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.