Ahhhh!

Cari is engaged!

Best of

Best day in: Monday, John had work off and we just hung out and had fun.

Best night out: Wednesday we went to Pizzeria 712 with the Pecks who came down from Salt Lake, fun and delicious.



Best smell: Orange nectar from my new oil burner Mel got me for my birthday, thanks!

Best mail: my new diaper bag that I have been looking for for a year. I saw it last summer and have been tracking it down ever since and finally found it online for half the price! I'm saving it for when the baby comes.



Best recipe: Mediterranean Linguine



Ingredients:
9 ounces uncooked linguine
1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used chicken)
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 can (14 ounces) water-packed artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and halved
1 can (6 ounces) pitted ripe olives, drained and halved
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Cook linguine according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, saute shrimp and mushrooms in oil for 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients; cook and stir for 5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink and sauce is heated through.
Drain linguine; serve with shrimp mixture. Yield: 6 servings.

Best productive day: Tuesday, vacuumed twice, mopped three times (what happens when I try and clean while Wes is awake), cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen, went on a nice long challenging walk (which I have to say I do every day not just this day, five days a week for the last three months, first time ever!) and worked on a few side projects.

Best completed project: Making my binder which has everything in it I ever need, it's basically my brain, and now I feel much more organized. You should make one too, I put these categories in it:
Weekly Schedule
Meal Planning
Personal Projects
Home
Landscape
Finances
Goals
Parenting Plan
Vacations
Emergency
Vital Info

And then making myself a mini desk, since I don't have my own studio, office or even desk, I made a little work space by getting a cheap tray and putting my binder, planner, stickies and a pencil in it. I can take my new desk with me wherever I want to work, brilliant.



Best news: hearing the baby's heartbeat and scheduling the ultrasound in three weeks!

Best blooms: My fuschias, which are finally recovering from near death when I went to Idaho and left John to water them.



Best surprise: My grandparents called and said they are in town and will be three blocks down from us for a wedding reception so we walked down to our church building and got to say hi.

Best reward: waking up in the morning to about thirty wet kisses from Wes (all his idea) after a very trying day with him the day before.

It has been a great week!

A little recognition

Last month John received a few awards for work he had done recently

His work on Pizzeria 712 received an AIGA 100 show award for Branding

His work on Red Fern received an AIGA 100 show award for Logo work

And his work on the article Lifting a Brother (BYU magazine) received an AIGA 100 show award for Editorial work and an International award from SPD (Society of Publication Design) for Editorial work (which I hear is the best since its international).

I'm pretty sure John did not want me to post this but I think he does good work and deserves the praise. I'm proud.

Make your own

Did you know you can make your own oil cloth/vinyl fabric using paper or fabric and iron on vinyl? Im really excited to do some projects with this stuff, although all I can think of right now is coasters and placemats.




fyi: this is our 100th post since we started this blog, about a year ago.

Memorial

We got a new lens for our camera, check out the WIDE angle. Saturday breakfast was so yummy, french toast at Emily and Tylers. We walked around temple square and took some pictures of plants. Lunch at the Red Iguana, delicious. And then we hit up the Park City outlets. Sunday we walked around BYU campus and took more pictures of plants. Monday we did yard work and took about four shopping trips, still no pants for John, but somehow I managed to find good stuff for me and Wes.

Hummus

First of all I have become obsessed with hummus. I had never tried it until last week and I'm hooked.

Second of all you have to make this recipe TONIGHT! It is so good and so easy, and a perfect light meal. I made one for me and John for dinner and then he asked me to make him another one, and then he said "that was so good, can I have another one, Wes ate most of it"



Ingredients:
1/3 cup prepared hummus
4 whole wheat tortillas (8 inches)
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1/4 cup chopped roasted sweet red peppers
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
I also added avocado, and it was great

Directions:
Spread hummus on tortillas; top with chicken, peppers, cheese and basil. Roll up.

Third you can use it in place of mayo on sandwiches and it is so much better for you and in place of dip and use pitas, veggies and chips, so delicious.

Fourth you can make your own which is much cheaper and here is a good recipe:
(I did buy store bought and it was delish)



Ingredients:
3/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
In a food processor, combine the oil, lemon juice, beans, garlic and salt; cover and process until smooth.

First Steps

Wes took his first steps tonight trying to get treats from us, I still think it will be a while til he is actually walking. Lets see if this video works.

Open House

We went home to Idaho this weekend for Nathan and Chelsea's Open House, which turned out to be such a fun time! We spent some time Friday and Saturday planting flowers, spreading mulch and making delicious food and then Saturday night was the big party. Wes had fun playing with Jenny and Ty's son Cooper, although I don't know if Cooper was having all that much fun since Wes was chasing him around trying to hug him every minute. Wes also figured out how to push this little chair around the house and walk behind it, it was entertaining for us anyway. We got to hear about their Honeymoon to Mexico and watch them open presents after the party, so many fun things as newlyweds! Sunday we had a great roast and potato dinner and then we drove home, lots of fun.



Unfortunately we didn't get many pictures while we were there but I did find these pictures on Rick and Anne's computer of us years ago at conference, remodeling our house, and when we first started dating. I hadn't seen these before!

Arizona

We drove down to Scottsdale this weekend for Nathan and Chelsea's wedding. Emily and Tyler rode with us and I'm afraid Emily got food spit on her a few times by Wes. We woke up Saturday and got to see Joel, Natalie, and Lauren (she is so cute and tiny). The sealing was beautiful, and we got a little burnt outside the temple while taking pictures, the sun was so intense. Joel and Natalie brought Sprinkles cupcakes from LA for my birthday, yum, thanks! The bride and groom looked great, the reception was gorgeous, and the food was delicious. It was so cute to see how excited they were to be married and it reminded me how happy we were to finally belong to each other, I think we take it for granted sometimes. We drove through the tip of the grand canyon on the way home and got back last night, it was such a fun trip! Here are a ton of pictures.

Finally

I started organizing my recipes in december and now finished it. I can finally find the recipes I'm looking for and its so easy to type and print up new ones, it feels good.

Ha

Wes can't walk but he can talk, he learned how to say fish and hot this week (he whispers 'hot' very carefully). I think he is up to about ten words now, still no mom, mama, or mommy.




I found these funny pictures in the camera. Wes won't get off something unless he can feel the floor underneath him before he has to let go. He will climb the coffee table and then just lay there til we come get him. He is only an inch away! Silly!