Moving Lament

Woe is me....that is how this post is going to go. Change is HARD and for some reason it hit me today. When Brian left for work today I just broke into tears. I love our new place, and it's such a blessing, but as I was waking up this morning and thinking of all the things I could be doing today at our old place, I felt a sense of loss. I couldn't go to the library, which was just two blocks from our old place. I couldn't walk to the store and get a few things for dinner, I'm missing play group. My sister-in-law and her kids are going sledding today, but I don't have a car, so I can' t join them. I guess I could have taken Brian to work, but then that's an hour in the car with Kyler right at breakfast, and an hour in the car right before dinner. Anyway, to solve this attitude problem, I got all dressed up, did my hair and makeup, and then played with Kyler on the bed (his favorite). It helped cheer me up a bit. After all, I couldn't ask for a better place to be right now, and it's only for 2 months. By March we'll be across the country and only a mile from Brian's internship, so I can have a car. I'm sure I'll have movers depression then too, but hopefully I'll get over it just as fast.

We don't have our camera software uploaded on the laptop yet, but as soon as we do I'll post pics from Christmas and of our new place. A short sweet version is we were totally spoiled on Christmas by our loving family, and we got everywhere safely in our new 4 wheel drive Pilot. It was great!

Christmas, Bells, and Cars

I felt like I needed to post something about Christmas. So here's a quick blog

This is our Christmas tree. We got a small one this year sense were moving the day after Christmas. It was perfect, because it fit in this nook between our two couches so Kyler couldn't get to it. Mmmmmm.....I love the smell of pine!

This year my bell choir got the opportunity to perform in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert this year. It was an amazing opportunity. Brian Stokes Mitchel and Edward Herman were the special guests. They were both amazing. If you didn't get the chance to go to the concert, it will be rebroadcast on PBS December 24th NEXT year. This years is lasts years and so on. Anyway, here is my bell group.

And then, not meaning to end on a bad note, Brian and I were in an accident last week which totaled our car :( We are both doing a lot better, and thankfully Kyler was not with us. Anyway, the last few days have been spent dealing with insurance companies, loans, and car dealerships. But I think we'll bring home a new car today. YEA!!! A 2005 Honda Pilot. Were excited.

I hope you all have Merry Christmas, we'll be moving to American Fork the day after Christmas, so it will take me a while to get things back up and going, but I'll blog with you then!! Love you all!

Short and Sweet...I hope

Ok, so it's been forever sense I've posted. Brian has posted more recently then me!! Whats up with that!! Things are just so crazy this time of year. But I thought I'd post some quick pictures to catch you up!

This is Kyler eating a pomegranate....he was trying to eat it like an apple....silly boy He actually really likes them...another thing to add to is favorite food list!

This was my favorite pie I made for thanksgiving...Razzleberry. I was so pleased that the lattice top turned out. I made my own crusts this year, and after 5 pies, this one turned out the best. We made, a Lemon cream cheese, cherry cream cheese, two pumpkins, and a Razzleberry. So I guess that's four pies, but 5 crusts!

This is just a sweet pic of Grandpa Smith reading to Kyler, one of those "oh" moments

Wahooo!!! Christmas really is here, we finally got snow yesterday! It snowed all day, and we went out and played when Daddy got home. We got about 6 inches I think. Now it finally feels like Christmas...let the fun begin!!!

My brother David uses his cell phone as bate to get Kyler to sit on his lap. Kyler LOVES IT! I can just see him in 12 or so years, texting on his cell phone and not listening to a word I'm saying! Yikes!!

One of my fun family traditions that we've done sense I can remember is make a cookie train at Christmas time. We did one at my Dads last night. Here are the results

My Dad did the engine...he's so dang good at it!

Next was mine...its a chihuly car....after the famous guy who does blown glass....anywayand the rest! Fun fun!
And last but not least, a cute video of Kylers ticklish neck. Have a great week everyone!!

Cross Country Travels

This coming spring we will be traveling to North Carolina for my last internship. We will be driving cross country twice and want to make a vacation out of our drive. We are looking for fun/interesting/crazy/etc places to stop along the way. Since we have a lot of friends who have been in many diverse places, we are hoping people will give us ideas. I am looking through each states travel brochures and am starting to make a plan. On our way there we plan to drive I-70 in late February. We will be coming back via I-80 late April. If anyone has fun ideas for stops along those routes we would like to hear about it. Or if you recommend a different route / detours let us know.
Thanks
The states we will be crossing through are:
To NC: I-70 Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois. I-24(into Georgia) Kentucky, Tennessee From NC: Nebraska, Wyoming
Also, if you have any ideas for weekends while we are in NC we would like your ideas. States we are interested in are NC, SC, Georgia, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia.

27

I turn 27 today. Feels the same as when I was 21. Brian's family asked me how old I was going to be the other night, and I had to think of how old Brian was, and subtract 2, pretty pathetic huh. I swear everyone else gets older, and I just stay the same.
Anyway, I couldn't help but reflect over my life today. It's been quiet, and I've tried to make things simple with Kyler today, and just enjoy him. I'm grateful for everything I've been through in life. Even the bad things, that have made me who I am today. I look back and realize that everything I went through was preparing me for something else. I had an amazing Mother, who taught me so much, and now I have a wonderful Husband and Son. It's funny where life leads you....who knows what life will be like in only 5 years. Anyway...here's to the memories.

4 months

5 years

11 years

16 years

21 years

27 years

Six weird/random things about me!!!

I have never posted before. I have looked at the blog from time to time but never gotten into it. I have thought about starting before but never followed through. But now that I have been tagged I will start. The times I post will be in ORANGE (just to help ya keep it straight). Well Brian (Sloan) tagged me so here we go:
The rules are:
A-Link to the person who tagged you: http://www.brianandjanelle.blogspot.com/
B-Post the rules on your blog.
C-Write six random things/unspectacular quirks about yourself.
D-Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
E-Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog.
F-Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.

Six weird and random things about me!

1. I like to play Backgammon.

2. I only have 2 weeks of classes (and a semester of internships) before graduating as a Doctor of Physical Therapy. After being in school for almost 25 years I am ready for the change.

3. I could eat tacos / Mexican food for 4 meals a day.

4. I like to scare people - especially Kyler. I fear one day I will regret it when he starts scarring back.

5. I know what the Medial Longitudinal Fassiculus does.

6. I didn't like Halloween until last year when I discovered painters stilts and a dark robe. (See my halloween costume picture in the "Catching up" post.)

7. I don't always follow all the rules.

Happy Birthday Brian

Happy 29th Birthday to Brian!! Yea! We had a GREAT day! It started out as usual except Brian got the privilege of having Bacon with his breakfast, Yummy! He went off to school, and Kyler and I got things ready for the day. When Brian came home Kyler had made this card for him. Inside are pictures Kyler drew of he and daddy climbing mountains, and wrestling. Brian loved it!
Then we dropped Kyler off at my sisters house, and went to his mom's house to open his present. It was from both his mom and I, hence opening it at her house. Brian has wanted a leather coat for quite some time, I finally found one that fit him well, and was a great price. Doesn't he look good?!?!!? I think so :)

Then we went to Nicklecade and had a BLAST!! We killed aliens, shot balls through the clowns mouth, played ski ball, shot hoops, drove cars, killed sharkes and other underwater scary things, and ended with a rousing game of air hockey. It was so much fun, I was hesitant to take him there at first thinking it might be kinda lame, but it was an awesome cheep date!

Then we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, yummy. Brian told the waitress it was my birthday, and before we know it they are dragging this saddle on a stand around the corner. I immediately tell them it is really his birthday, but because mine is next week they made us both get on. You'll have to imagine the saddle, the waitress only got waist up :)

Fun times. It was a great day. I love you Brian! Happy Birthday

Finally!

Ok, I was tagged on this tag like a million times, and I kept meaning to do it, but I just never got around to it. And I'm sure you've all done it, so I'm not going to tag anyone else, but here are 7 things you might not know about me

1. I Lindy Hop, whats that? It's a type of swing dancing, I tried to upload one of my videos but it didn't work, so I guess I'll leave it up to your imagination. Brian doesn't dance, so I haven't done it in a long time, but back in the day I even went to competitions and almost competed nationally. Good times

2. I'm not an animal lover. I just don't get it really. I've never been attached to an animal, and although we had a few pets for short periods of time while growing up, I just don't feel comfortable around animals. I had a bad experience with a dog while I was young, and since have been scared of dogs. Brian has tried to "cure" me of this, as he wants a dog when we get a house. We'll see

3. I don't like to drive. Nope, I just don't like situations were my life is on the line and I don't have total control. I also have a tendency to get lost easily. SO, Brian drive everywhere we go. He likes driving though, to it all works out.

4. I love fresh cracked pepper. I grew up with a pepper grinder on the table for every meal. So when you come to my house for dinner, you'll find no powdery black stuff, only a pepper grinder for me.

5. I was a Biology major. I have my associates, but never finished my bachelor. I want to be a genetic counselor when I get the opportunity to finish my degree.

6. I had my appendix out when I was six.

7. I'm kind of a science fiction/fantasy novel nerd. I love anything with wizard, fairies or dragons. :)

Catching Up

I'm alive!!! Wow, the past two weeks have been crazy busy, and I've been away from my computer, hence no posts. So this post is dedicated to catching up on all the things I've missed in the last two weeks. 1st Halloween!

Kyler was a spider, I was going to be little Miss Muffet, but I didn't get my costume ready in time. Brian was his scary tall....scary thing. He was in a spook ally a neighbor put on and had so much fun! Brian use to hate Halloween, until he found this costume, now I dare say it might be one of his favorite holidays. We went trick or treating around Brian's parents neighborhood, we had a wonderful night.

The next week we were house sitting for Brian's parents. They went to Georgia to visit Brian's oldest brother and family. We were there for a whole week. As nice as it was to have a "house" for the week, it sure feels good to be home. I was only 10 min away from my mom and sisters, so we played a lot that week. We went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point one day. It was a ton of fun. And because my mom "works" for Thanksgiving Point, we got in FREE! BONUS! I think we'll be going there a lot this winter.

They had this really fun erosion tank. Where you could build up the sand and trees, with little dinosaurs, and then watch as the water would take things away, and change the sand. It was tonz of fun.

The big kids couldn't help themselves, we played too!

Other then that we've just been adjusting back to schedules, getting a new fridge, and fixing broken toilets. Fun times!

Lake Mary

Well , Brian, Kyler and I went on another hike last Saturday. The weather is just so beautiful right now it's hard to stay in. We hiked to Lake Mary, it was a nice hike, not to long, and only steep at the beginning. The hike itself was a little boring at first because your hiking pretty much on a ski slope, but once you get into the trees it's pretty, and the destination was fun. We enjoyed a lunch around the lake, the water of course was way down, so there were lots of fun places to explore. The wind was bitter, but we tuffed it out. Kyler was so good, and enjoyed eating rocks, and exploring.

This hike was too far up the canyon to see any really pretty leaves, so we stopped at a campground on the way down canyon to take some more fun fall pictures. This place was amazing, so many different colors.

Recipes!

So I'm inventing my own tag. I am desperately in need of some new recipes, and I figured this was a good way to get them. So, here's how it's going to work. I'm going to post a recipe I make often and that my family likes. One that doesn't have any real crazy ingredients, and is somewhat healthy (hey, it's not chicken enchiladas or something like that). Then I'll tag three people who will do the same, and I can check their blogs to get a new fun recipe. So here it goes, I hope it works!

Dilly Chicken

1 Pkg Chicken Gravy Mix
1Cup Water
1/2 tsp Dill Weed (I buy fresh dill, but dried works great too!)
1 Tbs Butter (optional)
1 lbs Chicken
1/2 lbs Mushrooms
1/2 Cup Sour Cream (optional)
Rice

Combine gravy mix, water and Dill in a bowl. Set aside. If you use fresh dill, use more then recipe calls for as it's not as potent as the dried variety.
Melt butter in skillet, brown chicken on both sides. (or you could use fat free cooking spray!)
Add mushrooms and gravy mixture to skillet, cover and simmer 10 min, or until chicken is cooked through.
Remove from heat, stir in Sour Cream until blended. (It's really yummy with the sour cream, but it's also good without it if your watching fat content)
Serve over rice.

My family really like this recipe, I promise it's not as strange as it sounds. We like the sauce on the rice so much that I usually double the sauce. Hope you enjoy!!

I Tag-Amy, Rachel, and Jenny

Ok, now for something not good for you :) Do not proceed unless you want to cook the best (and easiest) apple pie this Thanksgiving!

The Best Apple Pie

Crust:

1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 c salad oil ( I use canola oil)

Mix until well blended then pat into a pie tin. Do not roll out.

Filling:
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp flour
4 - 6 cups apples
3/4 cup sugar or more

Combine ingredients & toss lightly. Put into unbaked shell.

Topping: 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar

Combine with fingers & sprinkle over pie. Place pie in a brown paper sack. Fold sack shut or staple. NO PEEKING

Bake 350 F for 1 hour 45 minutes

Before baking

After!
No pie crust to deal with, and because it cooks so long the apples are so soft and yummy. Don't worry about the brown paper sack burning, it works out perfectly!

Park City

We got to spend three days, two nights, in Park City with my family last week. My Mom and her Husband like going to time share presentations for all the free stuff they give away, and she is constantly staying in some of the nicest places in Park City. She was able to upgrade the room she got since it's off season and invited the family to come stay. We had a really good time. Brian, Kyler and I got our own room, here it is, with Brian teaching Kyler how to channel surf.

The living room...
..and Kitchen (that's my mom)
We did another 3D puzzle while we were there, I thought the hot air balloons were appropriate.

They had a fun indoor/outdoor pool, Kyler loved swimming, he slept so well those two nights I've decided we have to take him swimming every day when we go on vacation :)
Kyler and Heather & Stacey
All in all it was nice just to play and relax. Thanks Mom for a wonderful weekend.