amazing summer recipe

if you like thai this is for you! i got this from a website called eatbetteramerica.com. it is great for when you don't know what to cook and want a healthy simple solution!

makes:8 servings (3/4 cup each)

1	package (7 oz) vermicelli, broken in half
1	medium carrot, shredded
1	cup sliced quartered cucumber
1	cup coarsely chopped red bell pepper
1/3	cup sliced green onions
1/4	cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2	cup Thai peanut stir-fry and dipping sauce

1.	Cook vermicelli as directed on package. Drain in colander or strainer; rinse with cold water until cold. Drain well.
2.	In large bowl, toss drained cold vermicelli and all remaining ingredients to coat evenly with sauce.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change.

Nutritional Information

1 Serving: Calories 150 (Calories from Fat 40); Total Fat 4 1/2g (Saturated Fat 1g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 0mg;Sodium 135mg; Total Carbohydrate 23g (Dietary Fiber 3g, Sugars 3g); Protein 6g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A30%; Vitamin C 60%; Calcium 0%; Iron 8% Exchanges: 1 1/2 Starch; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1/2Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 1 1/2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

perfect morning

i am having a perfect morning today and here is what it consists of:

*getting up at 6:45

*blue skies and sunshine

*driving with my adorable husband to work

*sitting and drinking coffee at scooters

*blogging of course!

*spending some qt with jesus doing an amazing bible study (beth moore: breaking free)

fabulous, amazing, awesome, relaxing, refreshing, lovely

mason city

this weekend we are on the road to good ol' mason city, iowa. home of the music man and the mason city mohawks. jay's grandparents from albuquerque will be there and can't wait to see them! we haven't seen them since our wedding a year and a half ago. we love being able to spend time with family because truly they are what matter in life. this may sound cheesy but friends come and go throughout your life but your family is always there.

mason city is only a town with about 30,000 people so needless to say there isn't many activities to participate in. their local coffee shop, jitters, is fun to go to and hang out in after a good run on the path by the river that runs through town. also clear lake is a nearby town with a huge lake people can boat in and swim. they have a two decker boat that gives tours of the lake called "lady of the lake" and i really want to go on a ride sometime. i think it sounds like fun! maybe this weekend will be my lucky break and we can all go.

with grilling, laughter, and relaxation i am so excited for this weekend!

quote of the day

here is a quote from 7 yr. old bryce, one of the kids i nanny:

"let the female do what she wants to do!"

hahahaha i loved it. had to share it!

day 2

so day 2 of running is done. 4 miles. so i have only run 2 days thus far and need 3 more.....today (friday), tomorrow (saturday), and sunday. my running weeks always start on mondays for some reason. i plan on doing 4 today, 6 tomorrow, and 3 on sunday. wish me luck all! after this week i will have run 5 days for the first time in a month or so. yay! i love having goals!

easy dessert!

these are the best brownies ever! they take no time at all to make. put them with some vanilla icecream and you have a perfect summer treat. i made these yesterday and 3/4 the pan is gone from family and friends enjoying them!

friend time with jeremy & kayla and andy & brittany

today after a day full of swimming we had the chance to go to JAZZ IN JUNE and TOY STORY 3! with our bellies full from mr. goodscents we had an amazing night full of fun, laughter, and friends. we went to jazz in june thinking how wonderful it was going to be however when we got there and sat we quickly realized how steamy hot it really was outside. we enjoyed a few wonderful songs as we all sat and chatted and then spontaneously decided that we needed to see toy story 3. we all got up and anxiously walked to the theater hoping there would be a showing close to 7:30pm and score! there was one at 8. the tickets were bought and the seats were found and we all sat with smiles waiting for the show of our childhood. upon sitting there for about 5 minutes we noticed an oddly huge amount of high school aged kids with tags around their necks in the theater. it turns out that there was a thesbian convention in town with thousands of teenagers and they ALL got free movie passes and i think half of them came to the movie we were at. needless to say there were many out spoken dramatic people to entertain us before and during the movie and to make jay feel uncomfortable :). it was an experience to say the least. the movie was fantastic and i may have shed a tear at the end. it was pretty intense not even kidding!

to top the evening off as we left it started to rain and storm so there we were laughing at jeremy running like a maniac in front and kayla's inside out umbrella in back. we literally had sand in our teeth after from smiling and laughing as the wind was blowing. jeremy and andy then put on a rendition of singing in the rain and twirling around lightpoles for us. ahhhhh it was so fun. thanks friends for your friendship and spontanaity!

storms

so yesterday lincoln generated 6 inches of rain. wow! every single day it has been raining and in the evening we have had several awesome thunderstorms. the skies we have seen lately are crazy sick! i have never witnessed such majestic skies painted from the fingertips of God. it amazes me the colors he weaves together and the patterns he creates. SO AWESOME I CAN'T GET OVER IT! JESUS YOU ARE AMAZING!

fact:
a lightning bolt generates temperatures five times hotter than those found at the sun's surface

ps
yes i did take these pictures


ok no i didn't....i like to think i did :)

day 1

so my goal is to run 5 days this week and CHECK, day 1 is done. HOORAY for me! it always feels good after i get out there and sweat my brains out because of the humidity. anyway....i am taking the munchkins to a water park tomorrow (the kids i nanny for). it should be interestingly fun!

dog update:
norman has had an irritable stomach today. we came home and he had thrown up some string or something. poor little guy! needless to say he is back to chasing flies and acting normal.

husband

jay just asked me if i realized i only have three followers of my blog. wow that cut deep. i told him "i don't even care" and then i started laughing. i mean i am only doing this for fun because i like it. also tonight i started taking pictures of some of my new decorating things and jay made fun of me the whole time. it was hilarious i have to admit. then he noticed that i had to take the batteries from the remote and put them in the camera in order to take pictures and document my life and he said, "NEVER take the batteries from my dinger again!". hahahaha. yet again he made me laugh. this blog was his idea and guess who is doing it now. me! so to all of you followers out there, these blogs are for you!

p.s.

jay just informed me that if i gain 180 lbs. he will buy me a garmin :)

running

after doing two half marathons this year i believe i want to do more. lately i have gotten out of the habit of running five days a week and have been running two-three. sooo this week my goal is FIVE DAYS. i can do this. to get me pumped i have put some black eyed peas, brittany spears, and beyonce on my ipod. yes i did mention brittany. the beats get my legs moving! hahaha also i have been dreaming of my dream running gear. here are a few inspirations to get me moving:

a garmin watch so i can run without going to mapmyrun.com

a patagonia running skirt...soo cute. i didn't like the skirt thing at first but i am catching on

sweet patagonia running hat

patagonia socks..blister proof....i like patagonia can you tell?

ok....so five days this week. i will keep you posted about my progress

HARRY POTTER

after watching all of the harry potter movies this past winter i have decided to read the books. i can't believe i didn't want to read these books when i received the first one in sixth grade for christmas. i suppose my mom new what was "in" and i didn't. well i have finally caught up to the bandwagon after it has already left.

honeymoon continued.....

after much research looking at all inclusive tropical resorts, we have concluded that although it would be fabulous......we may get bored. soooo, yes we have decided to go to colorado. i mean we have only been there probably 1,000 times but it NEVER gets old. we desire to live there so we may as well travel there every chance we get. we could go to a tropical getaway but instead we have chosen colorado. now all we have to do is decide on a town......probably breckenridge. you can never go wrong with eric's pizza and clint's coffee. oh how i am absolutely in love with breckenridge! ever since i was 7 years old i claimed i would live there. maybe one day!

memories

as i was looking through our photos i found this lovely video. when we visited family in albuquerque, new mexico i had this crazy idea to brush my teeth with beef flavored dog toothpaste in exchange for a pair of teva sandals. thus the video. get some popcorn and enjoy!

it has been a while blog.....

so since the last month that i have blogged much has happened. yes i did slack on enlightening people on the newest events in our lives. i have begun a nanny job with three wonderful children. bryce and grace are twin 7 year olds and sydney is 12. they sure keep me busy! with golf, swimming, dance, and baseball, we are always on the go. the other day sydney told bryce that i was moving to hawaii and would not be their nanny the next day and bryce responded with this quote, "did you hear that? my heart just broke!" hahahahahahaha i thought it was so funny coming out of his mouth!

jay is in his first 5 week session of summer classes and only has one more 5 week session left! yay go bubsy! he is almost done and cannot wait. i can't wait for him. he is still working at scooters and is now a manager over managers of a few stores here in lincoln. god is good in always providing for us!

because god is so good we wanted to pass that on to those around us and we started with jay's parents. jay's siblings and us redecorated their living room with new furniture, a rug, a sweet clock for above the mantel, entertainment center, and odds and ends. they absolutely loooovvveed it! it was so fun to see. unforunately i need to get better at documenting our life with pictures, otherwise i would show you.

and finally my birthday was this past week. yay for birthdays! we had dinner with friends at chilis and jay got me a beautiful plant! i love flowers. i wish i could have a garden with wild flowers and veggies but that will happen someday. so for my birthday i was able to go on a shopping spree at super target and we gutted our office. by gutted i mean deep cleaned and spruced it up. jay hung his 500 bikes on the deck and we got rid of needless school papers. we also hung some curtains that are a little too short but don't look aweful. oh well! we got an round ottoman for the living room and some new pillows for our bedroom. i love pillows...seriously i have a crazy addiction to them and i need help. it was fun to kind of redo our apartment. we had a very productive saturday and i loved every single minute of it with the love of my life.

new goal: document our life with pictures

the end