ONE YEAR Anniversary Photo Shoot 2012

Thank you Ansley Herron for being such an amazing photographer! We love you!!

Summer Ending:(

So I have been looking for an old antique window for the longest time and finally found one! Kyle bought it for me and I am thrilled at how adorable it is. Not to mention the cute yellow color it is. Only problem is I haven't exactly figured out how to decorate it yet. I may hang a wreath in the middle of it but we'll see..

My new favorite salad! 

Ingredients:

6 cups arugula leaves

1 mango, peeled and cut into long slices

1 avocado, peeled and sliced

½ red onion, sliced

1 tbs lime juice

Spicy orange vinaigrette

1 tbs champagne vinegar

4 tbs orange juice, about ½ orange

2 tbs lime juice, about ½ lime

4 tbs olive oil

½ tsp cumin

2 tbs finely chopped cilantro

1 red chili or hot pepper, sliced

Salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. Combine all the ingredients for the salad dressing in a jar, close it tight and shake until the ingredients are well mixed.
2. Soak the onion slices in warm water with a dash of salt and 1 tbs lime juice for about 10 minutes.
3. Rinse and drain the onions slices.
4. Toss the arugula leaves with half of the vinaigrette.
5. Add the avocado slices, mango slices and onion slices to the arugula mix, drizzle the remaining vinaigrette on top.
6. Serve immediately.

I decided to get a little crafty one day and made this cute shelf:) I wrapped twine and lace over these Crush bottles and made the LOVE sign out of paper (the frame and shelf I found at the DI and repainted - SCORE!) All other decor I had on hand. 

Strawberry season! So happy I made this delicious jam! Soooo good!

I came home from a long days work to find this cute guy making steak fajitas for dinner:) He is amazing. 

Kyle took me golfing for the first time! I have gone to a driving range to hit golf balls before but this was the first time I actually played a round of golf. He's really good at it but it was still fun for me to learn:) Not to mention the place we golfed at (Sherwood Hills in Logan) was absolutely gorgeous! We also saw Bambi and a squirrel ha ha. 

Bohme is such a fun place to shop at! Finally we are getting some good stores in our boring mall here in Logan:) Found the cutest plum skinnies, so fun!

Ha ha my little sister Holly cracks me up. She sends me the most random and funniest pictures this one made me laugh: 

Made homemade spaghetti sauce, meatballs and mozzarella sticks with garlic bread and watermelon for dinner. Soooo good! If you are looking for a very easy and delicious Italian meatball recipe look no further: 

Italian Meatballs: 

(from Our Best Bites)

1/2 lb. lean ground beef

1/2 lb. Italian sausage

1/4 c. dry bread crumbs

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 Tbsp. dehydrated onion

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp. parsley

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. salt*

Combine ingredients and roll into 1 inch balls. Place on sprayed cookie sheet or foiled cookie sheet. Broil  until just browned. Freeze for later or finish cooking in sauce.

My sweetest husband bought these for me just for cleaning our house. He knows how much I LOVE these cupcakes. I think they're the best! 

However... the next morning we were leaving to Jackson, WY and were running out the door late. Soooo we ended up eating cupcakes and orange soda for breakfast:) Ha oops! Don't tell anyone.. it was really good though. 

Jackson Lake/ Teton National Park was absolutely gorgeous! Loved every minute of it and can't wait for next year!

My tomatoes are growing like crazy and they are soooo good!

This new bakery and cafe just opened up by our house and it is my absolute new favorite place for lunch! Their gourmet sandwiches, soups, sides, salads, and desserts are amazing! And very well priced. Definitely worth trying many times;)

Summer Lovin'

This summer has been very eventful and we have just been lovin' it! Here are some things we've been up to: 

Kyle broke his nose (maybe multiple times) throughout his life of playing soccer and finally decided it was time to get it fixed:) The surgery all went great and it was the perfect time to get it done!

 Kyle went down to Arizona to do a Goal Zero roadshow in the Gilbert COSTCO down there. While he was there for the first few days my mom came up to stay with me in Logan! It was soo much fun! I flew back down with her and drove back up to Logan with Kyle a few days after. 

LOVED going shopping with my mom at the new City Creek Mall in SLC! What girl doesn't like new clothes? 

 While I was in AZ I went to see my two little sisters at their swim meet! Both won First in their age group! So awesome! 

Holly:

 Ari:

Kyle and I drove half way back to Utah and stopped in St George to go to Aladdin at Tuacahn. It was AMAZING! We also ate a great BBQ dinner and Kyle was so nice to wear his new shirt I bought him for Father's Day<3

My cute sister Ansley came up to Utah for EFY. While she was here we made the cutest hair bows from some of my scrap fabric. So fun! 

 To those looking for an amazing Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe: Look no further:

This recipe is soooo good! They're chewy, delicious, and easy!

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 t vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt 

1 12 oz bag Ghirardelli chocolate chips 

375' 9 min

 I LOVE nail polish! And I love all these fun summer colors from Essie!

 I LOVE my job!...Except when I cut my finger:( And this was BEFORE I paid to have them sharpened! Oops! 

 So all growing up my family all loves to eat artichokes! Like, we would sometimes choose those for our birthday dinner we love them so much.. We only have them once or twice a year because they're usually not super big and they're expensive if they're not in season. Sp, when I saw a nice big ripe one on sale at the store I thought it would be fun for Kyle to try one.. Ha yeah right. Didn't go so well:) He tried it right after he had his nose surgery so he couldn't taste very well so we'll have to try again sometime.. Ha ha.

 Update Update!! Look how huge our tomato plant has grown! And I see some tomatoes beginning to grow! Yay! Soooo excited to taste one when they're ripe!

To those who have never tried Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches... They will change your life! Their Tuna on their homemade 7-grain Whole Wheat bread is the greatest sandwich you will ever try:) And Tuna isn't usually my first choice but you can't go wrong with this.. Trust me! 

 So after Ansley was done with EFY my family drove up here and we all went to Lagoon for her birthday! So much fun! Except for the part when Kyle dropped his phone off a roller coaster and smashed it.. Ha oops! Although he did try Dippin-Dots for the first time!

 New fave cookie! Butterfinger Cookies! Soooo good you HAVE to try them! 

 For the Fourth of July my family went to Centerville to watch the parade and go to the booths they had that day. So fun! Kyle kept buying their homemade Rootbeer it was sooo good! He also bid the highest at the Police Auction and won 82 golfballs for $20 bucks! Awesome deal!

 My dad absolutely LOVES Goldfish Crackers so we took him to the Pepperidge Farm Factory in Logan!

 Also went to the Creamies Factory here and tried one for the first time - so yummy!

Love my family:) And my mom who is taking the pic<3

 Hahaaa I just HAD to post this! This pretty much sums up our picture taking.. And yes I do have the best husband for putting up with all the pictures I want to take:) 

 Last but not least: Kyle's new hobby besides shooting is now golfing. And I must say he is pretty dang good at it:) I myself haven't officially golfed yet besides hitting some balls but soon I think this boy will be a pro.