Sunday Dinner

Sunday afternoon we drove straight to my moms house after church. When we got there, my Grandma and Grandpa were already there. Mom had made a big roast dinner. I can't believe how sweet she is with making dinner, even when she can not eat half of it because of her gluten intolerance. The good was great! I love the rolls mom makes. I think they are the rhodes rolls, but for some reason they always taste so much better at moms house. Lauren is such a silly little girl. She wouldn't eat dinner again. She is the most darling, funny child but she is SOOOOO picky about food. She ended up eating Frosted Flakes. I don't know how you can eat Frosted Flakes when there is Pot Roast and rolls on the table! After dinner we watched a short movie done by Seagull Book, I believe. I can't remember the name, but it was about a little shepherd boy whose dad was supposed to be the youngest shepherd that met baby Jesus. The little shepherd boy's father had died when he was younger, and the shepherd boy ended up becoming a bit crippled. He got to meet Jesus on night as he was tending to the sheep, and Christ healed him. It was a sweet little story. Who knows if anything like that actually happened, but it was sweet to think of, and it was a nice way to end the evening as a family. You can see that Lizzie and Lauren didn't make it all the way through the movie though… :)

Date Night Two.

Busy weekend right? It was pretty nice that we had two evenings to spend together! I feel like that doesn't happen all that often. It was especially nice that we got OUT of the house and did something! Saturday evening we weren't sure what we wanted to do. We finally decided we would give bowling a shot. It was kind of a cold night and had started snowing, so we thought that bowling would be a good activity. We hadn't eaten yet, and since we were about to spend money on bowling, we decided to just pick up a $5 Little Caesars pizza! I can't ever say no to my dear friend pizza. Seriously though. I can eat good portions and not over eat almost always. But let me just say, if you put a pizza in front of me - I will eat half of it if given the option. It's pretty disgusting that I can do that. I could probs eat more all on  my own if no one was watching.  A few weeks ago we picked up pizza before I went to one of my fitness classes, and even though I knew I was going to class - I couldn't' help but eat 5 pieces of pizza. When we finished eating, it came up that I was planning to go to the gym. Bryan looked at me and told me that I was an idiot and probably going to puke up my dinner in the middle of class! Thankfully I made it through he whole class without losing my stomach contents.

Anyways, back to our date. We picked up the pizza, at some on the way and then went in to the BYU Bowling Alley. Naturally I sat down with the pizza and waited for Bryan to get through the line to pay for bowling. There was going to be a wait, so that worked out well because we sat, talked and ate our pizza. We kept getting weird looks from people. I don't really get why though because pizza in a bowling alley really isn't all that strange. Going to this bowling alley ended up working out really well though because they had a deal for a couple. 2 games for $12 with shoes included. Right after we started bowling the lights turned off and I got so excited! I love cosmic bowling! It reminds me of going bowling in elementary school. We used to sign up for a "sport" that we would participate in for 6 weeks. I remember signing up for bowling, so we would go every Friday for those 6 weeks. We'd always ask them to turn off the lights and do cosmic bowling for us. It was the best! My elementary school was hippie, but I loved  that aspect of it.


So during our first came I was proud f myself because I got two strikes in a row!! I even got over 100 points! Only just barely though.. Also, I beat Bryan:) He probably should have beaten me, but for some reason he would always hit 9 pins, and the tenth just wouldn't fall. The second game wasn't AS good. I think I ended up with like 90 points or something. I still beat Bryan though! He doesn't really like to lose, and I don't beat him at very many things, so I had to brag just a little bit. Please enjoy my winner face and his loser face. #WifeyChelsForTheWin. On our way home we thought about getting some hot cocoa but ended up deciding we would make our own at home. We cuddled up on the couch and watched a bit of Greys Anatomy and Friday Night Lights! Bryan gets so excited every time there are football game scenes in Friday Night Lights. He acts as if they are real teams playing. You would honestly think he was watching professional football with how excited and focused he gets while watching some pretend team play football. He's a goof. I'm always grateful for the entertainment he provides.

Temple Run

Friday evening Bryan and I decided that we would be going to the Temple early in the morning. Bryan hates how busy the Provo Temple is on Saturday's. He always says that we need to go early or the wait will be forever. I decided I would do my best to get up at a decent time on Saturday. We got up around 7:45am to get ready. The goal was to leave by 8:30, but with me you just need to expect that really means 8:45 or 9am…. We got to the temple a little after 9am, took a few pictures and went on in. I'm not going to lie, I still feel like a little kid who should be going down to the baptismal font. It is still strange to me that I now have a recommend that allows me to do sealings, initiators and endowments. I feel like I waited for so long to be able to go through the temple, that it still isn't real that I have and that I can go back as often as I want . The temple is definitely not what I had expected or anticipated while growing up. But it is so wonderful and I'm grateful that I can go back to learn more each time. It is crazy to think about the people all over the world who are lucky if they even get to go one time. I'm sure they feel so blessed to have made it to the Temple, but oh how hard that would be! After your first time you come out with so many questions. It's impossible to comprehend just about anything your first time going through. At least that was how it was for me! I feel blessed to live in Utah where there are legitimately 6 temples within an hour of where I live. 

We decided we would to initiatories that day. I find those to be really peaceful and relaxing. I am still not used to Endowments and how much information you get in two hours. Initiatories kind of allow me to really think about the people I am doing the work for, and we wait for our turn kind of the same way you wait for your turn in the baptismal font. I love the blessings that are received during the intiatory. I think they are so beautiful, and I learn something new or feel something new each time I go. While I was in the initiatory, I ran into a girl who looked so familiar. It ended up being a girl named Amanda Hales from West High School. She recognized me as well, and we made the connection. I really enjoyed seeing her for just that little bit. It's great to see the friends from West High who ended up doing really really well. I had so many friends from there who feel away from the church, and so many that ended up pregnant outside of marriage. That reminds me of how lucky I am that my dad felt the need to move our family to South Jordan. I am positive that I would not have ended up anything like the person I am today if it weren't for that decision. 

When I was done and ready, I went outside. We had driven separately and Bryan told me I could leave without him if I finished before him. I ended up deciding to sit on a bench and wait for a bit. When we had gone it, it was pretty cold still. But as I came out of the temple, I noticed it was a lot warmer and much more sunny. You can tell in the difference between the first picture and the rest of the pictures!  Since it was so nice, I figured it wouldn't hurt to sit on the temple grounds for awhile. I love that even when you are just on the grounds, you can feel peace and comfort. After about 20-30 minutes, I decided I had better go. I thought Bryan wouldn't be that far behind me, but apparently he was. As I was walking to the car, I stopped to take a picture and then I saw Bryan walking on over to his car! Bryan asked me to go sit on a bench, which was very sweet of him. We sat and talked for awhile. I don't even know how we got to this subject, maybe because we were siting on a bench, but Bryan started telling me about the first time he heard someone use the "S.O.B" profanity. He knew it was bad, but he thought that it meant "Son of a bench"... I thought that was too funny not to mention.

After about 20 minutes we figured it would probably be good to get home and start getting other things done. I have to say that I am grateful that we have temples, and that we have each other. I am grateful we got married and sealed in the temple so that we can spend forever together. He's kind of my best friend. Even when he makes me angry ;) 

Date Night

Friday morning I went to work as usual. When I got to work, there was literally no one there. Okay, not quite literally, Jessica was there. But that was it! Angela's back has hurt pretty bad lately, so she didn't come in. Ron and Brandon were out at some conference with a bunch of doctors. Hopefully we got some get some good leads while they are there! Lacey's flight left early, so she was on a plane to Missouri by the time I got in. New guys and Kelsie weren't in yet either. Needless to say, it was an incredibly quiet day at the office! Kelsie and the new guys came in a bit later, so it did get a bit louder once our new guy Tracy got on the phones. Jessica left early to get to a school meeting. All I can say, is I am just happy that I got money to come in from a 4-plex deal we had closed on Wednesday evening. The money hadn't shown up like it was supposed to on Thursday, which was not good. I knew I'd need to resolve that on Friday. Let's just say a billion phone calls and emails later, I got it all resolved! So once I had my stuff taken care of - I decided to get out of there too! At home I checked more emails and took care of the very few other things that came in the rest of the afternoon.

I was a lazy bum until Bry got home. Once he got home from work, we tried to decide what date night would entail! Both of us were STARVING. So, we knew food needed to be involved. We decided to be good kids and check or budget to see if date night would involve Wendy's.... or real food. Budget told us we could eat real food :) Picking where to eat can be entertaining with the two of us. He loves his food more than anyone I know, and sometimes I can be picky. Mostly because I am the worst at making decisions, so I tend to stick with what I know. However, Bryan really likes trying something new. Also, Bryan is not so good at the sporadic thing, so he doesn't like leaving the house without a plan. I made the boy get in the car and told him to drive down center street in Provo and that we'd pick between Chinese and Mexican. We ended up at Los Hermanos, something neither of us had ever tried! Yay us! Our waiter was super nice and super funny. When I was trying to decide what to order, I asked him for his opinion. He suggested the two most popular things on the menu obviously, and I asked about a few other things on the menu. In the end I went back to the most popular. Doesn't sound funny now, but Bryan and he thought it was so funny that I was going back and forth and finally ended up picking the waiters first suggestion.

Dinner was awesome! We both got a smothered burritos, and I would recommend it to anyone that loves pork and beef! However, I would say that if I had the choice between La Costa and Los Hermanos.. La Costa would win. They're meet is tastier, as well as there salsa and bean dip.

While we were eating, Bryan looked at me and said "You look great tonight, let me take your picture". That was just about the cutest thing that has ever come out of his mouth! When our meals were finished and we had left, He asked again if he could take a picture of me. Please see Bryans wonderful photography skills to the right ----->

By the time we got home, I just wanted to get in a ball and wrapped up in a blanket. I was so cold because it actually felt like February weather this evening. Also, I was so stuffed from dinner. I probably should not have finished off my whole plate. I couldn't help it though! Bryan has been telling me random facts from his Nutrition class, and they told him that whatever serving is put in front of you, you will most likely eat. It's just a psychological thing. If we got used to seeing smaller servings, we would eat that and be content. I thought that was pretty interesting.

At home we cuddled up and turned on The Dark Knight, which is probably in our Top 5 favorite movies. I still can't get over the fact that Heath Ledger died. That beautiful man had many more great movies in him! But seriously, that movie is the best out of the three Batman movies. Even though The Joker is the bad guy, you can't help but love him!

That was about it for date night! Not one of the most eventful evenings, but definitely enjoyable!

Cougar Ladies Night

Yesterday while I was at work, I texted Bry to ask if we were going to go to the basketball game that night. He said that he couldn't. I have to tell you, I was shocked! Bry said he had an intramural basketball game, home teaching and then he needed to study for his Anatomy mid-term. Poor guy was so upset because he was going to have to miss the last home game of the season!

Later that afternoon he called me because he wanted to see what I thought about him coming to the last half of the game. Sadly, I had to be the bad guy and tell him that he should just plan on staying home and studying all night because of how important his midterm was. I also said " Ps, I already told Brooke we are having a girls night to the game". Bry responded with "Ah man! You have no idea how lame that makes me feel!" Poor kid. haha.

After work, I picked up Bry and we went to get is hair cut by Breanna Linton! She is the cutest. She cut Bryans hair so well, and we had all this time to catch up! She is dating a really great guy, and they are actually talking about getting married! I am so happy she found a sweet guy who wants to take her to the Temple! It sounds like they are looking at a December wedding in the San Diego Temple! I really miss seeing Bree. I'm glad that Bryan and I are where we are today, but I still miss the times I had living with Bree and all of my other sweet roommates. Bree brought up all these stories from when Bryan was on his mission, and how we would all do a "letter dance" the moment I got a letter. She would help me make deserts to put in packages and then we'd adventure up to the MTC to drop them off..... Pretty crazy that four years later here we are all marriaged.

After the hair cut we drove back to BYU as quick as possible to get Bry to his intramural game. I dropped him off and hurried home to get ready for the game. Cute little Brooke picked me up at 7, and we went to the game together. I invited Merrill to the game too, but since she started her new job this week, she has had to work super late and get up early everyday. I remember what it was like to come home super tired after teaching all day, and I wasn't having to stay later like she is.

The game did not start off super well. The score was something like 9-0 within the first 5 minutes. That was frustrating especially considering the fact that it was the last home game. Thankfully shortly after that they pulled it together and stayed pretty neck and neck with the opposing team for the rest of the first half. We talked about so much from Brookes job to what it's like not being in school anymore.

Half time was incredibly entertaining. A group of tweens came out with jump ropes, and normally you wouldn't think that is something to get excited over - but holy crap they were awesome! They were doing all kinds of tricks with multiple jump ropes flyin different directions. They were really talented. I don't even know how someone would decide they are going to get into something like that, but it was pretty cool. Also, Cosmo came out and did this sweet trick that you can see right up above here.

After the half the boys came back in and kicked some butt! By the end it was BYU for the win! We let some boys take our picture, but that didn't go so well. We resorted to the old selfie. Brookie took me home, and we called it a night.

Valentines Weekend

Ladies Night

 A couple of weeks ago Oleg texted me and asked if I would kill him for asking Bryan to work Feb 13th. I responded back with, "Nah! Perfect excuse for a ladies night! Make him work :) " And that is exactly what happened! Nicole, Brooke and I planned to go to the BYU vs. SUU gymnastics meet for that evening. We were super excited! Sadly, Brooke ended up getting a cortisone shot for one of her knees! Poor girl has some kind of arthritis. Ladies night turned into Lady date night with Merrill and I! ha. We had a lot of fun though! BYU really isn't all that amazing at gymnastics, but we still really enjoy watching, and SUU did well! Merrill is super stressed right now because she got a job offer about a month ago to work at APA which is a charter school as a teacher in training. She started this last week, and has not been loving it. It has been really stressful for her, and their whole teaching system is completely different from anything that the two of us ever learned while in school. Anyway, on Thursday she got an offer from the school she student taught at to be a permanent substitute teacher until the end of the year. Poor girl is super stressed about the decision. She knows she would prefer the substitute job, but that means she won't be a normal w-2 employee, so she won't be able to get her car for awhile :/ We talked about it for a long time, and I think she is going to end up going with the sub job, but we shall see! She is an awesome teacher, so I know she will do well whichever way she decides to go. 

During the game, Cosmo came over and sat right next to me! I was excited to take a picture, so I pulled out my phone. Well, there were about 20 little hyper girls sitting behind us and they ran down and jumped on us so that they could be with Cosmo and take a picture with him. Needless to say, all we got was blurry faces :) OH well! After he walked away, I looked at Merrill and told her that my leg was all wet…. from his sweat. So. GROSS. Thankfully I had perfume in my purse, so I sprayed my leg. SUU ended up winning, and then we decided to go on an adventure to Walmart. She helped me pick out a cute tablecloth, and candle for Valentines. We then went to McDonalds and she ordered food. We talked girl talk for a long time. I'm pretty grateful that I have friends who still hang out with me even though I am married. I know a lot of people think married people just fall off the face of the planet so they quite trying to hang out with them. I would DIE if that happened. I love Bryan to death! But… I still really need girl time! That is just part of who I am. I am also super grateful that Bryan lets me have girls nights when I need them! 

Valentines Day

Saturday morning I woke up to hearing Bryan getting ready to leave the apartment. This meant he was going to the store most likely and probably coming back with something for me, so I couldn't leave… I knew I was in trouble. I now had to wait for him to get home, and he was probably going to make me breakfast, which meant my plan was no longer going to work! I had planned to tell him I was going to the Gym so I could get him a valentines gift since I hadn't had time during the week. Big wife fail. He came back 15 minutes later, and sure enough he began making breakfast. He brought in French Toast and Orange juice. He is a sweet sweet boy! Breakfast was great! He then brought in pink roses, and chocolates. He then asked if I wanted my other gifts from him, but I told him to wait…. ha. Mainly because I had nothing to give him in return. Thankfully Bryan had to do some homework, so I asked him if he would like to make sugar cookies later that evening. He said, yes! This gave me the opportunity to leave and go get the things I "needed" to make the cookies. 

That afternoon when I got back, I did some cleaning and lunch packing and then I decided to begin making the cookie dough! I made up the dough, and then made up the frosting. I wanted everything to be all prepared so that it would be easy to actually make and frost the cookies after dinner. Around 5:30, Bryan left to pick up dinner. I proceeded to pull out the table cloth, and set the table! He came back and was so surprised! He picked up Olive Garden, and some Sparkling cider! I got Lasagna, and he got Chicken Alfredo! Dinner was fantastic! I always love pasta and breadsticks. After dinner we decided to watch The Notebook. Okay, WE didn't decide, I decided. Bryan gave me the option to watch whatever chick flick I wanted, and since he had never seen it- I thought it was time! Everyone needs to see that movie once in their life ha. 

While we watched the movie, we put the cookies in the oven. After the movie, we frosted the cookies! Well, once again I frosted the cookies. Bryan almost tried and then just decided that I should be the one to frost them. I forgot how tired frosting makes my hand! This is all I was able to frost… the rest we just left plain… However, I think the cookies I did frost turned out pretty decently! Please observe our cuteness over here to the left! They even tasted pretty good! I have had such a hard time finding a recipe for sugar cookies that turns out soft and tasty. These ones more soft, and chewy, but I wish they had had more of the sugar cookie taste. Someday I'll find the right recipe!  The rest of the evening we ate cookies, and then decided to put movie in in our bedroom to fall asleep to. We turned on Jumper. I watched a bit, but I didn't stay awake for the whole thing. 

Oh wait! I forgot, I ended up getting Bryan a gift card to Disneyland :) We decided to go at the end of   April, so I thought it would be a cute gift to get him. I also got him snickers since those are his favorite. He got me tickets to a zip-line course that we can go to in the summer. I did one in Puerta Vallarta before, and it was awesome! I know it won't be quite like that, but it sounds super fun and will be a nice date night for this summer! Something to look foreword to for sure! 

We had wonderful day together! I liked being able to relax and not worry about the craziness at restaurants. I also liked having someone on Valentines day. I had Bryan last year too, but before that I never had anyone. I dated a ton, but somehow always managed to be alone on Valentines day. As Bryan would say…..

"Valentines day isn't stupid anymore now that I'm married".

Pot Roast Wifey

Today was Stake Conference! Bryan and I had been looking forward to this sunday for awhile now! The reason being, we couldn't wait to have a whole Sunday afternoon to ourselves. We have church from 1-4pm, so your whole day is kind of gone by the time you are out. Stake conference means 10-12pm, and you are DONE. We wanted to make sure that this Sunday was ours, and not a family dinner night. We made a plan for me to make Pot Roast…. This is something that I was terrified for! First of all, I am afraid of raw meat. I legitimately did not know how to make hamburger meat until my Junior year of college when my roommates made me. It was terrifying ha. Textures freak me out, and raw meat does not have a very pleasant texture ha. Now, it has been two years since then - so I have mastered how to cook raw hamburger and raw chicken. My next mission, was this massive pot roast. Bryan picked it up from the grocery store Saturday night. Neither one of us had ever purchased one before, so we were not sure what to pick. When we arrived home Sunday afternoon, I opened the package of chuck roast and immediately was afraid of it. There was a bit of green/brown discoloration on it and I didn't know if that meant it was bad or what! Thankfully we have Mamma Janet. We gave her a call and she calmed my fears. She said that part of the meat just got too much oxygen, so it became a bit discolored. Now that I knew I wasn't going to kill us from food poisoning, I continued my food preparations. I cut what felt like a bazillion carrots and potatoes. Put the chuck roast in the crock-pot, sautéed the vegetables for a bit, made some beef broth and threw everything in! The funny thing about this meal, is that it really isn't that hard! Time consuming, but pretty easy. We left it in there for somewhere around 5.5 hours. When there was about an hour left, I began making the bread dough for homemade wheat rolls. Once those were done, Bryan helped me pour out the juices from the crockpot and we made the gravy together. I set the table, and we sat down to eat! I have to say, I am pretty proud of myself! Maybe I will move onto ribs or salmon in a few weeks!

Bryan was impressed, and his belly was happy as well! This meal was a success! Thanks to Six Sisters Recipes! They are the best! The meat was soft and the perfect texture, but I think I will add more seasonings the next time I try this.

Lastly, I even made cookies to end the evening! However, the cookies were the most simple thing ever. Devils food cake, egg, oil and powdered sugar. Somehow I forgot to take a picture of those… maybe next time!

- Pot Roast Wifey