2/19/08

Southern AZ Trip

We had so much fun running away last week! We didn't have any plans or time constraints (that's probably what made it so enjoyable)! We headed off to our friends house out in Florence Wednesday night to spend the night and see their new house. From there it was an hour drive the next morning to our first stop - Casa Grande Ruins. We thought it was really cool and quite interesting.





After that we drove over to Kartchner Caverns and splurged a little on the longer and better (so they say) tour. It was really awe inspiring and we were so glad we went. We couldn't take pictures inside, so I pulled one off the internet.



After leaving Kartchner Caverns we finally got to Bisbee where we stayed in the most amazing bed & breakfast! We can't say enough good things about this place! We loved it so much and it's quaint inviting atmosphere that we stayed an extra night! Bisbee was such a cute town. Everyone was so nice and always saying hi. We spent most of our days shopping in the antique stores and hours going through old postcards (we love to collect the old ones, especially with writing on them - weird I know). We even found a handful of different temples, some dating back to 1903! We made a few friends, including a dog named Alice. We got the opportunity to eat the best biscuits and gravy in the world at the Bisbee Breakfast Club. It has been in gourmet magazines and the New York Times. It was so worth it (yes, we ended up going twice)!









We did get a chance to stop over in Tombstone. It was fun to say we went, but man I've never been anywhere that charges you for EVERY LITTLE THING! I don't mean to sound cheap, but it was kind of ridiculous. We saw a re-enactment of the fight at OK Corral, and window shopped.








At the end of our trip we were able to go to Phillip's cousin's Eagle Court of Honor in Tucson. He did an amazing project with an estimated 425 man hours! It was huge! We are so happy for him and his awesome accomplishment! Way to go Bracken!


2/6/08

Days 6-14

We have decided to run away for about a week and go where the wind blows us. So, I am posting the rest of the 14 days of Valentines because when I get back I'll probably be posting pictures from our trip and Valentines will be over. Hope everyone has a happy heart day!

2/5/08

Day 5

Just a quick post about the 5th day of Valentines. On Phillip's mission in Uruguay they nicknamed him "osito" which is like teddy bear or little bear. So I saw this cool PEZ dispenser that was a bear and gave it to him today. The card said something about being my cuddly bear so it all went together.

2/4/08

Day 4

On the 4th day of Valentines I gave my hubby a movie night kit! We were planning on using it for FHE tonight, but we had so much homework that we didn't finish our tests until a little after 11:00 pm and weren't about to start a movie! We spent the ENTIRE day studying for one class because the exam was due by midnight. It wasn't hard, there was just so much reading. I like the books where there are pictures, charts, or graphs that take up half the page! He read to me, then I read to him while he tickled my back...we were just trying to get creative and stay awake. We're glad to be done with those boring first few chapters! We're off to hit the sack - finally!


And yeah for our new First Presidency who will do amazing!

2/3/08

Happy Anniversary


Happy 7th Anniversary to my wonderful husband!

I don't know if it's a bad omen or not, but I had asked Phillip to move the TV over a few inches because it wasn't centered on the dresser (OCD) and I forgot I left my ring to the side of it. Well the darn thing got set down right on my wedding band (they aren't sautered) and bent it as you can see from the pictures below. I tried to stay calm about it since it was my fault for putting it there. It really isn't a big deal as it's the two year check up for the prongs and dipping it in white gold, so they can just fix it then. But I was bummed because it happened on our anniversary! Anyways, the engagement part is fine, but the band pulls away from it when I slip them in together.


As for the 3rd day of Valentines, he got a box of these bad boys asking him to be mine! (He already got new scriptures and a huge whiteboard for our anniversary)

2/2/08

Is It Just Me...

...or are Saturdays the busiest day of the week?! Sundays are a close second, but man today just wore me out. I went with my mom to her ward's Relief Society Enrichment class on how to make whole wheat bread and we each made 4 loaves. We both have Boschs and they had to put us in the cultural hall because they were so powerful. We did huge batches while the other girls had to knead the dough by hand (I felt so bad). Anyways, they used all the loaves for their ward soup party tonight. But I'm getting ahead of myself. So like I said we made 8 loaves all together. Did 6 loads of laundry, went to Costco (huge mistake seeing as tomorrow is the second largest food consumption day next to Thanksgiving), and then home for me to change and get ready to go mountain biking with Amy & Drew Stewart. Can I just say we had SO MUCH fun with them! Amy and I should get gold medals for sticking it out and doing those trails and hills! We had to decline their dinner offer (sorry again guys - it wasn't because we all stunk - I swear) because Phillip had to finish my moms home theater for the game tomorrow, and I of course had procrastinated down to the hour and needed to finish a paper for school. My mom and Tim were kind enough to bring us soup from their ward activity that we missed out on, and they went to the movies, which we also had to decline. We feel bad saying no to so many people today. Okay, now that I typed that all out, it really didn't seem like a big day. Maybe it was the fact that I had to crack dawn, or that our Costco trip wiped me out (physically and financially)! Who knows, but I think I deserve a bubble bath and foot rub!

P.S. For Phillip's 2nd Day of Valentines I found a heart shaped night light at the dollar store and had a little message in the card about lighting up my life - cheesy!

2/1/08

1st Day of Valentines

We have a little tradition in our house and it's called the 14 Days of Valentines! So this is Phillip's first day that I did for him and it was waiting on the fridge. We just do really small, inexpensive, and simple things. More than anything though, it's the tradition and memories that mean the most.

1/31/08

Gotta Love Him!

I finally downloaded this picture from last Friday (I know, I'm a slacker). Anyways. My awesome husband was just thanking me for spending my entire day Friday helping him with his homework and walking him through all of his assignments and study guides, after which he got 100% on his test! So thoughtful!

1/30/08

3 Day Walk

To Whom It May Concern,

I, Deneigh Candland, am doing the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk! I am so excited to be doing this walk with my mother in my cousin Nicole's name who was diagnosed with breast cancer in her twenties. I am also doing it for women all over the world. By doing this 60 mile walk and all the training involved I hope to get healthy myself. If you or anyone you know would like to make a donation, please feel free to go to my website or by clicking on my countdown on the sidebar. I have set a goal to raise $2,200 and I know I can do it! Feel free to email me with questions!

Sincerely,
Deneigh Candland

1/27/08

In Loving Memory...


We say goodbye to our beloved prophet Gordon B. Hinckley.

1/24/08

Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

I am going through a funny phase right now (especially since I've started my Food and Nutrition class) and I'm looking for a really yummy bread recipe - that is actually good for us! I know that whole wheat is a great way to go, so I'm reaching out to the blogging world and asking for recipes - huge shocker, I know! I need a typically easy recipe where I can make 2 loaves a week and we can eat it as our everyday sandwhiches or toast. Feel free to email me (nayskers@hotmail.com) or post it in the comments to share. Thanks!

1/23/08

Love it!

Love that my mom got off early...
Love that we got to go to lunch today...
Love that we went and got pedicures...
Love that American Idol is on tonight...
The End

1/22/08

Christmas All Over Again

It was like Christmas all over again when I got the mail this afternoon! First of all this cute girl sent me an AMAZING package of goodies! Thank you, thank you Amy!


I also received my Creating Keepsakes 2008 Special Issue, which I am devouring even though I should be studying for my Food & Nutrition test.



And then to top off my awesome afternoon, my mother in law sent 24 Season 6! Yeah! After Phillip's Stats test tonight I can guarantee we will be locking ourselves in our bedroom until we've watched the entire season! If we don't answer our phone...don't get offended! Just kidding!

1/21/08

Family Night

Phillip got home today at 3:00 so we packed up our mountain bikes and went out to Usery Pass! It was a blast! We did the Blevins Trail which was 3 miles and it was actually a great trail! Some parts were a little hard and the sand made for a great workout, but we had so much fun! I'm already sore! We got a few pictures as the sun was going down.


1/18/08

Congrats Peter & Amber!!!

It's official! She's here!
Meet Chloe Fjeldsted
Born 1/18/08 at 2:12 am
Weighing 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 1/2 inches

1/15/08

Busy Bee

Yesterday I spent a good part of my day making my cousin Peter and his wife Amber gifts for their new baby due VERY soon (I need to mail this off today in fact). I made her a boppy (with pockets of course), then decided to color coordinate and match the rest of the gifts, so I made a blanket, burp rag, plus that cute see through paint can that I tied matching ribbons along the handle and filled it with socks and bows that I made a few months ago. These aren't the best pictures, I just took them as fast as I could so I could box the gift up.

1/9/08

Stuck In Flagstaff {Snowed In}

On Sunday morning we left Logan to go back to AZ during a terrible snow storm. It was so bad we had to take an alternative route because the canyon was too dangerous. My little brother was two hours ahead of us, but he decided to go through St. George instead. The storms were hit and miss and in random areas. As we got to the point where we needed to decide whether we'd go one way or another, we decided to go the way we always go that is a little shorter, but we knew we'd be chancing bad roads. We felt pretty good about it, but as we got about an hour outside of Kanab, Phillip fell asleep and the roads were completely snow packed. I was SO terrified as I was only able to stay on the road by watching the posts on my right and when I found random tracks that were mostly covered by snow. Phillip woke up just in time as a car went off the side of the road and he helped them get back on. After 40 miles of that, the roads turned great! It was dark as we got closer to Flagstaff, and the storms began again. It got a little too scary for us and Phillip called his boss and said we were going to stay there for the night. Let's just say we had to dig our car out to see if it was ours...and it was so bad we stayed another day! So we were stuck in Flagstaff for 2 days, but it was great because we were able to get a head start on our new semester for school since it started Monday. Just so everyone is aware though, we LOVED the snow!

1/4/08

Goals & Resolutions

Okay, so if any of you know me, I'm a goal setting kind of gal. When the new year comes along Phillip and I have a little tradition of going out to lunch and taking our planners and discussing things we'd like to work on and figuring out a plan or schedule. I've set a few lofty goals this year and my sweet husband is there to encourage me along the way. My mind is always going a hundred miles a minute and I am always coming up with ideas or projects and it drives the people around me nuts! With that said, I want to follow through with more of those crazy ideas! One of the ones that has been on my mind for a few months is finishing the cookbooks I promised everyone years ago. I've taken forever on this because I've changed the design and how to store them over a gazillion times. I have come to the conclusion that I need to simplify my life and just do it! When I started putting my "what's for dinner" on the side bar of my blog I got a bunch of comments and emails. That got me going even more and I am in the midst of collecting all my final decisions and I'm going to set a goal to complete them by March (hopefully this semester will allow the time). With that said, a few of you asked for my grocery list that I have on an excel spreadsheet (this will be included in the cookbook on a disk so you can add your own items also). I have one little problem...it was on our laptop and I hadn't converted it to my new Mac yet, when the hard drive crashed and yes, I lost EVERYTHING, sigh. I am going to put together a new one as I did have one printed out. I was also asked a top ten list of our favorite dinners. This could go a million ways (easiest, yummiest, quickest, etc). I will just list the top ten that come to mind alternating pork, chicken, and hamburger:

pork chops in asparagus
poppy seed chicken
meatloaf
spinach lasagna
cream cheese chicken
tacos or taco salad
country style ribs
chicken enchiladas
cream of mushroom patties
cabbage stew

So I'm a total dork and can't figure out how to attach the recipes, so if you want them before I get the cookbooks done, then just email me at nayskers@hotmail.com .  Ask me questions, or give ideas.

Here's to a new year, with new goals and plans!  Good luck and best wishes to anyone who set resolutions!