indulging brooke

10 yrs ago: I was just 11, almost 12. I was in good old challis living at my grandparents because we were still building our house. I had all sorts a little buddies becky armbruster and I were pretty tight then, (I had just gotten to challis). I was friends with becky, amanda, brooke, kim, jamie and I hadn't really gotten tight yet I don't think. roger, michael, tyler, abe, brian, and tj were all my great guy buddies. Its funny because I stayed pretty close with almost all of them throughout highschool.
Things on my list of things to do today: nursing clinical at 6am, school project 3pm, pick out some furniture with Blair 5pm, and maybe make dinner, maybe!
3 of my bad habits: stressing is definetly #1, I always stress first and think later(sometimes good), it takes me days to fold the dang laundry! I let my mind race at night sometimes and tell Blair everything I have to do until he says sweetheart its going to be ok.(I guess that goes along with the stressing part)
Places I have lived: San Bernardino CA, good ole' Yankee Fork/Sunbeam ID, Challis ID, Stanley ID, Running Springs CA, Provo UT, and now I reside in Spokane WA (south hill)
Things most people don't know about me: I love to paint, I make cookies with my husband every week, I have 7 aggressive fish, I love shopping but can hardly ever get myself to buy something until I have wanted it and looked at it for a least a month, I love camping... there are probably a lot of other things, but that's a good list.

I want abby to do this!

White Bread Recipe

2 packages of yeast (or 1 1/2 Tbsp)
1/2 c warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
mix these and let them stand

in a mixing bowl mix: w/ a dough hook
1 3/4 c hot tap water
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp honey (generous)
2 Tbsp oil
3 c Flour

then add yeast mixture and 3-3 1/2 more cups of more flour (add one cup at a time until the dough starts to pull away from the sides, that's when you know you have added enough)

knead the dough in the mixing bowl with the dough hook for 5 minutes on low
cover & let rise for 45minutes
Turn mixer back on, on low and beat the dough down again, just a few seconds
let rise again for 20 minutes
oil a board, knead, and divide the dough in half, shape it into 2 loaves and put into 2 greased loaf pans.
cover and let it rise again for 30-45 minutes (in the pans)

Bake @ 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
I know you have to let it rise a bunch, but its totally worth it! Its sooo good! enjoy!

Valentine's present!

When Blair was a sophomore in high school his mom had a CTR ring made for him by Margie (who later did our wedding rings), Anyway Blair knew that I always really liked his CTR and that I didn't have one so he had Margie make me a ring similar to his. Blair tried to wait to give it to me on Valentine's day, but he couldn't, so I got it 2 days early.
here's Blair's

And here we are together. The present might seem cheesy, but I thought it was really thoughtful and sweet. I had no idea... the funny thing is, when he gave it to me he said I didn't have to get him a present because he was winning "his present" online, which I was completely unaware of. So I pretty much got off scott free for Valentine's day!

Blair's newest injury

Blair sprained his ankle Tuesday night at his city league game. I was at home studying for some exams when Blair hobbled in the door with a huge lump on his ankle! It was soo swollen. My athletic training/student nursing skills were definetly used and needed. (one more reason why I'm happy to be going to nursing school. If my sons (whenever we have kids) are anything like Blair, they will be doing who knows how many crazy outdoor activities/sports, and I'll be ready with my gear!)
Day 1 (his toes were cold after I made him ice)
Day 2 (the bruising started)

Day 3 (still swollen)

Day 4 (you can't see it from this angle, but the bruising is all the way up to the middle of his calf and all over his toes. Good thing our Bishop is a pediatrist)

Bread!!!

My wonderful mom spent days trying to make up a bread recipe that would fit in my kitchen aid. When she makes her bread it makes about 6 loaves and my kitchen aid will only make two. So yesterday morning she called very excited to give me the recipe, which I then tried out. We took a loaf over to Bart and Gretchen's house and ate about the whole thing with some butter and jam. It was so yummy! I'm really excited about the recipe. If anyone's interested in getting the recipe, I could hook you up.

Elyse- the girl was made for the camera

This is our niece Elyse Lola. She just turned one and is a doll. Blair and I watch her and her older sister Emmie sometimes. They are such cuties. I used to have Elyse every sunday with me because her mom, Kyndra (my sister-in-law), was the primary president and I would help out.

Elyse loves her uncle Blair. She snorts and giggles everytime she see's him.

Its actually really cute!
She was dead on with her smile every time. It was so funny, everytime she saw the orange light come on she squinted and smiled. She knew what the light meant, it was great!

Nursing School

What can I say about school....I love it, it's stressful, I love it, it's hard, did I mention I get anxious everytime I go to pathophysiology and pharmacology?!

Nursing school is great. I'm learing so much, and actually staying on top of things for the most part. I'm just trying to keep my head above water, which means I have to sometimes stay home while Blair is playing. Like today for instance, he is snowboarding and I've got 3 exams next week, so I'm at home on the couch with notes and books all around me. I'm loving my clinicals, they are really fun. I have had some great/crazy experiences already. My clinicals this semester are at a care center that is 40 minutes away at 6am. So I get up really early (something I haven't done since early morning seminary). Blair is sweet, he gets up shovels the drive way and starts my car for me right before I leave in the morning. He's being very supportive. He took a picture of me last week at 5am, so I'm sorry that my face is not the happiest, brightest thing in the world. Here you go Abs, enjoy!

New Years

So its taking me forever to put pictures on here and update! I'm just really busy I guess and I probably should be studying right now too, but I wanted everyone to see what we have been up to. We had a blast with a bunch of our friends for New Years. They all came over and we watched the Gonzaga game, and played the newlywed game along with a "new year's resolution" game that was pretty fun. we had a pretty nice spread too. I made crab ragoons, southwestern egg rolls, fondue with cream puffs and fruit, and had some friends bring cheese, chips, and crackers. We also made huckleberry cream soda that was way yummy. It was a good night! Here's some people enjoying the food. Kiersten and Kreg brought cougar cheese from WSU, and it was way yummy!

This was our youngest party-goer, Brooklyn. She is just over a year old and is our friend's, Bart and Gretchen's, daughter. She is hilarious.

This is Courtney, and she loved the cream puffs. She and Matt(her husband) grew up with Blair. Matt was Blair's roommate at school in Utah. Courtney and Matt moved back up to Spokane this year, so we are glad they are here.

Here's most of the gang, with Blair on the computer trying to get good newly wed game questions.