please, do yourselves a favor . . .

. . . and make this for dinner tonight.

Thank you Kristie for the a.maz.ing recipe!

i am that lucky.

Aubry posted this a couple of weeks ago.

And just last weekend when we were on our staycation, I came around the corner while we were at Anthropologie to find this scene.  

There he is, doing his 'tech-y thing' while I peruse the store.  He even went up to the register and paid with his card for the things I handed him.  I had a little laugh.  And then sighed a little . . .

I guess I am that lucky.

staycation.

A few months back Travis and I decided we wanted to do a "Staycation."  Or as we lovingly called it, a "Boise Date."  There are so many great things to do in this little city and often times, we do whatever is the cheapest for date nights . . . temple (which is always good!), dollar movies, red boxes, cheap dinners like Five Guys, or walks on the Green Belt.
 

We decided to save our money and act like tourists in our own town.  I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone!  We had a BLAST!

We turned our phones off for the weekend and got a {nice} hotel in downtown Boise with the best continental breakfast for three nights.  We parked our car in the parking garage and left it there the whole weekend (with exception to driving to church).  We walked everywhere we went and explored downtown Boise all weekend long.

We went to a movie at the expensive, nice theatre and even bought popcorn . . .

It was a scary movie even . . .

(Season of the Witch.  It was alright.)

And ate lots and lot of delicious food . . .
 

At restaurants we normally wouldn't fork out the money to go to . . .

(Like PF Changs.  SO GOOD!)

We went on long walks in the rain . . .
 

 And gave ourselves a self guided tour of the beautiful State Capitol Building . . .
 

I spent a lot of time gawking at my very cute husband . . .
 

And I of course had to ring the Liberty Bell to complete our tour . . .

Trav of course spent a lot of time reading . . .

(while I spent a lot of time napping and clicking thru the tv . . . remembering why we don't have a tv.)

We walked to the Discovery Center and played with the scientific gadgets that have been there since my childhood.  There's a few new ones, but it took me right back to being an 8 year old, running around the place with my science-loving dad. 
 

And now I run around it with my science-loving husband . . .

We spent hours playing the new game Trav's mom gave him for his birthday, "Ticket to Ride," in our hotel room on Sunday afternoon.  I think we played seven games of it and I only beat Trav once!  Such is life . . .
 

We swam in the pool . . .
 

And sat in the hot tub . . .
 

And did more and more and more walking around our beautiful downtown . . .
 

It truly was the perfect weekend.

My sister Kim said it best, "Of COURSE you had a great time.  You stayed in a hotel and ate out for every meal for three days!"  And she was right . . . no dishes, no cleaning, no phones, no obligations, no where to be, and nothing important to do other than enjoy each other's company = perfect weekend.

***A huge thanks to Uncle John for hooking us up with a fantastic room at the hotel and to my awesome mother-in-law for fun gift certificates for Christmas to help with the weekend!

we L.O.V.E. these kids

 

basket411 back up and at 'em!

{Can anyone else tell I desperately need a new camera?  UGH.  Sponsors welcome.}

Now that the holidays are over, my sisters and I have been back at it, getting our Bountiful Baskets, cooking meals full of fresh veggies and fruits, and sharing our ideas on our blog.

Here are a few of my recent favorites and ones I am really looking forward to making . . .

Anaheim Pepper Nacho Burgers - by Kim

Stuffed Bell Peppers - by yours truly

This little bit of heaven . . . Caramel Apple Pizza - by Lisa-Marie

Check it out if you are in the need for some fresh, tasty ideas!   

And if you are an Idaho, Washington, Utah, Oregon, or Wyoming resident, be sure to check out Bountiful Baskets.  It is a really fun way to try new fruits and veggies and saves you tons of money at the same time!

make new friends, but keep the old.

 For me, it all started 17 years ago, in Mr. Beebe and Mrs. Brooke's 6th grade class.  

Andi, Stacy, and I ended up in all the same classes that year.  I already kind of knew Stacy and Abby from church, but this is when it all really began.  Andi . . . who was already good friends with Kelsey . . . and Stacy and I became classroom buddies.  Then Stacy brought along Abby who was already great friends with Tenley into my world that same year and the rest is history.  The six of us were inseparable throughout middle school and high school.

Many affectionately referred to us as the "E's" (as all of our names end in the eeeee sound) and Abby coined us The Chica Naglas.

Well now here we are, all grown up . . . married . . . and all {but me} with 2 children (Well, as you can see Andi almost has 2)!

 Miss Abby organized a get together over the Christmas holiday when she was in town.  As usual, it was wonderful seeing each one and spending time laughing and reminiscing.  We missed Tenley who was nursing a sick baby back to health and Kelsey who was an ocean away, basking in the warm Hawaiian sun.

{I have to say, Abby and Stacy don't normally dress like this.  Abby explains it best here.}

At one point, the four of us girls were sitting at the table together, talking about the golden days, while our husbands were bonding in the kitchen with some man talk.  All of the sudden Abby bursted into laughter and said, "Look at our husbands girls.  This is what we use to talk and dream about at all of our slumber parties!"
 

She was right . . . look at these 4 handsome fellas, lucky enough to have us as their wives!

I'll always be grateful for these 5 lovely girls who helped me through the most pivotal teenage years of my life.  I just pray my kids find friends as good as these.

it doesn't get better than . . .

. . . a refridgerator decorated with artwork and thank yous from the nieces and nephews.

L.O.V.E.

you've had a birthday . . .

 The Mr. had a birthday last week.

I gave him a couple different options of things I had planned to do (bowling, movies, out to dinner, etc.) and he chose to celebrate the simple way . . . by staying home.

It was a lovely evening.  I made him one of his very favorite meals (which you can find right here), we watched the new Robin Hood (I maybe fell asleep) and we ate ice cream cake.

I did do a little decorating while he was at work.  Just some simple little things for him to come home to.
 

This was my personal favorite.  He was quite surprised when he opened the cupboard :)
 

It's not the prettiest cake you've ever seen, but my man loves ice cream more than any other treat.  And getting cold, frozen ice cream into an oreo pie crust pretty-like is not the easiest thing I've ever done.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRAVIS!

I sure love you and look forward to many, many more birthday celebrations!

garden-a-glow

 To celebrate my birthday this year, my family got together for dinner at Chili's and a trip to the Botanical Garden's 'Garden-A-Glow.'

It was chilly and muddy, but the colors and lights were beautiful.  It seemed Sarah couldn't run fast enough to get to what she wanted to see and Luke was the perfect baby hanging out in the baby pack on Richard's back.

And Santa Clause was PERFECT.  I got teary eyed just standing in line watching him with the children.  I kind of wanted to go cuddle up on his lap and tell him what I wanted for Christmas!

Sorry about the blurry picture, but it's the only one we got of the pretty reindeer we got to pet.  (I need a new camera, BAD.  REAL BAD.)

My cute, cute parents.  If you can't tell from this picture, they are still totally in love, 36 (is that right, mom???) years later.  And I love that.

Richard and Kim were also there . . . sadly, I just didn't get a picture of them.

Thanks for a great evening, family!

happy birthday. to ME.

 My 29th birthday was just a couple of weeks ago.  It was a great day!

After work, Trav had a really fun night planned.  

I read my really cute, homemade card . . .

. . . and then opened my present which was wrapped Trav's style in newspaper.  He put the present inside of our fondue pot box and tried his best to make me think he bought me a fondue set and acted like he didn't know we had already had one.  Honestly, he almost had me convinced.  I was a happy, happy girl to find a jacket inside I had been wanting . . . until it ripped the first time I wore it.

We then went out to dinner at Bajio's and then went ice skating!

We skated for two hours, holding hands and laughing the whole time.  It was the perfect date!

Thanks, Babe, for an awesome birthday.

Now, onto YOUR birthday celebration tomorrow!

I love you!