Braised Pork Shanks, Chicken Piccata, and Polenta Please!

Last weekend was so fun!

Jason and I went our separate ways on Friday and Saturday,
spending time with our friends. Friday night was so much fun! I went with my sisters to an Italian cooking class, offered through Sur La Table.
We all love to cook (thanks to our mom's talent), and were so excited to enhance our skills.
It was a great experience, and I highly recommend it!
I learned so much- from homemade pizza to homemade noodles,
the class thoroughly taught the basics of Italian cooking.
And it was so easy! I have already made the pizza recipe twice this week
and Jason loves it. He likes to help me make and knead the dough especially.
So for your enjoyment, here are a few pics of the culinary tour:

I am already planning a date
for a couples cooking class so Jason better be prepared.... ;)

On Saturday I got together with four beautiful girls I
became close friends with in high school. We went for pedicures (which
was wonderful, by the way... paraffin wax and everything!)
and then to Chilis for lunch (its tradition!) It was really
fun to see them
and catch up on the details of their lives.

Saturday evening was exciting... Jason and I
went to look at new cars!
We are planning on adding a new addition to our family soon,
and the Honda Accord is looking pretty good.
We found one that is black, has dark tinted windows,
and black leather interior...
we are hoping that will be the one!
I will keep you updated on this exciting news :)

We love Jazz.

oh, how we love them.

last week was yet another affirmation of the strength of the utah jazz. yes, it is true- the jazz won the best in the east and the best in the west, and they are well on their way to winning much more! my personal favorite player is deron williams. he is such a stud. jasons favorite is the moneyman mehmet okur. i like that he likes him, as they resemble each other to me. it has become quite the tradition in our little family to watch their games. i even have a pink williams jersey lol. in ode to our favorites, here they are:

we are currently in 4th position in the rankings on an 11-game winning steak....


GO JAZZ!

Lately.

hello everyone! so, obviously its been awhile... thats okay though! a+ for trying right? :) so we have been really busy lately with school, work, and applications! Jason is in the process of applying for several internships. what I like about them is that the work schedule is fascinating... 9 hour days, with a friday off every other weekend! that would be amazing for little weekend getaways, so i am hoping that he will decide on one of those. i am in turmoil about which location though, there are two: Albuquerque and the Bay Area. in NM we would be able to have much nicer housing, as everything is less expensive there. the opposite is true of the Bay Area. but the Bay Area is obviously a little more exciting, so i don't know! i guess we will see which internship he is more interested in. i am so excited about this part of our lives! we are at the brink of graduation and planning our future and it is just all so exciting! i am very proud of jason for doing so well in his major... he is the smartest guy i know.

anyway... we had a good valentines, for those who want to know. on friday evening jace took me to build-a-bear, a great experience if i say so. i built a soft brown bear with a sweatshirt, dark jeans, and little brown shoes that look like jasons. he is named trevor, and was born on friday the 13th, like jason. to start the actual valentines day off on a romantic note, i made jason breakfast in bed- chocolate crepes and raspberry sauce. i'll admit, it was a little sweet for breakfast, but it was still cute i thought. a while after that jason sent me to the bookstore with a heart note. it was the first of a series of scavenger hunt clues that were hidden in books throughout the store. each one led to the next book. the last led to the counter, where i picked up my new copy of Saying It Like It Is. i was excited because i love little thought books like that. we went to dinner at pf changs, which is one of our traditions (we both love it so much)!

and we also did a gift exchange... jason bought me an ihome, and i bought him a brown satchel laptop bag for his internship, filled with valentines treats (including a pink shirt, which looks very good on him ;))



so yes, that's what's new lately.

My little brother Thomas (or Teeg, to me) is currently serving a mission for the LDS church in the NY, NY South mission. This mission includes Long Island, Brooklyn, the island of Burmuda, and other areas in NY.
So far Tom has loved his mission! We are missing him especially at this time of the year, since these are the first set of holidays that he will miss with our family.
We are lucky because Jason's aunt and uncle were called to serve a medical mission covering the East Coast, including Teeg's mission. Tom was
able to meet them and snap a few
pictures (see above). Thomas's dedication and love of the mission field is touching. For the past two weeks he has been on crutches and in to see several doctors because of a serious foot condition. Although no one really knows what it is, apparently it is healing now and he is doing better!

*This is Tom and his companion on Halloween night*

We are so proud of Thomas and are grateful for his precious spirit! We love you Tom!

A little while...

So, we really don't have a great excuse for not updating everyone on our lives! I guess we just forgot to write for a while. So first of all, I want to start out by telling everyone that one of my dearest friends was married on August 30, 2008. Her name is Brittany Anne Olsen Nielsen, and she is just fabulous! I was lucky enough to be one of her bridesmaids, and I had the best time the entire day! I was able to attend the temple ceremony, luncheon, and reception. It was a beautiful and memorable day. Brittany and Chase make a wonderful couple and it made me happy to see how in love they are with each other! Yah Britt, Congratulations!

Shortly before Britt's wedding, we took a trip to Newport. It was really fun! It's always nice to revisit favorite places. We mostly just hung out at our favorite beach in Laguna, but we also went to Disneyland and took a few walks on Balboa. It was nice to get away for a little while before school starts and our lives become outrageously busy once again.



Arriving at Disneyland! It was so much fun :)



The Disneyland castle with my mom.



Out at the Wedge.



Making pizza at my Grandma's house.



At the Newport Temple, one of my favorite temples. It is so beautiful


So this is going to be the longest post ever, but I am also going to include pictures of other events that occured spontaneously over the summer.



The picnic on Jason's birthday, right after black-light miniature golfing and right before his surprise party! He had no clue.. I totally got him :)


Jason's surprise party! It was so fun! Thanks again to everyone who came and made it such a hit.


Jason's millionth sprained ankle. Basketball baby.



Ben's wedding luncheon. Congratulations you guys!