One thing I love about my husband is... (p.2)

Back in September I posted something about my hubby that I love. While going through some pictures I realized that I had to add this to the list.

I LOVE that Tyson likes to cook, and he cooks a lot. Not only does he do most of the cooking but the food turns out REALLY good. Some of my favorites he makes are his marinades on burgers, the glazed and grilled pineapple below, pot roast, ice-cream, and many many other really good food.

I'm spoiled...
and I know it!

But one of my favorite things about helping him cook is watching him stick his tongue out while he's concentrating on all of it.

It is so cute - and so funny that Jayde got the same quality from him.

So on this lazy Sunday after I had dinner cooked for me we decided to have a little contest that started after I boasted that I could build a higher tower with Jayde's blocks.

I think there may have even been a 5 minute foot massage bet that went to the winner. I mean who can have a contest without some sort of incentive right?!
We had to figure out what to give Jayde to preoccupy her time so she wouldn't be all 'gung ho' about trying to knock down our towers which is one of her favorite things to do... so we resorted to the camera lens cover.

SUCCESS!! - this bought us a few minutes

Tyson's was a little higher than the picture above (by like a block), but I think I ended up winning in the long run.

However, we couldn't tell for sure because before we were able to accurately measure them, they would topple over. Aren't lazy Sunday afternoons the BEST?!

bein' neighborly

Since we have new neighbors every week, we wanted to get to know them to see who we could develop friendships with.
We took to the task of making some home-made strawberry freezer jam,
because it's WAY easy and not just your typical chocolate chip cookies.
It was fun making all of the batches with the hubby while we talked about who we would bring the jam to.
I cut out some squares from leftover fabric I had,
tied them with ribbon,
and put our contact info on some scrapbook paper with a little note saying:
"Welcome to the Neighborhood!"

Hopefully everyone liked them, I think they turned out pretty cute.
We have more jars in the fridge ready to go for our next neighborly run.
And let's just say that we have met some awesome people so far,
and are very excited to be living here!

We also ended up with a bunch of extra jam just sittin' in the fridge ready to be enjoyed.
Oh how I love summer!

October Weekends

I made this Reeses cake for Tyson's uncle who turned 50 and we had a surprise party at the house for him. It was a chocolate cake with reeses actually baked inside. The best part was the outside with the dark chocolate peanut butter frosting (that complimented the milk chocolate), and reeses all over...messy but totally delish!

We also went 'off roading' with our friends Tyler and Jackie to get sights of the fall leaves a few weekends back which was a blast. It was nice being all warm and cozy in the truck while we bounced all over the freezing cold wilderness. You have to admit that Utah is gorgeous.

After trucking we ate at this amazing Mexican restaurant with the best, absolutely to-die-for churros I've ever had, and I don't even really like churros!

June Happened...

...and I never blogged about it, so here goes!

{Tyson assembles his GW School of Law plates}

{Laura goes to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang play with Teri (Ty's mom)}

{Laura's first sighting of fawns in person!}

{...what's new right?}

{Trying to find things to do with my spare (husband-less) time. Teri and I make strawberry freezer jam. My first attempt...ever.}

{Finally bought my own car! 2007 Pontiac Torrent...love it!}

{Do you like? I haven't had it short since I was 8 and my mom did a bowl cut to me. Told her right after if I EVER to ask her to cut it short again to NOT do it! Famous words of an eight year old I guess. Went out on a whim and had my BFF cut it...and I love it! Now I can officially have my hair short and look okay with it if I ever get bored again.}

{Cousin's baby blessing. She married Tyson's good friend from High School. Total coincidence}

{5K with Kristina (the BFF). We did awesome. Training for a half marathon in September. I love that girl!}

{Our support 'group'. Won the hat after the race and it looked better on Jake so I gave it to him... after-all he did wake up super early and drive us over there! Thanks Jake! I'm so glad you and Kristina met online. hee hee.}

Death by Chocolate

I signed up to bring a cake to the Relief Society Social. I kept thinking of what kind I should bring and if you know me, it would be obvious to you that I would bring a chocolate one! I remembered when my sister and I made a few cakes for bake sales in High School and we came up with this concoction. We called it "Death by Chocolate", and it's amazing. After I made the cake I was nervous that it looked a little "out there"... Definitely not your normal cake, but I just figured if I was going to only have one piece of cake - this one would be on the top of my list!

The only sad thing is Tyson and I weren't even able to taste it because I just dropped it off and went home to pack for my girls trip to New York. Oh well... at least I was able to eat the leftover Hershey's chocolate bars and Rolo's that didn't fit on the cake :0)

I think Tyson felt jipped.

pizza pizza pizza

Tyson and I had our FIRST home-made pizza making experience and it went quite well I must say! We got the dough recipe from my mom and used 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat flour which turned out really good. I even hand-tossed it which didn't really work but hey I tried... I'll have to master the technique.



We loaded that sucker up with toppings and stuck it on our pizza plate in the oven. There was only one casualty...a little mushroom was flung overboard when we were putting it in the oven. Poor thing didn't make it and was unrecognisable when the pizza was done. It turned out a little overcooked on the edges but other then that, it was really good. No more store bought pizzas for us!



Can you guess whose side of the pie is whose? hmmm.....next time I'm going Hawaiian!

made it...then ate it...

What's even BETTER than Turkey on Thanksgiving?

A CHOCOLATE TURKEY!!

As a girls night out before Thanksgiving we all got together and made these adorable turkey's.

Rachel was making these really cute table-name-setting things and thought this would be a fun treat. Ha...get it?...treat?! I'm going to post about Thanksgiving soon...still trying to get caught up.

Right when I saw the picture I thought, oh that's totally a piece of cake! Ha...get it?...cake?! Anyways it was a LOT harder than I anticipated. The back end totally fell off of my first one and I kept losing the head of my second one (it was probably practicin' for the big day) who knows. I guess the third time is a charm. I thought they turned out pretty cute. Each one had their own little personality. Too bad they were just going to get eaten.

It was a definitely a fun and memorable night...didn't get home until after 1am. Aren't Law School finals great?!

dinner, cookies, and some Wii butt kickin'

Tyson and I love Sunday nights because it is always relaxing, and fun to have friends over. Last Sunday we invited the Smallwood's over for dinner, wii playing, and cookie decorating (thanks to my sister Jessi for getting me the frosting tips and mother-in-law for getting us the sugar cookie mix and sprinkles!)

After dinner while the boys were playing Madden...at least I think it's what that game is called. It's the football game with Brett Favre on the front (and yes, I knew his name and the spelling of it without having to refer back to Tyson). Anyways while Tyson was kicking Brady's bootay in that game, Karissa and I decorated the cookies. You will see the outcome below. And in our defense - it is really hard to decorate small cookies with large frosting tips. *Note to self - make bigger cookies next time.

I'm still fairly new to the whole sugar cookie making scene. Tyson was shocked when I told him that I have never actually made them. I'm not sure why. My mom had a lot of us kids and it is a long messy process to make these things and when they're finished they don't even have any hint of chocolate in them! But in the cookie's defense, they are really fun to cut out and decorate. The first time Tyson and I made them I ate so much of the dough that I got sick, and I used pretty much the smallest cookie cutters known to man out there so they were really hard to get out of the dang cutter-thing and the the suckers were even harder to frost! So this time we just rolled the dough and plopped them on the sheets.

Anyways after that we all played a round of Mario Party 8. Karissa ended up totally kicking our trash. I'm pretty sure (and you can tell from looking at her picture) that it's because she *seems* so sweet and innocent and then gangs up on everyone at the end to win it all. We're on to her! :0)
Tyson and I still haven't won the game against those two. We need to get some more practice in obviously!

S-M-O-R-E-S

Scrumptuous - Mouthwatering - Ooey Gooey - Reason to - Eat - SMORES

It actually took a lot of convincing to make Tyson want to do this...

I used to ALWAYS make smores at home...contrary to Tyson's belief that they don't taste good w/o a bonfire

Once he got it in his mouth he was a happy "camper"

I also found out that Ty likes his marshmellows burnt to a crisp - JUST LIKE ME!! We really are made for each other I guess

End of Year BBQ

Tyson and I went to a BBQ that was put on by some of the law school wives to celebrate the graduation of the 3L's and the end of another year. We made (from scratch might I add) some malted cupcakes that were a hit. My awesome sister-in-law Jessi gave me a cupcake book for my b-day and it has some great recipes in it.

We have met some amazing people out here and are so grateful for their friendships. Tyson and I are excited that we still have at least another year on the east coast to make more friendships and have even more adventures.