Meal Adventures

I did it! I made a plan for all of the meals this month!

I kind of combined everyone's advice (thank you again). My swe-ot mom made a little cookbook of a bunch of easy recipes that she knew I would like, then I made a document in Excel that says what we're having, what ingredients are in it, and at the bottom there's a grocery shopping list letting me know what to get, how much to get, when to get it, etc. Exciting, huh?? Haha

Anyway, I think I'm going to post the exciting/funny/interesting meals and/or attempts at a meal on my blog. Pictures and stories to come :)

I might just explode with crafty excitement

I'm going crazy...

with excitement!!!

I've been reading these women's blogs lately (I can't even remember how I got to them, but I'm happy I have found them!) and they have inspired me.

I've mostly been looking at treyandlucy.blogspot.com and makeitandloveit.blogspot.com. Both amazing blogs! They make crafts so cute and easy and the first one is especially fun to read.

Anyway

I'm getting really excited all kinds of crafts and projects such as:
Sewing projects
Framed projects
Clothes
Jewelry
Holiday crafts
Super cute clothes for little girls haha
Etc.

BUT mostly I cannot wait to try out Mod Podge.
I smiled just typing the word!! Haha

Here are some picture of some of the projects I want to try (I know all of you pros out there will think these are silly but I'm just a beginner)

Cute "Woodland Fairy" costume that would actually be really easy to make.

Mod Podge Star

These are just normal shoes and the lady Mod Podged cuter fabric on. Oh my gosh. So cool.

This really caught my eye. Think of all the possibilities! (It's fabric, not a painting)

Love it. All of it.

These (above and below) are really cute little girls' dresses that I just thought were absolutely adorable. - The top one is made out of a bandana and the bottom one is made out of a dish towel :)

I just hope Ben doesn't see this post. He won't let me go to the store by myself!! Haha

NEW

Lots of new stuff right now:

New year

New goals

New semester for Ben

New Wii from my parents for Christmas. We are loving it!!

New slippers from Ben. Love them as well :)

New WiiFit - so fun!

New sewing machine - well not really. Same one as always but finally got it fixed. Woot!

New cookbook - my awesome mom is almost done putting together an awesome cookbook with easy recipes that I grew up with. Can't wait to try them out! (P.S. thanks to all who commented on the cooking post, your ideas were all very helpful!)

New piano lessons - New? I guess not really new... I'm just starting them up again a week from today and I'm really excited

New job for Ben - if it works out with his schedule, Ben is going to have a math tutoring job at SLCC

New attitude - I've had a not-so-positive attitude lately about my lack of wifey skills. But they're not going to develop by me moping around so I'm gonna get tackle them and get them going! Taking the bull (cookbook) by the horns (by the covers)!

New piece of decor - I'll post a picture when I put it up. I love it.

Lots of new and lots of fun! :)

just me.

Found this on my friends blog and decided to do it myself. Just for fun I guess, and a chance for you to get to know me a little better.

i wish to one day... be able to play the piano really well.

when i eat cereal... i have to eat it fast so it doesn’t get soggy because who likes soggy cereal?

i can only fall asleep... in ben’s arms... lol jk. i can fall asleep anywhere.

public restrooms... are avoided whenever possible. also, i always use those paper seat-cover things. always.

i refuse to believe... that the delicious salad dressing at café rio is unhealthy. …because i’m not going to stop eating it regardless.

when i'm running... i’m usually out of breath. working on that…

i don't think she knows... but my mother is my role model. :)

when i walk past someone i don't know... i smile. unless we don’t make eye contact initially, then i keep my head down. i’m really shy until i get to know you.

i've learned to accept... that in order to be better at cooking/sewing/playing the piano, i just have to PRACTICE.

i can't... whistle.

i hardly ever... have my phone on me anymore.

majority of the time... i’m thinking about benly. aww… ;)

i really try hard... to be a good wife.

i believe... in the Savior, Jesus Christ. I’ll honor His name. I’ll do what is right; I’ll follow His light. His truth I will proclaim. (The Church of Jesus Christ Children’s Songbook p.77) haha you’d think i was the primary chorister or something.

i get unbelievably frustrated... when i have to go shopping. i do not enjoy it at all.

i hope more than anything... that i will be a good mother.

Help!!

I've been really bugged lately by my lack of awesome-wife cooking skills. :( I feel like I can't look at the ingredients we have and make something out of it. So, whenever I do want to make something cool or delicious or just different than the usual, I have found that I have to spend time, and more importantly, MONEY to go to the store to buy just three or four ingredients. It gets really expensive going to the store two or three times a week for just a couple of ingredients each time. Don't get me wrong, I like making cool and delicious meals but I can't do that every night...

So, here is my question (directed to anyone and everyone who is good at cooking): how do you all do it? Where do you get your ideas? I've looked in several cookbooks but most of them require ingredients that I just don't have (as mentioned before). Do you all just stock up on random ingredients? Or do you have cookbooks that have recipes that are more simple? Or are you all just geniuses and mix together what you have to make a masterpiece?

I'm starting to feel like I'm never going to get good at cooking. And poor Ben has to suffer through my hardcore lack of said skills.

Does anyone wanna teach me? Lol or alteast let me copy some recipes? How about a recipe exchange in the near future, eh? Haha help!!

Vegas, Marriott, birthday, finals - Whew!

One of my favorite things about this time of year is all of the get-togethers everyone has. We had lots of fun spending time with family over Thanksgiving, can't wait for Christmas, and have had a blast at all of them:
- We went to Las Vegas for Ben's cousin's wedding and it was gorgeous! I loved it! But... we forgot our camera so no pictures. Oops!
- Every year the Lyman's get together around Christmas and stay in the Marriott in Salt Lake for a fun Friday night with the fam. It was really fun to be with the whole group :) I wish I had known that we would have been walking around Temple Square and such though - I would have brought a coat! ...And shoes other than flip flops hahah
- Ben's birthday was on Saturday and he did NOT want attention or anything fancy. We spent the morning with his family (at the Marriott) and enjoyed a relaxing day with no homework or worries! Then, instead of spending a bunch of money going to a fancy restaurant, Ben insisted on going to Wendy's for his dinner. Haha what a stud.
- Finals are this week. I think they stress me out more than they do Ben. Go figure.
- We are getting excited for all of the Christmas parties! But can't people all coordinate with each other so that we can go to all of them?! Seriously, there are like 5 just this weekend... :( We're bummed we have to miss some of them.

We're just loving life! Still no pictures of anything. I'm really bad at bringing the camera around... I'll do better :)

Love it.

I saw this picture and thought it was so cute that I had to put it on my blog. I will be trying to do this sometime this winter. It looks like it would take a lot of practice and time, but it'd be worth it.

So cute!