flash back friday // our wedding day

i woke up bright and early with butterflies in my stomach the morning of april 28, 2012. i wanted everything to be absolutely perfect and stress free. stress free for me at least.  I took a nice, long hot shower leaving very little for the many girls living in one house. but who cares... i'm the bride, right?  We had our ceremony and reception at our really good friend Andrew Rinehart's house.  at 7:00AM our perfect white chairs were supposed to be delivered. 10:00 our guests would arrive. and 10:30 our wedding would begin. around 8:30 i got a phone call, "we can't get a hold of dave and we don't know where he is" instantly my heart dropped. I thought, 'was my man bailing on me??' I called several times with no answer. finally dave picked up and sounded like he was still dead asleep. {phew!!} all my bridesmaids and i got ready together. i had grown so close to all these ladies in different ways at different times. they are my girls. dave was lucky and slept in, played some zombies with his boys and showed up around 10:15am. when i put my wedding dress on for the first time that morning the butterflies grew and the nerves set in.  i was getting married!!!! to the man of my dreams. once i walked down that isle and met dave at the end, the rest of the day went by so fast. we were a married couple, and honestly we both got a little emotional. it was absolutely beautiful. we couldn't stop smiling the whole day.  dave planned our luncheon, which was held at joy luck.  we enjoyed great food, great company, and great speeches. we are so lucky to have such great people in our lives. after that we had a few hours to spare until our reception. all we kept saying was, 'we did it' 'we're married!!!!' my mom was amazing.  i told her how i wanted everything and it all turned out even better than i imagined.  we took all our pictures with family, friends, bridesmaids, etc. had our first {& only} bowl of dippin' dots before we started meeting and greeting all of our guests. it seems like a long time standing in line for hours, not to mention smiling the whole time.. but before i knew it we were eating our cake, having our first dance, throwing bouquets, all that jazz and bouncin' to enjoy our first night as a married couple. as soon as we left, we headed towards salt lake.  we stopped at california pizza kitchen for some grub. we were checking in at the little america when the receptionist says, 'okay go ahead and head over to the Grand America, we're up grading you tonight, on us.' what?? heck yeah baby! our suite was awesome... california king size bed, living room, huge closet, nice bath tub. we were spoiled. we just kept thinking... i don't want this day to end. it was honestly, the best day of our lives. we'll remember our wedding day for forever.

the things i love..

olive + dave
a home
beautiful fall leaves
halloween decorations
baby laughs
giraffe onsies, and baby hands
a fixed heater + a nice, warm, cozy house
cuddles with hubby + baby
exercise, and loving it all at the same time
baby kisses
fall season = all our favorite tv shows
daddy + baby sleeping
friends + family

{recipes} apple sauce cookies + blueberry peach quinoa crumble + chicken bacon sandwich

i've done quite a bit of cooking and baking around here these days.  i don't know what's going on with me, because i don't cook.  or bake.  when i was growing up, all i remember is my mom was always in the kitchen baking, cooking you name it.  one of my all time favorite cookie recipe when i was a kid {and to this day} is apple sauce cookies , seriously to die for.

apple sauce cookie recipe

{in seperate bowl} 1 cup applesauce with 1 tsp of baking soda, mix well.
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cup flour
mix well
add 1 cup chocolate chips

bake at 400 degrees for 8 to 9 minutes.

the other day i was watching the rachael ray show and they were baking a blueberry peach quinoa crumble.  my mouth was watering the entire time, so i looked up the recipe and will be making it this week.  below is my shortened version of the recipe or you can go here.

blueberry peach quinoa crumble

1 dozen medium peaches
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup almond meal flour
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon corn starch
{mix all ingredients together}

\\ for the crumble\\
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup almond meal flour
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/3 cup flax seeds, ground
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup ground almonds
1 cup butter- cut into chunks

bake at 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes

dinner saturday night was simple and soooo soo good.  i made a chicken-bacon sandwich.  i was trying to go for something like the asiago chicken sandwich from wendy's but we were missing the asiago. still this turned out amazing.

chicken bacon sandwich

2 chicken breast

asiago cheese
turkey {or regular} bacon
salt & pepper
italian seasoning
onion salt
bun... or i put mine on a lettuce wrap

season chicken and grill until done, let cheese melt on top.  cook bacon until crisp.  build your sandwich. viola!! it's done.

{8 ways} to eat clean.

i love my sugar, and everything unhealthy. :) eating clean is by far one of the hardest things for me to do.  but it is one of the top few things that i absolutely wish i could do. i am by no means an expert on the topic. so i did a little research and found a few ways to help push me along.  hopefully these will help me (and you as well).

// cut down on sugar women should have 6 tablespoons, and men should have 9 tablespoons of sugar                                     per day.

// cut down on salt.

// cut down on saturated fats for example; whole milk, cheese, butter and meat.  instead; nuts,                                                              avocados, olive oil.

// cut down on refined grains (white flour, white rice)

// cut down on the processed foods

// have more fruits and vegetables, they're nutrient, low in calories and can help lower your risk of                                                                 heart disease.

// have more water to figure out how many (8 oz.) glasses of water you should have a day, take your                                   body weight divided by two then divide that number by eight.

// have more whole grains, such as; 100% whole-grain breads and tortillas.

as good as it gets...

before i got married, one of the things i was most excited about was having a place of my own to decorate, especially for the holidays.  when i actually did get married, i had this mind set {and still do} of, why decorate if this is not our permanent home? silly, right? well for halloween this year, this is as good as our decor will get. enjoy!

{ps... sorry for the horrible lighting}

general conference {let's get personal}

this past general conference weekend was perfect for me.  there were so many uplifting talks by so many inspiring leaders of our church.  and boy, did i need to hear all of the messages they shared.  it's not a secret that my life isn't perfect, and that i am not perfect.  it's obvious that i have made many, many bad mistakes in my life time. i'm going to get real personal.  in high school, i was involved with the wrong group of friends, and dated the same guy the entire three years who did nothing but bring me down. it started out slow, but by the time i reached the age of twenty one things had gone extremely down hill and i wasn't sure if i was going to be able to find my way back to what i have always truly believed. i would go to parties, and get involved in everything that i shouldn't have.  i did drugs so many times, i can't even count.  i would drink to the point of passing out every weekend.  things were bad, and the sad part was i knew what i was doing was very wrong.

i am so glad for the night that i called dave to come pick me up from the party i was at, from that night on i have changed and continue to change, thanks to dave. he has helped me in so many ways. i am me, again.  he makes me feel like i am worth something.  and i am so grateful that heavenly father brought him into my life. i am grateful for the gospel and for all of it's leaders and for the chance that all of us members have to come together every six months to be inspired by one another.  i'm looking forward to the day that i can be sealed for eternity to my little family-my amazing husband & best friend and to my perfect little olive and future children.

if you didn't have the chance to listen this past weekend or want to hear the messages again, visit here.

{life lately} welcome fall....

 

we're welcoming fall wether we like it or not... it's definitely here. 

we spent this conference weekend spending time together as a family, listening to the uplifting words from the leaders of the church.