Disneyland!

Disneyland! This was my birthday/Christmas present. The weather was a bit chilly for Southern California, but I was so stoked to see one of my favorite places with my most favorite person during the holidays.

David got excited to go to Disneyland when he saw pictures of the Haunted Mansion dressed up like Nightmare Before Christmas. This was his favorite part of our trip. The entire ride was changed to reflect the movie, and we both loved it.



We did a lot during our day at the park. We got our picture taken with Santa, then we watched the Christmas parade where our Santa was the final float!



Some of the rides we went on: Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Indiana Jones, Mark Twain (paddleboat), Buzz Lightyear, Innoventions . . .



Here's Indiana Jones . . .



But probably one of the best things was the fireworks show and the AMAZING Cinderella's castle. Honestly, I really think Disneyland is one of the most magical places on earth!

By the end of the night, our feet hurt, I was finally tired of the crowds, but I was satisfied. I think my Disneyland hunger has been satiated for another two years or so.

Gingerbread Houses!

David & I took a night to start a gingerbread house. Unfortunately, we weren't as successful as we'd like. A corner of the roof broke off, and then the whole side of it slid off a bit later.



We spent a few days thinking about finishing it, but both our schedules got hectic. Finally, we finished it! We added icing icicles on the roof and even put in cotton for the chimney smoke! It was lots of fun, and I think any traditions that stem from this activity will always involve a gingerbread house kit. :-)

Christmas Photos

Eve was gracious enough to take a hundred pictures of us over Thanksgiving for our Christmas photo. Here are our favorite three. We love the piggy back photos--extremely reminiscent of our engagement photo. Look for your copy in the mail. :-)

Best new recipe

Hi, everyone!

I've been scowering blogs the past few days, so impressed with what my friends and other amazing people do with them. I'm feeling left out. It's my own fault--I never post anything. But I'm turning a new leaf. Being the foodie that I am, I wanted to post the recipe I just discovered on idahofergusonfamily.blogspot.com for Cafe Rio salad. This is for the sweet pork that David loves. Delicious, and I love crock pot recipes because they're so easy!

4 lb pork roast
2 16 oz cans tomato sauce
2 8 oz cans El Pato Mexican Tomato Sauce (yellow cans with a duck on it)
2 cups brown sugar

Mix up the sauce & the brown sugar. Put the pork roast in a crock pot, and pour the sauce over. Cook for 8-10 hours on low.

Now, for the dressing . . .

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing packet, prepared (if you don't have buttermilk, add 1 TB vinegar to 1 cup of milk and let it sit for a few minutes)
1 cup cilantro
3 tomatillos (ugly looking things)
1 clove garlic (I forgot to add this and mine was fine)
Cayenne (I didn't have any, but didn't miss it)

Stick all that stuff in a blender and mix until well incorporated.

We had salads for Sunday dinner. Then on Monday, we had three people from our ward and had burritos. And there's still leftovers!

Way yummy!

The Wonderful Apartment that Rexburg Brought

David & I have been here for almost three weeks, and I still can't get over the wonderfulness of our new place. It's roomy, with ample amounts of storage, has a huge kitchen, washer, dryer, dishwasher . . . It's so easy to keep clean! Not to mention that I can actually use the stove without the entire place feeling like a sauna. Yay! We've decorated a bit and it is starting to feel like home. Here are pictures.


This is the hallway. Look at the coat closet! and the carpet!!

This is my home office. The desk we bought at DI in Rexburg the day we moved in for $35 or something ridiculous like that.

Our living room is probably the most cluttered area. I still love the couch, though it will soon undergo a transformation as soon as the slipcover we ordered from Target arrives.

Finally, my favorite place to hang out . . . the kitchen! We don't even own enough stuff to fill all the cupboards, and I love that I have counterspace. It's WONDERFUL. Anyone want to come over for dinner?

Baby Shower!!!

My sister, Kelly, is due at the end of May with the Hart family's first grandchild. She came up to me a few weeks ago and meekly asked, "Are you going to throw me a baby shower?" Oh, yah! I should probably be thinking about that . . .

Miraculously, Kelly's sister-in-law Julie and I managed to put something together, and we had the shower yesterday. I was so worried about it, but it turned out to be so much fun! We had a simple sandwich lunch with Melinda bringing veggies and chips, and Christie bringing a delicious cheesecake cake with strawberries. There were games for Kelly to win prizes (guess which favorite baby names belong to which guests) and games for the guests to win prizes (guess how many diapers it took to build the diaper cake, come up with the next line to the nursery rhymes, and see how many squares of toilet paper it takes to go around Kelly's belly!).

It's probably one of the better events I have ever put on. Big thanks to everyone for coming!

Us enjoying our croissant sandwiches and other goodies. Costco's pesto really came through for us on the pesto--it was a terrific addition to the usual mayo and mustard.

How many squares of toilet paper does it take to get around Kelly's belly? I think it ended up being eleven. Several of the other guests commented how Kelly still looks so tiny at almost full term. I can only hope I get so lucky!

Opening presents, of course!

The diaper cake turned out so cute! It was extremely easy to make--Julie and I taught ourselves how to do it by watching a video on YouTube. I think together we spent around twenty minutes on it, and all it took were 77 diapers, 75 tiny rubber bands, two baby bottles, ribbon, and silk flowers. I'm extremely proud, can't you tell?

Starting the semester off right with . . . an MBA holiday party!

School has started again. Oh, boy! I'm already excited about counting down the days until graduation. It's on April 23, in case you were wondering. I've added a countdown application so I can continuously see the light at the end of the tunnel. Somedays it seems very distant.

Like this last week. I had the worst cold, which turned into a sinus infection. I skipped two days' worth of classes, and it felt rather good. I even turned in an assignment late for the first time ever! Am I acting like a second year MBA, or what?

What has certainly been one of the best parts of this new semester, though, is David's job change. He was hired by one of his favorite professors to write a couple textbooks for the LDS Business College's leadership class. He enjoys it a lot, and I do too, because now he is home every night! No more late nights at KMart! Woohoo! Though I struggle more with thinking of dinner ideas (leftovers every night doesn't work anymore), I have loved being able to spend time with my wonderful husband.

Case in point, David and I were able to go on TWO dates on SUBSEQUENT NIGHTS!! Holy cow! We went to an amazing concert by the all-girls acapella group Noteworthy on Friday, January 8th. The next night, we went to the BYU MBA Holiday Party together. Here's a picture from the event.