Christmas Time

 

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season this year.  We like most of you have been busily preparing all month in order to celebrate our Savior's birth. 

We put up the tree.

I finally got around to making our stockings.
If you couldn't guess the snowflakes are mine and the animals are Nathans.
I also have two more almost completed so that someday our children will have a matching set.

Made the Happy Birthday Jesus muffins
Every year growing up my family made a Happy Birthday Jesus cake. 
 With it onlybeing the two of us this year a cake is a little bit too much. 
So I compromised and made muffins!

And it Snowed

We are officially ready for Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve!!!!

Family Picture Bloopers

Last Tuesday we went up to a neighboring canyon and tried to take some family pictures to be used on this years Christmas cards.  Because of our current works schedules this was a very spontaneous trip and we did not ask anyone to come along with us to actually take the pictures. 

No problem right?  Our camera has a timer.  We also have this very handy bendable tripod that can wrap around tree branches and stuff. This should be easy.

And so we headed up.  We took a short walk from the trail head and found a great spot.  Now we just had to set up the camera.   Nathan is very crafty and within a minute or two the camera was hooked to a tree and we were ready to go. 

Now for the really tricky part.  To get Jasper to sit still with me while Nathan set the timer and ran to join us.  As you will all see this took a few tries before we got it all right.

 

"Wheres Jasper?"  "Did that flash just go off?"

 

Well my eyes are closed and Jasper is facing the wrong way.

A little faster Nathan.

Nathan didn't even make it into this shot.

Closer but Jasper's trying to get away.

Almost perfect.  If only Nathan didn't have his hands
 around Jasper's neck.

Believe it or not we did eventually get a great shot that is worthy of being on our Christmas cards. But I will not spoil the surprise by posting it here. You all just get to wait and see its for yourselves when they are mailed out. 

 

Happy Saturday!!!



Window well covers

Nathan and I have been working very hard in order to get our home ready for our adoption home evaluation.  One of the requirements that LDS Family Services has is that we must have safety covers over each basement window.  We have know about this for a couple of months and Nathan wanted to build them himself but has been busy with other projects during the summer and fall.  Now that we have finally scheduled the day for the Case Manager to come out to our home it is crunch time. 

Nathan spent two days cutting, bending, and welding these wonderful window well covers for us.  He only has one more to do and then we will be ready.

Large cover

Small cover

Both of them side by side.

And for your viewing pleasure, Here is a sweet picture of Jasper.  This picture makes him look like a little puppy, so peaceful.  This dog really does make me smile most days.

Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll!

Halloween

At work this year we decided that we would have a Wizard of Oz themed day on our hospital floor.  We sent out an email to all staff inviting them to join us in the fun.  My good friend Sharon always dresses up as a witch and so was cast in the role of Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West, I on the other hand was assigned the role of Dorothy. 

I was given a month in which to put my costume together.  After sending out a plea on facebook asking if anyone had a Dorothy dress I could borrow I was lucky enough with the help of my friend Callie and her Mother to get my hands on a dress that was the perfect size.  All that was left was finding the all important ruby slippers to make everything complete.

Being as I am not a big shopper, and dislike spending too much money on items that I know I will not be using very much it was important to me to find a cheap way to get shoes.  With the help of my very intelligent mother we came up with the perfect solution.

I ended up going to DI and buying a $5 pair of black shoes and a couple of cans of spray paint.  Nathan is a master spray-painter and I think that he had just as much fun seeing how they turned out as I did.  Each shoe got two coats of red, two coats of silver glitter, and one coat of glitter sealant.

I think they turned out great, and for one day of use they were perfect.



Nathan painting



Waiting for them to dry.



Finished product




The Whole Surgical Trauma 'Wizard of Oz' Team
Back Row L-R: Sharon as Elpheba, Me as Dorathy, Ariel as The Good Witch, George as the Tin Man, Kristin as the Wicked Witch of the West, and Vicki as a Kansas Cowgirl.
Front Row L-R:  Gloria as Toto, Jen B as a Flying Monkey, Tracey as the Yellow Brick Road, and Kim as a Munckin.
Not pictured: Brent as the Scarecrow.

Happy Tuesday!

My first Deer

This last weekend Nathan and I headed up to the family cabin hoping that I could fill my buck deer tag.   We headed up on Thursday afternoon and because it was so late we just drove around looking for deer from the road and stopped to take some fun pictures in the canyon that we love.

 

The next day, Friday, we headed out early in the morning with Nathan's dad David and brother Brian.  We drove the Jeep up a neighboring canyon and continued our search.  By mid-morning we had spotted three good sized bucks and tried to sneak-up on them through the snow, but they ended up spooking over the ridge before we could get up to them.  
For the rest of the day we sat in different locations scoping the hillsides looking for more bucks. 
Eventually sunset started setting in and it got cold so we started heading back down the canyon to the main road.  
Along the way three doe's ran across the road in front of us and we stopped to watch them.  When we looked back from where the doe's came from there were two small bucks following them.  That's when we got excited.  Nathan handed me the 30 30 rifle and I jumped out of the Jeep.  During that time the bucks had come down the one hillside, across the road and back up the other side.  I pulled the gun up to my shoulder, sighted in on the second buck and fired.  The boys said it was a  great shot and we watched as the buck tumbled down the mountain side to the bottom of the ravine by the roadway.
Because it was so cold and was going to get dark soon Nathan and David took care of the buck and we than we headed back to the warmth of the cabin. 
Here are some pictures of me with my buck the next day.  He was originally a 3-point buck but in the tumble down the hillside we managed to brake several of the tips off his antlers so he only looks like a two point in the pictures. 

 

I had a great time and I cant wait to do it again next year.  And a big thanks to my guides Nathan and David.

Happy Halloween!!!

My favorite time of the Year

Why is it you ask that THIS is my favorite time of the year?  It has nothing to do with the date, or that Halloween is tomorrow or with all the other holidays fast approaching.  It has more do with the feeling in the air.  And most importantly in the fact that I feel like making my homemade caramel popcorn. 
Every year around this time I feel a certain drive to make my creamy caramel popcorn.  I usually end up making a couple of different batches between Halloween and Christmas every year.  Not exactly for the holidays but more because they give me an excuse to pull out the air popper and get to work.
The tradition, as with the best traditions in life started when I was a young child.  I have many memories of sitting in the kitchen, all of us sitting around the popcorn popper sorting through the popped and unpopped kernels.  

Four bowls of fresh popped popcorn

Two batches of caramel

Bring it to a boil and than add the sweet and condensed milk

Fresh caramel

Pour over the popcorn

And stir in completely

 

I am glad that I can carry on the tradition and continue to share this amazing popcorn with those around me. 

Happy Tuesday!!

Cooking

Today while I was at Walmart I saw a sign that reads:

 

I was almost tempted to buy the sign and hang it above my oven.  I unlike my sister and my wonderful husband do not find much joy in cooking.  I do try occasionally to work on this problem and to turn my weakness into hopefully someday a strength.  Over the years I have found a few things that I am able to cook/bake/prepare without too many problems.

Those items would include but are not limited to:

• Chicken crescent bundles
• Crock-pot roast
• Homemade from scratch Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo 
• Chicken Stir-fry

And just this week I have added two new dishes to this list:

• Baked Eyeballs Casserole
• Au Gratin Potato's

Nathan informed me that my eyeball casserole is good enough that I should make it the next time my family braves the hour long drive up to visit us for dinner. 
Tonight's experiment of homemade Au Gratin potato's is currently in the oven as I type this and I hope that it turns out at least edible.  Wish us luck tonight as we try it!

Happy Tuesday!!!

This is Halloween!

I am so excited for Halloween.  It has always been my favorite holiday of the year.  I think a lot of the reason for these feelings are because of my Mother.  She has always made Halloween so much fun growing up.  Her home is filled with decorations for the entire month.  Since moving out and living on my own for the last several years I have slowly began building my own supply of fun things to decorate my own home.  Slowly one piece at a time over the years I will eventually also be able to fill my home with the same holiday spirit my Mother does in her home.  
Here are some of my favorite things I have collected thus far...

Meet Iggy. 

I found him while I was attending school in Price. 

 

This wood block sign was given to me by my Mother-in-law last year.

 

And this years addition are bats that I cut out from old X-rays.

I hung several from the lights above our stairway.

And the rest are hung in our front window. 

They are much easier to see when it is dark outside.

 

 

I would love to hear from my readers.  If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions about my blog or about Nathan and I please feel free to leave them here.  Thank you for reading.

 

Happy Thursday!!!

 

Puppy's New Bed

For a few months now Nathan and I have been noticing the increasingly poor state of our dog Jasper's pet bed.  We have watched and watched for sales but new beds are expensive.  I was finally able to find a steal of a deal through Groupon.  And boy is it a good bed.  For only $15 we received an Animal Planet Large Sherpa Memory-Foam Dog Bed that retails for $49.  Plus it came with free shipping! 
Here are some before and after pictures for you to see what exactly I mean.

Before, with his lumpy little bed.

 

After, with his large orthopedic memory foam bed.

 

 

Jasper is a happy puppy.  He didn't get up and shift around in his bed at all last night.  Also I think its so funny to see how little his new bed makes him look.  Just by looking at it you wouldn't think he was a 70lbs dog.  He is spoiled.  And we love him.

 

Happy Friday, again !!!

 

My New Hobby

Two weeks ago I began the adventure of developing a new hobby.  Something fun and exciting, full of suspense and mystery that also brings with it a membership in a elite world wide club.   Any guesses as to what this new hobby of mine is?   If you guess racecar driving, photography, or pogo stick jumping I am sorry to say but you are wrong. 
My new found use of my time the is very enjoyable hobby of knitting!   That is right lady's and gentlemen, I am now a knitter, a weaver of yarn, and soon to be (with much hard work and patience) a maker of knitted stuff. 
Since February my friend Sharon and I have talked about her teaching me how to knit while she was away from work for a few months recovering from surgery.  And even though I would go and visit with her once a week or so during that time; we spent those hours talking and telling stories.  I enjoyed all those visits very much.  Now as those spring and summer months have passed and Sharon has returned to work fully healed we finally made it a point to start lessons.
As I said two weeks ago I had my first lesson.  I met Sharon a her home one night after work.  During that first lesson she taught me how to do both knit and purl stitch as well as how to cast-on a project and how to bind it off when it is finished.  She says that I am a very quick learner, but I give all the credit for how fast I picked it all up on the wonderful patient teacher that she is. 

Many of the supplies Sharon has given me to use and try.

 

Small practice pieces.  Just mastering different stitches.

 

The start of my first official project.  I am making myself a scarf with

alternating white and red stripes.

A close up of the pattern for the scarf.

 

 

I  am very much enjoying this new hobby I am learning and I look forward to expanding my knowledge and skill with Sharons help as the years go by.  

 

 

Happy Friday!!!

Me and You

Tonight I am missing Nathan.  After weeks of having him home with me every night I am finding it lonely to have him again working the night shift rotation at work.  His work usually requires their employees to work rotating day shifts and night shifts but for the last several weeks he was on straight day shifts while he was training for a new position.  Now that the classroom training is over he is back to working two weeks of night shifts each month. 

He is truly my best friend, my soul-mate, and my better half.  I do not feel whole without him.  It is hard to imagine that I have only known him for last 4 1/2 years. It feels like we have always been together. What wonderful years they have been and we look forward to so many more ahead.  

On one of the many happiest days of my life since Nathan came into it. 

I want to dedicate this song to him.  (even though he is not a big fan of Kenny Chesney)  I first heard this song on the radio shortly after we started dating and it took me several days and even a call to the radio station to learn its name and artist.  It touched me.  It is the song that for me sums up how we feel about each other and how extremely special our relationship is.

I love you honey.  Goodnight.

Happy Thursday

Bart

This sweet puppy has stolen my heart.  His name is Bart and he is a four month old American Pit Bull Terrier/Shepherd mix.  Nathan and I became fans of the Best Friends Animal Society by watching the show Dogtown on Netflix.  Since then I have started following them on facebook and periodically browsing through their adoptable pet profiles.  While we are not in the market for another dog it is still fun to look.  That was until we saw Bart.  I know that we cannot adopt him at this time because we have so many other things that we are in the middle of.  But it is a nice dream.  To imagine Jasper and Bart playing together in the back yard and keeping each other company.  And having a little puppy to snuggle up with.                                                                               Jasper is our 3 1/2 year old pit bull puppy that we have had for the last 2 1/2 years.  He tends to have some separation anxiety and we have always wondered if that would be helped if he had a little buddy.   Jasper has been our spoiled baby and is used to having our undivided attention.  It would be good for him to have a friend.  Someone to play with and get rid of all his hyper energy.                                                          

              I will just have to keep dreaming this sweet dream.

Happy Monday

Birthday Adventures

Yesterday was my 27th birthday.  Nathan and I had not planned anything very exciting to mark the occasion other than a trip out to dinner to the Texas Road House.  I was just expecting a very mellow day.  Let me explain why birthdays in my family were never a really big deal.  It was not because we weren't loved or nobody cared, it was just a matter of every ones birthdays falling in the same week. Birthday overload. We usually shared one cake and it felt more like a mini Christmas in May.   Here's the timeline we celebrate every year.

• May 24th My sister Sam's Birthday
• May 25th My parent's Anniversary
• May 26th My Birthday
• May 27th My Father's Birthday
• May 28th My Mother's Birthday and my Father-in-Law's Birthday

 Before you ask, No, none of this was planned.  My parents did not know each others birthdays at the time they picked May 25th to get married, and my sister and I both made our entrance's into the world slightly earlier than our expected due dates.  And thus we end up with mini Christmas in May.

Yesteray started off like most other days that Nathan and I are lucky enough to both be off work.  He got home from working the night shift and took my car to the tire store to have new tires put on.  In the mean time I went to the local high school to pick up our weekly delivery from Bountiful Baskets.  If you dont know what this is you should click the link to find out.  After these errends Nate took a  nap (remember he just worked the night shift) and I did alittle work around the house.  A little after three PM we headed over to his parents house for a visit before heading out to dinner.  They were not home when we got there so Nate decided to take his brothers new dump truck for a spin and took me along for the ride.  Nate's family owns several peices of large equipement to do odd jobs but I had never before ridden in any of it.  That was the first adventure/ or thing I had never done that I did on my birthday. 

Brian's new dump truck.  Just a little guy.

When Nates parents returned we had a nice visit than drove into the city for dinner. The resterant was crowded as to be expected on a Satureday night but we still enjoyed the time together.

On the drive home I decided that I wanted to do another thing that I had previously never done.  I have lived in Utah my entire life and near the Great Salt Lake for the last four year but I had never been to the lake shore or touched the water.  It was time for that to happen!  I asked Nate to take me out to a giant rock that stands on the southern corner of the GSL so that I could finally touch the water.    We had a good time even though a storm was blowing in and as Nate was saying in hes best pirate voice "the waters be angry, and the winds are fierce."

I'm finally at the Great Salt Lake.

Nathan at the Lake.

I told you the wind was blowing.  This was about the time that Nate was speaking like a Sailor.

Nathan climbing the giant rock.  I'm too afraid of hights to join him.

All in all it ended up as a very memorable day and a Happy Birthday. 

Happy Sunday Y'all 

Happy Birthday Dad.

Happy Mothers Day

To start off I would like to wish everyone who reads this post a Happy Mothers day.  I hope that you are all able to find a meaningful way to celebrate the important women in you life.
I would especially like to thank my own mother for being MY Mom.  She is one of my very best friends.  She is my example of how a wife and mother should be, she is one of my ultimate supporters and confidants.  She encourages the best in me and is honest to help me see when I am wrong.  She has sacrificed many of her own dreams so that she can help my siblings and I achieve our own.
It took me several years to realize how amazing my Mom really is.  In truth it was not until I moved out to go to college 90 minutes a way from home that I discovered how much I had come to rely on all that my Mother gave to me.   I can remember times in those first few weeks when I would have to run to Wal-mart to have more minutes put on my phone card so that I could dial the long distance number to ask my mom a simple question like how she cooked her chicken, or the best way to deal with a situation with my roommates or class assignments.  It was not until I was 'out of the nest' as you may say that I started to learn all the lessons that she had diligently tried to teach me over the years but that I chose not to pay attention to.  In my young mind I would think "why would I need to learn how to cook and clean or make a shopping list and budget money when she was always there to do it for me?"  She knew that she would not always be there.  I ended up learning many lessons the hard way.
Over the weeks and months our calls became a little less of my questions and more and more like two friends calling to check in on each other and see what we were up too.  Since that time our friendship has grown and matured.  We now speak at least a few times a week about all the big and little things going on in our lives. Thank you Mom for you constant love and support.  You are the best.  Someday I hope that I can be as great a Mother to my future children as you are to me.

I love you Mom

Happy Mothers Day! 

Happy Sunday Ya'll

Enjoy the Simple Things in Life

Nathan and I (my name is Jen by the way) enjoy living a simple/ quiet life. As this plaque that we received as wedding present states 'Life is beautiful in its simplicity.' We have found these words to be true.

In the over three and a half years that we have been married it has been the quiet times that we are able to spend together that have meant the most to us. We are not the type of people who go in search of a party or a crowd but more often we choose to stay home and watch a movie, laugh at the funny things our dog does, or cook dinner together.

  As the title to this blog says it’s a country life for us. That sums us up for many reasons.

• We choose to and LOVE living in a small town. (really it only has one stop light)
• We enjoy being outdoors. The closer to the mountains the better.
• We like to get away from the noise and the constant Go-Go-Go mentality of the city.
• All of Nathans family lives out here.
• Nathan has a horse and although we do not have room for him currently, someday our next home will have horse property and so Buck can stay with us.
•  Nathan is an avid hunter and we also enjoy fishing and horseback riding.
•  We dislike the traffic and the chaos of city driving.

I’m sure that the list could just go on and on if I really thought about it. But I do not feel the need to justify it. Pure and simple it is just the way we are.

Happy Tuesday Ya'll