We're Moving.

Here.
(click to find out where...)

Ranch

I am on a quest. I need to find a good homemade ranch dressing recipe. For those of you from Utah, I'm looking for something that tastes similar to Robintino's ranch dressing.

help me. please.

U.S.A.

We've loved watching the Olympics at our house for the past two weeks. It's been fun to cheer on our country and to remember when the Olympics came to Salt Lake (was it really 8 years ago?) I found this little flag while going through some boxes and it has quickly become a favorite toy of both Bear and Moose. Bear especially loves to hold it up and run around screaming USA, USA while watching the games. While we're a little sad that the games are officially over, it'll be nice to go to bed at a decent hour again.

Grandma Jo

Dear Mom,

Please drop everything you are doing and come to California. Right now. Not only would you get out of speaking in church on Sunday but you'd also be saving us from insanity; and possibly saving the lives of your two grandsons. Please hurry.

Love Me

National Pancake Day

{image via Martha Stewart}

Today is National Pancake day, which means we'll be having breakfast for dinner tonight. Aaron hates doesn't like breakfast for dinner so we don't do it very often. If you're feeling adventurous I recommend trying Martha's Blueberry-Cornmeal Pancakes. They are soooo good. Of course, if you make them the Orange-Maple Butter is a must.

If you'd rather stick with good ol' pancakes here's a quick easy recipe that's sure to be a hit with everyone in the family.

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 cups milk

4 tablespoons oil*

chocolate chips**

*we like to substitute applesauce for the oil.

** the recipe really doesn't need chocolate chips, but at our house it's a requirement.

By the way, I do cut the recipe in half for our little family of 3, especially if we serve them with eggs and bacon.

We love to top off our pancakes with peanut butter, bananas, strawberries, maple syurp and whip cream. They're so rich when you fix them like this that you can only eat a couple.

What's your favorite way to eat a pancake?

Stuff

I've been feeling rather claustrophobic in our apartment as of late. I've been cleaning out drawers and closets like a crazy woman. I sent 3 garbage bags of stuff to Deseret Industries with Aaron a couple weeks ago and just donated another 3 bags to our ward for a YW Camp Fundraiser. I also dropped a bunch of scrapbooking supplies off at my cousins because I've realized I'm never going to use it (Lets face it, I'm NOT A scrapbooker).

I'm just wishing that I could get rid of EVERYTHING we own and start over only purchasing the necessities. I know that's ridiculous and it's just the crazy talking, but it sounds like it would be so refreshing.

I'm even thinking about deleting my facebook account and clearing my google reader completely. Yes, I really am wanting to de-clutter everything, including my time.

So tell me, what do you do to de-clutter and clean out?

The End of a Decade

As I sit by a toasty fire tonight it totally blows my mind that another decade has come and gone. Remember Y2k? I swear that was just last year. As I think back over the last 10 years I can't believe all that has happened; here's just a sampling...

graduated high school

married my best friend

bought and sold our first home

lost my dad to cancer

graduated college

gave birth to 2 beautiful boys

opened and closed a photography business

moved to a new state away from all our family

The list is smaller than the mental list I've got running through my mind. I truly am amazed at all that has happened, both the good and the bad as well as moments that have been happy and others that have been heartbreaking.

I am looking forward to the new year and this new decade with all the changes that will happen in our lives. Aaron will gradate school (finally) and we'll actually have a real job with a real paycheck (hopefully). If we're lucky we'll add a couple more family members and maybe even buy a house (wishful thinking). Don't you just get excited looking to the future and all the possibilities?

I have a mental list of goals for this next year and will hopefully get them written down soon. Here's to a new year and a new decade of improving and becoming the person I want to be. May you all have a fantastic twenty ten!

Sometimes

Sometimes I need to remind myself that it's the little things that make a big difference.

Like getting down on the floor and playing with my boys or enjoying a Saturday morning game of Chutes and Ladders.

And really, they'd much rather have me spend time with them than mopping the floor or folding the laundry; those things can wait (at least for a little while)

Home

Aaron got a surprise package in the mail from his dad today; and as I sat on the couch listening to him talk to his dad I started missing home. It's funny though, because the "home" I miss tonight no longer exists.

{my childhood home August 2009}

As he hung up the phone, I wanted more than anything to be able to pick it back up and call my dad. To tell him how we're all doing with the move to California and the funny things Bear has been saying/doing. To just have a casual conversation with him, and then tell him one more time that I love him. I want to be able to walk through the front door of my childhood home and hear my dad singing or laughing. I want to hear him talk about his love for the gospel and our family. To be able to watch him get down on the ground and play with my boys.

{dad, me, mom june 2000}

Even though it's been 6 1/2 years the missing never goes away. I don't think about it all the time, but when I do, it still hurts. I'm grateful for what my life has become, and for what our family has now grown into, but it's still hard.

{muller park fall 2006}

Adapting to change isn't always easy. There are definite times of ups and downs. One can only hope that there are more ups than downs. Tonight is one of the down times, but tomorrow will be better.

Sunset

While out running errands the other night the sky was so amazing, by the time I got out the camera and took a picture most of it was gone. Oh well, just imagine the whole sky a brilliant orange.

And to think, I call myself a photographer! I'll have to work on that.

Confession

I have a little confession to make; I'm a little obsessed with reading blogs blog reader. Really, I could spend hours a day reading blogs and then hopping over to linked blogs from the blogs I read. I've been using Google Reader since last February to streamline my blog reading.

Being terrified optimistic about the move and finding new friends I decided to simplify my blog reading and unsubscribe from a lot of the blogs I look at. One of the handy things in reader is that you can star items you like. Well, today I thought I'd browse through my starred items to see what I had intentions of doing. Would you believe that there were over 550 items starred since last February.

Hopefully I can find some time to sort through the starred items seeing as how I'm so busy with all these new friends lining up at the door just to hang out with the boys and me...

Tell me, do you keep track of things you've seen on blogs and how do you it? I need a better way.

If I were a rich man (ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum)

I'd buy this curtain set up from potterybarn kids.

Bear wakes up every morning at 6:20 as soon as the sun peeks through his blinds.

I'd also pick myself up one of these nice bunkbed set ups. You know, for when my little brother Eric gets home from his mission and moves to California to live with us and become a beach bum (because that is the most responsible think he could do when he gets back...)

And while I'm at it why not throw in a matching crib for the baby.

It gets so frustrating trying to set up a new place. I'm finding that what we had before doesn't necessarily fit or work out how I'd like it to. I have a list a mile long of things I'd like to buy to either help furnish or decorate our apartment with. Really. Don't even get me started on the kitchen area.

But then again, I guess if I were a rich man I wouldn't be living in this apartment so it wouldn't matter....

Welcome...

to our very messy, unorganized home.

Here's what you see when looking out our front door. Our garage is one of those across the way. We're still getting used to parking in a 1 car garage--I'm crossing my fingers that I don't take the mirror off the car again...

This is what you see when you first walk in the door.

to the immediate left is the laundry room

and up a little to the right is the kitchen

(notice how we have 2 garbage cans...that's because they have a dumpster for trash and a dumpster for recycling. I totally dig it.)

Here's our living room with the pre-mounted tv. Seriously, what apartment comes with a flat screen as an appliance?

From the living room is the long hallway that leads to the balcony, bathroom and 2nd bedroom.

another angle of the boys room.

On the other side of the living room is the master bedroom. It's a little cramped, but we'll survive.

So, we didn't know what to do with our tv since the apartment came furnished with one-we decided the master bedroom was a good place for it. Too bad we don't have cable so the tv doesn't even get a picture. Nothing like having a tv on the wall for decoration.

The master bathroom. My favorite part about the bathroom is the garden tub, I think I'll be taking baths a lot more often now. The door you see through the bathroom is our master closet-it's huge.

And the view from our balcony.

There you have it. We also have this awesome air mattress that fits so nicely in the living room and it's begging for some visitors....

We are SLOWLY getting the mess put away and somewhat organized. Someday maybe we'll even finish hanging up all the pictures and decorating.

Overwhelmed.

We are officially in California and on our own. It's been a whirlwind of a week and there is still so much that needs to be done and put away. Living in California is definitely going to take some getting used to. After Aaron's parents left this morning he made a comment about us no longer being 10 minutes away from them; now we're 10 hours away.

I'm starting to slowly get a feel for the area and recognize the streets without needing the gps (at least the one's surrounding our apartment). I don't know that I'll ever get used to all the people. Out of curiosity today I looked up the population in Utah compared to the population in the Inland Empire (fyi-the inland empire consists of 2 counties in southern california, one of which we live in) and there is almost twice as many people in the Inland Empire as there is in the whole state of Utah. No wonder I feel like it's over crowded everywhere we go.

I had my first break down yesterday afternoon and was ready to go rent another moving truck and go back to Utah. I told Aaron I was sure the Burn Unit would re-hire him. He on the other hand wasn't ready to give up all of his hard work just because I had a bad morning at the DMV. I'm sure I'll eventually come to love this area, I just hope it's sooner rather than later.

I did get a good laugh today while we were at the pool. A mom was asking us where we were from and when we said Utah, she said so was she. They were just here on Vacation visiting some friends. Nothing like having the first people you meet be from the same state as you and not even live in California.

Hopefully we can take some time away from unpacking and organizing before Aaron starts school to head to one of the beaches. I'm looking forward to church on Sunday more than I've ever looked forward to going to church in my life. I just want something familiar and comfortable.

Please note that we are officially accepting visitors so start packing your bags and come see us.

One of those days.

Today was one of those days. Anyone that's a mom knows exactly what I'm talking about. I was ready to just sit down and cry with both boys. I figure they were both crying hysterically, why not join them?

Moose has had a really upset stomach the past week or so. He is constantly spitting up and passing gas. I swear I have a really bland diet, and I can't figure out what I'm eating that would make him upset. Aaron went and bought some gripe water this afternoon, we'll see if that helps since I don't think the gas drops are doing any good.

I decided to go on a walk, just to get out of the house and see if that would calm him down. Nope. We went to my neighbors to drop off a thank-you card and she promptly took the baby from me and tried to work her magic. It didn't work. I swear nothing works to calm him down when he has an upset stomach.

Of course, Bear sees that the baby gets attention when he cries, so he tries crying to get attention. I finally got Bear down for a nap and got Moose calmed down enough to let me take a shower, then I frantically ran around trying to get myself ready to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house with Aaron's family.

I waited until the last possible minute before waking Bear up from his nap to go, and of course we didn't get out the door on time. As we're driving Bear says he's hungry, and why wouldn't he be since he didn't eat what I fixed him for lunch. So, I swung by Wendy's and got him some nuggets, which of course he didn't eat because I wouldn't let him dip them in mustard in the car while wearing his church clothes. Of course while driving to the Temple both Bear and Moose and crying and it really is taking everything I have not to start crying along with them.

I took the gps since I had no clue how to get there, and it had me take Bangeter Hwy, around 21st south and I'm pretty sure I hit every light until 114th South. Meanwhile Aaron and his family keep calling to see where I am since I'm late and they're all waiting for me. I was ready to just throw my cell phone out the car window. If you're wondering where Aaron was this morning, he was hiking Mt. Olympus. It took everything I had not to be mad at him for going off hiking while I had a horrible morning with the boys. I was pretty short with him though.

The Temple is amazing. I was really excited for Bear to go inside since he's always talking about the Temple. Tonight as I was putting him to bed he told me all about the pictures of Jesus and that there was water in the temple. I hope he remembers what is was like since I don't know if/when he'll get the opportunity to go to another open house. I carried Moose through the Temple since I didn't want to risk waking him up (yes, he finally did fall asleep) by putting him in the baby bjorn. I loved looking down at his peaceful sweet face while in the Celestial Room and again in the Sealing Room where a couple bore their testimony on eternal families. I didn't want to leave the Temple and was pretty disappointed when the tour was over.

After the open house we went to Kneaders Bakery for dinner. Aaron offered to drive the car with the 2 boys in it so I wouldn't have to listen to them cry all way home. It really was nice to drive by myself and listen to the music I wanted to.

In my big rush to get out the door on time I forgot my camera at home, so I don't have any pictures of us at the Temple. It truly was so beautiful and peaceful being there. I am going to miss not driving by a Temple whenever I run errands.

Tweaking

Please excuse the crazy layouts the last few days. I've been tweaking the blog. Hopefully I'll have it looking normal again sooner rather than later.

Food Storage Fiasco...

I just spent my morning at the dry pack cannery and had quite the large order. We're trying to stock up on food storage before we move in August. Aaron and I are not food storage savvy, and thought that when filling out the church's order form bulk meant the case of 6 cans. Just so you know, bulk does NOT mean the case of 6 cans. What it does mean, is the big bags....oops. So now, I have lots of big bags/boxes of food that needs to be canned :)

Needless to say I will be borrowing the sealer from the church and canning these goods on my own. I figure that while I have it, I should can a bunch of other things that the church doesn't offer as well.

Does anyone want to come over and we'll have a canning party? All you'd have to do is bring your own stuff and we'll make a day of it.

Here's some of the things I'm going to can: (the reason being with the oxygen packet they have a longer shelf life)

Tang

Country Time Lemonade Mix

Bowtie Pasta

Bisquick

Salt

Brown Sugar

Baking Soda

I'm sure I'll think of more things. Who's in?

For Sale...

After looking at the apartments in California, I have come to the sad realization that a lot of our "stuff" will be staying behind because there will be NO space for anything that is not a necessity. 

I will be selling my Pottery Barn Bedford Desk which includes 2 2-drawer filing cabinets, 1 cpu cabinet, 1 3 drawer filing cabinet, 1 corner desktop and 1 rectangular desktop as well as the hutch that goes on top the desk. I am asking $700 for all of it. If you'd like to just buy part of the desk I'd be willing to sell it in 2 parts (i.e. the rectangular top with 2 cabinets and the corner desktop with 2 cabinets).  I have LOVED this desk and hate to leave it behind, but unless I want to sleep on it, I have no other choice :)

{images via potterybarn.com}

My desk is in the black, but the whole set up (hutch too) is shown above. 

I will also be selling my Epson R1800.  I know it has been discontinued, but this printer is awesome. It is still in new condition. I have all the software and cables you need. It prints borderless 12x12 pages which is awesome if you digital scrapbook. Here's the description from Epson's website:

Superior glossy photos and enhanced media versatility are the distinctive capabilities of the Epson Stylus® Photo R1800. Revolutionary UltraChrome Hi-Gloss ink incorporates a Gloss Optimizer to ensure your glossy prints are smooth and uniform. With the addition of red and blue inks, the R1800 also offers an extremely wide color gamut for incredibly vivid prints. This printer also supports a wide variety of media including thick fine art and roll papers and allows you to explore your creativity on various textures and a multitude of sizes up to 13" x 44". Due to the high-performance piezo printhead, the R1800 also speeds through your projects quickly. Best of all, with its archival pigment inks, your images and your ideas can stand the test of time for up to 200 years.

I am selling it for $150. Let me know if you're interested in either of these. I thought I'd try the blog first, then ksl & craigslist.

If you need a washer and dryer stay tuned...

Lost and Found

Bear is obsessed with Buzz Lightyear right now. Luckily for me all my little brother's toys are still at the house and he had a few Buzz figures. Bear couldn't find a particular Buzz for a few days and I had torn the house apart looking. I was ready to post missing signs around the neighborhood--yes he really is that obsessed. As I was cleaning at the end of the week I opened his "special toilet" and found a special surprise. 

Obviously potty training is not going as planned. At least we found Buzz.

Private No More...

For a reason unbeknownst to me, I've taken our blog off private. Please don't use our last name or Bear's real name in your comments. It's my little attempt to retain some privacy in the blogging world.  We'll see how long this lasts....