.

We also love pizza. and we made BBQ Chicken Pizza! it was great!

also, in recent news, i started working for the Sociology Student Association (SSA) at BYU and it's been fun. Keeps me way too busy but that's ok. I am excited to see the semester coming to a close but it's going to be a rough next month. i've got 3 more tests this week and a few papers to do. so yeah.. it will be busy and I'll try to be less of a blog slacker as my cousin tells me. =] haha thanks for the motivation heidi. can't wait to see you in a few weeks for the YW Broadcast. that will be awesome to go to LIVE.

Dear Cousin A.M.M.E.H.

Well, today/morrow (Feb. 26th) is my BCF's bday (if you're wondering what that stands for... it's BEST COUSIN FOREVER!) yes. This is her:

A.M.M.E.H.

(i could tell you her whole name, but that's dangerous! -- and i'm respecting her dislike for her middle name)

she is my favorite. I just wanted to give a little shout out to her because i miss her so much (and it's her special day). Here are some things that I love about A.M. --

I love that we can talk for hours and still have so much more to say. I love that we would go to stake dances together and rock out. I love that we would go to efy and party like we were 16. I love that we would have sleepovers when we were little. I love that we always stood next to each other in the cousin lineup for pics. I love that we would go to harry potter midnight showings (AND dress up!).

I love that I got to go to Hawaii with her. I love that she would hang out on long weekends at grandpa's with me and make pink rice krispie treats to swoon ben with (he had no clue).

I love that she loves Greys/Bones/america's next top model so we can watch re-runs till forever. I also love that she loves visiting me. She even came all the way from sanDiego for my wedding. It was awesome to see/talk/visit with her and talk about new married life.

She is such a trooper while she's all alone-ish in S.D. She is such a great mother and wife and I love her for that too. I love that she lets me hold max for just 5 special minutes while everyone else is trying to steal him from me. I just love HER. she is great. and she has cute clothes that i'm jealous of sometimes. =] So...

Dear Cousin Ann Marie M.E.H. :) I hope your day is great and that max and larry make you feel happy on this your 24th birthday. (even if you are sick) I love you and can't wait till i see you next. Let's skype soon. ok? ok. love, natalie.

p.s. feel free to come out for graduation. it's during easter break (well, law school probably doesn't have that... but still) =] xoxox

we're FAMOUS!

so this is old news to my family, but I still think it's really cool. Over the christmas break, my mom got a package. Being the nosy daughter that i am, i opened it with my mom right away and it was these random bridal magazines.. well not random, it was the Sacramento Bride and Groom Magazine. before we got too confused thinking, "uhhh, don't these people know, the wedding was 4 months ago!" we read the note. It said something like this... "your kids are in these, more than once" so of course we started flipping through them page by page. We were so excited. I started in the front, mom started in the back... and BAM. There we were! on FOUR PAGES! let me tell you a few things about this magazine:

1. It's a SACRAMENTO magazine, not an LDS magazine (I'm wearing a modest dress, this is a big deal).

2. This magazine comes out TWICE a year (this makes it an even bigger deal).

3. hundreds of people submit photos for this and don't even make it in (we have FOUR pics=big deal).

well, all of this is a big deal to us at least... we feel cool and we wanted to share our excitement with everyone. You can view the magazine online by clicking HERE. We are on pages 86, 110, 151 & 173. one pic is of our candy bar that halie did for us which is fun, but the rest are 1/2 page pics of PEOPLE. aka ben and natalie (for 2 of them) and then one of my sibs. it's awesome. well, thanks for letting me share the joy of being cool for 10 seconds... now i'm caught up with one post... just a few more to go.. peace.

still deciding..

the pics look worse than what it looks like in real life... but i'm still in debate. =] it's definitely puffier than normal..

New Hair! well... same hair, new cut/style.

So apparently my 100th post was the one I just did on friday... so, happy 101-st post!

Oh Yeah! -- AND -- I got NEW hair! well, it's the SAME hair, different cut/style. :) Ronne cut my hair this weekend and it's a little shorter than I expected but it's pretty cute (when it's straight). I have yet to find out what it looks like curly. I will let you what what I decide after I wash my hair tonight and find out. :) I'll post a pic of it curly when I figure out if I like it or not.

This is just a face... it in no way indicates my feelings towards my hair... i just like this pic better than a smiling one... funny faces are better anyway. :)

oh yeah... ben got one too:

Also, here is my list of things I need to post about so I don't forget:

1. My wedding Pics being in a Magazine.

2. Being COMPLETELY out of Debt.

3. Food We Eat

4. Anything Else I haven't covered thus far.. :)

today in your area...

Well, ben and I had tons of tests this week and we both did really well!
I got a good grade on my finance test (as noted in a previous post) and then the next monday i got an 86% on my Marketing test! (this is great considering i didn't study hardly at all... then on tuesday I went to take my Theory test and dominated the essays, but the Multiple Choice could have gone better... I'll get my grade next week (hopefully).. THEN after all that, Ben comes home with a 96% on his math test and a 100% on his DGM test! say whaaatt??? That kid always has to show me up. Either way. I'm so excited that we are both doing so well in school this semester.. Married life is great, especially b/c you get to go to sleep at 10pm and study without worrying about the other person. I seriously think the hours that you sleep next to someone make-up for the time you don't get to spend with them during the day. :) life is good. Kanab this weekend. more to come soon. We're going to Beaver to see Dan play Basketball... he's no Jimmer, but it's fun to support the team. GO KANAB COWBOYS! beat the Beaver Beavers!? (nice name right)

I don't know why I'm so proud of this?

Well, Today I ate 3 real meals... (as requested by my mindful eating challenge)...
Ben made us breakfast (eggs & toast) -- the only reason we had time for this is because we both skipped out 8am classes and went to school late. =]
We both packed a lunch of leftover chicken tortilla soup with sourcream & tortilla chips/strips.
And then for dinner (although we didn't eat until 830pm-ish) we had a delicious meatloaf, broccoli, AND mashed potatoes... (I made garlic/ranch potatoes and they were delish!) It felt great to eat a good dinner WITH a Vegetable! :) i always seem to forget those... :/ It also felt great to not be starving all day... I also felt really good when i produced a good meal. not just a flavorful piece of chicken and no sides.. Ben prepared the meatloaf (b/c i don't like touching raw meat very much) but I got the potatoes/veggies ready and folded all the clean laundry while ben did the dishes. It was a very productive day.

For those of you who want a SUPER EASY and SUPER DELICOUS way to make garlic mashed potatoes, here it is (for 2 hungry people & some left-overs):
4 Large Sam's Club Size Potatoes (they're big)
Milk
Butter/Margarine
Garlic Salt
1/2 a Ranch Seasoning Packet
Here's how it goes:
First, peel and cut potatoes into small pieces. Like this:

(i love that a picture of potatoes is copyright protected)
Fill a large pot up with hot water and some salt (that speeds the boiling process)
Once boiling... Add the potatoes
Boil them until they are soft (15-ish minutes... depends on the potatoes/how small you cut them) keeping the lid on also helps the potatoes boil quickly...
Once potatoes are soft (can be poked with a fork with ease), drain water.
Then smash potatoes a little bit with a smashing device (we used a fork) until they are broken up enough to use a mixing device.
Add milk to desired consistency (we just poured what was left of the gallon we were almost done with--maybe enough for a bowl of cereal?) and added about 1/2 cube or a whole cube of butter... once those were in there, we got this baby out:

I would have never thought of this and would have been mixing with a fork the whole time but awesome husband ben recommended we use our beaters. so, you plug-er-in and mix the potatoes/milk/butter until they're mashed.... they'll still be a little lumpy, but i like them that way..
After they look like normal potatoes, add garlic salt to taste

Then once the garlic is delicious, you can stop there, or continue to the ranch. We used about 1/2 a packet we had left from some croc-pot ranch potatoes and it was the perfect amount. so just round up one of these bad boys:

(i'm sure you could use ranch dressing too and add less milk/butter) then sprinkle some in there (1/2 oz. is probably good for the amount we made) and blend that up some more and tah-dah! there you are... garlic/ranch mashed potatoes...
I don't know why i'm so proud of this... i just really enjoyed them... I must have been really hungry. :) more pics to come soon.
Adios.