Easter...3 weeks late

The train of life has not slowed down one bit over here so I'm very behind but trying to catch up on blog posts!

Easter is one of the holiday's we do at Rick's family's house every year and this year it came early for us since J&L's baby girl was due right around Easter...every year after the kids have their traditional Easter egg hunt, we get to have an adult Easter egg hunt -- however, since Meg just had a baby and Lindsey was about to have a baby...conditions weren't really great to have them running around (let's just say it gets really competitive out there).

SO my mother in law came up with more low key alternatives this year...a wheel of fortune type game and PLINKO (she's the cutest) Rick and I won. I promise our Easter gathering isn't all about the money.

Tess and I made a fancy Easter bonnet

cutie Tess

Easter basket #2 from my parents. Ma gets us the best treats!

This was the first year since we've been together that we were at our own house on actual Easter. It was really nice because without all the hustle and bustle and competing we really got to focus solely on what Easter is really about.

"To all who accept Him as Savior and Lord, His literal resurrection means that life does not end at death, for He promised: “Because I live, ye shall live also.” (John 14:19.)" -Ezra Taft Benson

I am beyond grateful for the knowledge that, through Christ, families can be together forever.

March Extras

March seems like forever ago - we started it off with a bike ride downtown...

 our traditional 'in front of this same fountain every time we ride bikes picture' except there was nobody to take it for us

it happened to be the Mardi Gras parade which we didn't have much interest in staying for but ended up having fun 

I got a laser to the face at the dermatologist, more on that here.

We finally experienced Joe Patti's Seafood & loved it! Even got a picture of Mr. Joe Patti himself ;) 

MATCH DAY - possibly the most stressful, exciting week this year. 

The Relief Society General Women's Meeting happened and I got to hang out with these lovely ladies

We wrapped up March by celebrating Rick's match at Texas Roadhouse...a favorite of ours lately, we're yet to be disappointed. knock on wood

Life kind of slowed down for a week after Match Day...and it's pretty much been a high speed train since then! [i.e. the process of buying a house, traveling, Easter, job hunting, selling anything and everything we can, and pinching our pennies!] ...oh and the train is still going full speed.

That reminds me of a favorite quote: “Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to just be people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey…delays…sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling burst of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”― Gordon B. Hinckley

We're trying to enjoy this 'thrilling burst of speed' & be grateful for our many, many blessings :)

aaaaaaaaaand one last thing, it wouldn't be complete if I didn't post some monthly food pictures: 

P.S. RICK GRADUATES IN LESS THAN A MONTH!!! Woooooooo, so proud. Although, as he would say, "I finally see a light at the end of the tunnel...but it's a freight train" ...

A Dermatologist & a Laser

In January, I went to the dermatologist & got a shave biopsy of a spot on my nose (click here for reminder)

I went back six weeks later and the stinker was wanting to come back...now that we knew it wasn't malignant, we went with the second option which was zapping it with a laser to cut off the blood supply.

I got to wear some goggles and then got 5 or 6 zaps that made me jump/twitch every time...it felt like a rubber band snapping...and I went home with a large spot on my nose.

You may be wondering why in tarnation I am posting this but personally, I like to see a progression of what things "should" look like but couldn't find anything online for this, so I tried to take a weekly picture in case anybody else has to experience the laser.

< (sitting in a room with this contraption for 30+ minutes almost made me chicken out.) 

Here's the 4 week progression:

Week 1 it looked like a dark mole, week 2 it got really red, week 3 it was faded red and I started to get nervous and think this thing wasn't going to fade, and then week 4 it was all of a sudden much much lighter....and it's gradually lightened since. 

I was super self conscious about my new polka dot but I'm very happy with the results -- especially compared to the results I had 6 weeks post biopsy! 

*I applied sunscreen every morning & a steroid cream day and night for the first 2 weeks. & I avoided the sun. 

Foodie Patooties

Because we love food & love to share good food, here are links to some of our favorite recipes -- I've noted changes we make:

Blender Oat Pancakes (no flour, no sugar, pure deliciousness)
**increase cinnamon to 1 tsp., I use honey instead of maple syrup and probably use 1+1/2 Tablespoons..or 2...I don't measure it, & I use almond milk. 

Buttermilk Biscuits

In case you didn't know, Rick is quite the multi-talented man. At the end of last year he discovered his newest talent: making the best biscuits EVER. The secret (we think): buttermilk

Advice from Rick: handle dough as little as possible. Pat the dough, never roll it. 

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

**I usually do one sweet potato, less than 1 T. butter, 1/2 T. brown sugar, 1/4 Cup milk

Mashed Cauliflower 

**I cut out the bullion and chives , decrease butter by 1/2 & instead of garnishing with butter I blend it in with everything, add a little milk to help it blend (i use immersion blender), season with salt and pepper to taste 

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

**I don't add sliced green onion & i use less cilantro, my favorite thing is you can freeze these and they are just as good when cooked from frozen! Also, i like to make homemade flour tortillas for these because that way there aren't all those additives (I like this recipe because it doesn't use lard) & because i recently got a tortilla press! 

Quinoa Burgers 

**minus the green onions (can you tell we don't care for onion chunks?), if there is a local Greek restaurant i recommend picking up a couple sides of tzatziki to top these with

Skinny Chicken Cordon Bleu
**soo simple and soo good! I'm not a fan of regular swiss cheese so I use the much milder baby swiss

Kale Chips
**wash, dry, and break kale into pieces (bigger than you want them to turn out because they shrink up), do not include the stem of the leaf!, put them in a bowl and drizzle enough olive oil to toss & coat each piece lightly, lay out in single layer on sheet pan, sprinkle with salt, bake at 350 for approx. 7 minutes -- that's in our oven so it may take less time or more time -- they will look and feel crispy but there is a fiiiiiiiiine line between these being done and too done SO play with your oven times until you figure out the perfect number of minutes ;) 




Happy Monday :) 

Match Day!

Ricky is going into Anesthesiology and will complete his residency at _________________ !!!

(in an attempt to retain some privacy, see facebook or instagram for location , they are private so I know you're a friend if you see it there ;)

I seriously could not be more proud of my hardworking, smart, dedicated husband and we are so excited for this new adventure!!! It's going to be quite the exciting year.

A few things that (to me) are stressful about moving:

• having to tell boss that we're moving
• deciding whether to rent or buy
• finding a place to rent or buy
• finding a new job (& everything that entails!)
• packing/loading
• unloading/unpacking (mostly because my husband likes it to all be done the same day...because he can't stand living in chaos..which stresses me out but then after the fact I secretly love that it's all done)

any and all moving advice is welcome, please!! 

trying to take a picture in the bright sunshine…no bueno

James Bond themed match day

selfies 

After lunch we met up with Jamie and Bella, yay!

Yes, my husband is 27 going on 87 (note his socks)...

got to see my Jamie!

& then we joined Rick's classmates for match day festivities

CHIRLEY OUR FAVORITE!

prom posing

& then we found out we made it into the match day write-up: 

In case you can't read that…(see first bullet point)

YES he is so cheesy and sweet and I blushed BAD but I could just read that over and over because it made my heart melt. Also, the audience collectively said "awwww"…nobody screamed "ahhh"…& for the record, my name doesn't have an "e" at the end ;)

& that was match day :) it was everything it's cracked up to be.

p.s. any and all moving advice is still welcome. seriously.