A pretty good meal...

And its easy too!
Buttermilk Ranch Chicken
What you'll need:
4 boneless breasts of chicken.. sliced thin (or pounded thin)
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp dried mustard (I used Grey Poupon Harvest course ground mustard)
1 tbsp. fresh chopped chives (I used more, because I like them, a lot)
1/2 tsp. Dried dill weed
salt and pepper to taste

How you do it:
In a bowl, combine all ingredients (except chicken, which you will add later when you marinade)
After the marinade is made, pour into a gallon size bag, and add the chicken. Mash the bag around making sure the chicken is completely covered. Leave in the fridge to marinade for about 45 minutes, OR over night.

When you are ready to eat, add about 2 or 3 tbsp. or oil into a skillet and fry until brown on both sides, and cooked through.

Golden Butter-Crisped Yukon Potatoes:
What you'll need:
4lbs (or how ever many you feel you need) Yukon Gold potatoes (or just golden potatoes)
Quarter them, leaving skin on, so make sure you wash them off.
Dump into a large pan of cold water, and gradually bring to boil. Cook until fork tender.
Once done, drain for a few minutes and dump into large bowl. Cut 7 tbsp of butter into the potatoes and gently shake to make sure all the potatoes are covered. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Once potatoes are fully coated (butter my not melt fully), spread onto baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about a half hr on 425.

This is sooo yummy and soo easy!! :) Enjoy! (because even the pickiest eaters like it)

Only you..

I used to think I was the only one who knew what I could handle, what I could deal with, put up with etc. But, I was wrong, your child knows what you can handle, and they push it and push it and push it until you think you might just break, and then it all comes crashing down with a big bear hug and a million kisses.
Babies, oh excuse me, toddlers just know all the right moves!

Anyway, I mention this because husband and I have been talking about other babies, no don't get excited, not for many years, but talking nontheless. Talking about things like pregnancy, and how it may be wonderful for some people, their body may bounce back right away, maybe they didn't get sick, maybe they even fit into their skinny jeans the day after. Those people suck. No, they don't, they are just lucky. For me, pregnancy was hard, and not just because I was sick the whole 9 months or because my feet itched so bad I couldn't sleep, or even because I started having major back problems. It was hard emotionally. I think the fluctuation of hormones, and weight gain nearly did me in. And honestly, although better, I am not the same person I used to be. I truly feel that going through another pregnancy is not a good idea for me. Some people misconstrue this as being selfish, however, I don't feel I can be the parent I want to be if I go through it again. This is not to say I wont, it's to say that I have always had this dream, I never knew why, but I always felt like I needed to adopt. Of course I've never mentioned this to husband before now, which may account for his disbelief, which is understandable... but it's always been a nagging thought, a feeling, that this is the right choice for me. Before I had the little one, I dreamed of her constantly, Even months before I got pregnant, her brown hair, blue eyes, rosey cheeks, and I new she was coming to me. But lately, I dream of other things, like finding a baby on my door step, bringing it home, taking care of it.. strange sounding, I know.. but I think it's a sign. I'm not saying now, or even in the near future, because adoption is very expensive.. but I hope we can make my dreams a reality and give a precious babies a second chance at a life all babies deserve. I'm not a perfect parent, but I try, and I have a lot of love for my little one, which makes all the difference.

The coat of my deams...

And, not that I'm supposed to "know" this, but it's MINE! Husband took me shopping yesterday (Black Friday) and I finally got the coat I've been oogling over for the last month or so. I love coats, and if you have ever looked into my closet, you will notice that I actually have more coats than I do shirts! I can't help myself when I see a cute jacket, it's like I just have to have it! I beg husband for it, send him pictures of it, basically I get psychotic. haha, seriously. Anyway, this jacket isn't an expensive, save for months, scrape your pennies together, look under the couch cushions for loose change jacket, in fact, because of black Friday I got the jacket and the cowl scarf for $50! You see, it's not the price of an item that makes it worth having!
Anyway, while we were out, I rediscovered my love for 77 kids, everything in that store is just adorable! I love it, I'm a sucker for little clothes, in little sizes, for my little baby. She looks adorable in just about anything, and especially in nothing, but I love the little "punk rock" style that store has going on. SO of course I had to stop there.. and I obviously couldn't leave empty handed! Everything was 40% off there, and you know how that goes... Yes, I am a serious shopper, but I get pretty good deals! STay tuned for "how to get the good clothes... for cheap!"

What happens...

Sometimes life is so chaotic that you put important things on hold, leaving them on the back burner until it's nearly too late and you are totally scalded by the outcome. Sometimes you let ten million other things come before what really matters in life, justifying it by saying "this isn't how it will be forever". But it IS how it will be forever, if you let it.

Husband and I have been so extremely busy since the start of the school year. He has been pulling crazy hours, like 8am to 10 pm everyday. He is working part time on off days and has hardly had a break until now. I was attending school, until this happened, and since then I have been being a stay at home mother, which believe it or not stresses me out more than anything I've ever done before in my life. It's no secret that this mothering thing isn't very natural for me, yet I give it my all, and I love my little one more than anything in the world. She is sweet and beautiful and so smart. Everything we do, is for her, she is our life, our pride and joy.. but she is also a tiny little bit of a struggle.. no one is saying its not worth it.. to those moms out there, you know your baby is worth every crying, screaming, pooping, vomiting, kissy, snuggly second. But on a different note- lately husband and I have been growing apart, it was seeming that we were so busy with our separate lives, we forgot how important it is to be living a life with one similar goal. We were taught our whole lives that the Lord needs to be the center of our lives, and of our marriage, yet we were dismissing it and letting our worldly matters come before it. I am not saying that when a paper is due for class that its not important, or that studying shouldn't be done when you are at home, but I am saying that it came to a point where we really had to sit down and find out what was important to us.
Husband and I are best friends, so don't get me wrong here, and we love each other unconditionally, but we felt like something was missing. We were arguing more, being short, and hardly ever made time to just be together. So after sitting down, apologizing to each other and talking, we knew that what was missing was the Lord. We were putting our daily scripture reading aside, not saying our family prayers, and avoiding all 3 hours of church at every cost. We were not keeping our promises to ourselves, or the Lord.

Since that day, I can truly say that our lives have changed, almost immediately, we regained our patience with our little one, we are no longer short, nor do we argue. We are a completely different couple. I don't write this to say how wonderful we are, but to explain the power of the gospel in our lives. To those of you who are not of our faith, I encourage you to please listen when it is presented to you. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a hoax, it is not a joke. It is 100% true, and can help in any situation.
to learn more, click here.

Sunday night dessert...

Well, it's sunday, the day of rest, so husband and I are taking full advantage of it, and are curled up on the couch, nestled under a big fuzzy blanket.He is reading a book for a school paper, as I sit here and type. The little one is taking her afternoon nap, and boy is it nice to have some peace and quiet. On Friday night we decided to put up our Christmas tree, and start decorating for the holiday season. The tree is beautiful.. I must say, and I am very proud of "its" style this year. Husband and I have been married almost 4 years, out of which we have had 1 christmas tree (besides this one). I say this because I love the tiny lights on each of the branches, it just makes everything feel so bright and lovely.
I just love Sunday's, husband rarely has a lot of homework, so baby and I get to spend a lot of time with him. A little tradition we have in our family is "Sunday Dessert". During the week we rarely have time for dinner, let alone dessert, so every Sunday we have a special dessert. Today it was "Blueberry, raspberry,strawberry, and pomegranate torte (with peaches)". It has such a long name, #1 because I don't know what else to call it, and #2 because I made it up. It's very easy, and oh so good. (Nearly all the things I make are "semi-homemade").

Blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, and pomegranate torte (with peaches)
preheat oven to 350
In the freezer I had a bag of dole fruit mix... hence the different fruits. I divided and poured the fruit into individual ramekin bowls I then hunted in my completely un-functioning cabinet until I found a can of peaches... I usually keep canned fruit in the house just in case I need to make a quick dessert.. or in this case a special Sunday dessert.
After draining the peaches, I cut them up into small bite size pieces, and mixed them in with the other fruit.


In another bowl, mix 1 cup of sugar, 3/4 cup of flour, 1/4 cup of quick oats, and 1/3 cup of room temperature butter. Mix with a spoon until crumbly.

Spread the mixture over the individual fruit bowls (or whatever you used), press firmly, then bake about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the fruit is nice and tender.


Let cool for a few minutes and serve with vanilla ice cream... delicious.

The thing about me...

Heres a little bit about myself, I'm a 23 year old mother of one BEAUTIFUL little girl, Fae and wife of a pretty hunky man named Jarom. We have been married almost 4 years, we've had our share or trials, but ultimately we are each others rock, best friend and soul mate. We are living in New York, while Husband (Jarom) attends graduate school, and proves himself at his awesome internship with General Electric.

I am very honest, forthright, and somewhat self conscious, I have a lot to say, and ten times more to learn. I like to express myself with words, and feel that a great poem, or short story can convey more emotion that a novel. I love to write, and read. I am in the process of figuring out my life, taking care of my baby, and being a wife. I am a little crazy, but then again, who isn't? We are a modern LDS family who lives each day to the fullest, and who wont be stereotyped. Welcome to our lives! We hope you enjoy the ride as much as we do.