Speaking Words!!

Maia is starting to form words now!! It is so exciting! So far her vocabulary is up to the following:
*Up
*Mama
*Dada
*Uh-Oh (this is a new one, as of today)
I'm sorry I don't have any exciting pictures to put up....and I still need to put the videos of her on here, but I guess I'm just too lazy to figure out exactly how I do it.....maybe next week....maybe.

Recipe Monday (on Tuesday again!)

Sorry for the late recipe everyone!! I know you are all anxiously awaiting my post (ya, right!) Anyway, this recipe is a big hit at our house in the winter time and it is really easy to do. It is a really good "food storage" recipe because it uses mainly canned foods. Hope you like it!

Food Storage Chili

1 qt. stewed tomatoes (or two 14.5 oz. cans)

1 pkg. taco seasoning (or make your own: salt, pepper, garlic, chili powder, cayenne pepper)

1 lb. hamburger/Boca burger (optional)

1 can corn, drained

1 can pinto beans, rinsed & drained

1 can kidney beans, rinsed & drained

1 small can mushrooms, drained

1 can olives, drained and chopped

Mix together in saucepan—serve with chips, cheese and sour cream.

If you have time, I usually chop up 1/2 of a sweet onion and saute it in olive oil with the Boca burger (or hamburger) and the mushrooms before adding it to the big pot.

I don't know why there is that big blank space above--sorry!!

A Birthday Party and Thanksgiving

Okay, so I really wanted the pictures of Maia's birthday party to show up first, but I obviously uploaded them in the wrong order, so you get to see our Thanksgiving spread first...I guess that's okay, even though the party pictures are way better. But here was our Thanksgiving table...full of good food! We ate with our good friends, the Shaheen's...both of us had never cooked our own Thanksgiving dinner before, so it was a lot of fun (and a lot of work!). But we got to enjoy all of our family favorites, so it really was great.

This is Maia's birthday cake from the local grocery store (FREE!!)
This is Maia's bear birthday cake that Megan and I designed....Maia loves bears and could actually tell that that was what her cake was...she kept signing "bear" and growling.
The family picture before the party began.
Maia is testing the waters of this cake thing...one finger at first, but just wait....
....it didn't take her long to figure out how much fun it is to play in a chocolate frosted birthday cake (and not have mom or dad stop her either!)
So there you have it! Maia is 1 year old as of 2:19 pm on the 21st of November--she is growing up too fast and thinks that she runs the house...I'm already dreading the teenage years!

A preview of the real thing

Last night we had the missionaries and our friend Allison over for dinner. Since Allison isn't going to be here tomorrow for Maia's real birthday, she decided we should have a little celebration with her last night too. She made this cake and brought over a present....she is so sweet! Maia had a blast ripping into the paper of her present. She was a little hesitant touching her cake at first, but she warmed up to it after a little while David is SOOO excited to see her dive into her WHOLE cake on her birthday. I'm sure we'll have some great pictures to post after that!

Maia loves the missionaries! Here she is taking a pony ride on Elder Anderson. After this, she wouldn't stop trying to get on his back, all the while signing "more." He was a good sport to play along, and especially to let us take pictures!
Dada helping Maia open her first real present! It was a cute Elmo book that plays music. She loves it. Thanks Allison!
Posing with her first birthday card from Nani and Papa.
...And ripping into this one as well.

A small correction and ReCiPe MoNdAy!!

So on my last recipe (Tortilla Soup), I somehow managed to omit a very important ingredient...the CHICKEN!! Oops. So for those of you who actually care, I cook and shred 2-3 chicken breasts and add that to the soup. Okay, now for my new recipe. This one is super easy and super tasty as well. I've gotten a lot of compliments on these cookies and they are SO easy. Since the Holiday season is among us, I thought they were fitting.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 spice cake mix
1 small can pumpkin
1/4 cup oil
chocolate chips

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-18 minutes. They are very cakey and tasty...so watch out, it is easy to overeat on these ones!

I've Been Tagged

Okay, so I'm not 100% sure on how this works, but I've been tagged by Jeanine Parson, so now I think I'm supposed to post 6 things people may not know about me and then tag 4 other people to do the same...anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! So here goes:
1. I love projects and "To Do" lists. I get such great satisfaction whenever I see the end product of a completed project, or when I get to cross things off of my "To Do" list. I have been known to put stupid, little things on my lists(no I won't say what!), just so I can have the joy of crossing them off!
2. I'm a germ-a-phobe. I haven't always been this way...I think it comes from being a nurse. I've just sat through WAY too many lectures on infection control, so now I'm scarred for life. I am all about hand washing, and yes, I have hand sanitizer in the car, my purse, the diaper bag, the living room, the kitchen and who knows where else!
3. I wouldn't survive without running. Exercise is what keeps me halfway sane, so if that were taken away from me, I'd go crazy. No seriously. Thank goodness for my beloved treadmill!
4. I love to read suspense novels, although I'm getting more conservative with them. They started to make me scared at night, so I've had to kind of lighten up on which ones I read. Some of my favorite authors include, John Grisham, David Baldacci, Lee Child, John Lescroart, to name a few.
5. I love being outside...going on river trips is probably my most favorite outside activity. Whenever I am on the river, I am able to just relax and forget about all of my worries. And as a bonus, you get to have an excuse for not washing your hair or looking in the mirror for a whole week! (Come on Jeanine, doesn't that sound WAY fun?)
6. I HATE cleaning up after cooking a big meal. I really enjoy cooking, but cleaning up is the worst. In fact, sometimes I'll decide to not make something I really want to because I can't stand the thought of cleaning it all up afterwards!

I tag, Aika Whetten, Megan Shaheen, Chelsea Rowan, Chantel Shepard, and Melodie Nielson (Okay, I know that's five people, but I wanted to tag them all!)

I amost forgot Recipe Monday!

I almost forgot to post my Recipe Monday recipe. But don't worry, I still have 45 minutes until it's not Monday anymore, so I'm good. I decided to post a soup recipe that is super delicious. I figured soup is fitting since the temperatures are starting to cool down a lot. My mom makes this soup all the time and it is sooooo good. I hope you enjoy it as much as me!

Tortilla Soup

Saute the following in Olive Oil and set aside:
Approx 10 corn tortillas, cut in strips (and then I cut the strips in thirds)
2 Tbl Fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tsp. garlic powder (or freshly ground)

For the broth:
Puree 1 small can diced tomatoes and 1 small onion in blender and then transfer to large cooking pot. Add the following ingredients:
8 cups chicken stock
1 Tbl chili powder
2 Bay leaves (optional)
1 tsp. cumin
½ tsp. cayenne pepper(can add more if you prefer it more spicy)
1 can corn (or use frozen, approx. 2 cups)
1 can olives, sliced
Just before serving, add the tortilla strips. For toppings, add: grated cheddar cheese, chopped raw celery, sour cream, avocado, or whatever else you think would taste good!

KEITH URBAN IN CONCERT!!!!

So I've just become a huge Keith Urban fan!! Last night I got to go to a concert of his here with some other girls in our ward. One of them somehow had free tickets and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time when she was trying to find people to go. David was so sweet and took time away from studying to take care of Maia and put her to bed and then he even got up with her this morning so I could sleep in--what a sweetie huh? I had never been to a concert before until last night, and let me tell you, that was a good one to start on! Gary Allan opened the show, and then of course, Keith Urban brought down the house afterwards. It was seriously amazing--I still have ringing in my ears from how loud it was, but that's a small sacrifice, right? We had a blast....I didn't bring my camera, but my friend Jaime did, so once she emails me the pictures, I will be sure to post them. I didn't get home until almost 2am, so I'm feeling pretty tired and have somewhat of a headache, but all worth it of course!

Friday Night Bowling

Someone must have gotten a strike on this one....probably not me, okay FOR SURE not me.

Maia wanted to pick up the ball so bad!
Maia is so polite...she claps for everyone, even if you had a gutter ball.
Hayden was so excited when he finally hit a pin.
Here's the family pic at the bowling alley!

Yesterday a big group of us went bowling. It was a lot of fun, even though most of us are, well, not quite good enough to hit triple digits! Maia had a blast, running around everywhere and watching the balls go down the lanes. She also loved clapping for everyone. She's a hard one to keep still these days--there is just too much to do and see, and now she's got the legs to get her there! Enjoy the pictures!

Recipe Monday (only it's Tuesday:)

My friend Megan had this really good idea that she called Recipe Monday, where everyone in your circle of friends posts recipes on their blogs on Monday. Then you can go to the different blogs and get a lot of great recipes that you haven't tried before. I love this because I am always looking for new ideas! So even though it is Tuesday, I'm going to post my Recipe Monday recipe....for those of you that don't have blogs, please still participate--leave your recipes in the comment section so we can all enjoy those too! Okay here's my recipe (sorry Megan, you already have this one!) I love this recipe because it is fast and easy, tastes really good and can be used for pizza, french bread, calzones, and lots more! (My sister had a friend who even used it to make cinnamon rolls and said they turned out great, so possibilities are endless!)

French Bread/Pizza Crust

2 1/4 cup warm water
2 Tbl. sugar
2 Tbl. yeast
1 Tbl. salt
2 Tbl. oil
5 cups flour (add more if dough is too sticky. I use half whole wheat flour)

Combine water, sugar and yeast. Allow yeast to grow. Add salt, oil and 3 cups flour. Beat well. Add remaining flour and knead for 10 minutes, until surface is smooth and satiny. Place in greased bowl and let rise for 40 minutes. Knead 2-3 times on floured board. Divide into 2 parts--shape into loaves or roll out for pizza crust. For bread--bake at 400 for 25 minutes, or until top is golden brown. For pizza--bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes.

Our Night Out

Saturday was mine and David's day to celebrate my birthday. We went to Palmyra and did a temple session in the morning and then that evening we went out on the town! Okay, not really on the town, but we did take a trip to Niagara Falls, this time to the American side, and walked around and saw the sights there. At nighttime, they light up the Niagara River and the Falls and they have a fireworks show as well. I love fireworks so it was fun to watch those, and to just be with David. He got me a really nice video camera for my birthday, so stay tuned for lots of exciting videos. I love you David, you're the best! (and for more reasons than just a new video camera :) Above is a picture that was taken from the lookout point at Niagara Falls...too bad you can't see anything in the background except for the tourist binocular-things!

The BIG 25!!!

Maia and I, getting ready to blow out ALL 25 candles!! That is a LOT of candles. Megan informed me that I am now a 2 pack candle girl...kind of depressing huh? She had to put them in the ice cream because the pie was too hot still and would have melted the candles.

So yesterday was my 25th birthday! Pretty crazy when you stop and think about it...I still consider myself 19 or 20 to be honest! Anyway, David had a HUGE anatomy exam today, so he was pretty stressed out yesterday, which means, we didn't get to do any birthday celebrating together (that will come this weekend). But I am so thankful for wonderful friends who care about me and wanted to make my day special. My friend Megan was especially sweet and took over the job of my mom for the day--she took me shopping, out to lunch, took care of Maia, and then made David and I dinner so I didn't have to cook. Of course, she asked me before hand what my favorite meal was and cooked everything to perfection (as usual!). Some of my other friends in the neighborhood had a little party/get-together for me in the afternoon, complete with brownies, ice cream and fruit salad. So it really was a great day...I felt pampered and loved the whole day. And now I get to celebrate it all over again with David this weekend....not such a bad set-up if you ask me! But thank you so much to all of my friends--you guys are the greatest and I don't know how I'd survive dental school without you!