flowers

The product of Matthew's first lab in Floral Design. I love it when my husband takes awesome classes.

 

christmas baby

It seems like I haven't posted many pictures of Natalie lately. So, here are some of her from Christmas :)

 

 

 

 

Natalie has been quite the goof lately. She'll grab our arm, hand or leg, and blow on it, like she's giving us a little raspberry or something. Then she gets this big grin on her face and laughs. Haha. So funny.

the dumbest cheer ever

At the end of a basketball game when a school with a worse record is beating a highly ranked, or generally considered good school sometimes the student section will start cheering "Overrated". Seriously, this is in fact the dumbest thing you could cheer in this situation. Suggesting that the team you are beating is overrated cheapens your win, making it seem like they aren't that good, and that is why you are beating them. Or in other words, "We're not that good, so you must be pretty bad for us to beat you!"  That's what I hear when I hear "overrated".  Oh, and finally, if you just got done chanting 'overrated', why would you then storm the court?  You just said they weren't that good, anyway.

It happened one (or possibly several) Sunday

Okay so I'm the pianist in Relief Society. Sometimes it is kind of an embarrassing job.

I usually know ahead of time what the songs are going to be. If I'm not super familiar with it, I try to go to the church and practice it during the week, so I don't make a complete fool of myself while playing. That doesn't always happen, and I don't know every song in the hymnbook, so every so often I look at a song and think "Whelp, it's right-hand only accompaniment today." I'm classy like that.

And then sometimes, I do know the song, and I've played it before, and it is NOT HARD. Think for example "Sisters in Zion". Or a song I know really well like "I Know that My Redeemer Lives". And I totally goof up a section. Why did I just bomb two random measures in the middle?

I think I psych myself out, and then my mind has a spasm, and then suddenly I can't play.

Yup. This is awkward, and a long walk from the piano bench to my seat at the end of the song. I kind of just want to go sit in a closet and pretend nothing happened and no one saw. But of course everyone saw because I'M SO STINKIN' TALL!

Minnesota themes

Even though I was born and raised in Minnesota, only recently have I've realized how many cities, especially around the Twin Cities area, are named after trees or water. For example:

Stillwater
Maple Grove
Apple Valley
Oak Park Heights
Bayport
Woodbury
Oakdale
Cottage Grove
White Bear Lake
Maplewood
Waterville
Coon Rapids
Ham Lake
Maple Island
Lake Elmo
Inver Grove Heights
Roseville
Roseport
Pine Bend
Prior Lake
Grainwood
Shorewood
Hazel Park
Golden Valley
Lino Lakes
Lakeville
Shoreview

I know there are more than this list,and this is mainly just the Twin Cities area. Like I said, Minnesota is all about trees and water.

2011 food favorites

Last January, I made a goal to try making new food during 2011. I would say I accomplished that goal, as I regularly made a variety of things that were new and different to me and Matthew.

In no particular order, some of my favorite foodie adventures from 2011:

French Style Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Grilled Chicken Salad with Corn, Feta and Blueberries

Slow Cooker Pork

Herbed Yogurt Chicken with Mangos

Brioche

Basil Chicken in a Coconut Curry Sauce

Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bars

Orange Beef/Chicken

Panko Crusted Stuffed Chicken

Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Grilled Vegetable Pizza

Stuffed Flank Steak

Strawberry, Chicken and Bacon Pizza

Chicken, Hummus and Roasted Red Pepper Sandwich

Tomato Cobbler with Gruyere (Cheddar) Biscuits

Strawberry Bruschetta          

Whole Wheat Strawberry Mango Pancakes

Toffee Bar Brownie Torte

Foccacia Bread

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

And here are some of Matthew's favorites:

Strawberry, Chicken and Bacon Pizza

Asian Chicken Mango Salad

Red Chile Chicken w/ Rice, Black Beans

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Slow Cooker Pork   

Honey Ginger chicken

Herbed Yogurt Chicken with Mangos

Chicken with Cherry Sauce

Chicken Flautas w/ Roasted Tomatillo Sauce

Stir Fried Noodles   

Café Rio Style Pork Salad

Risotto W/ Peas & Prosciutto

Quinoa w/ Mangoes, Red Pepper, Green Onion, Pecans, Cilantro & Lime Juice

Crème Brulee French Toast Casserole

Whole Wheat Strawberry Mango Pancake

Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes 

Foccacia Bread                                                       

Honey and Sweet Potato Rolls

Tortellini Sausage Soup

Homemade Oreos

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Fresh Fruit Dessert Enchiladas

I have to say, this has been a fun year. Matthew also has really enjoyed it, which I am very happy about, as he in general tends to be pickier about his food than I am. It's been a good time! I will, of course, keep trying new things and whatnot, but I think I won't post about it anymore. I'm sure ya'll are sick of hearing me talk about food all the time :) Peace out!

December

I'll admit, there wasn't too much new food trying during December, as we were in Minnesota with my family FOR THE WHOLE ENTIRE MONTH!!!!!! Yes, it was that awesome. More about that later. We did, however, eat a ton of dang good food. Anyway, here are the two new things we made:

Potato-Leek Pizza: Very good. A thin layer of potatoes, a healthy layer of leeks, some bacon and goat cheese and voila, a yummy pizza. We actually made this for Pizza Night, where we had this pizza, a meat lovers pizza, strawberry chicken bacon pizza and mango, mozzarella and basil pizza. Nothing but good times! (Source: Pioneer Woman Cookbook)

South of the Border Sandwiches: Just a fancy name for something very simple, but my family loved, and so we made several times. Toast slices of french bread rubbed with olive oil or butter in the oven until slightly crisp, then top with some cheese (we did munster and cheddar), a tomato slice, an avocado slice, and some green onions. Delish. (Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything)