Green Reception

Friday, Zach and I went to a reception for Alan Green and his new wife Heidi. Alan was one of Zach's friends from St. Ignatius and one of McKays cousins, so we all got to hang out.

(Can we just address how cute a dad McKay is? He just loves showing off Brinlee.)

After the ring ceremony and dinner Zach and his buddies from High School, along with their wives, headed to the get away car to do some damage. Well, nothing serious, just writing on every window and filled to the brim with green balloons.

It was so much fun watching Zach reconnect with his friends. I loved their wives which made everything so much more enjoyable. I really would love to stay in touch with all of them. Zach kind of has good taste in people, guess that is one of the reasons I love him so much.

Success and Disaster: Food

I wanted to use some frozen fruit that we have had in the freezer for breakfast. I got creative and sliced up some frozen peaches to make berry pancakes with. The fruity pancakes turned out really nice actually. It was sweet and flavorful but still felt somewhat healthy. I also loved the purple color.

The fruity pancakes were a success. The caramel on the other hand...

This is what it was supposed to look like:

This is what two different attempts looked like. The more normal one tastes awful, the other chunky one tastes nice, but is not caramel.

I need Erica's help. My mother-in-law makes the best caramel ever. I had no idea how challenging it would be. But, I will make caramel this fall!

Happy weekend everyone. Hope all your cooking adventures go as well as my pancakes and better than my caramel.

Never Laughed so Hard

Let me introduce you to Ryan Hamilton.  He is a clean comedian.  Zach and I went to one of his shows here at BYU-I a few semesters ago. Our favorite part of his routine was on getting the wind knocked out of you.  We laughed so hard when he performed it live.  I mean so hard you can't breath or help crying. So hard you feel it in your abs the next day.

So sit down and enjoy one of our favorite comedians while burning calories and getting some positive endorphins flowing.

Happy Friday!

It's Been a While

When Zach and I had just started dating we used to go stadium singing just about every Sunday. This was our first time going in three years. We went to meet up with one of Zach's buddies from the green house. We ended up seeing a lot of familiar faces and we had a great time.

Nearly three years ago, singing our voices away with the original roomies. 

Jenna is serving a mission in Guatemala, Kaylie is happily married, and Anny is serving a mission in San Diego California. I sure love those girls and all the fun we had. It was great to go stadium singing again and re-live those freshman days a little.  

Mid-Semester

Can you guess where we went for dinner? If you guessed Texas Road House Grill you're right! A month or so ago I got a $25 gift card from work. So, after running some errands in Idaho Falls we decided to stop and enjoy some excellent food!

Look at those famous rolls. I will learn how to make them. 

We helped ourselves to some sirloin steaks.  I will never buy chicken when I can have steak. It's probably because I can make it at home anytime, but steak, I never buy to cook with. Steak is a treat I will never cease to enjoy.  Zach had the loaded potato and I had the sweet potato, my all time favorite vegetable.

Well folks, this week marks the half way point. This time next week we will be over the hump and on our way to finals. I feel like October is just flying by. Its nice to know we are almost done, but so overwhelming at the same time. So much to do and so little time! Good luck with the rest of your semester!

As I sat in the library working on homework I was distracted by the artist on the lawn mower.  By the time he was half way done I realized his perfect lines and that he had lined them up with another patch of grass across the sidewalk. It was as if I had a little rake to organize my zen garden. Little did this lawnmower know what an impact he would have on my psyche. So, thank you lawn mower.

Three Years Ago

October, three years ago, Zach took me on our first date. 

I had so much fun as we picked out a pumpkin and then carved it. I actually remember the only time he touched me was when he put a hand on my back to say my pumpkin carving skills were the greatest he had ever seen and our awkward hug. Zach doesn't remember the hug being awkward. I just remember not knowing how to hug someone so much taller than me. Okay I was a little intimidated by his good looks. That's always when awkward happens.

This is the first pumpkin we carved together. And our lovely boy-friend girl-friend selves.

And here we are just a mere three years later. We spent our Friday night sipping our Dr.Peppers, munching on Burger King burgers and watching 'Clash of The Titans'. It is sure good to be married. I am so grateful for all the memories we have been able to make these past few years. I am even more excited for the eternity of memories and adventures yet to come.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Preview of the pillow project:

Mission Thoughts

Thoughts and feelings on Brock's mission to Zimbabwe.

Busy Busy Busy

Fall is here and I am loving it. I think I have said, "this is the perfect temperature", almost every time I walked outside this week. 

We have been hosting singles ward family home evening the past few Mondays. It has given me the perfect excuse to experiment with some delicious treats. 

Instead of frosting these, I used an egg yolk and food coloring to spread over the cookies. I used the egg white to get the green color. Then I baked as directed and was quite happy with my enhanced sugar cookie results. 

Saturday morning I tried my hand at some decedent french toast.  I think my heart stopped but it was so good I just might post the recipe.

Saturday was just a baking sort of day. I made up some pie crust real quick. Rolled it out. Cut out pumpkin shapes. Coated in butter. Sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and tossed them in the oven. Pretty sure I single-handedly ate over half of them.

Aside from baking to get in the fall spirit, I can't help but enjoy every excuse to wear every combination of fall colors. To be honest the majority of my wardrobe would be in the "fall color" category. It is just what comes with being a red head. 

Here are the promised pictures of my linen project. We start on pillows this week and I am just so excited! I have decided to monogram  everything I make so no one forgets where it came from.

This is my table runner. The monogram is under the right corner. It is 100% cotton finished with a satin stitch. 

This is my table cloth. I made the table runner out of scraps after I realized this would probably not get me a good grade if turned in. As you can see my border is not even which made my mitered corners a little wonky. And this genius decided to monogram on the fold.Hey, now I know the right way to do it, and what not to do.

  

Complain as I might about the table cloth not turning out perfectly, it will still be featured on occasion. I kind of love the colors and the cotton that looks similar to burlap.

Happy Fall!
Don't forget to scroll down and check out Zach's latest movie featuring the Pearsons. 

Movie Stars

Our good friends McKay and Ashley were kind enough to let me film them for my Broadcast Journalism class. It was a lot of fun and a great learning experience for my first small film. Is it perfect? Not even close. So, while the movie making and story telling might be lacking, I had some of the best subjects in the world. Thanks again McKay and Ashley!

Game Night

 Friday Night Mckay and Ashley hosted a game night.  Usually we all get together to watch our husbands play flag football, but this time we enjoyed chatting while eating some delicious snacks and playing games. 

We played a "Minute to Win It" game where one person throws a ball and the other has to catch it in a cup.  But it gets harder because for every one you catch you have to stack another cup on top of the ball inside the last cup.  First one to get all the cups stacked wins.

Zach and I got 5 each time, which we thought was pretty good until Jamason and Sarah beat us. 

 We sure enjoyed playing with your friends kids.  Especially the cutest Tyler and Brinlee in the world!

While Friday was all fun and games the majority of Saturday was not.  We spent almost the entire day working on projects and doing homework.  We got to play in one of the media rooms while Zach worked on his movie project.  I am personally really excited to see the finished product.  Doesn't he look so professional?

Luckily we were able to save our weekend with homemade pizza and a movie.  I always love a good homemade pizza. 

Happy 45th Birthday to the greatest Dad in the world!  I wish we could be there to party with you!  I am so excited to see where this new year of life takes you.  It already looks like you have quite a few exciting journeys ahead of you and I can't wait to see where they lead.  Happy Birthday!

We based our photo collage on Elaine S. Dalton's talk 'Love Her Mother'.  Throughout the talk she describes what Dads do to teach their daughters about true love in its purest form.  So with the help of my Mom and all of my artistic siblings we created a thank you to our best example of love.  Thank you Dad for being the man we all needed you to be and for loving Mom.

The Tallest Man on Earth

When I first heard Kristian Matsson sing, I was intrigued.  I thought his voice sounded so unique.  The more I listened the more I liked it.  Now I have to say this is one of my favorite performers.  The King of Spain is one of my favorite songs.  Zach and I always have to sing along when it shows up on a play list. Hope you enjoy it too!

Home Decor Sewing 101

As many of you know, I have been enjoying my sewing class like no other.  I have been dying to conquer the sewing machine once and for all.  I feel like I just might be able to complete almost any given project with all of my hair and sanity still intact.
 As a teenager, my mother patiently tried to teach me the basics of sewing. She was able to open me up to the wonders of altering, mending and creating.  However, creating always, always ended in frustration.  So in an attempt to create and actually enjoy it I am creating a new room and learning every step of the way.  These are some of the bedroom treatment ideas I have collected on Pinterest.

Douvet Cover:

Accent Pillows:

Curtains:

I just completed my linen project by making a tablecloth and a table runner. The tablecloth came out too small and a little bit butchered. The table runner on the other hand, though pieced together, was my first frustration free creation!  It may be simple, but I could not be more happy about it.  Here are the cotton fabrics I used. The completed projects will be posted soon.

On another happy note, guess who made it safely to South Africa?! Yep, Elder Allen did. We are so proud of him! He is holding up well and excited to start preaching the gospel. 

One Last Hurrah with Brock

Of course we will never be done having great times with Brock, but we are all excited to see what his next two years in Zimbabwe will bring. I think growth and maturity are a given. So, we will party again, and hard, but this was our last weekend all together for a while.

Zach was working on a class project that required a lot of filming. Zach enjoyed Brock's artistic eye, so, our Saturday was spent filming around Fairfield and taking pictures in this wonderful field.

The best looking directors and film crew.

The latter part of the day was spent in the kitchen getting food ready for the big farewell party Sunday afternoon. To keep us cheerful Brett poured us all shots of apple beer.

After the party in the kitchen we headed out to the yard to burn the giant wood pile. It took a while to get it going because of the rains the days before, but when it finally went, it went big. We had a good time roasting marshmallows and watching Brock and Tate entertain themselves.

Sunday was a bitter sweet day full of good food, visiting and good-byes. We all had a great time mingling with cousins and friends. We were even privileged enough to see the Haka performed by our friend Clint. (video below).

We sure love Brock and will miss his visits, but we are so proud and excited of the work he will be doing. The people of Zimbabwe will be so lucky to have him.

We sure love you Elder Allen!

The Haka

(not on Facebook, as promised)