WinMeals, Lightning Bugs, & Chick-fil-A

This last week has been absolutely nuts! I wasn't even the one graduating(I graduated a year ago) and still it was crazy. WOW. Graduation was awesome Yellowstone with Johns family was Super Awesome. And now we are driving. Driving, driving, driving. Kinda Awesome. HAHA! Here is what I have been looking at lately...

These are Windmills. I pronounce them Win-meals. John likes to make fun of this. He says I spent too long in Idaho and Utah and have a funny accent when I say some things. I hope I lose my Utah accent soon. Every time we pass these babies I practice pronouncing it correctly.

Windmill. I got a little confused though and recently have started calling them winmills. I just can't win.

This little guy. Oh man. He has it SOOOO easy. All he does is sleep all day and eat our leftovers from the meals we get. Rough life. He is in doggie heaven. He spends all day sleeping on my lap and then all night barking at people in our hotel. The joys of traveling cross country with a puppy. But he is pretty cute. So, I'll keep him. Plus I kind of like that he is forced to cuddle with me in the car cause he has no where else to go.

So yesterday night we stopped first in Omaha, Nebraska then in Glenwood, Iowa to visit with two of Johns favorite families from his mission. It was nice to finally meet them all. John always talks about these two families. We went to dinner with the family in Omaha. YUM we went to this grill/brewery and they had the most amazing truffle fries and the best adult mac and cheese. YUMM. Roadtrip food has never been better!

Then we stayed with the family in Glenwood and it was so fun because they have a puppy too so carlos got to run around and play while we talked and caught up. ALSO, on the drive out to Glenwood from Omaha I was kinda tired, it was about 9pm and we had been driving since 9am. All the sudden out my window I saw a flash of light. So small and quick I swore it was a headlight bouncing off my window reflection. But then again and again I kept seeing this light, with and without traffic. Sure enough it was lightning bugs! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE lightning bugs. I think they are so fun and so interesting. Its like the Earths natural way of sparkling! Anyway I got super excited and freaked out and John just kind of laughed at me for being excited for bugs.

This is a picture of Glenwood. CRAZY. The exit we got off on 29 was the last one open due to flooding. There were so many fields underwater. and I don't mean like oh a puddle. Like Completely drowning in about 4-6 feet of standing water.

After driving through Iowa all day we finally saw a sign for Chick-fil-A. OMG YAY!!!!!!! It has been way too long since I had Chick-fil-A and let me tell you for someone traveling across the country that doesn't eat McDonalds or Burger King. You kind of go hungry. So we detoured off I-80 and drove 20 minutes through ghetto Illinois to some random mall and got me Chick-fil-A. Heaven in my mouth. It was so great and so worth the 20 minute detour.

Anyway It has been a crazy week so far. I need to find time to post about our trip to yellowstone and graduation and update my photo challenge! but that will have to wait till we are in VA. Which might be tomorrow night. Late tomorrow night. So I probably won't blog again till maybe Sunday. Sorry! It just depends on when our "pods" of stuff get to VA and unpacking and all the other fun stuff that goes along with moving. Joy.

Hope everyones summer plans are going swimmingly!

XOXO

THE MRS.

PERM!

SO recently I decided that with going back to the massive wave of Humidity of Southern life that I A) needed to get a haircut where it costs a good $100 less, and B) get a hairstyle that is more manageable. My solution? A Perm. I know it sounds so 1980 right? But Perms have come a long way since those crazy kinky curls of the 80's. They even dare I say it... have NON chemical perms! Cool huh? I was lucky enough to get in with an experienced stylist that came very highly recommended by many people. If your in the Rexburg area and need anything for your hair done go to Brodi. She ROCKS! (but make your appointment early she books 6 weeks in advance).

Anyway so I went and met with her to decide if my hair would hold a perm and what type of perm I should get. She suggested since we didn't know exactly how well my perm would hold that we try a loose curl and a non chemical perm so that way I wouldn't damage my hair and if we needed to do something stronger we could still do it. So we jumped in and 3 hours later my hair was gloriously curly! The great thing about a non chemical perm is you can still heat style it after putting the normal heat styling creams in and you can actually straighten your hair or curl it with a curling iron for more defined curls. Here are the two products I recommend for curly hair!

This is TIGI's CATWALK Curlesque. It is a tacky cream that helps keep moisture locked into your ends and defines your curls. Put this on when you style your curls.

This is Moroccan Oil treatment. IT IS FABULOUS. I've been using it for a little over a year and it just helps keep hair from being dry and definitely helps prevent split ends. Its definitely on the pricy side but one product I'm willing to pay for!

I tried to get a picture of the front and the back. I had my bangs cut and permed(but with a HUGE rod) to give them volume and then my hair just air dried and is a wavy curl. I love it! As I play around with styling it I will post more pictures!

xoxo

The Mrs.

BUSY TIMES

Oh my gosh you guys I have all these pictures and things to post about and I can barely catch my breath! I finally caught a moment to hop on today and help a friend figure some blog stuff out and figured I would let ya'll know that I'm still kickin' ! It has been so crazy the In-laws are here and we are packing! I'll try to update my photo challenge pictures later tonight but we will see! Anyway its off to another meal with the family! PS. if you want go find me on Pinterest and Instagram! My new two favorite things!

xoxo

The Mrs.

Day 18

BAHAHAH! Isn't this picture funny? Todays picture was Eyes, I took this picture cause It was so funny and then I got to thinking as I looked at it more and more... Isn't it so weird how animal eyes reflect so much light? Makes me wonder if they all have been taken over by aliens like in The Host??? What if were next? BAH!!!!!!!!!!

xoxo

The Mrs.

Day 17

Pretty huh? We have a glass coffee table in our living room currently and the Sun rises right outside our window and shines right through the edge of the coffee table every morning and makes this beautiful little rainbow pattern. I love little things like this rainbow that remind me of how intricate and perfect the world really was created!

Also I thought I'd just update for anyone new to my blog, I'm doing a 30 day photo challenge that can be found here: 30 day photo challenge. Just so new comers don't think I'm like super boring and weird for all these small random posts haha! I swear I'll start posting normal stuff again eventually after the move probably! Whew... only 12 more days to Virginia!

xoxo

The Mrs.

Day 16

Todays challenge is the first that I am using a photo that I didn't take. I kind of feel like thats cheating but I don't own any mason jars ok? However I LOVE mason jars. I had them as my centerpieces at my wedding even. I just think they are so whimsical and homey and they look SO COOL when they are lit up! I have a whole Pintrest board dedicated to Mason jars if you don't believe me! Anyway I currently am a little obsessed with the picture above and thought I'd share!

xoxo

The Mrs.

Day 15

Today's challenge was ACTION! So as I was sitting in the car with the AC running waiting for John who was inside the Gas station getting treats I was playing with my hair which I just had permed and a stray came out. As I was looking at it in the light and blowing in the AC in the car I thought it just looked so pretty. Almost like a crazy gold thread! And the way the AC was blowing when I took the picture made the hair a little blurry. I was impressed with my Photography skills for just having an Iphone with me! Just proves that everything is moving and changing all around us all the time!

xoxo

The Mrs.

Day 14

Today was a picture of someone I love. I love my husband. He is awesome. He simply is the most amazing man I've ever met. He does so much for me everyday from doing dishes, to taking Carlos out, to giving me sweet kisses and telling me how beautiful I am. He works so hard at school and his job to provide for us and He knows how much of a planner I am and so he has worked so hard to make sure we have a plan for moving across the country and he has a great job to provide for me and Carlos. On top of all that he is the nicest, funniest, most sincere guy ever. I LOVE HIM! And I just adore this picture of him passed out with little Carlos snuggling!

xoxo

The Mrs.

Day 13

So todays picture challenge was something that reminds me of childhood. Carlos my little puppy pulled out every single one of his toys out of his make shift "toy box" and had them all piled up around him while he took a nap. It was the most adorable thing. It totally reminded me of how when I was little I would grab all my hundreds of stuffed animals and make them watch me play, or watch movies with me, and take naps with them. And I remember saying goodnight to all of them so they wouldn't think I didn't love them every night! How silly huh? I'm pretty sure my parents attic is still bursting with toys my sister and I had growing up. Ahh childhood how fond I am of my memories of thee!!

xoxo

The Mrs.

Day 12

Todays challenge was a sun flare! Thank goodness it was partly cloudy and sunny today so I could get a good shot! How beautiful! I was very pleased with the weather for cooperating!

xoxo

The Mrs.

Day 11

Todays challenge was a silhouette, seeing as how it was cloudy at sunset I am forced to use an old picture. SORRY! But this is one of my favorites! This was taken just outside of Idaho Falls in the middle of some random hay field. I was standing on top of a hay bale and jumped and my friend took this picture. Pretty rad eh? I love it!

xoxo

The Mrs.

Day 10

This little guy just cracks me up. For the first year of his life he hated sticking his head out the window! And now all the sudden this summer he like tries to jump out the window when we are driving! Its so funny cause he will literally hang his two front paws and most of his body out the window just to get more wind on him. Freak. Don't worry we are responsible pet parents! We have him leashed and are hanging onto his back paws for dear life so he doesn't jump. But he just loves to be outside! This will probably be the last picture of him with long fur for awhile because it will be too hot in VA for him to have it so long. He gets shaved Tuesday! WOO!

xoxo

Day 9

So Fresh and Juicy! My favorite summer fruit is Watermelon! That first bite of the summer is just wonderfully juicy and heavenly! My new favorite thing this summer to do with watermelon is to pair it with feta cheese. Crazy huh? Who would of thought? My SISTER! She is the one who told me to try it and now it is a staple of my summer time diet! It is sweet and juicy and tangy! Wonderful flavor balance!

xoxo

Day 8

One thing I will miss about ID is their dessert sunsets. They have a very mystical quality to them. I love how clear the sky is and how open it is. Makes the world seem so big!

xoxo

Day 7

So today was a High angle. This photo doesn't follow the challenge specifically but I was at the top of the one hill here in town and I took the photo on an angle. That counts right? Plus the moon was just so cool looking next to the temple I thought it was a neat picture.

xoxo

Day 6

Todays picture was of books. I LOVE books. I love to READ! There is something just so great about the written words on a page that tell you stories of all kinds! Growing up we went to our local library at least twice a week. My sister and I would devour books as kids. We literally read so much that we would have to hide from our Mom all around the house just so we could read haha! Among my favorites is of course Harry Potter, The Host, Inkheart, and The Immortal Instruments series. If you love to read like I do you should check out my page on Goodreads.com!

xoxo

Day 5

Today was a busy day! Work was NUTSO because it was the first day back after the holiday. I was so exhausted from my relaxing long weekend that I slept straight from 3-5:30 yesterday afternoon! I didn't really get to eat very much till about 6:30 when my friend Audra and I were decorating for her husbands surprise party we made a pizza. YUM CPK Sicillian. BAH! But anyway this post is supposed to be about my breakfast. Seeing as how totally epic it WASN"T. I had 2 fruit leathers for brekkie. Yum. They are good, but not filling. And aren't big on the energy boost either. Oh well. Can't have the breakfast of champions every day can ya?

xoxo

Day 4

Todays challenge was clouds. It was a challenge indeed because up until sunset it was a pretty much cloudless day! Which was awesome for the fourth of July. I loved the sunset over the Snake River in Idaho Falls today. It was great! Especially this angle I took this picture at I almost felt like I was in the south again. Only 2 1/2 more weeks!

xoxo

Day 3

Hands. Aren't our hands amazing? We do everything with them! Create, comfort, protect. I am so grateful for my hands! The cutest thing happened today in nursery. We only had two kids there because of the holiday weekend. However they were so great and played so well together. While we were eating snack they wanted to give each other a high five and were sitting on opposite sides of the table. They couldn't quite reach across and it was so cute seeing their little hands reaching across the table for each other. I wish I could of taken a picture of their cute little hands but couldn't get my camera in time. So there is my hand above. Kind of a lame picture. This was a hard assignment!

xoxo

Day 2

It literally has taken me alllll day to try and figure out which pair of my shoes I love the most. Because I have favorites for each category; comfort, dress up, casual... etc. BAH! It was so hard picking just ONE pair! Especially when I have more than 20 pairs of shoes! However I kept coming back to the pair shown above (fancified by picnik.com). These are my Corso Como's. My gosh they are beautiful. I love them. Beautiful cheetah print, silver/gold snake skin and made out of the most supple soft leather. They have the most amazing support and cushioning inside. Well worth the price I paid. Oh and a little known feature which isn't pictured above is the diamond insert in the bottom! Just kidding its probably a rhinestone but still it makes them super unique and gives them a bit of bling which I love.

xoxo

Grillin' it up!

Last night (Friday) John and I thought we would start the holiday weekend off right and grill out for dinner! (Can you tell we love our grill we got??) We had pepper jack steaks, caesar salad, cheesy cayenne potatoes and banana boats. YUM! It was delicious and I made the recipe up for the cheesy cayenne potatoes from scratch! I'm going to post the recipe so you can try and see what you think! I'm also posting the banana boat recipe cause a) super easy b) best dessert you will eat all summer! Enjoy and get grilling!

Cheesy Cayenne Potatoes

Ingredients

Red potatoes

Olive oil

Pepper

Salt

Sour cream or Greek yogurt

Cheddar cheese

Cayenne pepper powder

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Basil

Pasta Sprinkle (Penzeys spice blend)

Directions

Cut the potatoes like you would for scalloped or au gratin potatoes. About 1/4 inch thick. Then chop into fourths. Put into a pan with olive oil and saute with salt and pepper until potatoes start to cook. Add a splash of water and cover. Watch closely that the water doesn't run out before the potatoes are tender. If needed add more water.

While the potatoes cook, mix 3 good dollops of sour cream or greek yogurt with 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, and other seasoning to taste.

When the potatoes are tender to a fork and water is about evaporated dump potatoes into the sour cream/cheese mixture and stir while still warm. You don't want a lot of extra water going into the mixture so make sure you don't add too much to the potatoes while they are cooking.

Fill small oven safe custard dishes with potatoes and top with a little extra shredded cheese. Stick under the broiler until cheese melts and starts to bubble and brown. Let cool for five minutes and enjoy!

Banana Boats

Ingredients

Bananas

Chocolate morsels

Peanut butter or Butter scotch morsels

Mini Marshmallows

Directions

Cut a wedge out of a banana while the skin is still on. Fill the cutout with chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and mini marshmallows. Put on a warm grill just long enough for marshmallows to puff up and crisp slightly and morsels to soften and lose their shape. Eat while hot!

xoxo

Day 1

Here we go! Day 1 of the 30 day photo challenge! I can't promise they will all look this crafty. I happen to have a lot of time on my hands this afternoon so...ya. Oh! And don't forget to check out my new recipe below!

xoxo

What are you grilling?

Just found this awesome recipe in the Food Network Magazine! And you better believe I will be grilling this up sometime on this fabulous holiday weekend! Let me know what you guys are cooking up this weekend!

Ingredients:

1 1-pound ball fresh mozzarella, halved and thinly sliced

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Kosher salt

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil(plus a little extra for drizzling)

3 large tomatoes (I'm going to use sauce or paste)

12 no-boil lasagna noodles

8 cups baby spinach (5 ounces)

1/3 cup low-fat ricotta cheese

1/3 cup chopped fresh herbs (basil, mint and/or parsley)

Directions

Preheat a grill to medium. Combine the mozzarella, parmesan, red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon satl, and all but 1/4 teaspoon garlic in a bowl; drizzle with olive oil and toss. Season the sliced tomatoes with salt.

Lay out 4 double-layer sheets of nonstick foil. Drizzle each with olive oil, top with 1 noodle and sprinkle each noodle with 1 tablespoon water. Divide half each of the spinach sliced tomatoes and mozzarella mixture among the noodles. Repeat to make another layer of noodles water, spinach, tomatoes and mozzarella mixture. Finish each stack with a noodle. 1 tablespoon water and a drizzle of olive oil. Bring foil together and crimp tightly closed to make 4 flat packets.

Grill the packets, covered, until tender, about 10 minutes per side. Let rest 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the grated tomatoes, a pinch of salt, the reserved 1/4 teaspoon garlic and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a bowl. Open the packets and cut the lasagna in half, if desired. Top with the tomato mixture, ricotta and herbs.

Photograph by Antonis Achilleos

Happy Grilling,

xoxo