Hay Stacks

This week BYU played Hawaii in football. In order to celebrate this event we had our parents come over and cousin Brace with his fiancé Jordan and we celebrated the rivalry over the big screen and over what we call Hawaiian hay stacks.

Instructions:
Five chicken breasts boiled and then cubed. Mix into 2 cans of cream of chicken and a can of chicken broth.

Make brown and white rice and mix them.

Cut up: olives, green onions, peppers, celery, pineapple, tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese, coconut, almond slivers and oriental noodles.

Plate: first add rice, then sauce, next the cheese and then whatever other toppings you want on it and always end with oriental noodles on top!


Well, BYU won!!!!!! Unfortunately the win ended up disqualifying Hawaii from any bowl games. They had 27 seniors on their team and they aren't gong to a bowl game! Sorry Hawaii!

Christmas tree festival with the becknells at the expo

The festival was a lot of fun and I decided that next year I am going to do one in honor of my cousin sandy.
I got a lot of creative ideas while we were there and am excited to get going on something!

Fiddler On The Roof

Hayden did a terrific job in Fiddler on The Roof. This was his first performance as a Salem High School Student. They have a lot of talent and the production was spectacular! We are so proud of Hayden for developing his talents.

Happy Thanksgiving Week to Everyone!

It's the week of Thanksgiving and I can't believe how fast this fall has gone by. This will be our first Thanksgiving together. We have plans to be with both families, watch football, play games and eat and sleep a lot.

On Wed. Landon and I are decorating for Christmas and are cooking for the next day. We are making Muddy Tracks, Pumpkin Choc. Chip Cookies and Pecan Bars. Landon is also going to be making some rolls with our bread maker and I am going to make a Va. Sweet Potato Casserole. We are so excited to get started. Landon has never made a pie before so this year will be his first time making one with me.

Thanksgiving Night my family is combining with the Becknells and we are having a Black Friday Party. We are going to hit our first store at 10pm Thanksgiving Night. We plan to shop until we drop. This will be Landons first time ever participating in Black Friday and what started out as a grudge has now turned into pure excitement as he checks his app on his iphone everyday. lol

I have to say that this year Thanksgiving will be a new start for me and for Landon. He and I both have our regular traditions but thisd year we are combining our traditions and letting some of them go and starting some new ones together. Its an exciting time!

This year I am so very grateful for my marriage! I am thankful that I have such a wonderful husband who I never get sick of spending time with. We have been through so much since we got engaged, married and started our new lives together. We have had a very long strand of bad luck. Amongst all the bad luck however Landon and I have managed to draw close together in a way that we will be forever grateful. We have no idea where we will be next Thanksgiving or even where we will be at the beginning of the year. lol We are both thankful though that no matter where we are or what we are doing it will be together.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Breaking Dawn

On Saturday Landon and I went and saw Breaking Dawn. When I broke my neck, we bought all the twilight movies so that Landon could see them and get caught up so that he could come to Breaking Dawn with me once it came out. We went and saw it at the District with Holly and Derek, Emily, and Tracie and Nate.

I was surprised by how tasteful it was. I was worried to see it. The book was fairly explicit. I was so glad that the movie wasn't as much so. With that said, it was still very awkward at times. It wasn't a movie I wanted to be watching with my husband. lol

I am excited for the second part however; Thats when Breaking Dawn really starts getting good. I like the fighting and the family aspect in the second part. it was interesting to me where they stopped the movie and where the next one will pick up.

I was told before I saw the movie that it would be mushy and sickening. I actually didn't feel that way. I was a little creeped out by how much weight Bella has lost for this last book, but I thought she acted out the book very well.

Utah School Counseling Association (USCA)

http://www.utschoolcounselor.org/index.html

Ignite the Light was the theme of the Fall USCA Conference this year. It was fun to prepare for a Conference along side family members. Holly and Tracie were both there and made the day fun!
My candidacy this year has been exciting and a lot of good things have taken place. I am enjoying my third year on the USCA board and am hoping that next year I can continue to make an impact just as Krista Kent has this year. i work with a lot of amazing people and I am grateful for the counseling profession and for all that counselors offer to parents, students, faculty, staff and the community at large.

Da Bears

Monday Night Football! Who won???? When everyone picked the Eagles....Landons Bears pulled a 30-24 win!

Enjoy the following snl video clip. Its one of our favorites!

http://www.evtv1.com/Player.aspx?itemnum=6203

LSU vs. Alabama

Saturday Night we had a Southern Night to celebrate the Souths HUGE rival this year. We made baked southern macaroni and cheese, fried okra, southern meatballs, fried apple pies etc. it was a lot of fun. We invited family and friends from the south and enjoyed an intense game with an overtime win. We were pulling for Alabama but alas LSU took the win.

New i-4 phones

We are loving our new i-phones. We are constantly adding new apps and talking with each other. Landon, Shalynn and I are all using an ap called MY FITNESS PAL. We log everything that we have eaten and every thing we have done for exercise and muscle strength. Landon and I also bought a scale with some of the BED BATH AND BEYOND gift cards we were gifted for our wedding. The scale tells us how much we weigh, our muscle mass, our water and our body fat percentages. Its been fun trying to get healthy and back in shape!

Landon the Cowboy

Before the Halloween Party Josh and Landon went for a ride on the horses. Landon was nervous to ride, he has not had very good experiences, they both did great!

Family Halloween Party

We had matching oncie pajamas with monkeys on them and then we got to play with a bunch of toys that we use to play with as kids. Comfiest costumes EVER! We got the cutest kids award for our costumes =)

Landon won the Apple Bobbing, Doughnut String Eating, and the Mummy Toilet Papering.

TJ won his Apple Bobbing and Hayden was close to beating Landon on Doughnut Eating.

I won the Doughnut Eating too! Best Doughnuts!

Mom was Hot lips, Hayden and Addie were Cowboys, Josh was Cousin IT, Shalynn was a catapillar-butterfly, Landon and I were big kids, Holly was in a Toga, Derek was Subzero, Tracie was Batwoman, TJ was a Crazed BYU Fan and his two friends were a SWAT Agent and a Vampire.

We had a lot of fun with games, prizes and yummy food. We had all different types of Chillie and soups.

The great comforter

As Landon and I have been seeing a counselor named Lance, he has encouraged me to seek out some difficult memories and work through them so that I can have more healing and closure. Lance has stated many times that the more I process with him, the more I will start to react in defense to the memories. Well, so far so good until Saturday night....
I was frightened, untrusting and emotional. Some of the emotions are too strong for me. I scare myself because I never knew that I carried all of this around with me everyday. It is heavy and it hurts.
Landon wanted so desperately to help me. And this is why I married him ;) Landon being the wonderful person that he is went into the other room and grabbed our DVD of the Churches Special Witnesses of Christ. As soon as he turned it on the voice of President Hinckley calmed me instantly in a miraculous way. The testimonies were so powerful and Landon left them on the remainder of the night and into the morning as we got ready for church.
As a counselor, I truly believe in therapy, however, the Atonement is the only process in which one can be healed completely and become whole once again.I am so grateful for church leaders, family and Friends who take a stand and share their testimony with those around them. I testify that the spirit of God will always be present when we witness of Jesus Christ and the spirit will comfort you, lead you and purify you.
http://lds.org/ensign/2001/04/special-witnesses-of-christ?lang=eng

Harmons- The grocer in your neighborhood

So, funny story:
Yesterday Landon and I decided to go to Harmons and see if they would be willing to take back all of the Club Soda and Torani we had bought for the wedding. We loaded 27 bottles of Club Soda and 14 bottles of Torani into the car and headed on our way. Its amazing how strange of a feeling it is to have all eyes on you. Here Landon and I were with a cart-load of italian soda mixes and people just starred at us dumb-founded like we were in College and getting ready to through some frat/sor. party. Landon was a great negotiator and gave the the sympathy card of us being newly weds. Well, they took it all back! Yipee!!!!! We now have close to $200 in credit at Harmons. lol
I also should mention that we still have 8 bottles of Club Soda that we kept....for special occasions and we also have 22 bottles of Tornai not yet open. 7 already open plus we gave 6 to my parents and all the sugarfree ones to Landons parents. We are gonna be in Italian Soda Heaven F-O-R-E-V-E-R!!!!

Health Alert

What is it with everyone getting sick?
Lets start off with Landon and I. It is mostly likely that Landon has a bleeding ulcer, which is so sad because we have so much fun making new foods together. After my neck injury I experienced a cyst which has taken close to a month to get rid of. On top of that I have vaginitus. Its been hard to miscarry but even harder to know that we have to wait til my body gets healthier before we can try again.
Landons mother told us at our Birthday Party that her doctor found a mass in her Uterus. She went into the hospital this last Monday and they took out a tumor about the size of a cantaloupe. She is doing well now and will be recovering for the next six weeks.
My father also was in the hospital. He went in with Kidney Stones and turned out that they had to first drain his kidneys of infection and then go in and laser them so that he can pass them. He is recovering now but is doing very well.
My Great Uncle James in Michigan is being moved to a Care Facility. He is not doing as well as we would like but we are in the belief that he will live to see his next Birthday in which he will then turn 100 years old.
My Aunt Beth actually had a similar surgery as Landons Mother and even had it at the same time and in the same city. Small World. She is pulling through well and all of the family is down visiting and supporting her.
Also My cousins: Rena, Lana and Tiffany are all suffering from cancer right now. Please keep them in your prayers.
I also received word today that my old co-worker Mr. K at Maeser Prep (He is the headmaster)he is currently at Utah Valley Regional in ICU with Pancreatic Cancer and Kidney Stones. He has been in the hospital for a week now.
These are definitely the last days. Please stay healthy, pray for our loved ones and make every day that you have count.

Couples Therapy....Hillarious on How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days- Life Saver in REAL Life

Landon and I have been married for only a few months but when you take two older people and merge their lives together it can get...surprising! We both had no idea what we were in for when we decided to get married BUT we are so grateful to be with each other and learn and grow as a couple.
Landon and I started seeing a counselor and it has been an interesting experience (being the client and not the counselor). We were told to read a book together by Dr. Sue Johnson. She has pretty much defined EFT. Its a great book and I would reccomend it to anyone.
When I was preparing for marriage, I was counseled to read all sorts of books to help prepare me. Rather than understanding what a relationship is however I believe it is just as important if not more important to understand yourself: your needs, wants and desires.
All in all we are loving our time together and are enjoying the formation of our relationship. Its wonderful to be able to be married to your best friend. There isn't anyone else I would want to grow old with! We are stuck together- we like it that way ;)

Coming Soon...October Birthday Fest

October is right around the corner! That means its Birthday time. Autumns Birthday is on the 2nd, Ryans is on the 8th, mine is the 9th, Moms is the 11th, Landons is the 12th and then TJ's is later in the month. Can you believe we have so many Birthdays at one time? Landon says that he isn't really into Birthdays....boy is he in for a surprise when he sees how much my family loves coming up with an excuse to celebrate! We are planning on going to Tucanos on the 10th to use our free Birthday Dinner postcard =)Yum!

Southern Macaroni and Cheese and other New Things

Landon and I have been trying out all of our new toys that we got for our wedding. We got a crepe maker, a bread maker, a dehydrator, a wok, a pizza stone, pinini maker and a fresh saver. Needless to say we have been having so much fun trying new foods. Yesterday I made Southern Macaroni and Cheese...I am still learning about the proportions thing. lol I have cooked for just myself, or my apartment or and entire ward. Never just two people. So, with that said, when I cook we have left overs for a week.....if not longer. lol
We are also trying other new things. Landon thought that it would be fun for us to start playing tennis with each other. The only problem is that I have never played tennis before. He is an incredible coach though and we have been having a lot of fun. I am getting better.
We are also trying to get back into shape and so we have been trying to do P90X. I love the core work out. We both really enjoy the program. Some of the exercises they do are hard on my neck but I have altered the program so that it works for me and it keeps my heart rate up and still strengthens my core.
We are also on a scrabble kick. We were playing monopoly, the card version, constantly and some how we always seem to come back to that game. But as for right now we are scrabble experts. The rules say that if your scores are in a certain range then you are in different levels. Landon and I are both in the expert range which really makes me wonder about the people who determined the ranges. lol

Welcome

Welcome to our blog. It has taken me a while to get a chance to start this blog but I hope to be able to keep it updated.

Our life has been very crazy these days! I'll do my best to keep you updated on the craziness.