I was tagged

I was tagged by Jenna Lowder to complete this survey in one of her posts on her blog.. So here are my FOUR lists.

4 Shows I watch:
1. Modern Family - Funniest show out there. If you don't think this show is funny you are ridiculous.
2. Fringe - Way addicting...
3. Greys Anatomy - I have been watching this for years and have not missed an episode.
4. Big Bang Theory

4 Things I am passionate about:
1. Cooking
2. Interior Decorating
3. Shopping
4. Being organized

4 Phrases I say a lot:
1. "Hi mom."
2. "I hate stupid people."
3. "When we have the money..."
4. "Get out of the way douche!"

4 Things I've learned from the past:
1. Always tell your friends to be there at least an hour before when you want them to be on time...
2. Eat what you want, but with some responsibility...
3. Your wedding day shouldn't be the only day you prepare for.
4. Mental struggles are way worse than physical struggles (I'd rather be a pioneer)

4 Things I did yesterday:
1. Went to a pilates class
2. Blew leaves from our complex parking lots
3. Gave something scandalous to Austin and Taylor
4. Bought a pistol for my dad

4 Places I would love to visit:
1. Ireland- for the family
2. Italy- for the food
3. New Zealand-for the beauty
4. Greece- for the culture and history

4 Things I am looking forward to:
1. Moving out of Provo...
2. Having a house of my own
3. Someday being able to work for myself
4. Being able to play with my own baby

4 Things I love about winter:
1. I don't have to shave much haha
2. I can wear a lot of fun layers
3. Holiday food and Christmas with family
4. I got nothing else... I don't like winter

So to carry along the survey, I am now tagging, Taylor Gardner and Ligia Huntington.

Arizona Road trip!

So last month Dustin, Jelina and I drove to Arizona for a weekend for my great Aunt Anne's funeral. It was a very adventurous road trip and a very exhausting one.

We stopped by Lake Powell to take some goofy pics :)

Bahahaha!

Dinner at joe's Crab Shack with Jenna Lowder, yum!

Of course in the desert we found some lizards to terrorize...

We almost hit 2 of these things (real ones), after leaving the Grand Canyon...

Best tacos I have ever had. This definitely was a real mexican restaurant.

Sedona, AZ

So while driving we decided to take a detour to the Grand Canyon since neither of us had ever seen it and added an extra 3-4 hours to our trip... Luckily we got there before the sun went down haha. We were there for like 5 minutes and then it got really dark. But it was worth the 4 hours...:/

So like I wrote before, we almost hit 2 elk leaving the Grand Canyon and 2 other smaller deer as well. Jelina was laying down trying to sleep or something... Three times, THREE TIMES either Dustin or I slammed on our breaks to avoid a deer destroying our car and Jelina flew off the back seat resulting with everyone screaming and then laughing our heads off. After the 3rd time she finally put on a seatbelt lol.

Black Friday Shopaholic

This year I got up early with the rest of the mad world with my friend Sierra and went shopping for awesome deals. I was pretty tired so I didn't get up at like 3am like some crazy people, I was a late riser at 5:30am. That is still dang early for me. I am not that black friday extreme. Even just 8am can be early for me sometimes. But that is what happens when you don't have kids or anything to wake up that early for.

ANYWAY. Back to shopping. Sierra and I went to Old Navy, Target, Kohls, and the mall. We drove by Best Buy...holy crap. They made bank this year just by looking at that parking lot. I would have been scared for my life entering that place. Sierra had to go to work at 11am so we stopped after those stores and I went home to get Dustin and his dad to go out again for more shopping. I bet you love hearing my exact day hour-by-hour...

Then we went to Lowes, Target again..., Pets Mart (cat litter was 50% off lol), Joannes, Walmart, Riverwoods mall, JcPennys and a Bernina sewing store for Dustin's sister.

So there was a total of 10-12 hours of shopping that day. Wow. That is a little over a typical shopping day for me haha but not for Dustin or his dad. I could have kept going longer.

Yes, I am a shopaholic. Come with me next year, I will show you how it's done.

Here are just some of the deals I scored on:

Old Navy:

-Mens wool blend jacket normally $79... I got it for $34

-Women's cardigans normally $29.99... I got them for $15

-Scarfs and gloves were normally $7.50 and they were only $2.50

Kohls:

-White peacoat for Taylor normally $200... I got it for $49.99

Target:

-Big Bang Theory Seasons normally $34.99 a season... I got 3 seasons for $12.99 (Saweeet!)

Walmart:

-Lord of the Rings on blu-ray normally around $24 each...we got them for $10 and some others.

Total that day I saved $329.02. Come with me next time... I'm tellin' ya :)

Bahahahahahahahahha!

Simple Christmas Decor

For another one of my little simple crafty nights, I got an idea from Alice Lane (only the most awesome decor store ever) on how to make a simple decoration so cool. They had clear ornament glass and filled them with tiny branches of christmas trees. It looks pretty and gives off that christmas tree smell in the room. It is easy to find the round glass ornaments but it is next to impossible to find them in other shapes. I had to buy a few unique ones from Hobby Lobby (my new favorite hobby store) that were filled with fake snow which I emptied out later.

Very simple and self explanatory...

My handy little helper, always wanting to part of my little projects... He is so cute.

I added snowflakes with them for fun. We hung a small bunch of them in two corners of the living room and then I wanted to put some blue snowflakes in our room along the large wall as part of my blue accents.

Since we won't be home for very much of December I am enjoying as much Christmas decor in our home as much as we can. I love decorating!

Canning Chicken

Canning chicken may sound weird to people who have never done it before or heard of it. Honestly I thought it was strange when I first heard. But canned chicken is a favorite way to cook chicken now for me. It makes great shredded chicken in enchiladas, chicken sandwiches, casseroles, and I use it in pasta as well. We try to be frugal with it though since it takes so long to do and we like to keep them for food storage. They can last in food storage for up to 2 years. It is great on Sundays when I forget to get enough ingredients for dinner so I can make a lot of things with this canned chicken when I can't make it to the store. It is a very simple process but it takes up half of your day to make them.

Raw chicken is very... slimy and yucky for me so I am getting ready to touch them.

Haha.

Look at the size of that breast!

Here we are cutting off excess fat from the chicken breast. Very gross...

Place a teaspoon of salt at the bottom of the jars.

Cut up chunks of the breast and place in jars, and then put lids on them. The lids don't need to be tightened too much because the cooker seals it enough for you.

Then we wait for like 1 hour and 30 minutes....

Take them out with this pincher thingy because they are super hot.

And finally at 2am we finished.

Crazy cat people pictures...

Dustin and I love taking pictures of our cats... I can't tell you how many pictures we have taken of them. Whenever they are doing something cute or funny we have to take a picture. And if I am in the same room as Rahjah I have to ask Dustin to take the picture because Rahjah has to be in the same room that I am at all times... It's kind weird but cute. So here are my recent favorites of them...

They are always hanging out or sleeping next to each other.

By the way Austin and Taylor, they love the chair haha.

As soon as I put warm laundry on our bed they immediately lay down on it.

Rahjah has some very interesting sleeping situations...

And last but not least, Juno decided to put her head through one of those round bases you put around candles. So she had a mane of holiday decor as a collar.

Uh knitting?

So if you read my post below it mentioned me learning to be more crafty... I have a friend that makes these cute little kids hats and it made me think I could try it... While I was checking out the new Hobby Lobby store in Orem I wound up in the yarn section. I like bamboo material so I grabbed some rolls of that, a cheap little book on how to do it and got those sticks you do it with. (That's what she said.)

Anyway, I didn't get very far. First of all, she doesn't knit, she crochets... Apparently there is a difference. Second, it is very frustrating trying to guess which finger is what in those little cartoon instruction books. Third, the people who demonstrate on youtube videos on how to knit go too fast and are using the right kind of yarn. Mine is too soft and fuzzy.

So here is where I started and ended. Lol.

This is a knot. Not a knit, a knot.

So according to the knitting handbook, "All knitting starts with cast on stitches."

Here is my 'cast on.'

I give up.

Pipe Cleaner Christmas Trees

So I am an impatient person when it comes to handmade things. And because I am impatient I end up doing a poor job and make it look messy... Cooking is probably my one thing I make that I don't get impatient with.

SO, recently I have decided I would like to take on the crafty world and attempt to make stuff while working on my patience. A lot of women here in Utah Valley tend to make like EVERYTHING it seems like, so I gotta blend in somehow. Because when I say I bought something that they could probably make, they don't seem to be as impressed with my purchase haha.

Here is my first project with this little goal of mine. Don't laugh. I know it is childish, but I was pretty proud haha. Not only that but Dustin had fun making one of his own...

Here are some homemade Christmas tree decorations... Lol.

Isn't he cute?

And here is Dustin's finished product :)

Fall Photos

So I have been wanting some new photos of me and Dustin to give to family and to update pictures around the house and stuff. We went up to Sundance two weekends ago and took some fun pictures with my sister and Sierra. Here are some of our favorites.

Blog of Yum experiences

So I have been making a lot of new recipes and it has been a lot of fun. I have learned some things too. Like baking is hard. Cooking regular food and main course meals you can be creative and throw in some spices and different ingredients without measuring correctly. But with baking... you have to follow the directions exactly and if you want to throw a different ingredient in to spice things up you have to follow 'baking rules' or make sure the other ingredients work with what you throw in. Maybe it has just been my experience recently, but I think my expertise is definitely not in baking.

I'll just stick to my Lyssa's famous cookies.

New G Photography Site!!

We just finished our new site for G Photography! Check it out and tell your friends and family.

www.GroffPhotog.com

Babysitting our niece and nephew

Last weekend we babysat Addie and Dallin Gardner while Austin and Taylor went on a little marriage retreat with their ward.

Chillin in the hammock.

Dallin enjoyed Dustin pushing him super fast around the yard. It made Addie crack up too.

She was telling him something in sign language and

Dustin didn't quite understand haha.

We made an awesome fort to watch Monsters Inc.

Dustin liked it just as much as the kids did :)

In the morning we had yummy fruit shakes and then

went outside to do some sidewalk chalk and play in the sandbox.