Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Crock Pot Roast

I'm linking up with Kelly today for Crockpotalooza!  You are going to want to bookmark that page because tons of people are linking up with simple crock pot recipes!!

This is an extremely easy recipe for crock pot roast!

You will need:
Round rump roast (about 4lbs, but it can be smaller or larger)
Small red potatoes (I use about 4-6)
Small bag of carrots (I use about 6-8 carrots)
Seasonings, Worcestershire sauce


Edited to add: you can add onion pieces too, but we don't like it that much, so I leave that out!

What you need to do:
1. Place hunk of meat in crock pot (fat side down).  I don't even worry about searing it first.  Just makes another pan to wash.
2. Season with whatever you want (lots of pepper, italian seasoning, dash of season salt, worcestershire sauce, hot sauce/soy sauce, or anything else you want.  Even fresh basil from the garden.)
3. Wash potatoes and place on top of meat.
4. Peel carrots and cut in half, then place on top of potatoes.
5. Pour 1/4-1/2 cup water over everything.
6. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-7 hours.
7. Shred meat with two forks and serve warm!

Before:



After:

This makes like 6 servings, so it leaves a lot of leftovers, but we don't mind because it is usually better the second day!  Enjoy!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Happy 1st Birthday to my nephew Micah!

Today is my nephew's first birthday!  Big boy!


This was the first time I saw him.  I had to skype with my sister while she was still in the hospital.  We had just moved to Arizona, making me 2,000 miles away!


Healthy baby!

One week old


4 months old at Christmas


11 months old - visiting us in Arizona

Happy birthday "Big Mike".  You grow so fast!  Hope you get to eat some cake today!  See you again soon, buddy!

Friday, August 26, 2011

It's National Dog Day!

It's National Dog Day, so I thought I would post some cute pictures of my dogs!  Well, they're my mom and Simon's dogs, technically, and they live in Kentucky...but they are like my brothers!  I am super excited to go see them in a couple of weeks!

Happy National Dog Day, Riley and Webster!  We miss you! :)

Look at those little ears! 


Yes, he's as big as a bear!  But oh so sweet!


His noggin' is twice the size of mine :)


Riley and his curly mane.


Sweet brothers!



We don't have a whole lot planned for the weekend...probably just a little game or movie night with friends tonight and a going away party for some other friends tomorrow!  They are moving to San Diego and we are so sad about it!  We will most definitely be visiting!  I mean, how sweet is it to have friends that live in La Jolla!?

Happy Friday y'all!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Linking up with Jamie today for WILW!


I'm loving that we finally got our Kenya pictures and videos all put together on dvd!  I may try to upload the video on here but it's 35 minutes long, so I'm not sure how well it will work, but I will try.



I'm loving some fresh Driscoll's blueberries!
who WOULDN'T want a golden retriever?









I'm loving this goldie picture I saw on Pinterest.  How cute is that!?  Look at that face!





I'm loving that we are down to just a few short weeks until we have a quick visit with family in Kentucky!

As always, I'm loving my man.


What are you loving this week!?

Friday, August 19, 2011

Happy Friday!

I don't know about you, but I am SO glad it's Friday!

We are meeting up with our Kenya team tonight for a pizza party and to share our pictures.  I have been working on our picture/video slideshow and finally have it done, I just have to burn the DVDs.  Either mac doesn't make this part easy, or it's just taking me a while to figure out!  Anyway, we are looking forward to seeing our team at the little get together tonight!

Tomorrow, they're having a flash mob thingy at church.  They're asking married couples to come out and do something (we don't know what yet).  But there's a free t-shirt involved, so I'm in!

Tomorrow night, I'm going out with the girls from my small group for dinner and to see The Help!  Should be lots of fun.  The guys will be meeting up for their fantasy football draft, which I also wish I could be a part of.  Oh well, I'll just root for the hub's team!

If you have a spare second today, go over to Megan's blog and congratulate them on the birth of their sweet twin babies!  ...A double blessing after having lost their newborn last year to heart complications.  I am so excited for them, it feels like they are family!  I think I said the same thing the last time one of my blog friends had a baby!  You document + I get sucked in = you feel like family.

Sorry, no picture today!

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

What I'm Loving Wednesday

It's been a long time since I linked up with Jamie for WILW!


I'm loving the PW recipe for jalapeno poppers that my blog friend Kit posted the recipe for here.




I'm loving LOST.  We are finally on the last season (6) and it's still pretty good!  I kind of don't want it to end because I've heard they leave a lot of questions unanswered! ugh!

I'm loving that we get to visit family next month for a quick visit to Kentucky!  Just have to get all of the details worked out.

I'm loving Blinc mascara, that I posted about here.  I am still amazed at it's non-smudgyness.

I'm loving this living room I spotted on Pinterest.  Love the colors, the ceiling, the chandelier, the openness...everything!



As always, I'm loving my hubby!
(Playing with the orphaned kiddos in Kenya)


What are you loving this Wednesday!?

Monday, August 15, 2011

One Year Ago Today!

Just thought I would make note of this day!  Exactly one year ago today, we packed up all of our belongings and moved from Salt Lake City to Phoenix for hub's permanent job after his 2-year leadership program.  We were a tad nervous and I was probably a tad grumpy about moving to a place so HOT, but it has turned out to be the best decision!  It was 117 degrees that day and it felt like you hit a brick wall when you walked outside.  BUT, we love Phoenix, our friends we have met here, and our church, of course!  I'm not saying it's easy to live 2,000 miles away from our entire families, but we have felt comfort and peace since living here.

I took this picture on my phone the morning we left Salt Lake.  We do miss those mountains and our friends there!


This was one of our stops along I-15 South.  It's called something like Vermillion Cliffs, near the Grand Canyon.


I took this picture when we drove through Flagstaff.  We always thought Arizona was just desert!  We had no idea of the elevation changes and that Flagstaff would be 50 degrees cooler and full of evergreens!


And here, after driving both vehicles for 13 hours straight, we arrived at our little apartment.


I also found this old picture...Grand Canyon on the bread bag. haha


And then in January this year, we closed on our first home!  This picture is several months old, so our plants look like tiny babies.  It's much fuller now!



All to say, it's been a whole year!  It's gone by super fast.  I wouldn't say we're "used to" the heat.  It's bearable.  No or low humidity definitely helps!  But we are loving it!  We hope all of our friends and family will come visit us out in the desert!! :)


New Product

I am cheap frugal and have used the same $5-6 brand of mascara since high school (not the same tube, though!).  That is, until my sister introduced me to Blinc Mascara and got me a tube for my birthday last month.


Have you ever tried it?  It goes on just like any other mascara...except maybe not as thick, so I usually do two coats.  Once it dries, after a minute or two, you can't put another coat on because it won't stick.  This stuff is sweat proof, waterproof, smudge-proof, you name it.  Perfect for hot Phoenix weather.


To wash it off, just use warm water and light pressure and the mascara will slide off of your lashes like little tubes.  It's kind of gross and spidery-looking, but it comes off easily this way.  No black smudges at all.  Pretty neat.

It won't even smudge or wash off in the pool, unless you rub your eyes and slide the tubes off.  I normally hate waterproof mascaras because they are a pain to get off, but this one is easy since it just slides off your lashes instead of smearing under your eyes.

You can get Blinc Mascara at your local Sephora, Ulta, and probably any make-up counter at a department store.  Let me know if you try it!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Jordan and Micah visit the desert

My sister and nephew came to visit for the last two weeks of July!  They live in Kentucky with the rest of our families...a loooong way away.  It was Micah's first flight and Jordan is not the biggest fan of flying, but they survived.  I told her it was probably the worst time of year to come, but that also makes the flights the cheapest, you know.  And I take that back...NOW would be the worst time of year to visit here...when the low at night is 90 and the high during the day is no less than 110. Yikes.

We didn't really have much "planned."  We just showed them things around here where we live and made a short weekend trip to see the Grand Canyon.  You can't be that close and not go see it, right?

So here are a few several pictures from their stay.  I am behind on posting these, so I just thought I would throw them all on here at once. :)  Sorry for the overload.

Here's Micah with my friend's daughter, Brooklyn.  Micah turned 11 months while they were here and Brooklyn is 18 months.



He looks SO big to me in this picture.  She brought this little chair thing that attaches to the table for him to sit at.  His legs have gotten so long since I saw him at Christmas.


First time trying avocado.  He made some faces, but I think he really liked it.



Happy baby playing on his truck from Cars.  He was really good at keeping his hands at 10 and 2. :) 


The only way he knew how to go was backwards, though.


I melt.  This guy was loving some nephew time!  He would come home from work everyday and scoop him up and play with him.  Micah was loving it too.


We HAD to take some bath time pictures of course!  Nathan even got his lesson on bathing a baby and did it by himself!


We drove to the far east valley to see this ghost town called Dutchman's---something.  It's near a lake where lots of people take their boats and it's also near the Apache Trail that we explored when my mom and Simon were here in May.




One weekend, we drove up to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  The breathtaking views are always fun to see, but the next time we go, I think we are going to do some of the hiking trails.






On the drive back south, we stopped in Sedona to see some of the red rock formations and the "Chapel on the Hill".  The chapel was just closing at the time, so we were only up there for a few minutes before being kicked out.





The kid doesn't need toys, just give him a remote!


I think this was from the night we were all dressed and ready to go to the pool and as soon as we backed the car out of the garage, it started getting extremely windy and it had started to rain.  It was only somewhat cloudy, so we decided to keep on going to the pool, which is only like a mile away, and wait out the rain.  By the time we got to the pool, the outside temperature had dropped from 112 to 76 degrees.  I haven't seen my car say 76 degrees since, ummmmm December maybe? haha It was really freaky.  It ended up being a huge monsoon rain that lasted longer than normal, so we went back home.  It thundered and lightening'ed the rest of the night.




One of the successful trips to the pool.


Some of these pictures were taken on my phone, so they are kind of fuzzy.




Hanging out at Five Guys with us.  Jordan had never had Five Guys!


We were keeping my friend's dog, Nordy again that weekend.  Micah didn't play with her too much, so the time he did, I snapped this picture.  She was a good sport too.




He's got the fake cough down pat.



Poor guy had to ride in a pink car seat for two weeks.  We had borrowed this from some friends so they wouldn't have to travel with one.  I thought he was cute, falling asleep holding his foot.  He's only in a dipe because we were coming back from the pool and knew he would fall asleep, so we took off the wet clothes and put on a dry dipe.  (I know, I know...that plastic piece that holds the two straps together is too low...)


We went to PF Changs (my favorite) for my birthday dinner!  It was July 25th, which was a Monday (booo), but hubs still took us to dinner.  We got some free lettuce wraps!


He was loving this mini-man chair at a consignment store.



Jordan and I went to an Indian place for lunch one day.  Hubs despises Indian food, so it was my chance to go! haha  I thought Micah looked like a cute little lifeguard.


This was his first hotel stay.  He was NOT liking it too much.  We meant to leave around 7am that day, but everyone was so tired from the night and being up at 5am for good...we all fell back asleep and didn't leave until 9:30.  Whooops.



I wrapped him like a Masai Man and called him Joseph. hahaha







Saying his goodbyes on their last morning.


At the airport, ready to head back home.  We kept him awake during his usual morning nap time, assuming he would sleep on the 3.5 hour plan ride home.  I later found out he only slept 20 minutes during take-off.  Crazy boy!




Bye Jordan and Micah!  See y'all soon.


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