A dinner revelation

One of the things I've been wrestling with since we got married is meal prep. Once we got settled in our apartment, I started really wanting to be all wife-y and make dinner for the two of us each night. It happened a few times, sporadically, but never with planning ahead and main dishes and side dishes and stuff. It took until finals week for me to realize what my problem was. You're gonna laugh when you hear it, but...

Guys. Did you know that people get recipes from COOKBOOKS??

Seriously. I am ridiculous but I never had thought of that in the two months we'd been married! We got about 5 cookbooks as gifts and they were on the shelf in the kitchen, but in my head I just thought people got recipes from their ancestors (secretly and memorized) or from the interwebs. And my ancestors and I hadn't yet chatted, and we didn't have access to the interwebs at our apartment, and so...no recipes, duh. Which meant no dinner. 

It all became clear, though, when we went to watch the BYU basketball game with some friends at their apartment, and hostess Eryn made a delicious roasted red pepper dip, and I asked, "Wow, where'd you come up with this?" And she answered, "It's in my favorite cookbook!" 

I'm pretty sure my brain exploded in that moment. But I managed to put my jaw back in place and respond with something appropriate, all the while wondering what magical dips must be in the pages of my own cookbooks. 

So the next day I pulled out my Secret Recipes cookbook and put sticky notes on everything I wanted to try out, and we have since been working our way through them all. We've found a yummy kung pao chicken which converted me to the idea of peanut flavor for dinner and we've found a really nasty casserole which Joe was gracious enough to eat almost completely alone. This week's docket includes BBQ hamburgers (I think they'll be like sloppy joes) and taco salad (which is actually a bit of a cop out because I did already know that one, but whatev). 

Anyways, I am loving this. I never thought I'd say that about cooking, but I think what I love most about it is just the chance to learn new skills and see (taste?) instant applications. I feel like each meal I make gives me a new level of competence on some specific kitchen skill (or two or five), and that feels nice. It's like passing a level on Eggbert or something. (Eggbert? Anyone? Anyone know Eggbert?)

So if you're ever hungry, just holla at me. Cuz this girl now makes dinner.

#adults #broccoli

Picture!

This was Joe's Instagram of the first deliberate meal I made. We hadn't yet gone grocery shopping for our (my) new hobby, so I made the cookbook's "Fancy Tuna-Wiches" recipe since we already had all the ingredients. It was surprisingly delicious.

My two things

When we started actual wedding planning (by which I henceforth mean the details beyond who and which temple), I said that the two things I cared about most were the photography and the flowers. I had good reason for this! Photography was important because the wedding photos are what you walk away with after it's all said and done (well, other than the fact that you're now married and you have a ton of cake in your freezer). And flowers--well, I just love them. Few things make me happier than fresh flowers, and this was the one day that it would be completely acceptable for me to carry around a handful of them ALL DAY LONG. Yessssssssss.

And so we began researching those. We searched far and wide and long and it was so worth it. They were both perfect. Check it out:

See how loverly?? I will happily admit that both made me cry. My bouquet made me cry when I saw it, and then again when I had to throw it, and it made me smile at every second in between. And I tear up when I look through the photos also. They're just so purdy!

So yes, they were both worth the desperate searching because I have so much love love love love love for them as I look back. Thanks be to:

a) Tasha of Bloom Floral Design Studio

b) Amber of Amber Dehaas Photography

and c) my parents (for caring as much as I did). 

Finals

I finished my finals on Thursday of last week. They went well, thank goodness.

When we began this semester, I was so not invested in school, and it felt weird, and I didn't like it. Normally, I love college and I love being a student and new semesters feel like Christmas morning! But this semester's beginning was just so stressful with wedding decisions that I simply did not want to make myself do it. I blew off some homework assignments and some midterms (ok just one midterm and one accidental [read: forgotten] midterm). 

It looked like dire straits from there.

Fortunately, I had two excellent professors who taught me wonderful things and were very understanding about how engagements can affect grades and basically snapped me out of my funk. I started sitting in the front of my classes again, I talked to some people and made some new friends, and I even made comments in class! And I set a goal to end the semester with fantastic grades, despite the craziness. 

I fell back into love with learning. 

When finals rolled around, I was on the brink of A's in all my classes. If I could get an A on every final, I could get an A in every class. If I slipped into B or C range for my finals, I'd slip into B or C range for my grades. And while I consider B and C range to be perfectly fine in college (you should know that I never considered those acceptable for myself in high school), I had set a goal for A's, so clearly that was the only option for this semester.

I won't explain all the studying and mania and game-planning that went into my finals because that's boring, but I will say that, as in previous semesters, I did my darn best and hoped for a lil divine intervention. And guys, I think it worked out. 

Grades won't be officially posted until the last day of this month, but based on what I can see, I somehow got in the 90's for all my finals. It's a Christmas miracle! And I might cry over it. 

So anyways, it's been a great week. And not even just because of grades, but I'll save the other stuff for other posts. Right now I am just so thankful and feeling rather accomplished and wanting my posterity to know that they can do whatever they set their mind to. (Yes, you heard me, their collective mind. Ugh I hate it when I do that but I'm leaving it cuz it's funny.) 


Also, if you're wondering, Joseph killed all of his finals! This is nothing new because he usually kills tests, but we're happy about that too. 

Picture!

That is blurry us in a Christmas tabernacle on Temple Square on Saturday. Does Joe look like Luke Skywalker with his hair at that length? (Say yes.)

Just another layout change

I realize that these things are probably so very dull for most people out there, but maybe one of you is dying to get the ugly Blogger borders off of all your photos. That shadow box thing that makes them all 3D so they won't lie flat on the page? 

Yeah I was wanting that gone before I posted my wedding pics, and we just got the last of them today from our photographer, so they are on the way to blog land! Be excited.

Anyway, I Googled my problem and found a quick fix here.
It took less than 3 minutes to fix and look! Photos can now post sans border!

Just to prove it, a borderless sample photo from the Windows picture folder:

CHA. CHING.

Almost finished!

I am just sitting here, realizing that between Joseph and me (I? me? myself? grammar?), we are about to close the door on a semester filled with the following:

:: a combined 30.5 hours of school
:: a combined 5 jobs
:: an engagement
:: and a wedding

Not surprisingly, our lives have yet to be filled with free time.
Or blog reading. 
I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. 

Have I ever mentioned that we don't have wifi at our apartment? We will, eventually, but we're kind of holding out for Google Fiber.......and living with only campus wifi until it comes. So I can't even blog stalk to avoid homework anymore, and despite the huge blessing that is, it's killing social-media-me softly and quietly. 


But we are so looking forward to this upcoming Christmas break! I personally cannot wait to start some New Year's resolutions that are kind of a long time coming. It's sad but true that some of my long-practiced personal habits (like, say, journaling) went down the tubes in the frenzy of a quick engagement + mid-semester wedding. I basically gave myself the end of the year to settle into a completely new way of life (some call it marriage) before jumping back on board, but I am ready to start NOW. In fact, maybe I will...



I'll keep you posted on our adventures! 

A lament

So I have this problem. 
Russian spammers read my blog every day. 
And it makes me feel uncomfortable.

So I thought I should get a new blog, right?
New year, new blog, sounds lovely...
Might as well try out Wordpress? Right??

WRONG.
Guys, guess what.
You have to pay for everything over there. 
Like if you want your blog to be the colors and fonts you want, you have to pay them $30. 
THIRTY DOLLARS FOR FONTS.

Don't they know these things should be free?
#fuming


Anyways.
I now really have a dilemma because it's not like I can just get a new Blogger blog! 
(Cuz littlebitoflys is already taken, of course.)
Which means I am now so open to suggestions it's not even funny.

Anyone else have a problem with Russia?
OR: Anyone have a Wordpress that they love and want to use to convince me to switch?
OR: Anyone have any other ideas?



Because lil ol me just doesn't want spammers reading all my stuff. 
Waaaah.

Ok I'll stop complaining now and go to work. 
Have a lovely Friday!!