Sunning

It was a very beautiful day today!

SC and I even spent some time outside this afternoon listening to lawn mowers and watching cars go by.  We're easily entertained.

I'm super ready for summer and warm weather!

Ready

Tomorrow is the last day of April.

Which is completely crazy!

But in a good way...  I am of the hope that once we're actually into May, it will feel like things will be in full swing.

I'll be able to actually be proactive in finding a new apartment
I'll be able to pack and move (which...not so much looking forward to the packing part...)
I'll be able to send out wedding invitations
I'll be done with bridal showers (yeah, I know... I'm not normal, or traditional, or girly, or acting like a bride-to-be is supposed to act...I don't care)
I do get to see Kelly this weekend since she is coming up for the bridal shower though, so it's a blessing in disguise.  We're going to celebrate her birthday while she is up too, so that will be fun!
I'll be that much closer to being married to Bruce (which is kinda surreal, I'll be honest...)

In short, I am looking forward to April being done.

They say, "April showers bring May flowers"

And I say, "Bring it on!"

Ring-a-ding-ding

I got a message from Bruce today while I was at work.

Turns out he got an e-mail from the jeweler in Oregon informing him that my ring was shipped out today.

Yeah, basically awesome!

It should be here in 2 or 3 days.

I'm excited to get it, it feels like we've been waiting for it for forever!

Indeed, sir

Bruce and I recently started watching "Jeeves & Wooster" together.

I've owned the series for a number of years, and personally love it, but I have never shared that love with anyone outside of my family.

For one reason or another, it has just never worked out that I find someone with similar enough tastes for me to be inclined to forcibly sit them down and make them watch any of the episodes with me.  Honestly, I wasn't sure how Bruce felt about the whole thing from his reaction to our first viewing, but when he suggested that we watch another episode, I knew it was a good thing.

I'm super stoked that we share a number of interests; don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things that are strictly his interests, and things that are strictly mine, but I am glad that some of the more quirky ones are ones we share.

Crepes

Heidi, Rumel, and I went to brunch today.

We went to this crepery in town, that I had heard of, but had not tried.

Truthfully, I have never been to a crepery in the U.S., and the last one I went to was in France about a year and a half ago.

I do love crepes though, so I'm not sure why I haven't ventured into a local crepery prior to this.

We all ordered different crepes, and each got to try the other's.  I got a BLT crepe, Heidi got one called "The Lumber Jack" which had egg, ham, swiss...and other deliciousness thrown in there, and Rumel got a sweet crepe with caramel apple goodness.

They were each very different, but good in their own rights.

We decided that we need to come back and try some of their other flavors.

Don't have to twist my arm!

Sociability

I decided to be social tonight.

I got an invitation to go bowling from one of my friends, and I decided that instead of staying at home (like I normally do), I would actually take her up on her offer.

A group of us met at the bowling alley at 8:00, only to learn that we would have to wait til 8:30 when they switched over to "Rockin' Bowl"...which I guess is their black light bowling.

Well, 8:30 turned into 9:00, and by that point, we were told that all the lanes were booked until 10:20 or so.  Which would have been helpful information before we sat around for an hour...especially since we were told to wait by the staff.

Instead of waiting any longer, and instead of going and doing something else with the group, I decided to go home.  Because that is how I roll.

On a happy happy happy note, I finally saw Bruce today.  I missed that man so much this week.  It's times like these that I really wish we were married already, so we could see each other on a more regular basis.

Alas, we still need to wait 7 more weeks...

Heya Handsome

So it's no secret that I adore Bruce.

Not exactly a shocking revelation...I know.

But I got a replacement phone for my defective device yesterday, and I put a couple of our engagement photos on it as my background and lock screen photos, and I found myself just staring and grinning at it as Bruce's face grinned back at me.

I can't get over how handsome he is.  His smile always melts my little icy heart.

I have not seen him in person since Sunday, so the arrival of our photos was definitely something I needed yesterday...not nearly as good as seeing him personally, but it has tided me over until I'll see him tomorrow.

Super duper excited to get a big hug from him.

Fetching

Bruce and I got our engagement photos back this evening.

There are a couple shots that I love.

Though I still really don't like seeing photos of myself...so of the twenty or so we got back, I really only like two or three.

I love love love Bruce in all of them though.

He's one handsome dude.

Ode to Ibuprofen

Oh ibuprofen how I love you.

I know I've ignored you in the past.

Have blatantly turned you down in fact...

But today I sing your praises.

I shall never take you for granted again, even if I don't take advantage of your kindness and generosity as often as I probably should...I'm still stubborn.

Shredded Chicken Enchiladas

I had one of those days where I just did not want to cook, but I really could not get away with eating cereal for dinner...again.

Luckily, I went grocery shopping a couple weeks ago, so I actually had some things to work with.

After taking (an incredibly quick) inventory of my fridge and "pantry", I decided that I'd make enchiladas.  They turned out pretty dang tasty too, if I say so myself (and I do).

Shredded Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can enchilada sauce
salt
ground black pepper
8 boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins
2 cups Mexican Blend cheese, divided
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp. fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, divided (optional)
6 6-inch corn tortillas
cooking spray

Directions:

Add the minced garlic to the enchilada sauce in the crock pot.  Salt & pepper the chicken and add to the crock pot.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or until chicken is tender and would shred easily. Remove the chicken from the sauce, set aside and let both the chicken and the sauce cool. (If you're not able to do the crock pot option, you can do this on the stove, cooking the chicken in a large skillet in the enchilada sauce for 20-25 minutes).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Using two forks, shred the chicken and then transfer the shredded chicken to a large bowl. Add half the enchilada sauce, 1 cup of the cheese and the 1/2 cup of cilantro to the shredded chicken. Stir to combine.

Spray a 9x9 baking dish with cooking spray. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture along the center of the tortilla. Gently, but firmly, roll the tortilla around the filling and place into the baking dish, seam-side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Lightly spray the tortillas with cooking spray. This will help the tortillas turn golden in the oven and will also help keep them from cracking. Place baking dish in the oven, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes or until the tortillas begin to turn golden.

Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Remove the baking dish from the oven. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle remaining cheese over the sauce. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp. fresh cilantro. Lightly cover baking dish with aluminum foil and place into the oven for 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil after 20 minutes and bake, uncovered, for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is golden.

Remove form the oven and let stand 5-10 minutes prior to serving.

You should give these bad boys a try.  I promise they're tasty!

Enjoy!

Cheers to you

This is the week I have not really been looking forward to all month.

Bruce is working overnights this week.  Meaning he works, that's right, you guessed it!  Over night.  So the likelihood that I will see him anytime before Friday at the earliest is....pretty slim.  The poor kid is going to be exhausted, I can already tell.  Not to mention dealing with school as well.  No bueno.

I also have a doctor's appointment this week, and we all know how much I adore going there. I'd almost rather eat a heaping spoonful of peanut butter (except that the thought of that literally just made me gag).

There are other things taking up the week, but those are the two things I am most least looking forward to.

Oh well...onward and upward, right?

He lives

Happy Easter!

What a wonderful time to focus on the Savior.

We should always have him at the forefront of our minds, but there is always an added measure at this time of year when we celebrate his Atonement and resurrection.

He lived, atoned, and died that we might live again.

What other message could give more hope to the soul than that?

I submit that one does not exist.

I know that my Redeemer lives!

Picture Time

Bruce and I had our engagement photos taken today.

I really dislike having my photo taken, and being the center of attention...so today was doubly awesome.

Luckily, Bruce was also subjected to the madness, and he looked handsome as always...so at least I had a studly partner in crime.

I'm excited to get the photos back and to be able to send out our invitations.

Things are starting to get real, folks!

Nappy Time

Today I napped when baby napped.

This doesn't normally happen due to the fact that I am usually (always) working at the times SC goes down for his naps.  But today I got off somewhere in the middle of his feeding, so after clocking out, we moved to someplace more comfortable while I finished feeding him, and he nodded off....and I nodded off.

I needed that nap, brief though it was.

Could sure still go to bed right this minute and not care one whit about it.

Where art thou?

I have no idea where all the hours in the day go.

It seems like each day I am shocked when I look at the clock and realize it's 9 or 10 o'clock at night, and it feels like I have accomplished next to nothing (which realistically I know is not true...based on my busy schedule and all).

When is it that they say time slows down?

Oh, that's right...

After death.

Lovely.

Brassy

I cut my hair today.

A trim.

Just a trim... don't freak out!

I've been needing a haircut for a while now, and scheduling hasn't been working out with the gal who was going to cut it last week...and then earlier this week.  So I decided to just go someplace else to get it cut.

On a whim, I decided to get some subtle highlights put in as well, just to break up the dark solid color I've had going on in my hair for the last...oh...4 years or so.

Sadly, I don't really care for how they turned out.

Even more sadly, our engagement photos are being taken on Saturday.

Oh well, life goes on.

At least I know my hair will be back to normal by the wedding...because I shall make it so.

Happening

Things for the wedding are sloooowly coming together.

And while there are still a number of things to do that have to wait til later, I am happy that some of this is done (or soon to be done)

• I got an e-mail letting me know that Bruce's ring has been engraved and is being shipped back to me.
• I checked the addresses I have against the addresses I need, and on my side I only have a discrepancy of 9...and I'm pretty sure some of them submitted to the website...so less than 9.
• We are getting our engagement photos taken on Saturday.
• Once our photos are taken and edited, we'll have our invitations done up pretty quick.
• A bridal shower is being planned (kiiiiinda against my will...but whatever).
• I have purchased half of the items for the dessert table for the reception.
• We're currently working on the wording for the invitations (and will hopefully finalize tonight).
• My engagement ring should be arriving in a few short weeks.
• My wedding dress should also (fingers crossed) be arriving in a few short weeks.

For now I will just revel in the fact that some things are getting done, even though it often doesn't feel that way.

Happy, Feeling Glad

I am super duper crazy about this man of mine.

He's just incredibly amazing and wonderful.

Yep.

I got to see Bruce tonight (in case you couldn't tell), albeit briefly, due to homework and other such nonsense.  Super excited for the day we'll both be done with school forever, but for now I will settle for when Bruce is done with the current semester.

Speaking of school, Bruce did terribly well on his most recent math exam, which is very exciting.  I'm so proud of him and the hard work he puts into everything, but especially his school work.

To be

I felt super anti-social today.

There are just some days when I do not want to be around people.

Which may sound weird when you consider the fact that there are already a great many days of the week where I have minimal interaction with the populace as a whole, but there it is.

It's not that I'm in a bad mood, or am not feeling well, I just don't want to be in front of anyone.  I don't want to have to converse.  I want to just be.

Today was one of those days.

Sometimes we're a little bizarre

Oddly, I have felt like I've been forgetting something all day today.  Like it's someone's birthday, anniversary, or some other significant event...and yet, nothing has manifested itself as being the "missing moment".

In a completely unrelated vein, I got to hang out with Christine this evening.

She called and asked me if I wanted to go get slushies at Sonic with her, and since I'm pretty sure I've only had a slushy once or twice in my life, and because I enjoy the heck out of her company, I of course said yes.

So we went and got the aforementioned slushies and then came back to my place for some very random (and slightly odd at times) conversation...until about 15 minutes ago when she headed home.  She is such a wonderful person, and I am going to miss seeing her often once I am no longer in the ward, she has seriously been one of the best people I have met since coming to Idaho.

So glad to have good, funny friends who appreciate my craziness.

Fluffiness

Bruce and I went for a walk today, and as we were walking, he saw some furry creatures and asked me if I thought they were cats or squirrels.

From my view, they looked to be cats, and he posited that they were squirrels.

So we stepped closer for a better look.

Turns out we were both wrong! Gophers! We found a frolicking colony of gophers! It kinda made my day.

Gophers...who knew?

Random Product Plug

Okay, so this is a bit random, but whatever...

I bought some sour cream for a recipe yesterday.  Nothing too outside the ordinary... except that I bought a different brand than I usually do, and holy hannah, was that a good choice.

I purchased a container of Tillamook Sour Cream, and let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, it is divine. Hands down, the best sour cream I have ever had.

Which may sound weird, but I don't even care.

It's good enough to blog about (clearly).

Gettin' stuff done

I feel surprisingly accomplished today.

Probably because I left the house.  More than once.

Got a few errands done, even put makeup on to do them...that's something right there.

Running on Empty

I am rapidly running out of food items in my apartment.

This might be due to the fact that I haven't done any actual grocery shopping in about a month or so...but it could also be gremlins.

I've been slowly using up the items that I have on hand, and I am now to the point where I probably have to break down and go shopping (insert groan here...).

Fare Thee Well

I have finally passed my accounting final!

Third time was apparently the charm for this beast...seriously, I will not miss this class.

Unfortunately, I do still have one final task (project) to complete for my other accounting class...hopefully I can figure out how to do it (and do it right) by the end of the month.

I will not be sorry to bid these classes adieu at long last!

'Cuz that's not the least bit creepy...

It's no surprise that I have been exhausted lately (after all, I DO keep whining about it on this here blog...)

But it is a bit crazy to me just how quickly I can fall asleep these days.

I went over to Bruce's place after I got home from Utah today, and while we waited for the next session of General Conference to start, we put on an episode of "House".  And (according to Bruce), not 2 minutes went by before I was out like a light (I like to think that I was awake a bit longer than 2 minutes, but I digress...).  Apparently he had been talking to me, and he discovered I was asleep when I didn't respond to him.

The only downside to my sleeping is that I still get frequent nightmares.  I have had nightmares pretty regularly all of my life, some of them are recurring and I've had the same ones off and on since childhood, and others are just random, but most of them involve me trying to evade one or more individuals who are attempting to attack/kill me (pleasant, I know), and I have varying degrees of success.

Today's nightmare was no exception...much running, hiding, sleuthing and sneaking, but in the end, I couldn't get away.  I generally always wake up before I actually die in my dreams, but often not before a fatal blow is struck.  I think I have a seriously screwed up subconscious.

Les Miserables

Kelly and I are currently sitting at intermission at Hale Centre Theatre in Utah.

It is seriously the best performance of this show that I have seen...and I've seen it a fair few times.

Certain parts make my heart go pitter-pat.

Just sayin'

Throw me a line?

I've been feeling overloaded recently.

I'm hoping that if I can catch up on some sleep that I'll feel more able to tackle things without feeling like I'm drowning.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

How many hands do I need?

Sometimes I think my life resembles a sitcom.

Today for instance...

There was a perfect moment this morning that would have made for an ideal photo-op.  I was sitting at my desk (in my pajamas), working on a student's evaluation, then I got a phone call...had to put myself on mute while I turned in my chair to attend to SC who was fussing in his bouncy chair, then got an IM at that exact same moment from my supervisor asking me if I could fill in for him today since he is sick.

Moments like that make me laugh (ironic laughter, but laughter is laughter...).

Here's to starting the month with a bang!

Only a Fool

It's days like these that I am glad I work from home...alone...away from society...and its pranks.

I always forget that some people actually get into April Fool's Day.  People post their fake engagements, fake articles, and various shenanigans on this day, and I think what amazes me most is the number of people who fall for it. Every. Year.

Really?  Even if these engagements and other things are real, it's in your best interest to not believe it until the 1st of April has come and gone.  And if you DO actually get engaged on April 1st...you probably shouldn't announce it til the 2nd anyway, you'll just get people accusing you of lying all day long.

I will say that I am glad my hermit tendencies allow me to avoid having April Fool's pranks played on me.