2014: page fifty-five

A drive out to the city!

Once again, Ryan has to go out of town for a few days, which means B and I get some quality time with family and friends in Salt Lake! Boo for Ryan leaving, but yeah for time with other loved ones!

After we dropped him off at the airport, we headed to my mom and dad's house which will be our headquarters for the week. Both B and I love staying with them!

In the evening we joined them at a Bible study at church. B enjoyed playing with all the kids while I really enjoyed the Bible study. I'm glad that my mom and dad asked us to join them!

B got a hold of Grandpa's old reading glasses and had a blast with them! Too funny!

 

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Today was a beautiful, albeit, windy day outside! Ryan and B played in the back yard for a bit and then took the dogs out the back gate to run around on the golf course. From my vantage point looking out the kitchen windows, it looked like they had a blast with both the dogs and B enjoying all the wide open space.

During B's nap, uncle Josh stopped by and hung out for quite a while. Catching up with him was great as we don't see him as often as some of the others.

Once B woke up it was time to take her for her first ride in our "new" 1994 Jeep. :) We bought it for fun trips up to the mountains. She loved being able to see so well out of the windows as they are down much lower than the ones in the truck.

All in all a wonderful, relaxed Sunday!

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Shooting some guns is how we started off our day today. Ryan, B and I met my friend Randi up on a friend of hers property that is set up as a shooting range.

My hunter's education shooting test is next Saturday and I hadn't shot a gun for almost 5 years. Definitely needed to make sure I could still hit a target before being tested on it. :)

Thankfully, the test is done using a .22 and I can handle that. I'll have to be able to shoot 3 rounds of 10 shots - 10 standing, 10 sitting, and 10 lying down. All in all, I think I did pretty well. I shot 40 shots with only 1 stray bullet from the standing position and even that shot hit on the paper. So, none went out into the wilderness. Woohoo!

After those practice shots, Randi got out her rifle, which is a 7mm. Man, do rifles have a good kick and this is about as small of a rifle as you can get. The video below is me shooting the 7mm. Can't really see it in the video, but it kicked me pretty good. But it was fun. :)

After that, Ryan, B and I went for a little drive and ended up having lunch at the Grill.

A great way to spend a Saturday!

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I finally did it.

I cleared all the clothes out of my closet and in my dresser that do not currently fit. Well, that part was done a while ago, but the clothes remained folded on my closet floor. That is until today when I filled two...yes, TWO...totes full of those clothes. I am going to label those bins and take them to the basement with the expiration date of August 21, 2014. Six months from today. Whatever still does not fit at that time is going bye bye. To the consignment store. Maybe this is the motivation I need to get them to fit once again. And maybe they'll just end up earning me a little bit of money. Time will tell.

Truthfully, it feels good to have them out of my closet. Now I can see what I really have to wear and don't have those clothes taunting me any longer. Ha ha! I had always thought they'd be motivation, but almost two years after Briella's birth that hasn't worked. So, maybe this plan will work.

Anyway, on to other things.

B went over to one of her auntie's houses and played with cousins all afternoon and I had some "down" time, whatever that is. Ha! As much as I love my sweet girl, I enjoy when I have some time to myself. And she LOVES going over there!

I went to pick her up later in the afternoon and actually just ended up hanging out for a while with Ryan's mom and a couple of sisters. So long, in fact, that Ryan just headed there after work and joined in the party. What a great time with all of them in some unplanned hang out time.

Then this led to an impromptu date! Yippee!

We were about to head out to grab something to eat and B was contentedly playing and snacking at her auntie's house. Sweet Crystal, who had been watching her half of the day already, offered to let her stay so Ryan and I could go out! What a pleasant surprise! Even just the amount of time to have a dinner together alone is wonderful!

Today turned out to be filled with some unexpected and refreshing blessings! And it's just the beginning of the weekend. :)

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Smoothie Face!



Every morning we start our day off with a "green" smoothie. I know, this doesn't look like a green smoothie, but if you add a bunch of blueberries, it's a pretty purple color. :)

 

More cousin fun happened today. Yippee for fun, older cousins who like to come play with my baby girl! I didn't get any pictures playing with cousins this time, but rest assured a lot of fun was had by B and Brayden and Ambrie. 

2014: page fifty

Jenna came over today to play and for whatever reason (maybe because one is almost 2 and the other is 3) they did not get along well this time.

Sigh.

Oh well.

The only time they got along was if we watched Dora. So, we did. Ha ha!

I couldn't get a picture of all 3 of us, but you can see Jenna's leg in the background. :)

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Playing with cousins today!

B's two oldest girl cousins came over to play this afternoon. That is always a fun time! They are both such sweet girls and we love them so much!

Sometimes I wish they could just stay here all the time. :)

In the pictures below they are tossing a blanket in the air for B to run under it. Over and over again they would do this for her and she would laugh and say, "again."

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"Hi Connie."

Those are words I heard coming from my sweet baby girl earlier today while I was getting ready and she was playing in the closet. Ha!

I wasn't sure at first if that was really what she was saying, because sometimes when she says "coming" it can sound a lot like Connie. But, no, this time she really was saying my name. :) And having fun doing it! She would say it and I would peek around the door and she would just smile and say it again.

Too cute!

Happy Monday!

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Well, we were supposed to go shooting today after church so I could practice for my shooting test which is in a couple of weeks, but the weather did not cooperate. While it was rather warm out, the wind was blowing like crazy! Not the ideal situation for shooting a gun. :) So, we will try next weekend.

Instead, we met up with Ryan's parents for lunch/breakfast after church. Then we took a drive up to Altamont for a Sunday afternoon drive and a little bit of ice cream from the Bluebell store. :)

I enjoy random Sundays. :)

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I enjoy Saturdays, because you never know what the day will bring.

As for this Saturday, the weather was beautiful today...spring is coming! That is exciting in and of itself. :)

A trip to Vernal and a little yard work were on the docket for today. While I was doing the yard work, Ryan did a little project installing a gas line. Having a handsome AND handy husband is wonderful! :) His couple hours of work probably saved us about $500. Wow! Nice work, hubby!

Happy Saturday!

2014: page forty-five (edited)

A day to celebrate our love for each other!

 

We really had a wonderful day and although most of the pictures below are of gifts, that is not what made it a fabulous day. The thinking of each other and what each would like, what would make them feel special is what made the day. Oh, and spending time together. :)

 

I love my little family!

 

In the morning, B and I stopped by Ryan's work to drop off a little gift to one of his co-workers and hang out with daddy for a little while. I had already scheduled to drop B off at one of her auntie's for a few hours this afternoon, so it worked out wonderfully when Ryan wanted to have lunch together. Yeah, a surprise Valentine's Day lunch with my Valentine! So, while B had fun with her cousins, Ryan and I enjoyed some time together just the two of us! 



Happy Valentine's Day!

 

My gift to Ryan...a well researched single cup coffee maker, some cheesy little gifts with fun little tags that I made, and a homemade card. :)

Two cute books for B and a bath toy that's not pictured.

My "flowers" from Ryan. He cracks me up! The sushi roll is the stem and the chocolate covered strawberries are the flowers. :) Love it!

My next gifts from Ryan were a bacon bowl, um, can you say, "YUM!" He knows me well! And a robotic sweeper. Ha ha. Yep, really what it is and I am way excited about it!

Ah, and the grand finale, a gift certificate for a one hour massage! YES!

Homemade cauliflower-crust, heart-shaped pizza to top off the evening.

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I had fun today looking for quotes and verses to put together these cute little framed printables for a couple of my friends who will be feeling "Singles Awareness Day" tomorrow instead of Valentine's Day. :)

At only $1.99 at Ikea, I always keep a bunch of these frames on hand either for gifts or to use around our home. They work well for both of those purposes.

2014: page forty-three

I'm pretty excited about a couple new things I started this week.

First, I started exercising again!

At 5:45 AM.

Ugh.

BUT, that is what works in our schedule right now and it feels good once I am up and going. Today was the third day in a row. Woohoo! Off to a good start. Did I mention it happens at 5:45 AM?! Ha ha!

Second are some prayers that I am praying for Ryan. I love praying for my hubby! Which I do (almost) every morning as he leaves for work. However, I came across some specific prayers to pray a while ago and forgot about them until I found the paper this past weekend. Now, I've pulled the paper out and leave it sitting on the kitchen table as a reminder.

The idea of these prayers is praying for your husband from head to toe. Since it's only one page you could pray the entire thing every day, however, it turns out that it is broken down into seven prayers which makes it easy to focus on one body part (head, eyes, ears, mouth, heart, hands, feet) per day completing the head to toe each week.

I love having focused prayers like that and finding new ways to pray!

(I found these prayers here.)

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Pigtails!

We had success today with getting lil B's hair done! It is usually a struggle unless we are going somewhere and she will let me do it if it means we get to go. :) Today, however, she just let me do it and we got her hair into the cutest little pigtails!

Oh, and we played with some moon dough as seen in the pics below. Then cousin Aly came over to play. :)

2014: page forty-one

Pretty sure I never saw my life going this direction, but I started my online hunter's education course today.

Yes, really!

After I finish the online course, which may take the next few days, the in-person, hands-on class and shooting test will be on March 1st.

In reality, it kinda freaks me out! Ha ha!

This is for you, Ryan! :)

2014: page forty

I know this isn't the greatest picture, but it's intentional. This was my view this evening while watching the Olympics.

Sweet baby girl sitting on my lap. :)

2014: page thirty-nine

A lazy Saturday with a not-feeling-100% baby girl. Not sure what was wrong, but she had a fever and just wasn't herself most of the day. I am thinking maybe it was teething because she didn't have any other symptoms.

Then, for the exciting part of the day, I made my first recipe (actually, multiple recipes) from my new cook book!

Carne Asada Burrito Bowls.

Yum!

Added along with this recipe was the cauliflower-rice recipe and roasted tomatillo salsa recipe. Even though it took over an hour to make it all, it was so yummy! Definitely will be making this again!

(This pic is from the book, not one that I took.)

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Paint samples!

I am finally going to paint our entryway! Yippee, I am pretty excited about it!

I am wanting to create a fun, inviting space as you enter our home, to set the tone.

Yesterday, on our Vernal trip, I grabbed a few paint samples from Lowes and today I tried them out. Fun! There are only 3 sample colors even though there are 6 painted spots. I just wanted to paint some sample spots where the lighting might be a little different. This is a big decision for me because this will be a difficult space to paint with the vaulted ceilings and I do NOT want to have to do it over if I don't like it.

Oh, and this is the accent wall. Not all the walls will be this dramatic. The other 3 will be a the lightest color on the paint swatch of whichever one I choose. I am leaning towards the middle color. We'll see what I pick when the time comes as I have a few days before we will make it back over to Lowes.

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An afternoon trip to Vernal was the excitement for today. Ryan had an orthodontist appointment at 4:00 (that I found out about early afternoon). Since Aryka was supposed to come over and play with/watch B this afternoon, we brought her with us. How nice it was nice to have someone help entertain B while I did some grocery shopping!

Aryka's birthday is tomorrow so we decided to treat her to dinner any place she wanted. Chinese was her pick. Actually, we ate at a restaurant called Ichiban that I have been wanting to try that is fairly new and has sushi! Well, since Ryan is not a fan of sushi we haven't tried it. Glad we now know that there are other options that we both like. Anyway, long story short, I didn't even get sushi because I didn't know what to get and so I just ordered a standard Chinese dish. :( Oh well. I will research so I know what to get and we WILL go again. :)

Fun and random day. And while I am a planner at heart, I do enjoy last minute adventures of grocery shopping and food. Ha!

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Play date for B with her cousin Jenna!

Fun for them. Time for me. :)

The two of them got along really well, which you never know if that's going to happen or not given their ages. No real fighting the entire 2+ hours. Wow!

Afterwards, B and I enjoyed lunch out with Crystal, Jayla and Jenna.

All in all a great day!

2014: page thirty-five

I learned a valuable lesson today...don't just start watching a movie without reading a little bit about it first even if it has a big name star in it and the title sounds innocent, because you never know what you're going to get. Wow! I'm glad that no one else was here with me! Ha!

Anyway, moving on from that....

I don't think I have ever been so excited about a cookbook! I have been wanting this one for a while now and it finally went on sale on Amazon for half price. Needless to say, I bought it and just got it in the mail! All of the recipes look and sound delicious! The pictures are amazing! And it's all healthy!

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I'm still a Broncos fan and I am proud to show my support!

That is all for today. :)

2014: page thirty-three

 

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!

Aaaaah! I could hardly contain my excitement and my nerves! The Broncos played in the Super Bowl today! It's only been the last 12 years that I have been a Broncos fan, which means my team has never played in the Super Bowl. I've always enjoyed watching the Super Bowl, but it's never really meant anything to me (well, except to see the Patriots lose when they are in it. Ha!). Not this year!

We hosted the family Super Bowl party, which means that we were busy most of the afternoon cleaning up a little and cooking, etc. That also means we didn't have too much time to sit around and let our nerves get the best of us.

Well......

Then the game started. And it was ugly from the very beginning. The Broncos could never really get going against the Seahawks defense.

Sigh.

Oh well. What a great season they had leading up to the Super Bowl. Just wish they could have made a better game of it. I really did not expect the game to go that way at all.

As every sports fan says, "There's always next year!" :)

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A much needed down day today. Ryan took most of the responsibility of taking care of B today, hauling her with him on all of his errands, while I did a little cleaning and organizing around the house (at a leisurely pace :)).

The two of them headed out on an ice fishing excursion, however, B fell asleep on the way out and took a good long nap of almost two hours in the truck. Apparently, it was a bit windy and chilly anyway, so ice fishing didn't happen. Maybe next Saturday. :)

I eventually decided to get out of the house for a minute with a quick trip to Family Dollar to get some plastic bins to help organize B's toys. Ryan thinks it's impossible, but I am determined to prove to him that toy organization can happen, even if it isn't perfect. Ha!

That about sums up our leisurely Saturday. The quiet before the storm of Super Bowl Sunday! Go Broncos!

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The last day of the first month of the year. Man, it's flying by.

B found daddy's harmonica. :)



I got her umbrella out for the first time and she loved it. She had to put on some butterfly wings and headbands to go along with it.

2014: page thirty

Let's just say that today was a get-back-on-track day.

B and I have fallen into a bad habit. A this-is-the-easiest-way-to-mom habit.

TV.

If someone would have told me before B was born that I would let my child watch TV before she was 2 years old, I would have said, "No way. Don't you know kids that young aren't supposed to watch TV?"

Well.... real life happens. And B really, really likes TV. How easy it was to slip into a habit of watching more and more as time went by. First, it was Dora. Now, it's every show on Nick Jr. At first, it was just one or two per day. Then gradually she started asking for it more often and before I knew it, it was quite often throughout the day. Truthfully, it bothered me, but I could get so much more done in the day. So, I just let it go.

Finally, today, I decided that it's not how I want to parent B and while I don't think a little TV is bad (she's actually learned quite a bit), I don't want to let it be a babysitter or do it just because it's easier. I want to "plan" our days better with more assorted activities. Besides, the days that she watches more TV, the whinier she is.

Before the day started, I was a little nervous about how it would go, how rough of a day it would be. Happily, I can say it went well. Most of the time, she responded well after she would ask for a TV show (which was quite often) and I would tell her no and suggest another activity. We played a lot in her bedroom today and it was a lot of fun!

When Ryan got home, we were going to take a birthday present to his sister. (I am trying something new this year...getting people's presents to them on their birthday. :)) We stopped by her house, but her car wasn't there, so we decided to grab some dinner and try again later. After a mostly successful eating out experience with an almost two year old, we headed back to her house. Unfortunately, she had just left for a dinner date with her boyfriend, but we hung out with her kids for a little bit before heading home.

I am thankful for a great day while changing things up in our household.