We're getting away soon...

...and going here!

I am so excited! We're getting away in honor of Valentine's Day. This is a little 400 square foot cabin in the woods, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I was having fun on groupon.com just browsing the getaway deals, and came across this one! It is a modern cabin, with rustic touches throughout, sleeps 4, and has all the amenities you could ask for in a home, but it's tucked away in a beautiful grove of trees.

What I like about it is we are only paying half the price because our good friends, the Lefoll's are joining us. They are so fun, we love them so much. Also, it's only an hour and a half away from Rexburg, and the cabin is just 10 minutes from downtown Jackson. It's going to be a relaxing weekend filled with hikes, and cocoa, and sleeping, lounging, smores, sledding, boardgames, hottubbing, and whatever else we feel like.

I'll take pictures, and post them later...

Mickey shaped scones - Its what's for dinner

New Young Family tradition - - fried scones in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head. What's better than bread? Fried bread. What's better than fried bread? Fried bread shaped into a famous friendly rodent! That paired with homemade honey butter, and you can't go wrong! It's delicious and nutritious --scratch that. It's just delicious.

Honey Butter Recipe

1/2 cup real butter

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup powdered sugar


The powdered sugar makes a world of a difference to the consistency and taste of the honey butter. I got this recipe from my favorite cookbook, Our Best Bites - Mormon Moms in the Kitchen. It is inspired by a popular recipe blog by Sara Wells and Katie Jones. I got my book autographed by them when I bought it at the BYU-I bookstore. It was so neat to meet them.

What I like about this cookbook is that there is a picture for EVERY recipe, they give you great tips and serving suggestions, and the recipes are just more simplified and more reasonable to make than other fancier cookbooks. I've given one to my mom, sister, and sister-in-law, just to give you a clue on how much I love it!

Thoughts On Love and Butterflies

photo by Laura


I was pondering about love and marriage today in the car, and I thought I might as well send a blog out into cyberspace about it. I'm no expert, seeing as I've only been with Derek for 3 1/2 years as opposed to 20+, but I have had a realization -- about butterflies. To experience the feeling of "butterflies" in your stomach is one of the most exhilarating, nauseating, and thrilling of all experiences! It's the precursor to love. What an extraordinary feeling of whimsy! You are happy, and your heart is pounding and you can't stop smiling. It is one of the best feelings there is.

However...

When I was in Young Women's I distinctly remember a fireside given to the youth by our bishop, Bishop Myers, about chastity. I'll never forget what he said. He was giving a statistic about "butterflies" in one's stomach. Apparently, it had been studied and determined that that feeling of butterflies in regards to one's mate last no longer than 5 years. Wait...5 years? What a let down! As a teenager, this was devastating news. Butterflies were all I knew! And they were great, and I loved them, and I didn't want them to go away.

Well, as I had mentioned previously, I've been with Derek 3 1/2 years, and I can already say the swarm of butterflies that there once was have settled down to a gentle flutter. But that's OK because, you know what? They've been replaced with something even better -- a truer, more honest kind of love. The feelings I had for Derek when we were first dating were sweet and sincere, but they have grown into deep feelings, that are all consuming, and powerful. He is my eternal companion! We will be together always, and I know our devotion for each other will continue to grow as the years go by.

Of course, I think we all still get butterflies on occasion, like sometimes when Derek smiles at me in a certain moment, or when he comes home from work, but even if they do go away, that's ok. That's not what love is about.

Mmm Cheese

I've had a craving lately for cheese, but not just any cheese...fake cheese! You know that glossy, thick cheese, that has a little kick to it! I don't care if its velveeta, queso dip or that yellow stuff you buy at Taco Bell, I love it all! I know, technically it's not "fake", but you've got to admit, it has a plastic quality to it. But I don't care, and neither do the millions of other fake cheese fans. My gosh, they've built a whole cheesy empire from that stuff! I don't know about you, but I'm lovin' it!

Of course, I can appreciate a variety of different cheeses. I recently prepared a leafy salad of candied pecans, dried cranberries, and feta. Or when I put together a cheese and fruit platter I've used muenster, gouda, and pepperjack. And if you haven't tried it already, combine gruyere, asiago and cheddar for homemade mac and cheese. You'll love it!

Man, I'm in cheese heaven just thinking about it!

A new year has begun

I've got a feeling there are some wonderful things in store for us in 2012. 2012...I can't believe how fast the past 23 years have gone by. I remember 12 years ago on New Years Eve 2000, my childhood friend, Mindy Fletcher and I stayed up til midnight creating choreography to the song from Disney's "Tarzan". I don't remember what song it was, but it still feels like yesterday. Of course, everyone had been talking about the end of the world, and I think I was just a tad anxious to see what would happen when the clock stroke 12. But nothing happened, there was just a bunch of pots and pans banging, kazoos, and some fireworks you could see from our front room window. Fun memories.

This year Derek and I will graduate college. I'm really proud of myself for making it this far. School is tough, and that's no lie. I've been very challenged by the classes I've taken for my exercise physiology major. I guess there's a lot more to exercise than meets the eye. ;) But it really has been a huge blessing to learn. I can apply so much of what I've learned about how to exercise effectively to mine and my family's lives.

Although school has been important, I am most excited to move away from Rexburg and begin the life I've always dreamed of - being a wife and mother. I can't wait to be able to have the time and means to really make a home for Derek. I want to expand my cooking knowledge, to practice, and create and buy groceries! Oh groceries! Why are you so expensive? I am excited to be able to buy nice ingredients. haha, I am a nerd.

I also want to eventually get an online degree in interior design here.

I've always been drawn to beautiful things in all artistic venues, but I think I've found a love for designing rooms. I guess I love the idea of the power of good interior design. You know it works when you walk into a room, and it is able to change how you feel, whether its a romantic table scape set with beautiful linens and candlelight, or a light and breezy bedroom with lots of natural light, perhaps a comfy sheepskin rug. I could go on and on. On that note, here are some curtains that I just adore...

photo found here

Derek and I would love to purchase a home. It's been so fun looking at homes online, discussing what we like, what's important to us, what we could do or change. It will be small, no doubt, and maybe old, probably a fixer upper, but it will be OURS. We will truly be living the dream when we can have our own house to do whatever we want with, to make sweet memories in, and perhaps invite a little one into.

These are my thoughts. It's good to put them down somewhere. It is quite therapeutic, actually. I'll post again soon.

Part 3

The Honeymoon!

I am truly ashamed of myself at how long it has taken me to post. I have no good excuses. Perhaps laziness, busyness or maybe indifference. My life has not ended after marriage, although I am sure it appears that way by my dramatic halt in blog posts. It is quite the contrary though. After marriage, I kind of feel my life has finally begun. Derek and I are often saying how much we love our lives and that it is the happiest we both have ever been. And I know it's the kind of happiness that only comes through making sacred covenants in the House of the Lord to your sweetheart. We feel so blessed!

Anyway, so here it is...the Honeymoon pictures! Was it real? It seemed too good to be real. But here's the proof!

When we were dating, Derek and I wrote each other "promise" notes about respecting each other and our bodies and promising to be good and chaste when together. We kept these "signed documents" in our wallets. Well, morning after the wedding night...we decided to rip them up!!

It was SO fun!!

Our first couple days of our honeymoon were spent in downtown Portland. Neither of us had spent much time in that amazing City, so it was great to see what it had to offer.Saturday Market, Voodoo Doughnuts, The Melting Pot Restaurant.





We flew to Florida for our Disney cruise through the Bahamas. This is a view from our room of the Hyatt. We loved watching the busy people in the airport.

Our first glimpse of the boat. We were so excited!

We went on a tour of a Butterfly farm in Key West. I really wanted to do it. Derek was a good sport :)

Check the sign. Neat, huh?

We took a napkin folding class

We participated in a roller derby. We were given wheels, a potato and a carrot. Look what we made!! We didn't win the race but we won buttons for the best name - the Mechanickeys (Mickey/Mechanics)

Towel art -- we still have no idea what that is

Escargot, anyone?

No booze for us, just chocolate milk :)

Oo sexy!

Unlimited soft serve, 24/7! One of our favorite places.

And they lived happily... where to next? Derek, if you're reading this, how about Fiji 2020?!

Part 2

The Wedding

On August 14th, 2010, Derek and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Portland Temple. It was one of the most spiritual and emotional experiences I've ever had. I'm his and he's mine forever and always! He is my sweetheart and I love him so much. Here are a few pics from that happy day:

We are very happy together :)