Merry Christmas!

Consider this our Christmas card this year. We are pretty boring and I am a little overwhelmed with school. Sending out cards is a little out of my stress range.

Jordan: Jordan is doing phenomenal in his anatomy class this semester. I am constantly amazed at the commitment he has to learning. He often studies and will ask me questions, which I can never answer. I barely passed my anatomy class people. Every morning as I explain my sore muscles, he will teach me what the muscle is called, where it inserts, what action it does, and what activity or lift made my muscle ache. He is going to get a great grade. He is also doing very well at his job. He works for an Ayurveda company, Zrii. They sell a range of health products that we love. Competition is a big thing for Jordan. It has been great that his work offers him ways to succeed and work hard. He wins just about every competition that they have. He is also learning a lot about health through his job. He has a full load coming January. He will continue to work 30+ hours each week and is taking 15 credits, including Kinesiology (sp?).

Me: I am loving the education program at UVU. Beginning January I will student teach for American Fork Junior High. I am really excited about the opportunity. I have many goals for the experience. I hope that I can leave a lasting impression on my students. I want each of them to understand their personal health and enjoy learning about it. I am not so excited to drive through the winter. This spoiled girl hasn't had to drive to work or school for almost 4 years! I walk everywhere I go. Surprisingly as I drove my car to the mechanic in the snow this weekend, I felt very peaceful about driving. I know I will survive and that I am fortunate to be in this situation. I am leaving my wonderful job so that I can focus on student teaching. It is a great blessing to have that option.

Our holidays are going to be full of food, family, our 2nd anniversary, and sleep. I swear, ever since I have become anemic, I can sleep for 12 hours each night and still be tired. The part that I am most excited for is family. I love my family to pieces!

I hope your holidays are full of joy, kindness and peace!

Easy weeknight dinner

It is becoming apparent that I am terrible at this blog business. But dinner is a business where I excelled tonight. Jordan gives me 5 stars and it is super easy.

I looked for broccoli rabe, and had no luck. I even asked the produce woman who looked at me like I was an idiot and took me straight to the broccoli. I gave up and substituted spinach. I just throw it in at the very end and heat it through so it gets soft.

On a life note, our schedules are crazy. I can't wait to be done with classes, but I am beyond stressed to student teach. 99% of my stress comes from the potential of driving in the snow. Friday I find out where I will be teaching. Pray it is somewhere close! If it is far I may have to hire a driver. 

My Forecast May Contain a Storm

This needs to be documented for the sake of argument. lol. Jordan and I are hopeful to become parents some day. Raising a family is a big goal for me. I know that there are many people struggle with having children and I pray that I don't have that burden to bare. With this preface, J and I often talk about raising our future kids and how we want to teach them. This morning Jord comes out of the shower BEAMING and explains to me that he had an epiphany in the shower. I completely thought it would be about anatomy, since he spends his days studying for that class, but the rest of the conversation went somewhat like this:

Husband: When our sons start dating I have the perfect guidelines for them.

Wife: (At this point I'm thinking about things like no sex ect. and date in groups) Yeah?

Husband: The first thing our sons will do when they date a girl is find out if she's a good kisser. This is my reasoning, you can get to know someone and take it slow and fall for them, but if you wait until then to kiss them and they are a bad kisser, you are stuck.

Wife: (rolls eyes) This is not happening

Jordan continued to argue that this was a good idea. The conversation lasted at least 30 minutes. Neither of us folded. I really hope he is just teasing me, but my logic tells me that he actually thinks this is a good plan. At least he is a good kisser;)

Weeknight Lasagna Roll-Ups

I don't know about you, but for me cooking can become a huge chore. Deciding what to cook is the worst part. I love to eat vegetarian, and although the husband pretends he likes it he is a carnivore. BIG TIME. I could eat a salad of kale, massaged with some salt, delicious feta and a chopped up apple and be in HEAVEN. J would look at it, pretend smile, and choke it down. I also feel like I am feeding an army of one. Jord and I like to stay fit, and that means burning a lot of calories. For Jordan's big muscles, this means he could eat three plates of food in one given meal. I hope you are empathizing with me at this point;) For my birthday I got lots of birthday $ and to deal with this food issue, I got myself a cookbook that i have been drooling over for some time.

The cookbook looks like an art project at this point, but I am really enjoying trying the fun new ideas. The book claims to have "more than 200 flavorful, foolproof recipes that cook in 30 min or less." The key word in this is "cook." They aren't always ready in 30 min. They have been super flavorful and yummy though. Tonight I made this...

Compared to my normal lasagna recipe, these roll-ups were a breeze! They would have been ready in a very rushed 30 min, but the first "oven proof" noodles (Great Value why do I always trust you?) weren't pliable even after doubling the cooking time. Lucky for me, I had another brand on hand. They cooked like a dream and coupled with a crusty side of garlic bread, the people in this house enjoyed their dinner. The recipe will follow, and if any of you want to barrow this new book of mine, let me know. I'm sure I could part with it for a day or two:)

Weeknight Lasagna Roll-Ups

8 no-boil lasagna noodles

1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (or 2 tsp dried)

1/2 t salt

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

3 T Extra-virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, finely minced

1. Turn oven to 475. Place noodles and hot tap water to cover in 2-quart casserole dish (microwave safe). Microwave until noodles are soft, 3-6 min. Discard water and dry dish. Lay noodles in single layer on clean kitchen towel to dry.

2. Meanwhile, combine ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, 1 cup Parmesan, egg, 1/4 cup basil and salt in one bowl. In another bowl, combine tomatoes, oil, garlic and remaining basil. Spread half of tomato mixture in dried casserole dish. Spread 1/4 c cheese mixture on each noodle, roll, and arrange seam side down in casserole dish. Pour remaining tomato mixture over roll-ups. 

3. Microwave, covered, until roll-ups are tender and heated through, 6-10 min. Uncover and sprinkle remaining mozzarella and Parmesan over roll-ups. Bake until cheese is melted and lightly browned, about 5 min. Let stand 5 min. Serve. 

If you try it, let me know! I gave it 5 stars, but this is just a simple girls opinion. 

Montana

This weekend Jordan's family on the Cotterell side had there first ever family reunion. We decided we had to go, mainly because I had never met most of them and Jordan rarely sees them. It was just a quick trip, we left Friday afternoon around 2pm and we got home Sunday around 10pm. Seeing the family was definitely the best part, but of course I don't have pictures of that. There were group photos taken, I just don't have them yet. We talked, watched football, ate and played a lot of games. 

 We stayed at Jordan's Grandpa's cabin, about 30 min away from his home. It was a great part of our trip! Jayce, a Brother In Law, took about 1000 pictures of all of these mounts.

 We went on a short walk Saturday morning to go see the place where Jordan often hunts. In less than an hour we saw three golden eagles, a beaver, turtles, rabbits and baby rabbits, dear, and one rattle snake, that was less than 3 feet in front of us. I was the only one who had the freeze, and then walk away part down. Jordan and his brothers just did the freeze part haha. Jordan, I'm sure, would have backed away but he had to help his brothers do it first lol.

 I know you are thinking I am silly posting a black picture, but this picture has a pretty good story. When we would get to the cabin at night we would pause and shine our lights into the fields to see if we spotted any deer or other animals near by. The first night we saw at least 30 deer at a distance and two moose. This picture was from the second night. We had just stopped for the first time and we were turning the car, not seeing any glowing eyes when BAM a huge buck was five feet in front of us. He was spooked and ran, and it was dark so the picture is about as easy to believe as a picture of aliens haha, but he was there.

 On the drive home we took the scenic route. We stopped at the two cabins Jordan's family had while he grew up. These pictures are from Mesa Falls. The best thing that happened there was when we were walking down. J and I brought up the rear right behind Donna, J's mom. She HATES snakes and seconds before she stepped on one I spotted it and yelled for her to stop. It was pretty funny to see. Don't mind my "we're driving 8 hours and I'm not doing my hair today" look.

Another 5 Fact Friday

 1. Last Friday night I was feeling really strange, almost like I drank 5 Red Bulls. To help me feel better J took me on a walk. I'm like a puppy. If I start to whine, I probably just need some attention and exercise. It really helped and I forgot all about having a fuzzy feeling brain.

 2. It has been really nice to live so close to UVU. In two weeks we will be going back. I am not ready for 7 classes. It makes me feel like shedding some serious tears. Life will still be a fun adventure with this guy, though.

 3. Are any of you also bad people? I have had this dress which was lent to me by my friend, Whitney, since High School. I just like it and she lent it to me right after graduation and those are my grand excuses.

 4. This is the Orem rec center where we pump iron each morning. ;) When Jordan's brothers come along, the work outs are always more entertaining. I had Jayce doing the same work out with me. I think he hated it lol. It hurt his pride to have to do girl push ups, but when he tried to narrow push ups, they really work the triceps, he had no choice.

5. This past Monday we had a really fun pool party. Jordan's Aunt Suzanne invites us each year and we always love it. The only bad part was that Jordan's cousin Austin cut his knees pretty bad while they were trying to do pull ups on the water fall:(

Five Fact Friday

I think I will try to make this a thing. We will see how I do.

1. I finished the work out plan I have been doing for the past two weeks. I didn't do the diet or the cardio portion. Reasoning: I do cardio with Jord. We go running and swim every other day. Also, restrictive dieting is unhealthy, in my opinion. I just try to eat in moderation and I feel it is doing my body the good it needs. I also take vitamins. I started some new ones today that J got for free from his work. Should seeing NEON urine worry me? haha. I chatted Jord about it and he asked me to send a picture. I said "No. Jeepers that is ICKEY!" Anyway on a less "gross you all out" topic, I did start the 12 week program over. It has been really fun for me to spend time with J in the weight room. I arranged my Fall Schedule so I can continue going with him. I am not really looking forward to 19 credits. 

2. I got to see Kara and baby Treagon for a short while. She was up seeing a chiropractor that I recommended. I felt bad because I have never been to his actual office, he just adjusts us at his house, because we are neighbors. Anyway, Kara had to wait for WAY to long. Sorry Kara:(

 3. These books came to our lost and found and I have loved reading them, as well as the FOUR books Jordan needed for his ONE anatomy class. In the books from work, I learned some ways to strengthen my diaphragm. Because of a hernia of my hiatus, my diaphragm is the only thing holding my stomach back from going inside my esophagus. I tried the exercises and couldn't even do them. I am working on it, though.

 4. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/10/beef-with-snow-peas/ We made this and devoured it. It was really easy and yum city.

5. This was Jordan teaching his younger brother, Alex, how to deal with their genetic back condition. They are missing part of their L5 vertebrae. Well, we don't know if Alex is, but he gets the same pain as Jordan, who definitely has the condition.  I really loved watching him teach the stretches and exercises. He sure loves his brother and health. I know he is going to be good at whatever he ends up doing as a profession. He is wonderful and I think I love him;)

Have a happy weekend!

My Husband

I copy most of my posts into a journal to keep for my future children. I hope they will someday know of my testimony, my hard times and my happy times. I also hope that they know of the love that I have for my husband. He is honestly my favorite person in the world. If you don't think that he is awesome or have a bad view of him, you do not know him well enough. I know that he can come across in different ways, but he is a spectacular person that am lucky to call my husband. Here are a few things that have been on my mind lately.

He is so adventurous. He is not scared of many things. The most important part of his adventurous spirit is that he never pushes me. He knows that I am scared of almost everything so he comforts me when I need it and lets me be a happy bystander.

 He is spiritual. There is not a question that I ask him about scripture, doctrine or even deep thoughts or ideas that he has not already thought out. He has read so many books and can remember them all. He is so devoted to the Gospel and has a testimony that amazes me. Just last week I asked him about a future parenting idea while we were on an after dinner walk. I remember being amazed at how he earnestly answered and talked about how he knew that the Holy Ghost would guide us when we needed it and that he didn't want to be completely against anything because that might stop him from asking Heavenly Father for guidance. The way he talks of gospel principles shows me how firm he is in his beliefs and how much faith he has. He also never talks down to me about scripture. I have a terrible memory and sometimes I ask dumb questions, but he makes me love scripture because he talks so lovingly to me.

 He is beyond funny. His laugh is outrageous. I could watch any funny TV show with him because his laugh will entertain me all day long.

 Jordan is very sensitive, but also quick to forgive. An example of this happened this morning. He got up early with me to go to the gym, because I had to work early. Once we got there, I noticed some LDS garments in the parking lot. Garments are very special and sacred to me and so I got a little upset that someone would let them end up getting dirty and defiled in a parking lot. I quickly picked them up and didn't even notice that they were swarming with ants. I just put them in the car to discard of properly when we got home. When we finished in the gym, we got back in the car to find it infested with ants. I know it wasn't really my fault, but Jordan didn't get upset with me at all. He spent his morning getting rid of the little critters, though, and I told me he was still very glad that i spotted the garments.

There are so many other things I could say about my husband, but I think you are probably sick of this. I love the way he kisses me, the way he speaks to me. I love how he holds my hand and carries me to bed. I love his smile and his muscles. (I have a smokin picture of him shaving in his towel, but he would be embarrassed if I posted it lol) I am blessed to have a husband and also to have such an enjoyable relationship. The next time you see my husband, tell him a joke and I dare you not to love his laugh.