My Fear, My Fear of PORK + Other Things

New Year’s Resolution – continue to make healthy choices. I have been trying to cook more meals at home, but have failed miserably the last few weeks.  I SO admire people that have a meal plan for an entire month.  My sweet friend Whitney Lynch would always inspire me with her color-coated meal plans on her calendar.  I knew I would never aspire to her level, but I figured I would plan two full weeks and see how it went.  Besides, I have been pinning too many good recipes on Pinterest…and they are all just SITTING there, making my stomach growl.  Zach left Wednesday for a ski trip with three of his brothers and their families to Targhee, so I told him I would make anything he wanted Monday night.  He picked Pork Chops with mashed potatoes and gravy.  This meal was NOT on my meal plan, you see, because I REALLY dislike pork.  The things we do for love….

He’s such a meat n’ potatoes kind of guy and he loves his mom’s fried pork chops.  He is not that picky, but doesn’t like ethnic food.  So the night he left, I made homemade healthy Pad Thai.  I didn’t think Pad Thai could be healthy, but after finding this recipe (it’s Vegan – no egg) I AM A BELIEVER!  Psst…go easy on the lime juice.  4 T. is a tad too much!

I tried a bunch of other recipes including, Sweet potato hummus (A+), Low Calorie Red Velvet Cupcakes (Yuck!! They took FOREVER to make and I couldn’t even finish my first one – and the TEXTURE!!!! Gross), and several other new recipes.  I really love to cook, I just need to work on my timing.

My family and friends always help time fly by when Zach is gone – my brother Blake took my mother and I out to dinner to the Old Spaghetti Factory one night, and then treated me to Sub Zero ice cream afterward.  First timer, and I really enjoyed it!  Funny story – Blake must go there a lot, because when the young man behind the counter saw him and I together…he thought Blake was cheating on his girlfriend with me.  I am four years older than my brother, and often when we are together alone people think we are a couple.  Every time Blake is absolutely MORTIFIED at the thought of dating his sister, and gets super embarrassed.  Regardless, I love spending time with my brother.  We talked about relationships, future plans, and other random topics of discussion.  He is so fun to spend time with.

Meanwhile…Zach was having the time of his life on the slopes:

Saturday I got a hair cut, got my carpets cleaned (that’s a completely different story for another time), and ran errands.  Saturday night, I was planning to have a Girls’ night, but Zach surprised me by coming home much earlier than expected.  Hey, I wasn’t complaining. I had only seen Zach for three days in between his weekend trips. So instead, we met up later with our friends Angie and Jordan.  We dined at David’s for some Chinese food and hung out afterwards at our place.  Angie brought cookie dough dip – which I ate TOO MUCH of.  Delicious!  (The recipe is on Pinterest if you want to try it for yourself.)  We had every intention of doing some crafts while our husbands played Halo…but instead ended up talking the whole night.  Actually…Angie and I ended up talking – our poor husbands had to listen to us all night.

Sunday after church I decided to complete my craft that was meant for Saturday night.  It was actually a lot easier than I expected – the worst part being waiting for the paint to try.  Say hello to my chalkboard platters, which I have every intention of using…for something?  I suppose if I have a selection of cheeses for a party to display?  I found this idea on Pinterest…

I finished two for myself while watching the SAG Awards red carpet show with Zach.  I always find CHEAP trays at Home Goods – both of these babies for $11…

The last moments of our weekend were spent lounging, cooking/enjoying black bean and chicken tacos, and catching up!

Wedded Bliss

Remember when I posted about my friend, Brady Mathews’ wedding? Here’s some major wedding inspiration.

Just spotted these photos of his invites and the menus (which I forgot to post previously) on his photographer’s blog.  Much more beautiful than the gross screen shots I took a few weeks back…

I love when you have a friend with such amazing taste/style!  His wedding really was STUNNING.

You can see all the photos from his big day HERE on Alixann Loosle’s photography blog.

Fish + Forts

Thursday, Zach left to go on a fishing trip with the men on my side of the family.  Zach is not much of a fisherman, but he went along for the ride.  Turns out he enjoyed himself in Nevada – fishing by day, casino by night.  He probably would have gone just to wear the polarized eyewear, let’s be honest.

So while he was casting away, my mom and I were enjoying ourselves.  Friday night, I took her to Trio in Salt Lake.  My mom and I are very similar in the fact that we LOVE anything Italian – pasta, pizza, gelato…so she enjoyed her meal as much as I did.

We spent the rest of the night visiting and watching Project Runway re-runs in her bed…and one episode of Jerseylicious, which is nothing like the Jersey Shore, by the way.

Zach got home earlier than I expected, Saturday afternoon, and luckily before the big snow storm!  Once the snow settled in, and a dangerous drive to Applebee’s for dinner, we vetoed the theater and decided to stay in for a movie.  So we collected some sheets and a string of light and made a fort in our guest bedroom.

It was a blast, and much more entertaining than a crowded movie theater!  Probably my favorite date in recent memory.

Pick Your Poison

I have had to deal with stomach issues my whole life – being lactose intolerant.  I’ve always heard how miserable food poisoning is, but have never had the pleasure of experiencing it for myself.  I’ve had bad sushi and meat before in the past, but never an actual bacterial situation.  I even remember someone telling me they got food poisoning on a vacation once and literally felt like they were dying.  For some reason in my head I couldn’t imagine it would be that much worse than my issues with milk.  I was dead wrong.  After working late on Monday, picking up a turkey sandwich on my way home, I hung out with Zach and chatted until it was time to go to bed.  Around 10:30 I started feeling horrible.  I don’t remember a lot after that, but I do remember I decided to sleep in our walk-in closet because it was right next our bathroom.  I must have vomited a dozen times – maybe more?  If you know me well (insert wink at Jami Hepworth) then you would remember I rarely vomit.  I despise throwing up, and I avoid it at all costs.  I would rather writhe in pain with a stomach ache all night if it meant I didn’t have to throw up – so this was a rare situation for me.  Then I remember being on the floor in front of our glass shower door.  I apparently had fell and Zach found me lying there on the tile after he heard a loud thump.  He helped me rinse out my mouth and took me back to my jimmy-rigged sleeping arrangement in the closet and stayed with me until I feel asleep.  Then I remember getting up to get a drink (Zach had brought me a glass of ice water to my closet cove) and I was standing at the sink, filling the glass.  The next thing I remember – I was on the floor and Zach was holding my head.  He asked me if I knew what had just happened.  Apparently while filling my glass, I dropped it in the sink.  Zach got up to check on me grabbing at the counter and falling to the floor.  He said he grabbed my head just before I hit the ground and guided me down to the floor.  My hair was soaked and he brushed it out of my face and helped me untangle it before taking me back to the same exact spot.  When my alarm went off to wake me for work, I was hysterical.  I completely forgot about my deadline (end of day on Tuesday) for my big project submittal.  So he helped me shower, dried me off with a fresh towel, and helped me get ready.  Then he drove me in my car to work and made sure I got in ok.  I can’t tell you the amount of respect and love I have for my husband.  He could have stayed in our bed alone and slept comfortably, but instead laid on the floor with me.  And let me tell you – I was not a pretty sight!  I looked in the mirror while splashing my face with water earlier in the night, and didn’t recognize the pale faced zombie on the other side.  Not to mention my random outbursts and comments, I am sure I wasn’t a peach either.  I wouldn’t wish food poisoning on my worst enemy!  It comforts me to know that if he takes care of me the way he does, he will only excel more at comforting our children while they are sick.

I am so in love with him.

Weekend Fix

After working nearly 70 hours this week, the weekend couldn’t have come sooner.  Here are some highlights:

Lunch with my friend Allison down town.

Dinner with Zach at Rodizio (the first meal we have eaten together all week).

A new release movie – which we have been looking forward to for a while now.  WE LOVED IT!

Making plans for Valentines’ Day.

I bit the bullet and went into InstaCare – turns out my whole Quasimodo situation is called a lipoma.  JUST AS I SUSPECTED – well, with the help of Web MD.  It’s a fatty, non-cancerous lump on my back and because it is near my spine, I have to get it removed and biopsied.  It’s cool though, cause my lovely lady lump has been causing me discomfort for a while.

Saturday lunch date with Zach at my favorite new sandwich shop.

The 49ers vs. Saints game went swimmingly – Niners won!  Zach wore his jersey and helmet around most of the day, and there was quite the celebration in front of the T.V. after the big victory.

Brady Mathews’ wedding reception, which was stunning!  Some how they got REAL TREES inside of their reception location – it was incredible!

Cosy night in with treats and a movie.

Homemade healthy banana muffins.

More football…

Sunday dinner at my parents’ house with my Aunt’s family and Grandpa.

Catching up on some of our favorite shows – Revenge + 2 Broke Girls.

I’m so glad we got to spend so much time together, because Zach is headed off to a fishing trip with the men in my family this upcoming weekend.  Although I am excited for a couple of girls’ nights, I hate when Zach is out of town.  I loved this weekend!  I got enough time with my husband to hold me over until he returns from his manly man trip.

20 RESOLUTIONS 12

Call me crazy, but I LOVE making New Years resolutions.  Last year I did this whole theme – Mind, Body, Spirit.  Zach thought it was the dorkiest thing EVER – but it worked for me!  I accomplished everything on my list, with the exception of the Mind category.  I wanted to learn something new, and I suggested to myself that start learning a language would be fun – but that didn’t happen.  But when I started my new job I did learn two new types of software, so I am counting that in my Mind category.  This year?  I am being more low key.

1.  Drink more water – less Diet Coke.

2.  Travel somewhere we both have never been before.

3.  Continue to make healthy choices.

4.  Stop being such a spaz about cleaning my house.  Poor Zach, I make him sit in one room and not touch anything for the duration of my cleaning experience.  He despises Saturday mornings because the house fall under my Nazi regime.

5.  Going to bed at a decent time on weekdays.  We are notorious for going to 9:00 pm movies on work nights and getting home at midnight.  We can do better!

Easy, right?