graduation, etc

I've been trying to wait to post until I had pictures, but I decided that I needed to write something anyway. Especially since this is kinda in a way like my journal...only public. :)

So graduation was spectacularly boring.

It was VERY fun to dress up in the most unflattering outfit, walk in a huge line with thousand's of grads and sit squished in a stinky Marriott center for a couple hours to hear Elder D. Todd Christofferson say "Now that you're graduated, it would be the ideal time to ask your parents for money." And it was VERY fun to see my parents!!!! And it was VERY fun to eat at Texas Roadhouse with Scott's parents! And it was VERY fun to get 5 hours of sleep the night before the "real" graduation.

The "real" graduation was actually probably more boring than the Thursday night one. I stood in line for about an hour in 4 inch heels (who ever said that was a good idea?), then sat squished for another couple hours during the ceremony. It was definitely a thrill to walk across the stage though! Kinda was a blur but fun.

And the pictures afterward?? Best part of the day for sure!! Then, Cheesecake Factory (YUM!!!!) and shopping shopping shopping. I kinda like having graduation and my birthday in the same week. :-)

I decided I really LOVE big, long necklaces and bright jewelry. I also love bright colored shirts.

And, I decided I am going on the HCG diet. My mom lost about 20 pounds of fat, no muscle and her eating habits changed hugely. I want that. Mostly the eating habits. And I would like to lose 15 pounds. It would put me where I was when I was 16, which has been my goal weight for a long time.

i'm now 50 years old!

Happy birthday to ME!

I'm 22 today. But don't tell my kindergarteners. They think I'm 50. :-)

I still need to post all the graduation hoolah, but not right now.

It was SOOO good to see my parents!!! I loved every second of it.

I think I'm going to do the homeopathic hcg diet. I want to change some habits.

Tonight?? SUSHI.

my mouth is already watering...

Just life

Well, yesterday I finally went to the doctor to see what was going on with my congestion. I've had colds and allergies and everything, but I've never been so plugged up for so long!!! He gave me a z-pack and some steroids to decrease the inflammation. Holy cow, I can already tell a HUGE difference! Wahoo!!

Today I am embarking upon making some delicious dessert...not sure if I'll use a recipe. I'll post what I made later.

Then senior pictures! College senior pictures. Even though I'm already graduated, I'm walking in the April ceremony. Mom and dad and Scott's parents are coming out, so it's a big deal. Plus, I wanted to send out announcements.

Only 6 weeks left of work! Then SUMMER!!! wahoo!

Goals for the summer:

-clean out the storage room

-have a HUGE yard sale

-collect and make decorations for our future apartment

-fly to Kansas and drive to St. Louis to find an APT. (flight booked, check!)

-find some sort of job in St. Louis

-go to Lake Powell

-go to Mesquite and Yellowstone

-go boating at least 5 times

-PACK AND MOVE TO ST. LOUIS!!!

Look! We have food storage!

So today I went back and got some more cereal. I know, I know, it's crazy. But how many of you can say you've ever spent only 40 cents on a box of cereal? Plus, Scott eats it for breakfast EVERYDAY and could go through a box every two days. Thus...

LOOK MOM! WE HAVE FOOD STORAGE!

Before we stocked our shelves, Scott wanted to build something with it. These are out of order, but whatev. First we buily the castle. Then the pyramid. After snapping about 4 pictures, the pyramid collapsed.
Here's a lovely picture of our new food storage. Please take note that the cinnamon life boxes are stacked 2 deep. Also, the regular life boxes are 2 deep but you can see that a little better. Plus, we got 6 boxes of instant oatmeal packs. What a steal!!!

Grand total? Approximately $21.50 or so with tax.

Cheapest food storage I've ever bought. :-) It's so awesome when your Smith's receipt says "Total Savings: $74.65 (91 percent)" and your total is $7.75. Wow. I might frame that.

Oh, and we also bounced around the idea of selling these cereal boxes to friends for $1.00. We could sell 20 and break even and we'd still have 30 boxes left. Apparently that's illegal though....bummer.

Sale ends April 18th. Better stock up!

$0.40 box of cereal

If you live in Utah County, go to Smith's right now.

But don't forget your $3.00 off coupon from Ridley's, Macey's, Harmon's or Buy Low. The coupon is in their ad this week.

Smith's is having a 5 for $5 sale on their Quaker cereal (Life, Capt. Crunch, Oatmeal). You can stack the $3.00 off 5 coupon from any of those stores on top of the sale and get a box of cereal for $0.40.

I'm not joking. The price for 10 boxes of Life cereal was $4.30

GO NOW!!!!!!

Not sure how long this lasts...

****** Coupons from Ridley's DO NOT WORK! Get them from Harmons, Maceys, or Buy Low. Look for the 4/18/10 expiration date and "mail to quaker"*****

Karissa's Kitchen

Everyone should start to visit:

www.karissaskitchen.blogspot.com

It's my new cooking blog. I was inspired by Angie. I need a place to post recipes and talk about cooking and cooking only. So, check it out. And don't stop checking this out. We'll see how it works to manage both. One may or may not get left in the dust. We'll see.

Oh, and on that blog I started with a recipe for Angie's beef collection :-) enjoy.

My dream? To attend culinary arts school. I want to know the real deal. Maybe someday....


5 1/2 weeks left of teaching!!!!! AHHHH!!!! I'm excited and nervous and scared and excited. :)

Short little update

I know I promised a picture post, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

Instead, I spent a couple hours yesterday CLEANING our house! It had gotten pretty cluttery from our lack of motivation. But now it's all nice and organized. As I was cleaning I was constantly reminded how much work it is going to be to move in a couple months...

...especially the storage room. It's a disaster. I think it'll take a week to clean and pack it.

I also had a VERY fun lunch with Lindsay. We were in school together student teaching and stuff, so it was very fun to chat about life, teaching, her being pregnant and everything else. I LOVED having girl time!

Then Scott and I "labored" in the kitchen making dinner for some good friends of ours who just had a baby. I must say, I believe I have mastered my mom's lasagna recipe. It's SO easy, and seriously the best lasagna ever! I've also mastered Scott's mom's breadstick recipe. So yummy! Scott had the cookies mastered, but he needs to practice some more I think ;-) They still turned out great, but I think he should make them more. And I know everything tasted so good because we made enough for us to eat the same thing as we took to our friends.

And their baby is SOOOO cute! I've never seen so much dark hair on a newborn!

Today I went to them gym and took my weights class. I've missed it like crazy. I forgot how good it feels to work out. This week I've had a cold and alot of mucus so I haven't been able to work out really. Plus, who wants to work out on their Spring Break?

Then later, we had our first soccer game of the season. And...WE WON!!!! 4-0 actually. It was an AWESOME game and so much fun! I loved the fact that I could run and work hard and play hard and I wasn't too tired. I guess working out pays off. :-)

Future Mary Kay Consultant??

So I've been considering becoming a Mary Kay consultant.

I wanted to when I was a freshman at BYU but didn't have the money to start. Now I actually do, but I'm just trying to make the decision. I really think I could do REALLY well at it...I've had lots of experience with people, I love make up, I love people, I love helping people, I love being girly, I love dressing up, I love teaching people, and it would be nice to make some extra money in addition to whatever else I'm doing.

I'm hesitant because there are alot of unanswered questions I have at this point. My biggest concern and question is, "Where will I get the people?" I just don't really know where to start. I guess start with people I know and let them bring their friends, who I don't know.

Anyway, I think it could be really good. What are your thoughts?

Tomorrow I'll post a bunch of pictures from our escapade to visit the Seven Wonders of Provo this afternoon.

Maybe I love my arms being a little red from the sun today? It was so warm! And SO fun to spend the day with Scott outside. :-)

Me? Mary Kay? Thoughts?

Olive Garden

Tonight Scott decided to be spontaneous and take us out to Olive Garden for dinner. It was pretty fun, however, the food wasn't amazing. I always love their salad and bread sticks but I don't think their pasta is that great.

Also, when your husband makes this comment:

"I would rather eat your cooking. It has so much more flavor and it's so much better than any food I can get at a restaurant."

it makes you feel pretty good :-) He's awesome.

Next time we go there we're only getting 1 entree. 2 is too much, too expensive and not that great.

3 weeks til my birthday!!

So far my break has been great. I've been to two Mary Kay parties and started making a super cute apron with my sister in-law, Emily! She's so awesome. I'll definitely post pictures. It's gonna be soooo cute!

2 recipes

Sometimes I really think I write in this too much...but I just feel like I have so much to share and offer so it's okay.

Let me just start off by saying....WAHOOO SPRING BREAK!!!! But, apparently this huge snowstorm is about to hit. Are you kidding? Can I please zap myself to Cancun? And I have some cold or something that literally started Friday after school...I hope it goes away fast! I don't wanna be sick all week.

1. Chicken Cordon Bleu

disclaimer: I found this recipe online, i can't remember where, but I altered it a little. YUM!

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

8 pieces of thin ham

4 pieces of provolone (swiss could work too)

1 beaten egg

1/4 c. flour

1 c. crushed seasoned croutons (I didn't use quite a cup, just whatever was left...maybe 1/2-2/3 cup?)

Pound the chicken out to be fairly flat. (It's best to put the chicken between plastic wrap on a cutting board.) I used a normal hammer and a cutting board. Lay 2 slices of ham and one slice of cheese on each chicken breast. Roll it up like a taco. If you have a toothpick good, if not, that's okay. Dip/roll in flour, then egg, then crushed crumbs. Lay in a greased 9x13 pan. Repeat for each chicken.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes, or until chicken is not pink.

While it is baking, make the sauce.

1/2 c. chicken broth

1 cup half and half

1/2 can of cream of chicken soup

oregano, salt and pepper

My sauce wasn't getting thick so I added cream of chicken. The flavor and creaminess was about perfect. Let it bubble and kinda simmer but not boil for a couple minutes. If it gets too hot the cream will curdle and be bad. Add the spices to taste. It should be a pretty mild sauce. Pour over chicken and TA DA! Homemade from scratch Chicken Cordon Bleu!!

I must admit I was intimidated by this recipe for some reason. I thought it would be really tough but it was super easy and really took maybe 15 minutes to make after the chicken was thawed. And everyone loved it :-)

Sorry no pictures...I forgot....and we were hungry.

2. English Muffin Pizzas

4 english muffins, opened so there's 8 halves

8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 cup mozzarella cheese

toppings (pineapple and ham are great!)

1/2 teas. oregano

1/4 teas. italian seasonings

2 shakes garlic salt/powder,

2 shakes salt and pepper,

2 shakes parsley

Combine the tomato sauce with spices until you like the flavor. I never measure when I'm making sauce, so these are pure guesses of how much I used. Sorry! Cover each muffin half with a spoonful of sauce. Add some cheese. Add some pineapple and ham. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Cook at 400 for about 15 minutes or so. Dip in ranch. Yum! Fast and easy if you need to use some staple foods and english muffins.

I will post pictures of our awesome Bunny Cake later! Made the cake from a box and made homemade frosting.

I'm feeling very proficient in the kitchen these days.... :-)

Sometime this week is Jamaican Jerk Chicken day....new recipe! I'll post with pics after I make it.

My Craftiness...PICTURES!

Here is my craftiness.

My sister in law is having a baby and I wanted to get a cute tutu for her. But, at the store they cost about $20-40. That's ridiculous! So, I got some fabric and made one myself! The first pictures are of cute little headbands I figured out how to make (thanks Karli and Gina!). All you need is a package of little girl tights, a needle and some thread.

1. Cut the toe off one leg. Cut at the top of the thigh.
2. You now have one strip that's like a tube.
3. Fold the tube so the two sides meet, and stitch on the edge. I pulled it tight so it scrunched.
4. Cut another small piece of fabric and wrap it around the pinch and sew on the back. Leave the front seperated from the main band so you can clip a flower on. That's it!

This white and pink one is the one I made for my sister in law Carrie. I thought it turned out sooo cute! I bought the flower at Robert's and clipped it on. My next project is to actually make the flower too.

Here is the tutu I made.

16 inches of elastic or ribbon

1 3/4 yard tulle

needle/thread

1. I laid the fabric out in 28x19 inches. I cut the strips 2 1/2 inches wide, 19 inches long.


2. I sewed a 1 inch elastic band in about 16 inch circumfrence. Then I looped and double knotted the tulle alternating colors.

3. I repeated step 2 until it was finished. I cut the bottoms of the strips in points and added 6 pieces of ribbon to add some sparkle. So cute!!!

I wish I would've had more tulle so it was more poofy and thicker. It turned out good, but I just wish it would've been fuller. Next time I'll used at least 3 yards of tulle and triple up the strips so it's thicker. Only cost about $1.50 for all the fabric. (the ribbon upped the price)

Easy and inexpensive! Let me know if you wanna come over and make some more with me!

I CAN be crafty!

I just want people to know....

I CAN BE DOMESTIC!!!!!

and

I CAN MAKE CUTE THINGS!!!!!

Pictures and more information to come, I can't share just yet...even though I want to. I'M SO EXCITED!!!!! :-)

Homemade Egg McMuffins

1 english muffin

3-4 slices of ham

1 slice cheddar cheese

1 tbl raspberry jam

1 egg

Fry the egg. Heat the ham in the same pan. Sandwich the cheese between the ham on the skillet. Toast the english muffin. Butter it and spread the jam on one or both sides. Place the egg on the ham/cheese combo. Place all of it on the muffin. So delicious!!

Must Read This Recipe...

Oh my gosh. I had to blog this ASAP because I made it up in my head and my taste buds are going crazy!!!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves cut in small pieces.

Combine in a bowl:

1/4 c. ish of soy sauce.

3 heaping TBL Hoisin sauce (most amazing sauce ever! Asian isle folks)

3 shakes of ginger powder

1/4 teas. of dried chives

2 teas. minced garlic

1 1/2 teas. brown sugar

1 small shake of Cayenne pepper

I think that's it. And I didn't measure anything, I eyeballed and tasted it so I'm not sure if the "measurements" are right.

Add chicken and let soak for about 15 minutes or so. Add chicken to a Med-High heat skillet. Try not to let too much juice get in the skillet. Let it sizzle and cook for a bit. Drain juice into a separate small saucepan as needed. During the last 2 minutes of cooking, kick the heat up and cover the skillet. This will carmelize the bottom of the chicken.

In the meantime, pour the extra juice into a small saucepan and let it boil the whole time the chicken cooks. This allows you to have extra dipping or pouring sauce. :-)

Serve with rice and steamed veggies.

Hoisin is a sweet, yummy Asian sauce. The cayenne pepper adds a nice little kick. If it's too salty for you, add more brown sugar.

YUM!!!!

Excuse me while I vent

I just need to vent for a second...


I am SO sick and tired of having other teachers come to me and say things like:

-"your class was running down the hall..."
-"your class was pushing each other in the lunch line"
-"your class was talking and being loud in the hall."
-"your class wouldn't line up for recess."
-"Maybe you need to start walking your class to lunch because your aid doesn't do anything about it when a boy shoves a girl to the ground. And because they can't walk nicely down the hall or stand in line correctly."

Can I ask these teachers the same thing I ask my kids??

"Are you bleeding? Are you throwing up? Are you hurt? No? Okay, don't tell me."

I am SERIOUSLY doing the absolute best I can with what I've been given. If that's not good enough for you, then YOU come teach them for a day.

I swear you'll never come back.