Well tonight was the question…”What do you want for dinner?”  A couple of suggestions were tossed between texts and a decision wasn’t made.  Pizza, meatballs and rice…pasta…no decision. 

Over the weekend, we went down to Delta to hang out with parents.  We came back with some of John’s things and a couple of new cookbooks.  I tried one muffin reciepe and loved it.  For some reason I have had a hankering for bisciuts.  Don’t ask why…cause I don’t know.  So there is a buscuit reciepe in this new book.  So tonight I tried it.  John doesn’t even know.  He doesn’t get home till after 8pm. 

Everyone knows that you can’t just have biscuits for dinner, as good as that would be.  So I cooked up some chicken.  I didn’t want just normal chicken, I wanted something more.  So I called mom and asked here about breading chicken and then baking it.  We came up with crushed rice krispie cereal and some seasoning.  I think it will turn out.

So the answer to the question; What do you want for dinner tonight is….Breaded Chicken and biscuits. 

Betty Crocker, you’ve got competition.

We were house sitting at my parents and trying to figure out what to do for NYEve.  We decided that it would be fun to go shooting.  So we called up Lee and Ian and headed to Eureka for the night.  What a crazy night it was.  We made a yummy soup and grilled cheese sandwhiches on an antique stove and they turned out great.  Ian also gave us the tour around the house.  It is basically comparable to a museum, so pretty much awesome.  If you didn’t know, Eureka is an old mining town.  Anyway, so we ate dinner, watched a movie and then around 10:30 we loaded up the cars with guns, ammo, targets and clay pigeons.  We shot it up till about 12:30am because it was freezing and headed back to the house. 

After we made it back, we put in Jerimiah Johnson. And if you haven’t seen that movie, it is only good once every 5-10 years.  I made it through about 1/2 and then went to bed.  I will say, I was pretty proud of myself for staying up till about 3am.  Normally, I am like a grandma and go to bed between 10 and 10:30pm. 

It was a great NYEve party.  I hope we get to do it again next year.

It has been a while since my previous post.  Many things have happened one thing in particular, which has made a significant impact on my life.  Just after Christmas, my Uncle Dave passed away.  This was all expected after months of seeing his illness take over and his body start to slow down. 

Uncle Dave was no ordinary uncle.  He was the uncle that made you laugh, give you hugs, wipe the tears from your eyes and be almost like another father to you.  He was a very special person to many people.  He was like a father to me.  For this I am grateful.  His love for me was the sweetest most pure love an uncle could have for a neice. 

Uncle Dave gave me my first job at the Jewish Community Center aka JCC aka the J.  It had been a home to me for about 7 years.  It has been a home to him for about 10 years.  He was one of the best managers I could have ever been managed by.  I learned a lot from him that first year before I moved to the desk.  He is loved by so many people at the JCC, it is almost overwhelming to see and feel the love they had for this one man. 

There was never a day where Uncle Dave was never prepared to go to bat for me while I worked at the JCC.  On occasion, I would run into problems or trouble and I knew that I could always talk to him about it and he would help me in any way he could.  He was such a strong individual, where most believed that he was a very tough guy, but down deep he is one of the sweetest men I know and love.

Uncle Dave was recognized as Employee of the Year at the JCC.  He humbly accepted this great honor.  That night he spoke so beautifully.  He talked about prayer and how he could feel the prayers of those who would pray aloud or silently.  How no matter what your religion might be, he felt your love and support for him through those prayers and was so grateful for how they comforted him during his last days.

Some of my favorite moments with Uncle Dave would be when he would come by the house for lunch and enjoy a sandwhich at the “Smith’s Deli” (as I would call our kitchen).  I always enjoyed hearing Dave talk about his opinion on politics or what Rush Limbaugh had to say about a certain subject, or even just chatting about whatever might be on his mind. 

Uncle Dave’s funeral was beautiful.  The words spoken couldn’t have been put any better.  It was beautiful.  His life was honored, celebrated and cherished.  I love my Unkie Dave.  I miss him very much, but I know that I will be able to see him again and have lunch at the Smith’s Deli.

Love you Unkie Dave.

As the Christmas season approaches, I enjoy taking time to reflect, grow, learn and be even more compassionate to those we know and don’t know.

Each year in John’s family puts together the amount of money that they would spend on each other toward a family in need.  This year it is our turn to find a family and help out by providing items that are needed.  I am very excited and thankful for this opportunity to serve Christ’s children in need.  This is where the spirit of Christmas is.  It is in serving the Lord and his Son by serving his children.

All in all, being married is great. 

John and I were able to go on a honeymoon, middle of October.  We went to West Yellowstone.  It was a wonderful and very needed vacation.  After changing jobs, planning a wedding and then going right back to work took a lot of energy.  By that time in October, we both were zonked.

It was so beautiful and peaceful there.  The weather was great. we had sun both days we taveled around.  We saw so many magnificent sites.  There were some places that I would never imagine to ever be in Yellowstone.  One of those places is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  Talk about AMAZING!  If you have never seen this site, you must go.  It is truely stunning. 

We also spent some time around town which was fun.  They have so many of the same tourist shops.  You could almost walk into one store and go the next and get the same thing for less…well or more.  Depends.

It was a great trip.  We can’t wait to go back and go fishing.

I am writing this post, mainly because I cannot wait to decorate my house and make it all cozy with Christmas.  From my previous post, I have found so many cute do it yourself Christmas ideas that I cannot wait to try.  I have a feeling they are going to be so fun and so cute when I get finished creating whatever it might be.  Today, I found these large Christmas ornaments that were actually styrafoam balls covered in glitter.  I mean; How cute is that and how cheap?  Seriously.  Who said you had to break the budget to decorate for Christmas or any other holiday for that matter.

I can’t wait to buy our 1st little christmas tree and decorate it with my hubby and spend our first Christmas as a married couple together.  It is going to be such a fun time.  Even Santa has a chiminey to come down.  I can’t wait to put our stockings there to have Santa fill them.  Yes, you may think that Santa is not real, but I know that he exists and brings about a wonderful spirit among fellow men. 

What I also can’t wait to do, is to make yummy holiday food.  You know what I am talking about.  It is the type of food that you only eat one time during the year.  This would be stuffing, turkey, gravey, green bean cassarole, pies and all the other amazing food that is baked and cooked during this wonderful season.  And I get to make that for John and I.  It is soooo exciting. 

What a wonderful year ahead it is going to be.  So many firsts, it will be great.

Well if you ever are pinterested (haha) come find me.  I’ll share my pins with you!

John and I slept in and took our time getting down home.  We stayed at a bed and breakfast the night before and enjoyed the yummy breakfast cooked by the host.  It was delicious.  Before we headed down, we stopped by the house to pick up some things. 

The evening began at 7pm.  Jane (john’s mom) made her backyard so beautiful. She spent all summer working on it and it was stunning.  She had country charm, which made it so cute.  She even brought in a real vintage surrey.  It was just amazing.  John and I both enjoyed this evening, being that it was a little more low key in the actual day of events.  It was really just another wonderful evening that I was able to spend with him and family.  After the line, John and I danced some, at delcious cobbler, took cute pictures and just had a ball with our guests.  It was wonderful.

I am just so thankful for him and his family and for how welcomed and loved I felt now officially part of the Ekins clan.  They are an amazing family.  I love them all.

Friday morning, I woke up just ready to explode with happiness knowing I was going to marry the man of my dreams for time and all eternity.  There was so much to do that morning before heading to the temple, but it didn’t matter when I got there. The Temple is so beautiful.  I was so excited to have gone inside and seen what people are talking about inside.  It is truely a sacred and beautiful place. 

My sweet mom helped me change into my temple clothes.  John was waiting for me in a separate room.  The sweet temple worker walked me to him.  I cried, just a little.  Tears of joy and happiness.  I hugged him and we were off to the sealing room where Elder L Tom Perry sealed us together for time and all eternity.  It was such a special blessing.  To know that by preparing to enter into the temple of the Lord and be sealed in his gospel with John is wonderful.  Elder Perry was so sweet and charming.  He is an amazing man and I am just so thankful to have had him seal us together.  After the sealing, we greeted all who attended and then we were off to change.

Thankfully Kandis was there to help me lace up.  My dress takes 5 minutes to get out of but 20 minutes to get in.  I love my dress.  It was one of the most special items I found for my wedding.  It was vintage and country and just simply beautiful.  It had just enough lace and beadwork to make it charming.  After I was dressed, I met john at the temple doors to greet everyone and take pictures. 

Wow, did we have to cruise through that or what.  We were on such a time schedule that we didn’t have much time to take time.  But I know that my photographer did a great job at getting what we needed as far as traditional photos go and then some special ones of John and I. 

So what I have yet to mention is that after the temple we headed to the luncheon and it started to rain.  Thankfully we made the call the day before to have tents set up so we could keep the cement patio some what dry for the reception. 

The reception was beautiful.  Kim (wedding decorator and friend) did an amazing job. She is so skilled and talented in this line of work.  I love working with her and creating something so beautiful.  She really topped herself with my wedding.  It was stunning.  I loved every single piece about it.  She really kept me in mind when creating the space to make it what it is. 

The schedule for the evening was a lot more easier.  We had a line for 1 hour and then we did the traditional first dance and daddy daughter dance.  It was such a special moment with John and then with my Dad.  I am so glad that I got to share that with dad.  He is one of the the most amazing men I have ever known in my life.  I love him so very much.  He is one of my best friends.  After the traditional wedding stuff, it was time to party!!! We had so much fun dancing.  I am so glad that we made it a party and just had the time of our life.  I couldn’t have asked for anything better. 

We ended the night and drove off as everyone cleaned up.  What an amazing night.  Worth everything that went into making it so wonderful.

So what do you think?