School.. And Now a Public Service Message

The break has been thoroughly enjoyed. But now we must return to school. The joyful part, at least for me, is that summer comes after this semester, meaning a long SUNNY break. Although, I have been dreading returning to school, I have come to terms with it and realized that this is basically my last 'CLASS' semester. This is my last semester before student teaching which means they're trying to teach me how to teach children, before I'm actually teaching them. Hmmm.. did that make sense? Oh, well. Just read it a couple of times and maybe it will make sense then. (I will soon be teaching your children and yet I can't make my blog make sense. HA! I probably could if I tried, but isn't it enough that I'm blogging? Must I make sense?)

I digress.

I need to tell EVERYONE! If you have not looked at the blogs on the side of the page, look NOW. You know, the section that says 'blogs that I love'. Specifically, our best bites. I promise you that it will become your best bites ever! This thing is full of easy and delicious recipes. Seriously, you can't screw these things up. I shall recommend a few. I tried 2 this weekend and Zac and I could not get enough.

First, Spicy Honey Chicken. MMMMMMMmmmmmmmm...... Need I say more?

Second, Italian Burgers. Only make these with the Marinara Sauce. It says you can prepare it with regular hamburger stuff, but trust me... Maaariiinaaara. (True I have not tried it with regular hamburger stuff, but I can just tell.) OH! And you will look forever for Italian Turkey Sausage. I suggest calling stores before going. Only ONE store had it in ALL of Cache Valley. There were probably 4 that carried it, but everyone was out. I finally found it at the last store, where they only had ONE package left.

Anyways, so click on the blog, then browse whatever they have most recently posted, (the dessert wantons were delish too), THEN go to the top and select recipes. Then it allows you to browse by categories. The Spicy Honey Chicken is under 'Poultry'. Does it seem stupid that I have to say that? Maybe it is stupid, but I am not a chef, and I looked for the first couple seconds for a category named 'Chicken'. HA! Yes, laugh at me. And then, all of you who know you would have made the same silly mistake, thank me in your hearts for saving you from your own embarrassment. :) And of course, the Italian Burgers are under 'Beef". Yes, yes; I got that one right the first time.

I expect comments on this telling me how great those recipes are! YUM!

Bucket List

So this post is a little delayed, but I need to document this experience. I don't have a bucket list, but I may as well. December 12th, 2009 myself, and the poor souls I dragged with me, were on the game show "Let's Make A Deal" with Wayne Brady. Yes, we were ready to MAKE A DEAL!! Sadly, I have decided the game is fixed. FIXED I tell you! We dressed up as the coolest things, and yet Wayne didn't pick any of us! He was standing directly in front of me and I was SCREAMING, "Wayne, Wayne! Pick me, Wayne! I'm right here! Look at me Wayne!" Still, nothing. We were a little preoccupied throughout the day and forgot to take pictures. We snapped this one at the last minute, but everyone else had already taken off their costumes. A list of what were all dressed as, myself- a traffic light (I really lit up!), Andrew- a retired kidney fairy (the wings, the hair, a tutu, and the homemade kidney shirt), Rachel and her boyfriend were crayons (homemade by MUAH!), Daniel was a christmas tree (very creative, he looked great!), and Wyatt was a star (shining brightly, shining for the whole world to see!) So, thanks to everyone for your support in checking this item off our bucket lists. Be on a game show... CHECK! P.S. It's episode 1091 on CBS. We sat on the right side, on the bottom half.

A Little Party, A Little Bubbly, and A Little Smoochie

New Year's Eve. I always think, 'we're gonna do something big this time, something awesome to celebrate the ending of a year and the prospects of a fantastic new beginning'. So first we were going to Vegas, and we would stop in St. George so I could see my lovely friends. Then plans changed to going to Lava Hot Springs. In the end, all fell through. I was a little disappointed, because I had practically begged to get work off. Last minute, it was decided that we would have a little shin-dig at our house. So we busted out the chocolate fountain (deeelish), grabbed some bubbly (thank you mr. martinelli), and had the friends over. We thought it was going to be just a small gathering, but it grew quickly. We had a delicious steak and potato dinner, then snacked and played 'catch phrase' all night long. The boys have a way of joining together to make themselves louder than the girls, when we're trying to discuss who's point it should have been, which was a little frustrating, and yet, no relationships were broken on that night. The one thing that was broken was our couch. We understand there was a lot of excitement during the game, and Keaton is a guy that can really get into things. So, Zac busted out his manly intuition the next day and fixed the couch, it's better and stronger than ever. Nixon and Jersey (Jake and Morgan's dog) had a great time together, entertaining each other while they were trapped in the kitchen. So this year, we rang in the new year with great friends. It was a fantastic way to celebrate! Thanks to everyone that came!

Broken

So, Nixon has been broken for a couple of weeks now. He got hit by a car and avoided walking on his back left leg. So we took him to the vet and the vet basically told us that he had broken the ball of his hip, but the displacement was minimal and he would be fine to take it easy and let it heal where it was. The doctor also warned us that there was about a 5% chance of the fracture forming a blood clot, in which case we would be in for it. So we watched nixon carefully and he was doing fine. After about a week he was back to normal. Walking and running just fine. Then on our trip to St. George, he suddenly started limping again. There was no apparent reason for the limping so I called the vet. After a pricey vet visit it was decided that Nixon had, of course, been in the lucky 5%. He had formed a clot and the bone was dying. Apparently it was luck of the draw, and it was no fault of ours that he had formed this clot. Surgery was needed. Expensive surgery. Dang, I hope Nixon knows how much we love him. Also, during this wonderful vet visit, we learned he had mange (a skin eating mite), and a terrible ear infection. So, he has now had surgery, and thanks to Micall (it's great to have friends working at the vet's office) we were able to break in last night (ok we didn't really break in, Micall, being the great person that she is, offered to administer his pain medications after hours for free). These are some of the pictures of him in the vet post surgery. He is home now and feeling much more comfortable.

Almost Christmas

Wow, its been a while, I know. There s snow everywhere in Logan, and it does not threaten to leave anytime soon, not that leaving would be a threat to me. The snow is wonderful.. for a day. This is the wonderful thing about St. George (oh, how I miss thee), it doesn't snow often, so when it does, everyone is stoked. Then it leaves within the next few days. Gone. No trudging in the slush or trying to drive to school when you can't see the lines on the road.

Enough about my relationship with the snow. Nixon loves it! He goes crazy in the snow, rolling and jumping everywhere. Oh! Post script, Nixon got hit by a car 2 weeks ago. Long story, but he hurt his back leg, limped around forever, and now he is all better. Between the limping and the all better, there were pain meds. Nixon loves pain meds. :)

And continuing to another subject. Michelle took fun pictures for us down in Salt Lake a week ago. It was freezing, but we still had a great time. She did a great job, here's a sample of the pics. Before you look at the pictures, I must warn - I am NOT PREGNANT. Despite what it might look like in one of these pictures, I'm not 'trying' to tell you anything. Ok... continue.

Zac's Birthday

It was Zac's birthday on Tuesday. The big 24... I'll be there soon. :) We had some friends over and had a little BBQ. We cooked hamburgers and then ate delicious cake, but not until Zac blew out all 24 candles. We ended the night with a little Taboo. Which turned out to be one of the hardest games ever. We had tons of laughs though! Definitely a good night. :)

P.S. If anyone feels inclined to buy me the game 'Catch Phrase', I would not be opposed.

My child. My child.

Nixon is the most hilarious dog ever! I feel as if I have a human child. This was our morning:

I wake up at 6:15 and get in the shower

I get out of the shower and open the door

There is my little child dog, laying on the ground

He follows me around until I let him outside

He pees and does his 'business'

He comes galloping back inside

By this time he is stoked about being awake

So I go upstairs and start getting ready for school

Meanwhile Nixon is throwing his rope in the air

Running around to pounce on it

Picking it up

Spazzing out

Running in circles

Rolling on his back

And all of this he does without any attention from anyone

He is self entertained

Thus acting like a toddler with toys.