Pre-Weekend Party

This week was FULL ON CRAZY.  Where to start?

Well…first things first….Zach and I have a brand new niece, Charlotte!  Lucky #21 in the Henderson family!  Zach’s sister, Gina, had Char a little early, but they are both doing well!

Monday we had a family Birthday Dinner/Pool Party at Mark and Jeanene’s house.  Our sister-in-law Siri and her three kids are here visiting from Philly and we decided to celebrate while everyone was in town!  Of course there was kiddie soup…the Henderson parties go hand-in-hand with hot tubbing…

Zach and I knew that we had a pretty crazy weekend ahead of us, so we took some time to do a date night on Thursday night this week.  We went to Sawadee, which I had been craving for weeks and ended the night with a movie.  We saw The Help, which came highly recommended.

I LOVED it.  Zach even admitted it was better than he expected.  Loved the story, the music, and the fashion…and Emma Stone.

Saturday morning, Zach’s cousin’s shower was held at my house.  It was fun to be with family and friends, and Jeanene brought amazing food, as always, and we over-indulged.  I OVER INDULGED, let’s be honest.

Saturday night, our Relief Society Presidency was in charge of our ward party, which was Ward Wild West.  We had pulled pork sandwiches, corn on the cob, a photo booth with a real saddle, line dancing, and a cobbler cook-off!  Once it was all set up on our end…it was a blast!

I know people say it is not good to wait for events to come in the future, that it is more important to live in the present…and I agree.  But the end of this weekend only means one thing:  5 more days until Zach and I will be here….

Chi-Town.  I’ve always dreamed of going to Chicago…the food, the architecture, the old-school mobster/prohibition history….

Living in the present is more important, but I hope the future comes FAST!

BLOWING My Mind

Zach and I have been waiting for this week for almost six months.  We knew this weekend was our time up at the cabin with some old family friends, and were excited to see all of the families.  It came really fast because I was consumed the days prior with work and the monthly Relief Society activity.  That’s where I will start first.  PREPARE FOR YOU MIND TO EXPLODE!!!

Thursday, my Relief Society president asked a woman she had met that started this blog:

365 Days of Crockpot Cooking

I’ve only used my crock pot to make sweet pulled pork, so I was anxious to see what this chick could whip up in a crock pot…365 times?  She was amazing, and I anxiously took THREE whole pages full of notes.  The whole time, she is giving us all these hints and tips and women are GASPING out loud at what she is saying.  I felt like I had been living under a rock all this time when it came to crock pot cooking.  Yes, I realize what I am writing makes me sound like a total married mormon nerd, but it was legit.  Here are some of my favorite tips she shared, please humor me if you already knew all of these…

1.  Did you know you can use any oven safe dish in a crock pot?  YES, it’s true!  Any bakeware that can go in your oven (if small enough) can go right into your crock pot.  So a bread loaf pan?  Right in there, and you can cook zucchini bread!  A ceramic dish, for a casserole, TOSS IT THE FREAK IN THERE!

2.  She claimed OVAL crock pots are better than ROUND crock pots.  They cook more evenly.

3.  She has this formula or some what of a conversion method for taking conventional oven recipes and making them in the crock pot.  GENIUS!

She literally has 365 + recipes to cook in a crock pot on her website, and I plan to explore them all!  She rocked my crock pot world!

Friday, Zach’s hockey team made it to the semi-finals for ice hockey and played in their last game that night.  Unfortunately, they didn’t win, but had a fantastic season!  After his game, and his shower, we drove up to Bear Lake.

Saturday was spent on the lake, or I guess it was on the Water Weenie.  We haven’t broken this baby out in a few years!

Here are the boys (Zach, Gavin, and Blake) doing a “No Hands” run.  Luckily there were no major injuries this round.

We also tried out a new recipe I’ve been lusting after for a while, Cinnamon Roll Cake.

It was divine.  It took three steps (the cake, the cinnamon goo, and the glaze) and didn’t look as glam as the picture, but it tasted BOMB.  I want it for my birthday cake!

Sunday afternoon after everyone had left, we made the drive home.  I guess you can say that the trip ALMOST ended in a bang because Zach and I almost died in a head-on collision in Logan Canyon because Zach HAD to have his Sour Sprees.  He was so distracted unwrapping them that we almost DIED.  Luckily, we survived.

Other than the almost-death-Spree…the weekend was awesome!  We love the Caywoods, Swensons, Websters, and Storms!  Can’t wait for next year already.

Highlight Reel

In case you didn’t know…

Football season is back in full swing.  Ahem…excuse me…PRE-SEASON Football is back in full swing.  Pre-Season, Regular Season, there’s no difference in our house.  WE. WATCH. EVERY. GAME.  So in tribute to the ‘magical week’, I am going to give you our very own Henderson Highlight Reel for the week/weekend.

Wednesday – I got to go out to dinner with my some of my ID friends and two of their DARLING minis.  AJ was just as cute, but I didn’t get a photo of her, unfortunately.

Friday – I miss my old co-workers.  They were such a big part of my life for two + years, and I was so glad that when Char came back to visit, she saved some time to go out to eat with us!  Janette, Char, and I all met up at Z’Tejas for some appetizers.  It was so great to catch up and hear the latest happenings.

Later that night, one of my mom’s best friends had a suite at the Bee’s Game and she asked if Zach and I wanted to come, along with my mom obviously, my brother and his ‘girlfriend (I call her that because she is, I don’t care what Blake says), and some family friends that we basically grew up with in my old home neighborhood, the Gwilliams!

Zach was overjoyed when he saw that there were hot dogs at his disposal.

Towards the end of the game, we even got a visit by Bee!  (I think his real name is Bumble?)

Truth be told, I was quite fond of Bee.  He was rather sweaty in that get-up though.  I even stole a kiss…or a bite?  Doesn’t matter, it was passionate.

Saturday – Slept in.  Slept through an AMBULANCE that came to help my neighbor who passed out after mowing the lawn.  So not only did we sleep through my neighbor mowing his lawn, but an ambulance and the sirens and all that jazz.  We are the worst neighbors ever.  Luckily some OTHER neighbors that were NOT sleeping in came to his aid.  Other than our lunch date, me cleaning the house, Zach killing the wasp nest ouside, and a bank teller at Wells Fargo telling Zach he has a “runner’s body”….?  That made up our Saturday morning and afternoon.  After all our chores were done, we drove off to Zach’s cousin’s wedding in Sandy, it was a Luau!  With roasted pig, and all!  There was a Snow Cone Shack, Pineapple Sparkle drinks, floating lilly pads in their pool, and a band!  The Hendersons really know how to throw a party, that’s for sure.

After the reception we stopped at Market Street to get a delish seafood dinner, which took so long we didn’t even make it to our movie.  I guess The Help will have to wait until next time.

Sunday – After our meetings we drove up to Zach’s parents house for Sunday Dinner.  We had Zach’s fav-ola, stir fry.  After dinner we had two visitors come over to our crib.  Gina and our niece Sammy came over for a visit.  I was very impressed.  Zach’s ‘kiddie’ skills are up to par.  They went to the park, played Angry Birds, watched some dance party show on the Disney Channel, and he even made her popcorn while she played something called Webkins?  Don’t ask, I don’t even know what it is.  He was so cute with Sam, and I know he will be just as great with our children!

The week shaped up to be stellar.  I would say a victory for our Henderson Highlight Reel!

Lately…

I feel like the older I get, the shorter my summers feel.  It’s so sad…

These last two weeks have flown, and it is almost the middle of August!  I feel guilty that I haven’t embraced summer like I should have.  Settling in at my new job has really taken up the majority of my life lately.  I haven’t been to the pool even ONCE!  I missed all the family trips to Lake Powell (on both sides) and it just doesn’t feel like summer was even here.

So these last two weeks I have made an honest effort with Zach to enjoy the perks of summer on our weekends together.

Friday we went to dinner and a movie with my parents downtown.  We saw Crazy Stupid Love with my man, Steve.  I still love him better as Michael Scott, but it was SUCH a cute movie.  My parents where officially the “loudest laughers” in the theater.  Oh also, in the movie…the word “Va jay jay” was used, you know…a nickname for a part of the female anatomy?  My mom and I were laughing and my dad leans over and asks…“Guys, what’s a Jay Jay?” Awesome.

Saturday morning we went to the Farmer’s Market.

It was so packed, and we loved every second of it.  They had these two guys selling these modern concrete planters, I would have left with ten if I could lift even ONE of them.  I’m goin’ back though…with a forklift.  I left with a bag full of fresh basil and cilantro and a loaf of amazing wheat bread….and Zach left with his Snowie.  We both were in heaven.  We shopped around the Gateway for a few hours and then went out to one of our favorite new places, thanks to the recommendation of my in-laws, Caffe Molisee.  I am obsessed with their angel hair pasta.  AND they have a gorgeous patio to eat out on too, if you can brave the SLC summer heat.

At work I’ve been working with some pretty high-profile clients.  One being Mrs. Fields and TCBY yogurt (they are both owned by the same person).  Tuesday, one of the ladies in marketing treated us to a visit to the tasting room.  I felt like I was in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.  Actually, I felt like this kid…

Yeah, that was me.  That white stuff was frozen yogurt, and the chocolate was…you know.  I was serious when I told them they could pay me in Cookie Cakes.  You know, those giant cookies with the frosting letters?  That’s what I want on my final day of design with those guys.

Along with MF and TCBY, I am working on an amazing Adidas project.  For the record, it is pronounced Ahhh dee daaas.  You know, like audit, but without the ‘it’?  I felt like a fool, but luckily my co-worker corrected me before the VP of Marketing came in for a visit.  Can you imagine, me calling it UH DEE DUHS?  That would have been awkward.

Even though my summer has dwindled away, we still have 3 weeks left of August.  That’s good enough for me, and we’re going to make ’em count!  Some highlights including:   attending our first Bee’s game of the season, going to our annual Bear Lake trip with my family and some family friends next weekend, celebrating Zach’s birthday at the USC vs. Utah game in Cali, eating at Ruth’s Diner, hiking Ensign Peak (Zach’s never done it…maybe he’ll get lucky up there), and having a few more BBQ’s.  My new job doesn’t really lend itself to vacation time, so I’m looking forward to our anniversary already.  Summer will be over soon, but at least we have November!

We don’t know where we’re goin’…

but it’s going to be a BLAST!

Kitchy Crafty

I am not a “crafter”.  Being the computer nerd that I am, when I see something scrapbook-y (yes, it’s a word) or fabric-y…I immediately envision how I can recreate it on the computer.  I know…nerdy.

This weekend (week rather…he left Wed morning) Zach went on a road trip with his friends Clay, Adam, and Chet.  Clay got accepted into med school at Ohio State, and leaves this Thursday.  So naturally, they wanted to do one last boys’ trip together.  TENDER.  So Zach was gone for 5 days, then my family left for Lava Hot Springs, and Zach’s whole family went to Lake Powell.  So I made my usual “List” for the weekend and got to work.

I hung my new velvet curtains in my bedroom (yes…way sexy).

I ordered all of our new large and in charge bedding – we had to buy a king size duvet and pillows considering we upgrade in royalty sizes.

I did all the laundry and cleaned the house, and got really bored of all that stuff pretty quick.

SO…I hung all the frames in our office, which have been leaning against the wall for months.  This was the start of my problem this weekend.  I was way upset when I realized I purchased a frame from Michaels and the glass was cracked, in two places.  So I went back to the store to return it.  OF COURSE they said they couldn’t refund my money or let me exchange it for a new frame…because they claimed that I couldn’t prove that it was BEFORE I took it home.  Lame.  BUT they did give me in-store credit (but it wasn’t enough to cover the EXACT frame that I needed – don’t even get me started.  Michael’s is on my shiz list).  So thanks to Pinterest, and the fact that my husband had been gone, I decided I was going to make a few pieces of jewelry I had seen on there with my extra cash-ola credit.  So instead of a gorgeous frame, I left that stupid institution with bags of beads, wire, clasps, and some things called “crimping beads”??  I have never made jewelry before in my life, I was so confused by all the gadgetry.  But I was on a mission.  I even enlisted some friends the first day and I made these bad boys: Decided to post them to my DIY Blog.

I have to say that the Chevron Friendship bracelets were one of my favorite to make, and the easiest.  I went a little overboard, and over the weekend (and time period Zach was gone during the week) I watched my favorite shows and made 8 chevron bracelets in Bad-A colors!

Some projects were more difficult than others, and to be honest I saved some of the more difficult ones for last…which was foolish because my friends had much more knowledge in jewelry-making than I did and they weren’t as passionate at getting them ALL done as I was.

I get really lonely when Zach is gone, so I try to keep myself as busy as possible so I don’t have to think about how much I miss him.  I have decided these little “projects” are my way of keeping distracted and I am already making a list of new things I want to replicate when he leaves for the next convention and/or Man Adventure.

Speaking of adventures, Zach and his friends had quite the week in St. George > Vegas > California.  They didn’t make it to Mexico (thank Heaven above, I was praying it wouldn’t happen.  A little gringo like Zach would get snatched up in a second.) but they did get COMPED at a SUITE at the Venetian for two nights and Zach came home with a pretty decent bundle of cash from his winnings at the tables.  I don’t love him gambling, but I wasn’t super upset when he brought me home my dream watch from the rest of his winnings.

Ah, the spoils of victory.  I was totally cool with him gambling just this ONE time.  WHAT?  Don’t judge me!

All in all, I’d say it was a pretty killer week and weekend.