cream cheese toffe dip {a recipe}

Toffee Cream Cheese Dip
1 8oz package cream cheese
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
half bag toffee bits

Combine first 4 ingredients and mix with a hand mixer until light and creamy. Stir in toffee bits. Slice up some apples, dig in and enjoy!

my dad is totally enjoying his Thanksgiving dinner.... just in case you couldn't tell ;)

 
Don't let this picture freak you out.... that dip is freakin' AMAZZZZING. I could eat the whole bowl by myself :) This is the perfect dish to take to a holiday party, be a side dish to a nice dinner, or dessert for a romantic little date ;) Give it a try and then tell me what you think!

our Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Colorado (yep, we were just there 2 weeks ago) with my sweet grandma. It was a small get together with my grandma, parents, and brother and sis in law, but it was a good one! Our meal was catered (haha it's true! My grandma knew she wasn't up for making the meal and didn't want us to cook after traveling) but it was delicious! I'm convinced it was even more enjoyable because we weren't slaving away in the kitchen all day long. I really don't love cooking for hours on end :)

Thanksgiving is the perfect day to reflect on all the blessing in my life. I truly do have SO much to be thankful for! Here are just a few that come to mind:
The love of my Heavenly Father. I would not be able to enjoy any of these blessings to the fullest if I did not believe in Him.
My husband. The man can drive me bonkers, but he also knows how to love me perfectly.
My family. I'm so lucky that I have a great relationship with them! (In case you're wondering, that includes my in laws. I believe that we are all just one big family now!)
Our jobs. Eric's job has been affected big time from the dump of our economy, we know what it's like to go with out. We'll never take a job for granted again!
My friends. I have the best friends!
The sunshine. It makes me a happier girl :)
The little community we live in. The winters are hard for me, but I've made so many friends here that I think I might survive this winter. Perhaps I'll even have a smile on my face through it all!
The blogging world. It's true! What an amazing place to find inspiration, meet amazing bloggers, and connect with people on so many different levels. Blogging has turned out to be my favorite hobby :)

I hope you all had a perfect Thanksgiving with your loved ones!

too soon?

Can you forgive me for posting this today? Honestly, this could've waited another day or two... but oh well :) Since I've pretty much signed my gifts for the next yeeeeear away to my hubs... I thought I'd make up a Christmas wish list (and birthday list... my birthday is just right around the corner in January! Just in case anyone wanted to make a mental note of that, haha!) that won't be coming true this year. Hey! A girl can dream... right?!

A massage! Can you believe that I have never had one before?! I bet it is just heavenly! If I'm being really greedy, I could use a whole spa day, haha!

Source: ae.com via Courtney on Pinterest

I am dying to get my hands on a leather bomber jacket. I haven't found the perfect one for me yet, but I know I want it to be black!

Source: tiredofbull.tumblr.com via Courtney on Pinterest

I have wanted a pink pea coat ever since I saw one on Gilmore Girls! LOVE!

via

If I'm going to be a better wifey and bake more for the hubs, why not make the task a bit easier with this cute mixer?!

via

Seriously, I'd loooove to go to Brad Paisley's concert! And it's only 2 days after my birthday... I think it's fate ;)

There is so much more that I'd love to add to my wish list.... but considering this won't be coming true, I think I'll just leave it at that ;)
Wait, I lied! I do have one more wish..... I am wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!! :)

I got crafty... again

Remember how I said I would try to do one craft per holiday? Well pinterest makes it so easy to come up with ideas... so I got together with some girl friends and we got crafty :)

It was such a fun girls/craft day! We spent too much time in Hobby Lobby, ate lunch, and crafted until we were ready to pull our hair out ;) I saw the idea on pinterest to buy some foam tubing (in the pipe section of Lowe's/Home Depot) for a buck and we got 2 wreaths out of 1 foam tube... I'm never buying a foam wreath again! We used floral wire to secure the mesh (pretty sure tulle would be much easier to work with!) after we gathered and bunched it to look fluffy. For the finishing touches I stuck in a few decorations and hoped it looks good :) Crafting can be hard work sometimes.. haha!

 a better look at my wreath

P.S. If you've forgiven me for talking about Christmas decor right before Thanksgiving.... then go check out my guest post and read about some of our Christmas traditions! And then tell some of your holiday traditions in the comments :)

our night on the town

I guess I should say, our pretend night on the town :) I made a dinner that could top a night at Wingers anytime! We rented a movie, pulled out our Christmas blankets to snuggle in, and enjoyed the show in the comfort of our home.

 slicked back hair, no make up, and zits. Cute stuff right here!

Sometimes a night at home is exactly what we need to reconnect! :)

P.S. Check out my guest post on P's blog! You'll thank me later for leading you to her adorable blog, you're going to love P!

take a chill pill...

You know how it's easier to think down on ourselves and pick out everything that is wrong with us? I think it's too easy for women to belittle ourselves... mainly because of the insecurities the social media puts into our minds. Well, let me share something that I really love about myself. I feel like I'm a very happy, bubbly, outgoing girl! It's not very difficult for me to talk to strangers or make new friends. Acknowledging this gift I have with my personality is a great thing, because I believe that being more conscious of it, helps bring out those traits more boldly!
There is a part of my personality that I'm not proud of though. I don't feel like I'm belittling myself by admitting this... I'm hoping that by acknowledging this fault I have, I will be able to better it. I am a hot headed girl. Too hot headed at times, if you know what I mean?! If I don't like something I hear, my blood instantly boils and I tend to lash out. I don't cuss or call people bad names, but I don't use a nice tone of voice when I speak. I shut down and don't want to hear what needs to be said. The sad thing is, the people who see this side of me are the people I love most. Why is it so easy to be ornery to our loved ones?!
Lately, when Eric and I disagree we clash big time. Did my "hot head" rub off on him? Or has he always been this way,too? Am I just not bothering to control the instinct I have to lash out? What is wrong with me? I'm just really frustrated with myself lately. I want to be a pleasant girl all.the.time. I realize we all have our moments, but seriously? What happened to being level headed and reasonable? 
This is something that I'm really going to work on. Maybe I'll come up with a code word to share with family and when my blood starts boiling we'll call out the word, I'll walk off to cool down, and then be reasonable again. Haha. It's a start, right? I just really want to be a good person, even in my bad moments.

a week in my life

Want to know what my week is like when I'm working out of town?

doin' my bestie's hair

thank goodness I'm only here one week a month. krave is way too yummy.

dinner with the bestie and little bestie

little bestie is having a dance party! and someone forgot to wash her face... oopsie!

getting our hair did!

practice, practice, practice. I have a church solo to get ready for!

little bestie's first ever haircut!

Hair, hair hair. Story of my life. I don't have too many picture because I'm working my tush off the whole week. 

I definitely make sure I have time to spend with my parents (you know it's true mom & dad!), my favorite friends/clients, and eat good food :) 

I definitely don't work out every day, don't miss the noise from my upstairs neighbors, and don't mind the warmth of sunny St George!

And I always miss my Eric. 

P.S. Yes! I cut bangs and went darker! For some reason, you really can't tell the color difference. The pictures pick up the blond a lot more than the dark?
P.S. Is blogger messing with your spacing? My post looks right in the drafts, but as soon as I publish it my spacing goes wack-o. 

I know husband missed me when...

I come home to a CLEEEEAN home.

My favorite treat and a freshly baked pie is waiting for me (it's the only pie I like, to be honest)

What can I say? I'm easy to please ;)
 

He snuggles and loves on me as much as we can stand. Haha, what? It's the truth!

Probably an awkward kissy picture... but whatev!
 

He takes me on a hot date to our new favorite game. Hockey!

 And after the game.... we got to ice skate!

 And he is currently making me a delicious smelling breakfast!
 

I could chalk this up to a little sucking up because of an argument the night before... but nope! I think I'm just incredibly lucky to be married to a man that loves me and misses me after a week or working out of town! And apparently he forgave me for the face mask picture ;)

time for a recipe!

My friend, Nicole shared the yummiest recipe with me! It's a BBQ Chicken recipe that is meant for sandwich's and we LOVE it! But the first time I tried it, it reminded me of Pier 49's BBQ Chicken pizza so we tried it that way and LOVED it. Isn't it the best to get multiple meals out of one recipe? You MUST try this!

BBQ Shredded Chicken
6 med boneless chicken breasts
1 med bottle favorite BBQ sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp mustard
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup ketchup or 1 can tomato sauce
pepper to taste

place chicken in crock pot. combine all remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. cook on low for 4-6 hours. one hour before serving, shred chicken. (This recipe freezes well!)
Sandwich Style: Broil hoagie bun for about 1 minute. Serve chicken on the buns with provolone cheese and sliced red onion.
Pizza Style: (I was lazy this time around, next time I'll be making pizza dough from scratch) Take Pilsbury biscuits (grands) and flatten them as much as you want. Place on greased cookie sheet; top with chicken, red onions, and mozzerella cheese. Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden.

Enjoy!

(my lazy pizza style)

sorry, Eric :)

I found some picture of me and Eric when we were dating on my parent's computer (my computer crashed and I lost most of our dating/engaged/newlywed photos) and decided to have a little bit of fun with them since I've been a bit gloomy with my past couple posts. Here are some reasons that I love my Eric SO much....

The man puts up with my craziness like a champ! Thank goodness ;)

He's an amazzzzing dancer ;)

 He humors me and participates in my silly ideas :) I bet he never thought this picture of face masks would come back to haunt him.. haha!

What a lucky girl I am! He loves me know matter what...
Just kidding! Let's be real here... it's a good thing I'm working out of town this week. He'd kill me for posting that last picture if he could :)

weekend randoms

What a weekend!  I am still trying to recuperate... I'm feeling very physically and emotionally drained. We went to Colorado to my Grandad's funeral. It finally hit me that he's gone, and I sure do miss him. He truly was the center of our family, and held us together the way any grandpa should. It was so sweet to hear every one's memories of him. I hope to be as loving as he was!
While the funeral was heart breaking; it was SO great to see my family! I have missed some of my cousins so much! We have a huge family... my grandparents had 6 kids, 22 grand kids, 44(ish?) great grand kids, and 4 great great grand kids. Wowzas!
The best part about the weekend for me was spending so much time with Trevor and Alycia (my brother and sister in law) I'm pretty sure that our husbands loved that we never stopped talking. Eric told me that we made his ears sore.. hahaha! I'm so grateful that I have the best sisters in law (including Eric's sisters) to make up for my sisterless child hood haha :)

beautiful Colorado sunset

 

because I can't NOT have a picture of me and the hubs.. haha!

If you're ever outside of Moab and spot this rock with a hole... don't stop to see it. Complete waste of time.

if only my eyes were open... and Trevor didn't look like a creeper. I must be so out of it to be posting this amazing picture for the whole internet to see :)

don't judge my repeat shirt and the comfy clothes :)

See what I mean? What a weekend :)

in all things, give thanks

With the timing of my Grandad's passing and the month of November, I figured there could not be a better time to share some things that I'm incredibly thankful for...

- My wonderful family. I am really excited to see everyone this weekend, I'm just sad we are all coming together for a funeral :(
- My Eric. I was so worried when we were dating that he was just too good to be true. The crazy thing is, he just keeps getting better and better! I love that man!
- My healthy body.
- All of my friends, and the friends I continue to make. I was so nervous to move a year ago, but I make new friends each week and feel so at home! I am such a people person so this is such a blessing to me!
- My job. I love doing hair, and it makes me feel SO good when people love how they look :)
- Babies. There has to be a reason God makes babies so sweet! Would we want have kids if they weren't so sweet? :)
- Music. Somehow I got sucked into playing a solo around Christmas time in church and I'm so nervous about it! (Haha, Totally teasing about the sucked into part, Elisa!) After not touching the piano keys for over a year it has been so wonderful to lose myself in the music! Now if only I could play as well as I used to....
- The gospel. I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! What a comfort it is to know that I will be with my family for eternity!
- Blogging. Yes, I just said that :) I can't believe how amazing the blogging community is, I feel so loved! I am so thankful for the friendships I've built through blog land!

It is so important to be aware of how many things we have in our life to be thankful for. Not just during November, not just during hard times, but all of the time.

Source: tradingphrases.com via Lisa on Pinterest

in loving memory...

Life is a gift. It is so precious, so fragile, and needs to be cherished every second of the day! I know that I make the mistake of taking life for granted, which is wrong, because I know how abruptly it can end. Sometimes it takes losing someone I love, to reflect on myself and and realize that I can be better.

Yesterday my sweet Grandad passed away. It was definitely his time to return to God. I find such comfort in the fact that he lived a very long, happy, and successful life. My Grandad was 97 years old, and as wise as they come :) Grandma and Grandad JUST celebrated their 77th year of marriage. How special is that?! I am incredibly lucky to have known them in this life as long as I have, what a blessing! 

 Haha, they hate having their picture taken! Grandad told me he's had his picture taken more in the last 10 years than his whole life :)

I have such fond memories with Grandad. Anytime my family gets together we play as many lethal games of canasta as we can. Trust me, it's lethal when you play with us ;) Before I was old enough to play the game, I would snuggle with my Grandad in his recliner next to the fire place. Sometimes we'd talk, other times we'd eat Grandma's treats, but every time we'd just enjoy each others company. I appreciate the time Grandad spent with us, he made sure his grandchildren knew they were loved (this includes Eric! Grandad took him right in when we got married.). 

I am truly a better person for having my grandparents in my life. Grandad was an amazing man, anyone who knew him will miss him greatly! I will never forget the examples and love he has shown me through out my life. And I will continue to cherish my life, as well as loved ones! When it's my time to leave this Earth, I want to leave behind a legacy full of happiness and love! Oh... and lots of posterity ;)

hockey- I am definitely a fan!

Friday night we went to my first ever hockey game! Ok, that may not be true. I vaguely remember attending a special Olympics hockey game in middle school? Let's be real though, if there were little middle school hotties  around... I was not paying attention to the game haha. Anyway, hockey just didn't exist in the town I grew up in. It wasn't cold enough for ice, hence the reason I dread winter now :) But I've decided that winter might not be so bad this year if there are more hockey games in our future. I like this sport! I definitely need to learn more about the rules, and I need to learn the technical terms. Time out boxes and those stick things just aren't going to cut it :)
Let's talk about the violence this game brings out. I like it :) For example: I was studying the players on the ice intently, trying to figure out what the heck was going on.... when all the sudden helmets were thrown across the ice, gloves flew to the side, and clothes were being ripped off! Ok, ok, clothes weren't really ripped off but it would make the game a tad more exciting, dontcha think?? I kid, I kid! Anyway, Eric explained that 2 players had had enough of each other and they were going to fight! You should have seen my man, he was so overly excited about his haha. They punched each other as much as they could before they fell to the ice and the refs separated them. Then they had to sit in their time out boxes for a couple minutes ;) Oooh the adrenaline that is produced while watching (and playing) hockey... haha!
I think it would be so hot if Eric played hockey. I'd love to cheer him on! I don't think it'd be a good idea for him to play though, he'd want to beat the crap out of everybody (plus I value his face too much). I'll be just as happy to have him sitting next to me while cheering on the game!

 I can't not have a sports post without their crappy food! Yum!

Clearly, this place was packed. Ha! We need to get more people to come out to the games with us! Any takers?? :)