Painting!

Wednesdays are fun days because we have our oil painting class at night. Scott couldn't make it tonight because he has a huge O-chem test tomorrow and needed to keep studying for it.

We finished our first painting last week and they turned out great! This is Scott's first time oil painting and I think he did a great job! I've taken a class before, but mine didn't turn out like everyone else's clear crisp paintings... (they never look as good in photos as they do in real life either)
Mine:Scott's:

An Even Better Day!

Well, it's the day we've all been waiting for! Scott and I are officially engaged! We are getting married on May 5, 2009 (Cinco de Mayo!) Continue reading for the complete story...

Thursday night Scott kept suggesting we go to bed at 10, I was all for it since we both had been fighting a cold and I was thinking about sleeping in a few hours in the morning for work again. As we ate and talked a little, Scott finally told me that I wasn't going to work the next day and he had already told my co-worker Jim. He said we had to go to bed early because he was picking me up at 5:30am. I just knew that this was the day so of course I couldn't sleep! Scott said he couldn't sleep either and had only slept a few hours before arriving at my door at the aforementioned time. He told me to wear warm clothes and to bring a normal set to change into later.

First on the surprise agenda was a hike up Ensign peak in Salt Lake City. This hike is significant because only a few days after meeting (after a walk together and a double date with Jen and Lance), he went with me at 4am to drop Jen off at the airport on May 5, 2007 as she was going to Ecuador for nursing. That morning he had suggested we hike Ensign Peak (a very short .5 mile hike to an outlook over the Salt Lake Valley) and watch the sun rise. It was the first time he held my hand. Here's a picture of us THAT morning: May 5, 2007
I can't believe that was almost 2 years ago!

Anyway, continuing with the story, Scott drove us to Ensign peak and we hiked to the top. Just as before, we spread out blankets (although this time there was snow on the ground!) and cuddled underneath to watch the sun rise. We packed everything up and before walking back down, Scott said, "before we do anything else today..." and he knelt and proposed. It was perfect! I said I would marry him before he even pulled out the ring! We were freezing before, but couldn't feel the cold after!
Before:














After:














The rest of the day was just a celebration of the beginning of a new chapter! First stop on the agenda was a great breakfast at Denny's (after changing at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building... both are things we did that first time). Then off to Heber to ride the train! We saw lots of wildlife on the trip--A bald eagle sitting no more than a few feet from the train window, lots of flying hawks, deer, llama (okay, that one wasn't wild, but it was fun), and a fox!
After the fun train ride that took us past another "first date"--Deer Creek Reservoir where we went fishing with Katie and Wayne (This time though the lake was frozen as you can see in the picture)--we went to Park City to see the World Championship Bobsledding!! We got to stand about a foot from the track and watch the bobsledders race past us. We walked to the top of the track to see the teams from USA, Italy, and the Czech Republic push off! Check out our cool video! Be sure to turn your head... and you can stop it after the sled goes by... Scott was trying to turn it off :)



After bobsledding we each went to our homes to clean up before heading over to Greg and Aubrey's. They made us a great dinner and we had fun with them! Scott still wanted to surprise me, so he had blindfolded me and drove through all sorts of crazy side streets (including over speed bumps in a gas station) so I wouldn't know where we were going.

All in all the day was perfect. I couldn't have asked for anything better! Scott is such a thoughtful planner and makes me feel so special. I am so grateful for him and so excited to be able to stand by him forever. He means the world to me and I can't express the overwhelming joy I feel when I look at him. I love him so much and am so happy to know he will always be my valentine!

Oh, and here is the ring... I think it's beautiful, but even more it's the love it represents that makes it special. Now I can hold his hand even if he's not standing next to me :)

A Good Day

Even though I woke up this morning with a sore throat, it turned out to be a pretty good day.

1-I got to sleep in for just a little while. Generally I wake up at 6:40 so that I can get in and out of the shower before my roommate needs to (although some days she doesn't get in before 7:30... it's those days that I sleep in that she'll get in at 6:55). This morning though, when my alarm went off, my roommate was already in the shower! That meant I got to sleep in until 7!! (which I normally did at the beginning of the semester but soon stopped when I had to wait everyday for her to get out of the bathroom because she'd go in moments before my alarm... even though she knew I woke up at 7).

2-Jen shared her birthday with me (it was on the 4th, but we are still celebrating) at the salon to get a pedicure. My lady was a little spacey and not really paying attention, but it was fun to be with Jen. Afterwards we went to Carl's Jr. with Lance... I haven't had a hamburger since forever ago... but it was pretty good.

3-My bedroom light came on! About 3 days after moving into this basement apartment (beginning of January)...big private room for $250 a month... not too bad... my bedroom light stopped working. Apparently it was a pretty common occurrence but nobody had bothered to tell me about the problem. I've been using 2 floor lamps for light, but it just doesn't do that well. I try to flip the switch every day or so just to see... and today it came on! It was a miracle! Now I'm afraid to turn it off! It's hard getting ready in the dark! (plus our heater doesn't work so it's a constant 63-65 degrees in here... I am grateful for a heated blanket and little space heater that doesn't catch fire)

4-(I wanted to save the best for last) My hunny gave me tulips :) He's so sweet and I love him to death! He always thinks about nice things he can do for me like writing cute notes and hiding them in my desk at work or sending me text messages in the middle of the day. He's pretty great :)

Food

So, I think about food a lot. What I want to eat, snack on, smell... etc. I like a lot of foods, no real favorites, but I enjoy eating. Personally, I can't have a meal without meat. Something about it makes eating more filling and enjoyable. Even my salads need at least some chicken (often instead of making a chicken breast, I just cook some chicken nuggets and cut those up)... and of course, honey mustard dressing. I also like making up things to make for dinner/lunch. Scott and I have eaten dinner together probably 90% of the time we've dated, so he knows the main things I will make... including pasta roni or hamburger helper. I look at recipes and wonder who has things like rosemary or fresh basil laying around, so mostly I look at the pictures and go from there. It's not too bad. My favorite has been our baked ziti (although not like normal recipies and often with a different noodle). It's really easy and delicious!

1 lb. ground beef (or less if you prefer)
Bell pepper (I'm not going to list out the amounts because usually I don't measure)
Onion
Zuccini, squash, broccoli, and/or any other veggie you like
1 can of diced tomatoes
Some noodles (enough to fill a 9X13 casserole pan about halfway)--I like to use Rigatoni noodles because of the thick spirals... ziti noodles tend to dry out
Cheese
Salt/Pepper

Brown the beef, onions and bell peppers together (often I just have chopped pieces of each instead of slices because I buy the pre-chopped bags in the frozen food section)
Cook the noodles (do not overcook! undercooking is better than overcooking)
soften the veggies in a frying pan with butter (or just boil or steam them... however you like), add to the browned beef.
Combine beef mix with diced tomatoes (undrained) and cooked noodles (drained), stir in a bowl (or just the pan if it's big enough)
Pour into a 9X13 casserole dish
Sprinkle with cheese
Put in a preheated oven (about 350) for 10-20 min until cheese is melted and everything is hot.
Add salt and pepper at the end or over the beef, veggies, etc... I've even made it once without seasoning and it was still delicious with all of the other flavors.

I hope you enjoy... if you have any really easy recipies, please share... I'm always looking for something tasty and easy! I have another great recipie that Scott cooks for me, but I'll share it later...

Yum! Happy eating!