We're home

We went to Colorado to spend time with family on Thanksgiving. It was nice to actually be with family this year. We haven't been with family for the past two years. Michaels dad and step mom went to CO to visit her sister and mother so we drove over to be with them too.

Dana (Step-mom), Angela (her sister) and I went shopping on Friday. However, we didn't go early in the morning. We got a few things that we were looking for. Dana bought us all some boots! I love my new boots! She also bought us all candles! I LOVE candles.

Michael wasn't feeling to well so he slept most of Friday. Cameron had a blast playing with Sophia. She is just a few months younger than him. They had so much fun. Each night they would just play and play. They both have SOO much energy!

We drove home yesterday. Michael should have drove, but he was sleeping pretty much the entire drive. Until I got pulled over! I got my very first ticket on this trip. UGH!!! At least he only caught me when I was doing 10 over. I didn't even see him. He must have been driving coming from the other direction on the freeway. I KNOW he wasn't stopped anywhere. Who knows if I really was doing 10 over. Oh well. It ended up taking us longer to get home than it did to get to CO. I set the cruise control for 5 over the limit. I think those Wyoming officers just like to pull over out of state drivers so they can make some money. They know that we will not drive back to go to court. So, I get to pay the state of WY $95. FUN!

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving.

Girls Night Out!

Shannon and I had our Girls Night Out that we have been talking about doing for MONTHS! It was so nice to actually get out and do it. Last week I asked her if she has ever gone to a ceramic paint studio. She had not and I haven't been to one since living back home. So, that is what we did. We went to Provo and had dinner at Olive Garden then drove all over creation to find the paint studio. Eventually we were near the mountains with no paint studio in sight. So, Shannon called 411 to find out how to get to the place. We pretty much drove back to the freeway, decided that we could find the place, turned around headed back in the direction of the restaurant, called the bookstore that was supposed to be near the paint studio, and FINALLY were headed in the right direction. We had already been pretty close to it by the restaurant. At 9:00 we pulled into the parking lot...good thing the place closed at 11:00.

The studio is called Color Me Mine! It was date night at the studio so it was quite crowded. I honestly didn't think there would be so many people there, but we had a great time. We were told to find a piece to paint and we could then be on our merry way to creating something. Shannon and I both picked a Christmas tree candy dish. Too cute!

I can't wait to see the finished product. I added a few dots to the bottom of my tree and would have shown that picture, but it was blurry. I will be heading back down to Provo on Friday to pick up our trees.

I can't wait to have another Girls Night Out. We are just hoping it doesn't take us another 6 months to actually do it!

I don't have a picture for today's tackle. I have homework that I need to get working on. I have about 6 sections of radicals and exponents to do. Not fun! I am sure it will take me most of the day.

Monday: Chinese Chicken Pasta Salad (never did make this last week)
Tuesday: Chicken Noodle soup with sandwiches
Wednesday: Salmon with salad (yuck!)
Thursday: Grilled cheese with soup
Friday: Tacos
Saturday: Eating out with Shannon

I have to figure out a way to cook the salmon on Wednesday. I can't stand fish, but Michael loves it and I should eat it for health reasons. Last time I cooked it I just grilled it in foil with lemon and onion, but it was too lemony for me. If you have any ideas for me please let me know.

Here is the recipe for the chicken salad

Chinese Chicken Salad

Bake 4-6 boneless skinless chicken breast sprinkled with lemon pepper seasoning at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes or until done. Cool and slice diagonally.

Dressing
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 tsp. each salt & pepper
1 tsp. dried parsely
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup sesame seeds
Mix well

Pasta
1 - 12 oz bag bow tie pasta, cooked
1 bunch of green onions, sliced
1 green pepper sliced
1 yellow pepper sliced
1 red pepper sliced
snow peas (optional)

Toss pasta and chicken with dressing and refrigerate. Before serving add approx. 1/2 bag spinach leaves and 1 small bag of almonds.

A new post and lots of pictures

I feel bad that I haven't really updated my blog with pictures and such. I will try to give a brief summary of what has been happening around here. Not that it is very exciting, but there has been some activity.

First Cameron had his birthday on October 24th. We had his Superman party on the 28th. Here are a few pictures from that event.



Next we had Halloween. Cameron was Superman. No surprise there!


My boss became a grandfather for the very first time on October 30th. I made this little pillow for his daughter Nicole. They are so thrilled to be parents and my boss is elated to be a grandfather. He never thought it was going to happen.



Today is Michael's 36th birthday! Happy Birthday to him! Sorry, I don't have any pictures to share of him today. He is downstairs playing some new Xbox 360 game that he bought Friday night. He had a few guys over for dinner and games while I was at school. They left around midnight. It's always fun for Michael when he has people over to play with him. We are heading over to Gary's house in a bit for a dinner/birthday thing. Gary called to ask me for a meat thermometer, but he won't tell me what is for dinner.

I just finished another book...this one wasn't from my list. It was Until Proven Guilty by J.A. Jance. My mom reads her books so I thought I would give it a shot. Not bad for a mystery type book.

Well, I am off. I will post my menu for the week tomorrow. Sadly, I haven't followed the few days this past week that I was supposed to do. I will be cheating and adding some of the same things to the list since I don't think I cooked one time this past week.