a break from Fall

Stephen and I spent most of Fall Break working and doing homework. We were able to go to St. George and stay at his parents house for a few days, which was a nice break from the cold weather in Salt Lake. We got into St. George on Wednesday night, ordered take-out and then hung out with Stephen's nieces and nephews who were also down for the weekend.

On Thursday we went on a quick hike right out side of St. George, it was beautiful!After the hike we played with our nieces and nephews at a park near to his parents' house. It a really awesome park, I'm sad I don't have any pictures. The jungle gym at the park was designed by a Danish company I think? Anyway, it was really modern and had a bunch of non-traditional jungle-gym toys. The kids loved it!

In March Stephen's parents got us tickets to see Aida at Tuachan just out side of St. George. Tuachan is an outdoor theatre where a lot of different musicals and plays take place. The amphitheatre is right next to the mountains so they use the mountains as part of the set. It was a great musical, we loved it. Stephen's dad had a $25 gift card for concessions, and serious, Stephen used it all on treats. He was so full after having nachos, popcorn, candied almonds, red vines, ice cream, and two Dr. peppers. They didn't allow any cameras during the play so i took a picture of the set before hand.
Friday Stephen and I drove to Las Vegas and spent the day doing some early Christmas shopping. We went to the outlets and then spent some time on the strip. After shopping we visited my dear friend Kelly Stika who lives in Vegas with her husband and son. It was so nice to see her! She made us pizza and showed us around her new house.

We made sure to take pictures of some of Vegas's best while we were in town.

Happy Birthday Stevo!

Stephen celebrated his 25th birthday on September 19th! We drove down to Provo Saturday morning for lunch with Stephen's dad. We went to Spark in the Wells Fargo building for the first time, and it was delicious! Afterwards Stephen and I went to the Provo Temple and then saw Stephen's two favorite football teams play, Florida State and BYU. It was fun for me, but Stephen wasn't too happy about the outcome of the game. (BYU got their butt's kicked.)


After the game we met Stephen's family at Pizzeria 712 for dinner, it is our favorite restaurant in the Provo/Orem area. It was so nice to see Stephen's family since we don't seem them as often now that we are busy with school.

Last year I took Stephen to the Melting Pot for his birthday, but this year, since we own a fondue pot, I decided to make him fondue and start a tradition. I made a traditional cheese fondue as an appetizer, steak and shrimp fondue for the main course, and we had homemade coconut cupcakes for desert.It was nice to celebrate Stephen's birthday with him as a married couple this year. He is the best friend and husband I could ever ask for. Happy birthday honey!

Boo's Bridal Shower

In mid-August, Talisa and I threw a bridal shower for the beautiful Stephanie Godinez, aka, Boo. We held it at her fiance, now husband, Phillip's home. It was fun to organize and get together with friends that I hardly ever see. We had a backyard bbq with various skewered meats, veggies, fruits, and cupcakes for desert. Here is the cute couple



Stephen was kind enough to do all the bbq'ing for us. He did a wonderful job too!Talisa and Brittany skewering veggies, and our cupcake tower. Brittany brought Funfetti, Talisa brought Chocolate Turtle, and I brought Lemon Cream cupcakes.

Phil set up the music while we waited for the rest of our guests.

Then the bride arrived! I would post pictures of the gifts, but I would like to keep this blog G rated.

Summer Weddings

Stephen and I had the privilege to attend the weddings of several of my friends this summer. Here are some pictures from the happy moments.

Caitlin Perkins & Jason Bahr--Provo Temple

Caitlin held a beautiful luncheon at the mouth of Rock Canyon in Provo with close friends and family. Stephen and I were very happy we could attend.



My cousin Garrett Bodine & Andrea Forsyth--Mount Timpanogas Temple
Me with a cut-out of my cousin Jason who is serving a mission in Italy.


Evelyn Guanuna & Andrew Paulos--Provo Temple

My best friend from jr. high/high school Stephanie Godinez & Phil Manwaring--Provo TempleStephanie looked absolutely beautiful. They are a very handsome couple!
Stephanie held her reception in the Manwaring's backyard. It was very beautiful!

Sunday Dinner

Since I've been married I've been cooking a lot. Its not because of my new responsibility to feed another being, because really, Stephen will eat almost anything, but because I've been gifted all sorts of neat cooking things. I thought I should post a few recipes I have enjoyed so far.

We usually go to Provo or Highland for Sunday dinners with family, but this Sunday, we stayed in and cooked a yummy Sunday dinner. We had Salmon, twice baked patatoes, and green beans.

I've used this recipe for Honey Dijon Salmon several times--it is really delicious and simple!



Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• 4 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 4 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lemon, for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl, stir together butter, mustard, and honey. Set aside. In another bowl, mix together bread crumbs, pecans, and parsley.
3. Brush each salmon fillet lightly with honey mustard mixture, and sprinkle the tops of the fillets with the bread crumb mixture.
4. Bake salmon 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until it flakes easily with a fork. Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with a wedge of lemon.

For the Green Beans I just steamed enough for Stephen and I in a saucepan until it was cooked but still firm then added butter, salt, and pepper.

Stephen was incharge of the twice-baked potatoes, and he did an amazing job! He tried this recipe for the first time

Ingredients:

• 4 large baking potatoes
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Use a fork to pierce the potato skins.
2. Bake the potatoes unwrapped for about 1 hour, or until soft, in the preheated oven.
3. Slice open the baked potatoes and, keeping the skins intact, scoop the insides into a medium bowl. Transfer the onion mixture to the bowl. Mix in the sour cream. Pour in 1/2 of the cheese and continue mixing until all ingredients are well blended.
4. Using a large spoon, fill the potato skins with the mixture. Top with cheese and chives.
5. Return the potatoes to the preheated oven and continue baking for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the filling is slightly brown.

Our Apartment

Here are some photos of our little apartment in married student housing. It took us a while to get settled, we were unpacking boxes up until about a week ago. Our apartment is very basic, cinder block walls, linoleum flooring, no a/c, dishwasher, or washer and dryer. But we have come to call it home!

The Cowboy State

Stephen and I celebrated our nation's 223rd birthday with his family in Wyoming. I had some reservations about Wyoming--I always imagined it as a very rural place with mostly farm land and grazing land with nothing much to do. I always thought of this as a negative thing, but the untouched and undeveloped land proved to be more beautiful than I could ever imagine. On our drive to the Stewart family ranch in Star Valley everything we passed was green and there were wildflowers everywhere. I attempted to take several pictures out of the car window, but none could capture how beautiful it really is. The drive was pretty windy the whole way. I had asked Stephen several times before and during the trip how long the drive is to the ranch, but he refused to give me any sort of an estimate whatsoever. Not even a ball-park estimate. We listened to Harry Potter, the Half-Blood Prince the whole way up and finally we hit a little town called Afton and he told me we were twenty-minutes away.Stephen wearing a Stewart's Crow Creek Ranch hat and my sunglasses so he wouldn't get bugs in his eyes.
I was very excited to wear the cowboy boots I bought from DI in high school. Stephen let me wear the hat he always wears when he is up at the ranch.
There are cows on the ranch...
...and horsesI rode with these two cool cowboys the first day.
I stayed in this little pin because it was my first time and I was way scared! But the next day Stephen and Uncle Brent took me on a ride around more of the ranch. It was nice.
Stephen and Daniel getting ready to go four-wheeling.
We followed Justin, Traci, and Jacob to the edge of the plateau.
...and took pictures with the ranch.
Jacob seemed quite comfortable sitting in this awkward position on the four-wheeler.
Stephen and I wanted to go see Limpy's cabin, an old cabin on the ranch that no one has lived in for probably a hundred years. We tried to find a way to get there, but there weren't any trails. Stephen and I with the beautiful Wyoming mountains. He loves the McCain shirt I bought him at the D.C. Airport for $1.50. I would have worn my Obama shirt but he never gave me the memo.