Tag - Survey

My friend Marie tagged me, so below are my answers. Feel free to put this on your blog but I'm not going to "tag" anyone since I don't know who has already done it. :)

1. Best thing you cooked last week... Curried Split Pea soup. It's a regular at our house now. The recipe is on this blog already.

2. If money, time and babysitting were no object, where would you go and with who... It would be fun to take a Mediterranean cruise with Darrell, and maybe some of my closest friends.

3. When was the last time you cried? Three weeks ago in the middle of sacrament meeting during the song "Be Still My Soul." It was meant to be that we should sing that song. (You were inspired Pam!) I needed Heavenly Father to tell me that everything is going to be okay with my new calling as Primary President, as long as I just trust him. " In ev'ry change he faithful will remain... Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake To guide the future as he has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; "

4. Five things you were doing 10 years ago: 1. Preparing for high school graduation 2. Writing to Darrell on his mission 3. Working at Raytheon Aircraft 4. Cheering at a basketball game 5. Dragging state street, oh the good ol' days...

5. Five things you were doing 5 years ago: 1. Working at Overstock.com 2. Remodeling our front room & kitchen (I just swept, Darrell did the work.) 3. Watching my belly expand from pregnancy 4. Emailing my mom on her mission in Mexico 5. Going to Young Women activities as YW 2nd counselor

6. Five things you were doing 1 year ago: 1. Settling into our new and improved ward 2. Meeting my future Sister-in-law, Jen 3. Watching Salem build his first snowman 4. Enjoying staying home with the kids 5. Listening to Salem talk about his first day of Primary

7. Seven of your favorite hobbies: 1. blogging 2. piano 3. dance 4. trying healthy recipes 5. listening to audiobooks in the car 6. playing with photoshop 7. playing with the fam

8. Five favorite foods: 1. pasta 2. chocolate 3. bananas 4. broccoli 5. tomatoes

9. Seven places you've been: 1. Malta 2. Italy 3. France 4. England 5. Switzerland 6. Germany 7. United States

10. Five Favorite Memories:
1. My Italian Honeymoon... :)
2. Going to the bowl game in Las Vegas
3. Snuggling with my mom every morning after I woke up, even when I was in college
4. Laying on my Dad's shoulder/chest on the bed while we watched Star Trek and hearing him laugh and his chest & belly go up & down
5. Jan 7, 2000 - Darrell's first kiss...it was magical!

Snowed In

Today was a blizzard. We went to our institute class this morning, and the class ended early so that we all could get home safely since it was snowing so badly.

We've spent the rest of the day having fun inside...

Salem drew Oaklen a picture of a cat

We drew a picture of a snowman since it was snowing.

Oaklen had a ball!

Salem and I were puffing up our cheeks and the other person would squeeze them to hear a funny noise. It's mild entertainment, Darrell and I used to do that all the time when we were dating. Candace will remember! :)

Today Salem has been a fire chief, puff the magic dragon, and is currently a pirate.

Oaklen plays with the phone, he's always trying to get it!

Then...we went downstairs. The highlight of our day? The mail man! :) It was obvious that he had come when we saw the footprints on our porch.

A rad guitar player

The first knowledge I had of Darrell was known as a "rad guitar player." My friend Christian kept telling me that I needed to meet this "rad guitar player" named Darrell. Well...Christian didn't tell me that he was the tall dark and handsome love of my life! :)

Here's the story of Darrell's latest guitar. Every year on December 26th Darrell gets this sudden urge that he NEEDS to buy something immediately. (It probably is sparked from some of the money that he receives from Christmas.) On Dec 26, 2006 he decided that he HAD to have an acoustic guitar. I thought it was a worthy thing to need/want since it makes him happy to play the guitar and at least he's not playing video games or watching movies all day! :)

He devised a plan on how to get the guitar that he always wanted. First he sold one of his electric guitars and a few other things. Then he was going to take on a 2nd job just to pay for the guitar, and quit after he had acquired enough money to pay for it. He didn't want to use any money that we usually earn; he wanted to "work" for his guitar. Cute, huh? Well cute that is...he got his first "uniform" job working graveyards at Smith's grocery store. He got on his uniform and realized that this was the first uniform that he's ever worn, so I took a picture:

That job lasted one night. He worked at his day job (Datamark) on Friday, came home for an hour then went to Smith's. He worked all night long, then came home and crashed all Saturday morning. It was hard to work two 8-hour jobs, so he quit Smith's.

Then he found another job working a couple hours in the evening at Circuit City. He worked there for about two weeks, things were going well, but then our world changed (for the better.) The stake re-aligned the ward boundaries and Forest Dale ward was merged with Lincoln ward, plus we needed to move buildings. Darrell (1st counselor in the bishopric) felt the weight of this change, and realized that he needed to quit the 2nd job to help our new ward transition. He summed the money that he had already earned and realized that he could buy a nice acoustic guitar, just not the "one that he's always wanted." He quit Circuit City, bought a Taylor Big Baby acoustic guitar, and helped settle our ward.

I love him for all that he is. Before I ever knew him as a plumber, personal chef, friend, mechanic, husband, father, electrician, bread winner, painter, gardener, landscaper, carpenter, spider killer, computer technician, builder, maid, tile layer, furniture mover, chauffeur, counselor, and genius, he was first a "rad guitar player."

To hear one of his songs that he composed and also played go to this link:
http://www.garageband.com/song?|pe1|S8LTM0LdsaSjZFCyYWA

Typical morning with my two boys

I got up at 8AM and saw Salem already up and playing with toys. Darrell already left for work. I finish my shower, open the door and see that Oaklen got up and Salem is reading him a book. We get dressed and I plead with Salem to change his clothes. Every morning he wants to be some certain character. Today he wanted to be Clifford the Big Red Dog. He had on a red sweater, a red short-sleeve shirt on top of th sweater, and red pants. "I have to be a red red today Mom, because Clifford is red!" Well...I finally gave in and let him wear that just so I could take a picture of him and put it on this blog.

We went downstairs and before we eat, Salem (as usual) said the prayer. Oaklen folded his arms today, that's exciting! Oaklen went to the cupboard and got his bib out to let me know he is hungry

We ate a typical breakfast. Oaklen and I had millet with walnuts, flax seeds and banana. Salem usually has an egg, either hard-boiled or "scrambled." Today he chose the "scrambled" version which means it's nuked in the microwave and looks like an egg pancake.




After we eat I look at the clock and realize it's already time to take Salem to school. He grabs his show & tell items then we rush out the door.

Pretty fun huh? I wouldn't miss any minute of it. :)

Couponing - Pinching Your Pennies

Some of you know that I use coupons. I have even taught some couponing classes. My main source of knowledge comes from pinchingyourpennies.com. You can print shopping lists from specific grocery stores. The list tells you how good the deal is, if there is a coupon, and where the coupon is located.

I think this link will always show the current shopping list. Just select which store in the drop-down menu.
http://pinchingyourpennies.com/coupons/store_sales.php?

Or, here is Albertsons's list for Wed Jan 23 - Jan 29.
http://pinchingyourpennies.com/coupons/store_sales.php?id=UT_Albertsons_Jan23_Jan29


Here is a little blurb that I have from one of my coupon class handouts:

Pinching Your Pennies (PYP) – This is a forum site that is amazing! Find deals on many things and post questions to others about deals, shopping & more. It has a list of deals for the week for each grocery store and a list of all available coupons.

http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/

Here are a few highlighted links & forums:

PYP Price Points Printable (Price Book)
http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/PYPPricePoints2.pdf

What’s a good price for…
http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16991

Sale Trends
http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47124

Coupon List
http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/CouponList.php

Grocery Deals Newsletter sign up
http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/newslettersignup.htm

Back up for Books

Sept 2007

Oaklen getting into mischief

Whenever Oaklen wants to read a book he gets a book, turns around then starts backing up to sit in someone's lap. He is very comfortable in someone's lap to read the books. He likes to take the person's finger and point to the pictures to have them say the word.

He says the word "book" but it comes out saying "boot." He likes the T sound instead of the K.

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

Oaklen was looking at a book about fish and then I started saying "Heeeeere Fishy Fishy Fishy!" Salem wanted to know what it was from. I told him about a clip from Bert & Ernie. I found it on youtube and we got a good laugh.

Here it is:

My brother ate my homework

This is Salem & Oaklen playing with an old blanket...so much fun! :)

Salem studied about space, planets, astronauts and the moon this week in preschool. Wednesday he brought home a circled shaped paper that represents the moon. The children were supposed to put "craters" on the moon by using cheerios. Salem just put one crater, and then said that it was the moon's belly button.

Today Oaklen saw this moon, picked it up and put it to his mouth to eat the cheerio. Luckily we caught him before he ate it.

You've heard the old phrase, "my dog ate my homework." Well, Salem could literally have said "my brother ate my homework!"

Salem likes carrots

Salem has a cold right now, but he has great faith that Heavenly Father will heal him. He asked in his prayer to be healed. After he was in bed, he woke up not feeling well and said "How about we eat some carrots?" I granted his wish and let him eat carrots. I'm always trying to teach him about "feel-good food" and it's starting to sink in. He didn't feel good so he wanted feel-good food to help him feel better. Yeah!

O is for Oaklen

Oaklen is learning new words all the time. He figured out the word "oh." Now when I tell him something he then says "oh." It's hilarious to hear his little voice say it, especially since I'm not used to hearing him reply.

Curried Split Pea Soup with Cauliflower

We bought a pressure cooker and have loved making great food in less time. I researched some recipes then came up with recipe on my own...yummy!

Curried Split Pea Soup with Cauliflower
By, Heather Hendriksen

1 tablespoon finely minced ginger
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 cup carrots, cut into 1/2-inch slices
6 cups boiling water
1 1/2 - 2 cups dried green or yellow split peas, picked over and rinsed
1-2 tablespoons mild curry powder (to taste)
3/4 - 1 head of fresh cauliflower, chopped (or 1 lb frozen cauliflower)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Put water on the stove to boil. Add a tiny bit of oil (1 tsp.) in pressure cooker, and saute onions. Remove onions and add trivet to bottom of pressure cooker. Add all ingredients (including boiling water) and stir well to be sure that no bits of onion or spices have gotten stuck to the bottom of the pot.

Lock the lid in place. Over high heat, bring to high pressure. Lower the heat just enough to maintain high pressure (rocking steadily) and cook for 6 minutes. Allow the pressure to come down naturally for about 10 minutes, then quick-release the pressure (place the pot under cold running water.) Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow any excess steam to escape. Taste to see if more salt or pepper should be added.

Put cooked food into food processor to puree into a thick soup.

Serve with cheese if desired.

Happiness is...

My life is so happy! When I was a kid, my brother had a Peanuts Gang book entitled "Happiness is..." I remember looking at it and thought it was a good idea. I often think about writing my own phrases. Here is a start...

Happiness is...
- Watching my boys and their cousins wait patiently at the cookoo clock anticipating when it will start to cookoo.
- Listening to Salem sing with his "sweet angel voice"
- Watching Darrell take off his socks at the end of the night and squish his feet in the carpet to scratch them.
- Watching my baby fall asleep and look so peaceful
- Cuddling with my husband, it's my favorite place to be. Of any place in the world I'd want to be, it would be in the arms of Darrell.
- Listening to Salem pray asking if he can go bowling tomorrow or thanking Heavenly Father for his family
- Listening to Oaklen learn new words like "owl" "book" and "applesauce."
- Dancing around with my boys to the elephant marching song from the Jungle Book soundtrack.

Free Stuff - Website info

If you've been to my house, you'll know about all the free stuff that I've gotten from the following websites:

Salt Lake Freecycle (freecycle.org)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SaltLakefreecycle/messages

Craigslist - free section
http://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/zip/

KSL Classifieds - free section
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=231&cat=272

Salem & Oaklen's Baby Book

I made baby books for Salem and Oaklen. I did this back in July and have been saving them to give for Christmas. It's their first year of life. Peruse and enjoy!

Salem's Baby Book
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0QcOWTdqybMXPA

Oaklen's Baby Book
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0IcNmrVwybMXGg

My book list

Salem at 18 months old

Oaklen at 18 months old

My friend told me about a website called goodreads.com. I entered some books that I have read the past few years. If you're interested, view my book list:
http://www.goodreads.com/friend/i?i=LTM2MDYzNzYxMDU6MzIx%0A

Good treats at my house...

My small little family had family home evening tonight. Christa, my sister-in-law gave us a cute book for FHE from Gordon B. Hinckley's teachings. Today's lesson was on love. Salem is a very good listener and he answers the questions correctly, I'm so proud! Oaklen seems to understand that we're doing something. He's starting to fold his arms when we pray.

Salem got to choose the treat for tonight, guess what he chose? TOFU! Delicious...

New Calling

I got a new calling on Sunday...Primary President. It is the first primary calling that I've had, so it'll be interesting. If anyone has ideas for primary, bring em' on! :)

I've already started reading up on everything and I feel like I'm cramming for a test that happens on Sunday. I'm sure I'll do fine, the Lord knows it, I just need to realize it.