Look Alikes, Kind of?

Yes in deed, we are related.

That's some kind of thick soup

I can't believe I'm blogging for a second time today. This is a record. Clearly I have no job and I get a little bored from time to time. I couldn't resist posting this. I had to get to school tonight and was a little pressed for time. So, for dinner we had my last minute go to meal...Grilled turkey and cheese with tomato soup. Yum! I was making the sandwiches and asked Dustin if he could make the soup. I just figured since all you do is add a can of water he could handle it. After about five minutes he says "This sure doesn't make a lot of soup." I came over and looked in the pot and it looked like a tomato paste. I asked how much water he put in and he answers "you put water in this?" I couldn't help but laugh. I had to assure him that water was needed and that it goes in all condensed soups. This is his reply (it was classic) "No, I make chicken noodle soup all the time and you don't have to add any water to it." I almost fell over. He then had to go read the label on the can because he didn't believe me. His closing remark sounded something like this..."I always wondered why my soup was so chicken noodley." Dustin, I love you for moments like this. You make me smile and you make me laugh like nobody else can.

Provident Living

I just wanted to put out there some thoughts I had yesterday at church. We had one of those lessons that really spoke to me. We talked about provident living. Of course we have all heard about this before (if you are LDS). Living within our means, food storage, self reliance, education. That kind of stuff. The instructor was talking about living without debt and not buying things we don't need. That got me thinking about what our "needs" really are. I thought about a place to live, food to eat, health care and basic clothing. What else is there really? Everything else I thought of really wasn't a need, but a comfort, a want, a splurge. Then I thought of many people that are without. I thought of the people in poor countries, that have never seen cars, or Prada bags, and for some, a school, a proper building. Now, for just a moment, put yourself in one of these countries. Let's say you have the same financial situation you have now. Would you be so eager to buy an expensive car, or spend money on name brands that mean nothing to these people? Would fancy furniture be the top of your list? It made me think of why we buy what we buy. And the ugly truth is...Most of the things we buy (aside from essentials) are so that other people can see that we have them. I don't mean this as a judgement in anyway. (I would love a Louis Vuitton as much as the next girl!) I merely found myself re-thinking what is important and what is not. Food storage is important. Savings are important. Family is important. Education is important. The rest is just luxury, it doesn't make us happy, and it doesn't make people like us. I am glad for lessons like this that remind me what I should be focused on and where my priorities should be.

Yummy Dipping Sauce

Let me preface by saying that this is the ugliest picture and doesn't do anything justice. I took in as an afterthought. Anyways, I was making a loaf of french bread tonight and when it was done I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I decided to try a olive oil dipping sauce for it. Oh my goodness! I am in love, and I thought that it would be a sin to not share this recipe. You could dip any crusty bread in this sauce. It's suppose to taste like Carraba's dipping sauce, not sure if it does, but it is goooood.

1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

-Combine all ingredients, except oil, on a shallow bowl or plate.
-Pour olive oil over. (I used a really good EVOO)

I think next time I will roast my garlic in the oven. There is nothing better then roasted garlic.

Enjoy :)

A Newsworthy Night

If you are expecting an exciting post, stop reading now. This is strictly an excited mommy post. Tonight..... Charlotte went to sleep on her own. We have been struggling with her sleeping for the last month and a half. Until about twelve weeks of age she had no problem going to bed. I would feed her, put her in her bed and she would drift off. Then she suddenly became aware that she was alone in her bed. The struggle began. She would cry and I would come to her rescue, not wanting her to be mad at me. Needless to say, I got tired. I got tired of the feeding, rocking, putting her down ever so careful and crawling out of the room, only for her to wake up suddenly and cry. I would start the process all over again. (clearly I am new to this mom thing). I started gathering advise, reading books, ect. ect. Apparently you are allowed to let your baby cry, they will get over it. A couple weeks ago we started letting her cry for short periods of time, a little more each night. Tonight, she didn't cry. I put her down wide awake, left the room and didn't hear a peep from her. I went back in after a few minutes to make sure she was breathing. She was sound asleep like a sweet little princess. I feel like I have accomplished something great. As a mother, it's not often that you feel like you do anything important and I rarely feel like I accomplish anything. It's little moments like this that I live for. On a side note, we got a really cute new dress from my brother and his wife today. I took some pics of Char, she looked to cute. Enjoy.