You wouldn't think...

Welp, Matt graduated!! :)  Lots of pictures to come...  Still trying to gather pictures from other people to finish the post.  I am so proud of him.  He has come so far and it was awesome to see him achieve that step in his education.

However, if you came to our house, you wouldn't think he graduated...

because he's already started to study for law school.  He loves it so far.  :)

And while Matt has been studying...

I had a pedicure.  I'm ready for spring... too bad Utah isn't.

P.S. Indiana... here we come!

Watch for these upcoming posts: Matt's Graduation, Notre Dame Visit, and Third Anniversary!!!

Spring

Spring has definitely sprung around here and it's making me really excited.  I apologize for the blurry pictures, I think I found out that it isn't blogger that's making them blurry, but the way the files were saved on my camera... I think I fixed it? :)  Still learning.  

Matt and I went for a walk the other day and took these pictures because we were so excited about all the blossoms and warmth.

Don't you love the sun shining through it's wings?

And on a random note... Ant hill - sick...

Up close - even more sick.  But, spring is here!! :)

Mom's Birthday:

Happy Birthday Mom!!   We sure love you!  :)

Whitney eating a rice crispie treat :)

Katelyn - look at those gorgeous eyes!

The Cheesecake - Yum!

Derek - ready for cake :)

Addy, Mom, and Katelyn

Blowing out the candles

Take One, Take Two

Mike (my cousin) and his sweet wife (and better half ;)) Faith came from England to visit for General Conference.  We loved taking them places and most of all, we loved just visiting with them.  We were so sad to see them go and wish they lived closer so we could see them more often.  I guess we'll just have to scrounge up some spare change and take a trip to visit them, and the rest of the family, soon.  :)

Thursday, March 31st:

We met Mike and Faith at the Mall and did some shopping.  Faith bought some jeans.  Mike embarrassed himself at the register.  And we chatted while we shopped. 

Then we went for a drive up the canyon.  It was cold but we got out for a bit and walked around.

Mike and Faith in the car on the way up the canyon.

The sunset was amazing.

Matt and Mike

               

Steph and Faith

Mike in his element - teasing Faith.

Mike and Faith doing some log racing.

Then we kidnapped Hannah (cousin from Scotland, here studying at BYU, LOVE her) and went to Cafe Rio so Faith could try some "real" Mexican food.  :)

 Take one.

Matt is chewing ice, Mike makes an unintentionally weird face.

Take two.

Not much better I'm afraid.  The girls look gorgeous in every photo.  Mike makes an intentionally strange face.  Matt decides not to look at the camera. 

Take one (with Matt as Photographer).

Mike looks away.  Hannah wants to be the center of attention ;).

Take two.

A little better... Mike just told a joke = the rest of us trying not to laugh.  Too bad my arm looks massive. :P

Sunday, April 3rd:

We meet up with Mike and Faith in the morning.  Eat some toaster strudels on the way and head to the conference center for some of this...

Mike and Faith looking fantastic in the Conference Center.  Mike's looking for Glen Beck.

Matt and I were there too...

While we were walking to the car afterward some trees decided to drop all their snow on us - the first of many times that would happen to me that day.  Fun.  

We ate some nice lunchables (a U.S. delicacy) in the car.  Then we stopped by Uncle Bill and Aunt Janet's house for some carrot cake.  The cake was delicious and Bill and Janet were about ready to take Mike and Faith in as their own.  Not to mention Grandma Purcell who showed them all her photos from when she and Grandpa served a mission in England.  She was so excited - it was so sweet.

Take one.

The four of us at Bill and Janet's after Conference.

 Take two.

 Mike gave us all a lesson in why this sign is considered offensive in England.  Then he made us all laugh when he did it for the picture.

Saturday, April 9th:

Fast forward six days.  Mike and Faith come for dinner.  Partake of my scalloped potatoes gone wrong and claim they taste fine.  Then we head to BYU to give them a quick tour.  Mike pretends he crashes into something backing up - giving me horrible whiplash.  We arrive at the BYU bookstore just as it's closing!

But, we play the "visitors from out of the country" card and this nice man lets us in.

Small world - turns out he served his mission in their ward and baptised one of their ward members.

We get a Jamba juice (seriously a U.S. delicacy ;)) and chat for a while.  Then we head to the nickle arcade, which Mike tells us is the "pound arcade" in England.

Mike and Matt are like two little boys on Christmas morning... and ARE seriously breaking a sweat in the next few photos.

 Love Mike's face in this one.  Matt is stretching.  "This is harder than it looks!"

So focused and easy to be made fun of.

This is how faith felt about watching them play...

Ok, not really Faith and I had a blast and we were incredible at hitting "jackpot" on all the ticket games.  At least we got some candy and cheap toys out of our hard work! :)

Then we came back to our apartment and visited and ate snacks until about 12:30 in the morning.  Thanks for coming to visit and spending some of your honeymoon with us!!

Is There Something Wrong With This Picture??

Some friends of ours might be going to THE Ohio State University (a bit of a cocky name if you ask me :)) for law school.  Today we thought we would check to see how long it would take us to visit our lovely friends.  We were surprised to find that Notre Dame is in Canada (we aren't looking forward to the freezing weather), The Ohio State University is in the Dominican Republic (we might be visiting them quite frequently due to the nice climate change), AND it will still only take us 4 hours and 41 minutes to drive there... perhaps in our flying Harry Potter car.

Favorite Things...

Matt's Principal from high school gave us these abnormally enormous salt and pepper shakers for our wedding (yes, he was in the Principal's office that much ;))- and I'll never go back.  They make me smile every time I see them.

IKEA napkin holder.  Something about this cute little knob with the wire attached makes me happy.  Apparently I'm not the only one.  Everyone we have over for dinner comments on it.  Love it.

And last, but definitely not least, our cute little adopted nephew who lives next door.  We sure love this little boy and his sweet personality.  I think I heard him finally say my name the other night instead of Matt's it sounded something like fephie.  :)  These pictures are also for his adorable mom.

 LOVE this little face.

I think this picture so perfectly depicts the life of a little boy... keys, truck, shorts, band aid, snow boots.

Spinach, Fruit, & Nut Salad

This is my mom's recipe and it's amazing and super easy!

Ingredients:

Pecans or Almonds (pecans are my favorite)

Cinnamon

Brown Sugar

Spinach

Fruit - cut into small pieces (see picture above)

(you can use any kind you would like!  For this salad I used: crasins, tangelos, kiwis, strawberries, and apples)

Red Onion (if desired - I usually leave it on the side so people can choose)

Directions:

1. Roast the pecans or almonds in a pan with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Roast slowly while stirring so the sugar and cinnamon liquefy somewhat.  Then remove from heat.

2. Put spinach, fruit, red onion (if desired), and nuts in bowl and toss.

3. Serve with Briannas Home Style Rich Poppy Seed Dressing - pictured below.

4. Enjoy - trust me, you will.

 

Zucchini Bread

Prep: 20 minutes, Bake: 50 minutes, Oven: 350 degrees Fahrenheit, Makes: 1 loaf

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan; set aside.  In a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg.  Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

2.  In another medium bowl combine egg, sugar, shredded zucchini, and oil.  Add zucchini mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).  Fold in nuts.  Spoon batter into prepared pan.

3.  Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan.  Cool completely on a wire rack.  Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

Coming Soon...

Ok, I'm having some serious technical difficulties with posting pictures.  I don't know what the deal is, but they look really grainy if you zoom in at all.  I'm in the process of fixing it - hopefully.  Here is a sneak peek of things to come... 

This Awesome Couple From Across the Pond, Conference Weekend, BBQ's, Yummy Recipes, Cute Little Boy, etc. 

It's gonna be good.