Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Saturday Picture Preview :)

So first of all... this morning I discovered something awesome! :) I don't know how many of you run.. but it's something that I do because it makes me feel really good. And most of the time I choose to run on the treadmill just so I can keep track of how far I'm running and how fast, and then I can improve!
But in the summer.. it's soo beautiful!
& so I just want to be able to appreciate the sunshine and the pretty green things around me, so I was think there has got to be a way to be able to track how far I run..
& there is!
It's called Map my Run..
you can click HERE if you want to try it out.. I'm sure lots of people already new about it but I thought it was pretty awesome this morning.

Sooo.. anyway.. since I promised to post the pictures that Blake's sweet mother took for us.. [our non engagement pictures.. haha just to clarify.. we are not engaged at this moment]
I thought I would post them for everyone on here to enjoy..
[I'm scared to post them on FaceBook and have everyone talking about engagement more than usual ha so you guys get a sneak peak if you check out my blog]



Some of these... were definitely candid... but I thought they turned out so cute.. :)
I love em.






















So there is your sneak peak into Janell's amazing photography skills :)
& my wonderful Saturday morning..

I hope you enjoyed them! & I hope you are having a wonderful Tuesday... only 3 more days until Fourth of July Weekend!


Sunday, June 26, 2011

There aren't enough days in the weekend. -Rod Schmidt

So.. this is a good picture to describe how my weeks feel while I'm going through them..


Eugh.
Really wet..
:)
jk
But... it has been raining a lot and they feel kind of long and like a lot of work. Running a business that you don't get paid for is definitely... an experience.
& to top everything off..



Shelby split our room in half!
:) jk again..
Well.. kind of.. as you can see the TAPE dividing our room in two! But it was soo sweet of her.. she was trying to make me laugh. WHICH she definitely accomplished.
I was walking out of our room and I noticed that I had put my stuff on her desk [which we definitely have two so I have my own and don't know why I feel the need to use hers.. haha]
But I was like oh my gosh Shelb you're going to have to divide our room and be like "Hailey that is your side keep your stuff over there!"
&& then I come back to see this!! Ha alll around the room.. dividing our closet.. and dresser.. and ceiling even! Oh.. my gosh I have the best room mate ever..
She always makes me smile.

But anyway.. the moral of me telling about my long weeks.. was to explain how lately I've been living for the weekend! The weekend means one more week of school is over.. and finally time to breathe and relax.

So this Saturday started out at 4:30 AM..
Blake took me out to see the Sunrise beacuase I had been wanting to go see it with him..
& I got the perfect Idaho Sunrise experiene..
complete with windmills and all.



It was such a perfect way to start my day!
& then Blake took me to breakfast at Dennys..
Where I was considering sleeping in the booth before our breakfast came out, and it looked like the waitor was right there with me..
Being open 24/7 makes it very convenient to get breakfast, but probably very hard to stay awake all night!
But it was delicious, and I was very glad those cooks and waitors pulled an all nighter.

& then after we got to go back to his house and get cleaned up.. and go out for a photo shoot with his mom!
I lovve getting my picture taken.. and it was soo much fun.. and they turned out so good!
[pictures to come soon]

Then after a delicious lunch... I went to my friend Jessica's Bridal Shower!
She is soo cute.. and getting married in just a couple weeks.
As she opened her victoria secret boxes she was blushing and so much fun to watch,
she's going to be a beautiful bride!



THEN after I got to take a much needed nap..
We went to the ice caves!

& just as you would suspect.. the floors.. and roof.. and walls were covered in ICE!
We had to crawl and slip and slide all over the place..






There were even parts where you had to lay on your back and push yourself with your legs along!
 & I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but below is colby trying to slide a long on the ice..
I'm pretty sure it would have been easier if we would have brough ice skates.. :)





My sweet roommate Elana let me borrow her awesome head light..
& as cute as I looked in it I was SO grateful for it as I was sliding down the ice slides into the dark!








& the roof was awesome.. It was completely frosted and iced over!
It was amazing to me that even in the summer there could be so much ice in this cave.. but it was sooo cool to get to see.



Then at the end there was this big ice slide that was totally worth the climb to go see!

On our way back out, Dillon, our National Guard caving companion scaled his way across the ice wall over the huge empty crevice over to the other side to check out the cave across the way!


& he made it! What an awesome military man..


Then after the caves on the way back I saw this big poster for a Brooke White concert!
For everyone who doesn't know who she is.. she was on American Idol and she was SO cute..
She was definitely my favorite, but she only made it to like the top 5 darnit.
So I was thrilled when I saw that and had to see her!

Then when we got over there the concert had pretty much died down and she was just standing there in the crowd.. &...


I got to meet Brooke White!
&

not only did I get to meet her but she gave me a hug and told me I was cute!
& I was like oh my gosh I love you..
ha JK I didn't say that.. I tried to be less creepy than that.. :)
But it was soo cool actually getting to see her in person.



So that was a perfect way to end my Super Sweet Saturday.. :)
It was awesome.. and just the break from school that I needed..
Now.. only one week until the fourth of July and getting to see my family!
Yayy.. I can't wait.

Oh.. and before I forget.. Friday I tried another Enchilada Recipe and it turned out really delicious so I thought I would share it..

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas Recipe

 Creamy Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
Makes 10 servings
Prep: 30 min. Bake: 35 min. 

Ingredients

  • 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 5 cups diced cooked chicken
  • 20 flour tortillas (6 inches), room temperature
  • 2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
  • 2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilies
  • 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
30 35 65
What I did was cut the recipe in half and it made about 8 enchiladas but I filled them a little more full than the recipe said for.
So if you like Mexican Food these are really good.. give them a try!Creamy Chicken Enchiladas Recipe

I hope everyone else had a great weekend.. and have been enjoying the first few weeks of official summer!
Have a wonderful rest of your Sunday!


Directions

  • In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, water, onion powder, cumin, salt and pepper until smooth. Stir in chicken.
  • Place 1/4 cup down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in two greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dishes. In a large bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, milk and chilies; pour over enchiladas.
  • Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-40 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with cheese; bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 10 servings.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

It's summertime... sweet summertime. :)

So.. first and foremost..
Happy Fathers Day!!! :)
[a little late.. but.. my Dad doesn't read my blog anyway.. soo.. I guess it's just the thought that counts]



So anyway.. I just wanted to say how unbelievably grateful I am for an AMAZING Dad... who loves me and protects me and takes care of me.
I've been so spoiled and so blessed.. and I can never express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for letting me have such a wonderful man in my life growing up.
Although my Dad and I have always been very similar.. & had our differences..
I've been more and more grateful for him and more and more aware of his love for me in his decisions as I've grown older..


So Daddy.. thank you soooo much. For everything.
I love you with ALL my heart!

Now second order of business..
Happy First Day of Summer!

Finally!! :) I love the summer time.. I love the warmth and the sun.. and the not school [oh wait.. I still have 24 days of that].. and the snowcones.. and.. everything that comes with summer!


So my life has still consisted of a lot of.... Business...
& class and homework and soo much of that fun stuff...
But the perks to it all?
I've got to make some pretty sweet friends through all the late nights and early mornings of homework & booth running.
This is Aubrey & I with our sweet Heads Up T-Shirts in the library.. annnnd..
The flowers that the boys brought us one morning! :)
How sweet is that...
I guess the whole school in the summer thing isn't all bad..



& as I promised last week.. a recipe!
I've been really wanting to cook with asparagus this semester because I can't really remember ever having it, So I found this recipe and it turned out to be pretty delicious!
It was a very successful first asparagus dinner.



Beef and Asparagus Stir Fry
Prep/Total Time: 30 min.
15 15 30

Ingredients

  • 1 pound beef tenderloin roast, cubed
  • 1 green onion, sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
  • 1/4 cup butter, cubed
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • Hot cooked rice

Directions

  • In a large skillet, stir-fry the beef, onion, salt and pepper in oil for 3-5 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Remove and keep warm.
  • In the same pan, stir-fry asparagus and mushrooms in butter until asparagus is tender. Return beef mixture to the pan. Stir in soy sauce and lemon juice; heat through. Serve with rice. 
  • Makes: 4 servings.


If you like asparagus give it a try and let me know how it goes! :) The only thing I would say is.. make sure you don't put in the very bottoms of the asparagus. I don't know if it's a common thing that a lot of people know, but mine were really stringy and we had to pick them out. But the rest of the asparagus is yummy. 

But I think that's all for now.. I will definitely be blogging soon because lots mores been going on that I haven't had time to upload the pictures for.. [& what fun is a blog without pictures] SO... more to come soon..
I hope everyone had the BEST first day of Summer ever! & I hope you all have a good rest of your week.. :) 
good night!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one. -Dr. Suess

Blogging TWICE in one week!? Yes I know.. I'm surprised too :)
I love that I've had enough free time!
 This weekend was celebrating Chantal's Birthday and recovering from Mid Terms so it was quite the weekend.. just one big party! Just the way I like to spend my weekend..

The first pictures were actually ON Chantal's birthday at Red Robin! Delicious.
& luckily Elana got us some fantastic party hats so that we could be dressed for the occasion..
ha soo cute.



THEN last Friday.. we threw both her and Danielle a Luaa 21st Birthday Party "Non-Alchoholic" Alchoholic Party. (Although Danielle was only turning 19.. we figured she wouldn't mind the non alchoholic drinks)
Blake was nice and let us use and decorate his house and completely fill it with people.. What a good guy.


We bought Marguirita glasses and put icing and sprinkles on the outsid filled them up with ice cream...
[Now those.. were so fun bringing over to Blake's house.. they balance really well on cookie sheets.. and we blended RIGHT in with our hula skirts and leighs.. ha everyone was yelling at us from their cars on our walk over]


& filled the cooler up with IBC rootbeer and cream soda..


& played lots of "Mountain Dew" pong :)

Sound like a Mormon 21st Birthday Party? Because.. oh it was. And it was awesommme..


Before everyone got there I even got to "Leigh" Blake..
:)


Don't you worry.. we kept it clean. :)

& then the rest of the night was a lot of dancing, black lights, cake, ice cream, soda, pizza, and good friends.
I couldn't have thought up a better way to spend my Friday night.











Happy Birthday Chantal & Danielle!!
I LOVE you both!



THEN last night Blake took me on the most perfect date EVER.. :)




I've been telling Blake I wanted to have a picnic by the Temple forever.. and so Saturday he took me bowling ( I pretty much did really awesome by the way if anyone was wondering.. Blake miggght have only doubled my score.. it's all a little blurry) .. and then he brought me to his house to make dinner with him.. and he packed everything up..
& SUPRISED me and brought everything to the temple so that we could have a picnic!


& it wasn't just any picnic.. he had to wait until it was dark so that we could have a candle lit dinner picnic by the temple :)
Complete with Spaghetti and Meat Balls.. I told him I felt like we were Lady and the Tramp.. haha
But it was SOooo
 PERFECT.
& then he pulled out his laptop and we watched a movie and celebrated being able to relax and not having to worry about Mid Terms anymore!
I know every one is probably like PLEASE spare us all of the mushy romantic stuff.. but everyday he amazes me more and more. I love suprises. & I love my boyriend.. I got really lucky.

But anyway.. I hope everyone had a good weekend!
I'm going to start posting recipes and fun stuff again soon so I don't bore everyone to death with my life stories I promise!
So.. I'll blog again soon.. Love you all!