Nate turned 25 last month, which makes him a quarter of a century, which means, old, but I am not too far behind. For his birthday, because he always knows what he is going to get, I wanted to do something simple and cute that he would like, that would be a surprise addition to his expected gift. Because he turned 25 I wrote a list of 25 things that I love about him and stuck each thing on a sticker on a mini reeses cup candy. I think he liked it.
Here are 25 reasons why I love Nate!
1. He is handsome
2. He is the best snuggler.
3. He taste tests all my new recipes
4. He calls me beautiful.
5. He helps support our family.
6. He will be the best father.
7. He makes me feel special.
8. He is hilarious and can always make me laugh.
9. He has the best smile.
10. He makes up the best songs.
11. He always takes care of me.
12. He supports me in all my aspirations.
13. He is a great cook.
14. He is the best kisser.
15. He will always protect me.
16. He is my best friend.
17. He is spontaneous.
18. He gives the best gifts.
19. He is a handy man.
20. He accepts me for me.
21. He sends me cute text messages.
22. He is romantic.
23. He is as weird as I am.
24. He is mine.
25. He loves me.
Awwwww <3
Friday, April 5
Monday, March 4
Aimee's 100 -- Cooking Bucket List
Its no mystery that I love to cook. Unless you are new here you have to have seen the food blog that I write on with my mom. Like Mother Like Daughter. But I have a problem.
There are so many different recipes I want to cook, how do I ever decide which ones to make first? Just check out my pinterest boards to see how many "food" items I pin.
So after seeing a few different people with bucket lists of foods that they wanted to make, I decided to create my own. The foods that I REALLY want to make. Before I die, but hopefully in the next couple years really. My new bucket list is posted here. And I'll post the recipes on my blog when I make them, and I'll update the list when that happens too. But here are a few of the recipes I am MOST excited to make!
Desserts
2. Apple Strudel
11. Cheesecake Cookies
13. Copy Cat Samoas
16. Eclairs
24. Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake
Frozen Desserts
25. Brownie Batter Ice Cream
32. Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Baked Goods
35. Foccaccia Bread
36. Cheddar Garlic Biscuits
Main Dish
46. Pad Thai
Sandwiches
56. German Pancakes
61. Raspberry Rolls
Side Dishes
71. Sweet Potato Fries
Grilled Foods
73. Grilled Pizza
Drinks
77. Egg Nog
Candy
83. Mint Truffles
84. My dad’s Toffee
Sauces, Salsas, Dips and Spreads
97. Jalapeno Jelly
98. Mango Salsa
So, check out my list and let me know if you have any delicious recipes for the foods that I want to make and send them my way!! lmldfood at gmail dot com
:)
There are so many different recipes I want to cook, how do I ever decide which ones to make first? Just check out my pinterest boards to see how many "food" items I pin.
So after seeing a few different people with bucket lists of foods that they wanted to make, I decided to create my own. The foods that I REALLY want to make. Before I die, but hopefully in the next couple years really. My new bucket list is posted here. And I'll post the recipes on my blog when I make them, and I'll update the list when that happens too. But here are a few of the recipes I am MOST excited to make!
Desserts
2. Apple Strudel
11. Cheesecake Cookies
13. Copy Cat Samoas
16. Eclairs
24. Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake
Frozen Desserts
25. Brownie Batter Ice Cream
32. Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Baked Goods
35. Foccaccia Bread
36. Cheddar Garlic Biscuits
Main Dish
46. Pad Thai
Sandwiches
56. German Pancakes
61. Raspberry Rolls
Side Dishes
71. Sweet Potato Fries
Grilled Foods
73. Grilled Pizza
Drinks
77. Egg Nog
Candy
83. Mint Truffles
84. My dad’s Toffee
Sauces, Salsas, Dips and Spreads
97. Jalapeno Jelly
98. Mango Salsa
So, check out my list and let me know if you have any delicious recipes for the foods that I want to make and send them my way!! lmldfood at gmail dot com
:)
Thursday, February 14
Family Photos Nov 2012
In November I won a blog giveaway and won a free photo shoot from Lacey Smith Photography. Of course I am always happy to have my picture taken and I was able to get Nate to agree to it as well.
We went with bright colors, with copper, yellow and blue and figured that would be a good combo to go with the fall colors. We got lucky that the day we wanted to go to Thanksgiving Point was Dog Day and so we got to take Aspen with us to take our pictures.
I love how they turned out and here are a few of my favorites.
We went with bright colors, with copper, yellow and blue and figured that would be a good combo to go with the fall colors. We got lucky that the day we wanted to go to Thanksgiving Point was Dog Day and so we got to take Aspen with us to take our pictures.
I love how they turned out and here are a few of my favorites.
Wednesday, February 13
25 Update
A couple of weeks ago I realized almost 6 months of my year is up. Six months have gone by since I made my 25 goals and I have only fully accomplished TWO of them. Two of twenty five things in 6 months, means I have another 23 to finish off in my remaining 6 months. And the odds are not in my favor. So I gave each goal a time frame for when I want to accomplish it, of course by Aug 17, of this year, but I need to start some of these things NOW.
The two goals I have completely finished are:
#13 Eat vegetarian for 2 weeks I did that in November and actually went almost 2.5 weeks and
#16 Dye my hair brown. I also did that in November.
There are a couple other goals I am currently working on:
#2 Read 10 books (I have read 4)
#3 Take a photography class (I am taking a photo class right now through UVU, 4 more weeks to go)
#9 Lose 5 pounds (I am continuing to track my calories and watch what I eat)
#11 Stop biting my nails, for good (They are getting longer, and I am making sure to have them painted almost always)
#17 Study German (About twice a week I go on memrise.com and study)
#18 Sew a blanket/quilt (I finished the top side of my jean blanket, I just need to figure out what do do for the bottom.
#21 Make a compost bin (This one is almost completely done, though Nate should get all the credit - we just need to start composting now)
#23 Don't eat candy for a week (Today is my last day!)
But that still leaves #s 1,4,5,6,7,8,10,12,14,15,19,20,22,24 and 25 completely untouched.
Now that 6 months have gone by I need to stop saying "I have a lot of time left" and start working. Wish me luck!
Thursday, January 24
Christmas 2012
I never thought I would be one of those people who had to catch up on blogging events that happened weeks before. I guess weeks is much better than months.
We flew to Virginia the evening of Friday December 21st, and we got to stay there for a whole 10 days, and then we flew home on January 1st. It was a wonderful trip, and with flights so expensive we are glad we were able to get so much work off and stay there for so long.
A couple weeks before we went to VA my grandmother was diagnosed with leukemia. This meant that Anthony and Jana were going to head to California for Christmas after all. Luckily we were able to spend one day with them on the east coast before the headed west. We exchanged Christmas gifts, I got an awesome "Desserts in Jars" cookbook from them, that I am so excited to try out! We ate lunch at a place called Golden King, which was Chinese food - but a little bit more authentic than what we were used to. I got Sesame Chicken, so it was safe because the chicken was breaded and fried, but chicken with rice and egg ended up not being a fried rice, but instead something like egg drop soup poured on top of rice. What an adventure. Ethan also decided to order duck, for who knows what reason. Afterwards we headed to the bowling alley. We played 2 games, and I think Anthony won both. My score was I think 99 the first game and 100 the second, at least I improved. What is impressive with Anthony winning is he, Jana and I let Zoe bowl 2 or 3 times each during our games. We ended the day with dinner at the Berretts with the whole gang.
Dain flew in on Saturday and Ash flew in Sunday morning. We went to Taylor and Amanda's single's ward for church because they were doing a musical number. Taylor sang a beautiful rendition of "A Cradle in Bethlehem" while Amanda played the piano.
Christmas Eve was spent finishing up errands, getting last minute gifts and stocking stuffers, wrapping presents and playing games. Also Dain and Ash went to DC and got engaged! As a spin off of Nate and my Christmas Eve lunch tradition we went to Wegmann's and everyone got to eat whatever they wanted to eat. I chose a chicken burrito where I got to pick what I put inside, everyone else got Asian food. For Christmas Eve dinner Sandi made her traditional clam chowder and we supplemented that with pizza from Papa Johns.
Before we went to VA I asked Nate about their family traditions. My family didn't have a lot of traditions but there are a few things we did special, and I wanted to know what to expect that would be different.
Growing up, Christmas morning we would wake up and make some orange juice, fresh squeezed if possible, and start some Pillsbury cinnamon rolls baking, while those were cooking we all went in and opened our stockings. We then ate the cinnamon rolls with our fresh squeezed OJ. Then we would go back to our gifts. I really like opening up presents one at a time, and thankfully the Berretts do that as well - but at my house we would take turns picking a gift from under the tree, but it might not be a gift for ourselves, so then we would give the gift to whoever it was for and watch them open it, we usually picked in order or oldest to youngest, sometimes vice versa. The Berretts separate things into piles for each person, and then go around youngest to oldest opening a present from your pile. I felt very spoiled after opening all our gifts Christmas morning - plus we had opened the gifts from my parents at our house before we left. I got everything I wanted for Christmas plus some. And I loved seeing Nate open the gifts I got for him. Also the Berrett brothers draw names for who they are going to give a gift to for Christmas. I have been included into the drawing, and this year Ash was included as well. I gave to Dain this year, and I hope that he liked what I got him - a fly fishing book about the best places to fish before you die. I think the rest of the day was enjoyed being lazy, eating our stocking spoils, and napping. We skyped with my family in California as well, to wish them a Merry Christmas too. Dinner was spent with Debbie and Pete and we ate ham, potato casserole, rolls, and I don't remember what other goodies - but it was all delicious.
I don't remember which day was which for other parts of the trip. But we all went and saw Les Miserables together, which I personally thought was fantastic. Yes the singing wasn't all perfect, and it was very different from the Broadway versions - but I thought it was so heartfelt. And Anne Hathaway is really growing on me with her performance in that and Dark Knight Rises.
We spent one day in DC. We went to Ford's theater and saw the bed Lincoln was carried to and died in and a museum about a lot of the civil rights stuff that was going on at the time. We went to the Post Office Pavillion and had lunch and then took the elevator up to the top of the bell tower and enjoyed the wind and the view. We went to the National Archives and saw the Magna Carta, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, etc. Then we split up to go to different museums. Nate, Ethan and I headed to the Natural History museum, which was so cool. It reminded me of the Natural History museum in Vienna. They also had this awesome nature photography exhibit with really cool pictures of animals, and trees and volcanoes and things and each picture said the camera that was used and what settings too.
We went to Antietam another day - can you believe that the Berrett brothers had never been. The ground was all snow covered, but it was very cool to walk around and see where the battles took place. We climbed a watch tower that had a cool view of a lot of the area and we saw Burnside Bridge. (Ps. I went to Antietam with my family when I was about 12 but I don't remember much of it). Then we met the Berrett parents and Ethan in Harper's Ferry where we had lunch and walked around the town. On the way home we stopped at the DC temple to see the beautiful lights and snap a few photos. They had a cool exhibit inside the visitor center with a bunch of nativities from different countries. Some day I will have my own German candle pyramid.
Three or four Christmases ago they started a tradition of making a ginger bread house together, one year they made their home, one year a barn. This year we decided to make a castle tower with rapunzel at the top. The tower even included sugar glass windows. Rapunzels long hair was made of licorice and there were penguins repelling down her hair.
One evening Nate and I went to dinner with Nate's best friend Jesse and his girlfriend Ali at an Italian place. We both ordered pizza and I enjoyed hearing stories about Nate's crazy highschool years, while Nate enjoyed hearing what all his friends were up to.
We drove to Bears Den for a cold lunch spent by the fire eating roasted hot dogs and smores and chippies.
Of course other things were enjoyed while we were there too - lots of mario cart, super smash brothers, wii sword fights, foosball, walks to the Potomac River, ping pong, waaaay too much food, ice cream, sugar cookies and more, bananagrams, movies and more. Oh and of course the boys played basketball a few times too.
It was a fantastic trip and we are so grateful to Dain and Ash for planning a spring/summer wedding so we know it won't be too long till we can see them all again.
We flew to Virginia the evening of Friday December 21st, and we got to stay there for a whole 10 days, and then we flew home on January 1st. It was a wonderful trip, and with flights so expensive we are glad we were able to get so much work off and stay there for so long.
A couple weeks before we went to VA my grandmother was diagnosed with leukemia. This meant that Anthony and Jana were going to head to California for Christmas after all. Luckily we were able to spend one day with them on the east coast before the headed west. We exchanged Christmas gifts, I got an awesome "Desserts in Jars" cookbook from them, that I am so excited to try out! We ate lunch at a place called Golden King, which was Chinese food - but a little bit more authentic than what we were used to. I got Sesame Chicken, so it was safe because the chicken was breaded and fried, but chicken with rice and egg ended up not being a fried rice, but instead something like egg drop soup poured on top of rice. What an adventure. Ethan also decided to order duck, for who knows what reason. Afterwards we headed to the bowling alley. We played 2 games, and I think Anthony won both. My score was I think 99 the first game and 100 the second, at least I improved. What is impressive with Anthony winning is he, Jana and I let Zoe bowl 2 or 3 times each during our games. We ended the day with dinner at the Berretts with the whole gang.
Dain flew in on Saturday and Ash flew in Sunday morning. We went to Taylor and Amanda's single's ward for church because they were doing a musical number. Taylor sang a beautiful rendition of "A Cradle in Bethlehem" while Amanda played the piano.
Christmas Eve was spent finishing up errands, getting last minute gifts and stocking stuffers, wrapping presents and playing games. Also Dain and Ash went to DC and got engaged! As a spin off of Nate and my Christmas Eve lunch tradition we went to Wegmann's and everyone got to eat whatever they wanted to eat. I chose a chicken burrito where I got to pick what I put inside, everyone else got Asian food. For Christmas Eve dinner Sandi made her traditional clam chowder and we supplemented that with pizza from Papa Johns.
Before we went to VA I asked Nate about their family traditions. My family didn't have a lot of traditions but there are a few things we did special, and I wanted to know what to expect that would be different.
Growing up, Christmas morning we would wake up and make some orange juice, fresh squeezed if possible, and start some Pillsbury cinnamon rolls baking, while those were cooking we all went in and opened our stockings. We then ate the cinnamon rolls with our fresh squeezed OJ. Then we would go back to our gifts. I really like opening up presents one at a time, and thankfully the Berretts do that as well - but at my house we would take turns picking a gift from under the tree, but it might not be a gift for ourselves, so then we would give the gift to whoever it was for and watch them open it, we usually picked in order or oldest to youngest, sometimes vice versa. The Berretts separate things into piles for each person, and then go around youngest to oldest opening a present from your pile. I felt very spoiled after opening all our gifts Christmas morning - plus we had opened the gifts from my parents at our house before we left. I got everything I wanted for Christmas plus some. And I loved seeing Nate open the gifts I got for him. Also the Berrett brothers draw names for who they are going to give a gift to for Christmas. I have been included into the drawing, and this year Ash was included as well. I gave to Dain this year, and I hope that he liked what I got him - a fly fishing book about the best places to fish before you die. I think the rest of the day was enjoyed being lazy, eating our stocking spoils, and napping. We skyped with my family in California as well, to wish them a Merry Christmas too. Dinner was spent with Debbie and Pete and we ate ham, potato casserole, rolls, and I don't remember what other goodies - but it was all delicious.
I don't remember which day was which for other parts of the trip. But we all went and saw Les Miserables together, which I personally thought was fantastic. Yes the singing wasn't all perfect, and it was very different from the Broadway versions - but I thought it was so heartfelt. And Anne Hathaway is really growing on me with her performance in that and Dark Knight Rises.
We spent one day in DC. We went to Ford's theater and saw the bed Lincoln was carried to and died in and a museum about a lot of the civil rights stuff that was going on at the time. We went to the Post Office Pavillion and had lunch and then took the elevator up to the top of the bell tower and enjoyed the wind and the view. We went to the National Archives and saw the Magna Carta, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, etc. Then we split up to go to different museums. Nate, Ethan and I headed to the Natural History museum, which was so cool. It reminded me of the Natural History museum in Vienna. They also had this awesome nature photography exhibit with really cool pictures of animals, and trees and volcanoes and things and each picture said the camera that was used and what settings too.
We went to Antietam another day - can you believe that the Berrett brothers had never been. The ground was all snow covered, but it was very cool to walk around and see where the battles took place. We climbed a watch tower that had a cool view of a lot of the area and we saw Burnside Bridge. (Ps. I went to Antietam with my family when I was about 12 but I don't remember much of it). Then we met the Berrett parents and Ethan in Harper's Ferry where we had lunch and walked around the town. On the way home we stopped at the DC temple to see the beautiful lights and snap a few photos. They had a cool exhibit inside the visitor center with a bunch of nativities from different countries. Some day I will have my own German candle pyramid.
Three or four Christmases ago they started a tradition of making a ginger bread house together, one year they made their home, one year a barn. This year we decided to make a castle tower with rapunzel at the top. The tower even included sugar glass windows. Rapunzels long hair was made of licorice and there were penguins repelling down her hair.
One evening Nate and I went to dinner with Nate's best friend Jesse and his girlfriend Ali at an Italian place. We both ordered pizza and I enjoyed hearing stories about Nate's crazy highschool years, while Nate enjoyed hearing what all his friends were up to.
We drove to Bears Den for a cold lunch spent by the fire eating roasted hot dogs and smores and chippies.
Of course other things were enjoyed while we were there too - lots of mario cart, super smash brothers, wii sword fights, foosball, walks to the Potomac River, ping pong, waaaay too much food, ice cream, sugar cookies and more, bananagrams, movies and more. Oh and of course the boys played basketball a few times too.
It was a fantastic trip and we are so grateful to Dain and Ash for planning a spring/summer wedding so we know it won't be too long till we can see them all again.
Monday, December 31
2012 in Review
2012 was another fabulous year for Nate and me. It is so fun to look back on the year and remember all the great things we were able to do during the year.
Here are some of my favorite events from 2012:
*Seattle trip: in July Nate and I were able to take a few days of work and drive up to washington. We spent two days camping and hiking around Mt. Rainer national park and then a couple more days in the city, including Bainbridge Island, a Mariners baseball game, Pikes's Place, and more.
*Liebe: in January we added another pet to our family. We got a cute little tabby cat, who is full of sass. We named her Liebe (pronounced Lee-bah) which is German for love. She escaped outside for a few days last month and scared us a little, and we are glad to have her home.
*St. George: in May we took a long weekend and met my parents in St. George. We really enjoyed spending the time with them. We rode our bikes in Snow Canyon. We ate at a Bear diner, yum. We rode our bikes around the city. We did a tour of the city, went to the Brigham Young house and the temple. Also, we hiked the red crack.it was a fun trip.
*Thanksgiving: My parents came with my grandma B and their foreign exchange student Marta to our house for a few days. We ate Turkey dinner at my aunt's house in Alpine with 55 people. We also had a pie night with some of my Brinkman cousins.
*Yellowstone/Tetons/Jackson Hole: The Berretts came to Utah for 2 weeks in July and August. We spent the tail end of their time with a trip to wyoming. We went to old faithful, saw geysers and buffalo at yellowstone. paddled in canoos at Jenny Lake. Wandered the shoos of Jackson Hole. And just had fun.
*Christmas: Nate and I were able to get a lot of time of work and go to Virginia for Christmas to spend time with the Berretts. We stayed in Va for 11 days. We went to Harper's Ferry, Antietam, and DC. Played games, including ping pong, Mario Kart, and Bananagrams, and the boys played basketball. Ate way too much food. And of course enjoyed opening Christmas presents together. (I will post more about this soon)
*New Job: In October I decided to make the leap to a full time job at Heritage, and give up teaching and my other part time job. I am now the executive assistant at Heritage working with the executive team, and helping with special project. Its a really fun job, and I feel like it was built for me, plus I get benefits now too.
*Heber Creeper: Nate and I have been wanting to ride the Heber Creeper for a while, and we figured the Polar Express ride in the winter months was the perfect time to do it. We took a fun ride up to the North Pole while enjoying Christmas tunes, a cookie and hot chocolate, and a visit from Mr. Clause himself. This is definitely something we want to make a tradition.
Happy New Year to you all! I hope your year has been as fabulous as ours and I hope the next year will be even better!
Sunday, December 16
Polar Express - Heber Creeper
Nate and I have a list of things that we want to do in Utah Valley, while we live here we might as well take advantage of as much of it as we can. (No, we aren't moving any time soon - maybe like 8 years?) Anyway, one of the things on our list was taking a ride on the Heber Creeper. The Heber Valley Railroad is an old fashioned railroad that now operates for special events and holidays. They have a haunted Halloween Ride and a ride to the North Pole for Christmas.
We decided we wanted to take a ride on the Polar Express and we took a ride last Friday. The train had original cars and it was decorated with Christmas lights. It was a little chilly despite the heater in the back of the train. But it was, nonetheless, and awesome experience that we'll definitely want to repeat. There was an MC named Gary who told us the history of the Heber Creeper, movies it's been used for and directed the passengers in song.
We were visited by Mrs. Clause, Santa's Elves and even Mr. Santa Clause himself. They gave us a chocolate chip cookie, and hot chocolate and we enjoyed singing Christmas tunes. It was so fun for Nate and I, and I think this might be something we want to make into a new tradition for us, especially as our family of two grows (no, I am not pregnant) over the years.
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