Nixon.

Ugly mini dog;

Funniest personality, and enjoyable to tease. Maybe someday we'll have an ugly funny dog, too.

What's for dinner?

About a week ago before we came up to stay at my parents' place, I talked to my dad on the phone. Kind of out of the blue in the middle of our conversation, my dad asked, "Are you a good cook?" I was confused as to why he was asking me, but I responded with something on the lines of, " I'm not an amazing cook, but I can cook." I thought maybe it was just him trying to make conversation as to how I am doing being a wife, or something.

Then it dawned on me. I thought, My mom isn't going to be in town for the duration of our stay, so he's wondering if I can cook for him! I see how it is. Sure enough, the next thing he said was something like, "Because I'm not (a good cook)."

I thought it was kind of funny, and decided to make it a little challenge for myself. As mentioned in a post or two ago, my mom had told me I had free reign on buying whatever I wanted/needed for cooking, etc. Also, I was very excited to use all the things I don't have, when it comes to any kitchen appliances.

Needless to say, I tried a few new recipes on my dad and husband. I do have to admit that I didn't cook/bake as many new things as I wanted to, but I did make a small dent. Here are some of those things that I had tried for the first time:

Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Pesto Penne

Picture and recipe found here.

This was easy and pretty good. I was expecting more of a bold flavor, but it wasn't bland by any means either. Wolfgang was a big fan.

Rachel Ray Chickpea Burgers

Picture and recipe found here.

For some reason, I was really excited about this one. The men on the other hand? Not so much. Considering I was the cook, I made them anyways. They turned out ok, but I did have too high of expectations. If I were to make them again, I would cook them on a grill or George Foreman, etc instead of a skillet like I did. I also would use original bread crumbs and not Italian flavored...I didn't take a good look at the label that my mom had, until it was the last minute.

And of course, a dessert:

Chocolate Coconut Bars

Picture and recipe found here.

This turned out really good. Not in any way healthy, but that's why they are so yummy, right? One person who had made these described them as tasting "Just like Samoas Girls Scout Cookies" which led me to them. I do have to say they definitely don't taste just like them, but they are still delightful.

I'm really enjoying trying new things. Once again, thanks Pinterest.

Kayaking

This is my cute husband. Today we went kayaking on The lake {notice the capital "t"? Lake Powell IS the king of all lakes. period. biased?}


We didn't quite go where we were planning on {I don't want to talk about it...} but we did do a little exploring in a cove/mini canyon. As you can see from the picture above, we were a hot mess by the end of our journey; it was exhausting but we had a great time.

Needless to say, pain killers are already our best friends tonight.

The American Crew.

A week ago, we went to the American Idol tour concert. We got a lot of grief for going to such concert, but I do have to say... it was so fun! This past season was the first time Wolfgang or I have watched the whole season through, and naturally, we got attached to the contestants. Oh reality tv!

Here's a little recap of a few {most} of the performers:

Although Naima wasn't a favorite and didn't last long in the top 11, she really was awesome live and really knows how to entertain.

Paul is so dreamy. He stole our hearts for sure. Wolfgang was even caught in one our videos saying, "I LOVE YOU PAUL!!!"

Pia is the sexy, (seems to be) humble amazing singer of the crew,

Haley is the cute not- so-humble talented singer,

Stefano sucks in real life too,

Casey is the cool kid with creativity,

James is the ultimate awesome rocker that can rock the house and entertain like he's been in the business for years,

and last but definitely not least, Scotty McHottie is still my ultimate cowboy crush. Never mind he's only 17.

At the end of the show, we left fully satisfied, complete with scratchy voices from yelling, and ringing ears to last a day.

The most surprising thing about the whole event? There were SO many older people there! No joke. 50yrs + were at a surprising high in the audience. A few sat by us, and I don't think they enjoyed our enthusiasm. But come on, you're at a concert! You've gotta have fun with it, and be ridiculous, right?

Here are a few bad quality pictures of the concert, for your enjoyment.

Tried and tested: Approved.

Remember how I was hatin' on Pinterest? Well, now I'm obsessed. I really like how I can get ideas about ways to decorate our apartment, how to make a lil garden in tight spaces, and most importantly...how to make delicious food.

With that said, here are some recipes I have tried this week that I wanted to share.

Mozzarella, Tomato, and Avocado Salad

Picture and recipe taken from here.

I couldn't find the mozzarella pearls anywhere, so I bought a small block of it and just cut it up in little cubes. I thought this recipe was good, but nothing amazing. I think it would have been better if I had bought a baguette to eat it with, but I didn't. I may or may not try it again, we'll see.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

Picture and recipe taken from here.

I'm sure you've all had some form of this, one way or another. It reminds me of my mom's delicious taco soup, with some slight variations. This is really good and has a slight spice to it (I can't handle spice too well, so I thought it had a small kick to it, but others may not) Super easy to make, especially if you use "Slow Cooker Liners." Best thing that ever hit the earth. (thanks Amber!)

Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

Picture and recipe taken from here.

Isn't that love at first sight?

I made them yesterday, and they turned out really good. They were a big hit, especially with the husband; he's pretty obsessed with peanut butter and chocolate combined (more specifically, nutella and peanut butter). I'm not a super huge fan of peanut butter, but I still like these. You can't go wrong with sweet n salty. They are a little time consuming, but not hard at all.

A few specific tidbits: use mini pretzels, and when making the dough into little balls, you really do want to make sure that they are little, otherwise they squish out too much when you sandwich them between the two pretzels. Also, when melting the chocolate, I used about half the bag of a big bag of chocolate chips (so about 12oz worth) and the amount turned out great with just a little bit to spare, enough to dip a few strawberries into :)

Can't wait to try more recipes this weekend/next week. I'll be at my parents house, and I'll have free reign over all my mom's appliances and ingredients! Yesssss.

Rainbow. Sponges.

If you asked me what was the best thing ever invented, I would say something like toilet paper, or Dr. Pepper.

But this lady on youtube? She'd say... SPONGES!!

Abandonment.

Ok, so it's been a while since I've blogged, (well, "a while" in my book). I blame it on the fact that I'm still pretty upset, but not as bad as I was a week ago, about my blog being ruined (in my eyes, at least) b/c of Google +. It's so convenient how they now warn you when you delete a picture, that it will be "deleted from all other Google products: picasa, blogger, (etc.)" Fail. Thanks guys.

But you have to see my point, I've been blogging for about 3 1/2 years, and now 653 pictures (that's how many were in the album when I deleted it) are just GONE?! All that time and effort, just to disappear with a click. It's just a lifeless blog now; but then again, I guess that's what "traditional" journals are like, right? No pictures and all words? That sorta helps. Not really though. Call me dramatic, but seriously, it's not cool.

But alas, I guess the blog will go on. I've got a recent concert to account for, recipes I have tried/want to try that I want to report about, and a vacation coming up starting this Friday, so...here I am, and I'll be back to blogging soon!

Hello?

Um...What happened to my Blog picture and some of my pictures on the side?? Is it missing for everyone else?

Update: short story shorter: Google + deleted ALL my pictures from my blog when I removed an album that they had automatically uploaded when I signed up for it. I thought it was creepy and deleted it, not knowing at all that it was connected to all over Google programs!

I read some discussions and I am not the only one it has happened to, but apparently there is no solution.I'm going to go cry now.

Luckily I guess, I still have probably most of the important pictures on my computer still, and will have to re-upload the main ones, (blog title, stuff on the side, etc) but as for individual posts, GONE. there's no way I can go through each one of them and re upload them. My blog posts are ruined.

If you get Google +, don't delete your albums!!!

End of story.

Nice weekend.

Dear Hometown,

Thanks for such a lovely weekend of wonderful weather (sunshine and rain),

lake time,

relaxing with and enjoying the parents,

and all those other little things that I love and enjoy about being home.

I temporarily forgot how wonderful it is to have a neighborhood and a backyard.

Once again you reminded me how incredibly lucky I was to grow up there, in such a beautiful and peaceful place.

Till we meet again in a few weeks-

Sincerely,

Jaimie,
currently wishing she was still there and not in her 98 degree apartment that only drops 3 degrees in 30 mins.

Damn you, Pinterest

Have you heard of this? Most likely, yes. If not, it's a website where you can "pin" things; for example I see something I like on a website, I click the button "Pin it" (after signing up) and wah-la! It's "pinned" onto a digital pin board where you can refer back to.

Well, I had heard of it through several friends, and I decided that it wasn't a good idea for me, because it seemed like something that would just make me more consumer-oriented, and I didn't like that.

Then, I read a blog post from a friend I knew from when I was going to school in Idaho. She talked about she liked it, and how it gave her ideas of things to do for her home, things she wants to see, etc. (something along those lines). I liked her perspective about it, and realized it didn't have to be all about buying and wanting.

So, I gave in, of course. I was soon turned off by the website when I had to be "invited" and had to wait several days to get the show on the road. Really? Come on now, people. Then once I was finally dubbed a proud owner of a Pinterest account there were all sorts of little glitches, and that was annoying too.

Anyway, let's get to the point, shall we?

So now I'm an official Pinterest-er. Still trying to get use to it, but it did exactly what I predicted in the very beginning- made me want and covet things that I don't have money for! Ridiculous.

I got a little carried away today with gazillions of cute dresses I like.

Sigh.

I'm going to try to chill out in the consumer department, and maybe try to find other things like recipes, inspirations for DIY and such.

Someday, I'll have a job and be able to pay for some of these things. Someday...

Happy 4th, America.

Happy 4th everyone! I'm grateful this day to be an American citizen where I have so many freedoms and privileges.

We celebrated last night by going to a Blake Shelton concert! He's so hot. As my late grandmother would say, "He can put his boots under my bed anytime he wants!"

Ok, so he can't. But really, he is attractive.

Bad quality picture, I know. But he's the one at the mic. Obviously.

His concert was followed by a spectacular fireworks show that lasted 30 minutes! Pretty impressive.

Today Wolfgang has to work, {probably because he's not American.... ;) } So there won't be much celebrating this day, but I fantasize {I kinda hate that word, but I'm using it anyway} about big BBQ's today, but I think maybe grabbing a hot dog or hamburger somewhere today will have to suffice.

Mormon Diva

New Dress and Grooming standards for LDS women missionaries.

Out with the frumpy sister, in with the religious diva!

{where can I find the clothing catalog, please?}