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Stuffed

Last night, I made stuffed green peppers for dinner. I’ve made this before, but it was a different recipe by Betty Crocker with tomato sauce. I was interested in seeing which one was better. In the end, I liked both but I think having the extra sauce in the Betty Crocker recipe really helped. So, if I make this recipe again, I might add tomato sauce into the recipe or just pour some on top once cooked. Also, next time I’m going to actually use italian sausage instead of ground beef. I just had some on hand and didn’t feel like buying more ingredients.

For the recipe, click here.

Oh, and funny story to go along with this meal… It took me about an hour to prepare and cook dinner and so it was about 7 pm and T.J. was getting really hungry. I promised him it would be ready in five minutes. He went to the kitchen cabinet, pulled out a box of cereal and was about to pour himself a bowl when I said to him again firmly, “It will be ready in five minutes.” (Meaning, if you eat a bowl of cereal right now I am never cooking for you ever again.) He understood my undertone and put everything back.

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Seriously, So Blessed

Did you ever follow that blog? I loved it. The posts were so funny and so Mormon.

Well, you’re about to get a post like that from me. Except, it’s not a joke or sarcastic.

The past few days I have felt overwhelming blessed. The majority of worries I have had this summer are taken care of and I just have felt love and friendship from so many people. I feel like I have been blessed more than I deserve, and it’s just amazing.

So, tonight for our FHE, T.J. and I decided to write down as many blessings as we could (separately) in three minutes. (I had 36, T.J. had 30… so I won.)

Here are a couple of my favorites that I wrote:

  1. The Gospel (and everything it encompasses… I wrote them out, so don’t judge me.)
  2. My husband and our marriage
  3. Our healthy baby on the way!
  4. Jimmer
  5. Baby Elephants
  6. Diamonds
  7. Clothes
  8. Pinterest
  9. My Blog
  10. My friends
And some of my favs from T.J.’s list:
  1. Shark Week
  2. Baby “No Name”
  3. Pie
  4. Beautiful Wife, My Wife, My other half, Katie (He counted this as 4, ha!)
  5. Electricity
  6. Love
  7. Physical Health
  8. Church so close
  9. Katie’s Degree
  10. Family
We had a lot more that were more serious, too. So like I said, don’t judge us! At the end of our activity my new Visiting Teacher came by with her husband to drop off dinner! She said she made too much and wanted to share… sweetest thing ever? Yes. And it wasn’t just like a normal meal. It was ratatouille. Delicious. To top off the wonderful night, some of my friends in the ward were having a Bachelorette Finale party. I hadn’t seen any of the episodes, but I knew it was a girl’s night I needed to be at! It was so fun to be around these girls and made me so thankful for my ward! I have wonderful friends, visiting teachers, and am blessed abundantly!
See, told you it would be one of those cheesy “Seriously, so blessed” posts.
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Giddy

Once my mom said to me and my friends before I left for college, “I wish I could just bottle up your laughter and save it forever.” It was so cheesy then. But now I know what she meant. Last night, T.J. and I were in such a giddy mood and couldn’t stop laughing together. It was precious and I wished I could capture that moment forever.

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Bliss

Today is one of the best days. Ever. I’ve been looking over some financial stuff, trying to plan for the baby, and then I thought I should check T.J.’s BYU financial account to see if his FAFSA went through or if there were still some to-do items there. Mind you, I hadn’t checked for about a month, and then randomly I decide to check today. Today. Which happened to be one hour after they posted his financial aid money!

T.J. was granted more than enough money to pay for both Fall and Winter tuition. Pell Grants. We will never have to pay it back because sometimes it just pays to be poor.

Also, because T.J. is a very talented graphic designer (I’m not kidding, I’m always amazed when I see his work), he ALSO got a scholarship for Fall semester. So, that will cover for other costs/insurance/etc.

This baby won’t be delivered in a cardboard box after all! Things really have a way of working out, don’t they!

And… I get to see Harry potter in three hours.

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The word is marriage.

“Some marriages do bend, and some will break, but we must not, because of this, lose faith in marriage nor become afraid of it.”

I came across an article by Boyd K. Packer today and I want to share it with you all. He gave the talk in 1981 and it is still, if not more, applicable today. The concept of marriage is being degraded and destroyed by the world around us, but we must have faith in the principle of marriage, as well as defend it. Read the whole talk and share it with your friends. I love Elder Packer and the way he just lays it all out.

 


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It always works out, I tell you!

K, so you see my last post, the one how I was worried about how to pay tuition? Well, we honestly didn’t know how we were going to pay. In the past, miracles have happened right when we needed them, such as the FAFSA coming through paying for all of our tuition or our tax refund being larger than expected, paying for T.J.’s hospital bills. But it’s not FAFSA or tax refund season, so unless we found a check for $1000 in our mailbox from a stranger or deceased relative, we weren’t sure how we going to pay for the tuition next week.

Then last night, I kept having thoughts about loans going through my mind. T.J. really doesn’t like taking out any loans, obviously, so I kept putting off the thought.

But this morning, I received an email notifying me about BYU’s short term loan. If you pay it back in six weeks, there’s no interest or extra cost to you. It’s basically like a payment plan.

Miracle.

I’m in tears writing this, which isn’t saying much considering I’m a hormonal pregnant woman who cries about everything. I just have such a strong testimony of tithing and that our Heavenly Father is aware of our personal needs. He looks our for us and when we do what we’re supposed to do, things will work out somehow.

And when things work out, it isn’t just a coincidence.

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“Tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes afterwards, I don’t want this weekend to end.”

Friday, T.J. was very sick from food poisoning and so we went to bed pretty early and thought our weekend would be a bust. But he woke up the next morning feeling great and so we decided to spend the day at Seven Peaks, the waterpark in Provo to which we have passes.

I asked T.J. if we could rent a double tube. I’d never gotten a tube at a park since they’re pricy, but he agreed. Then what followed is hilarious but so embarrassing. Because I was so excited, I started tearing up!  (I’m telling you, my emotions are out of control right now). T.J. couldn’t stop laughing about it, and I admit it was ridiculous.

I didn’t ride all the rides because of the lil’ babe. But, we did ride the small tube ones, sat in the lazy river where a little boy screamed at me saying, “GET OUT OF MY WAY!”, and we swam in the wave pool (my favorite). I just closed my eyes and pretended I was at the beach.

After the park, we got ready to out for dinner. I’ve been wearing dresses a lot because they’re most comfortable, so I felt like we got so dressed up. Bombay House is our favorite and sounded delicious after a long day at the pool. We split some curry and tikka masala. Delish.

To finish the night off, we took a walk around Kiwanis park, which is in the backyard of our old apartments. It brought back so many memories seeing Chatham Towne and the different places in the park T.J. and I had spent time together. I love that park.

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Finally Some Warmth

I complain about the weather all the time, and I’m {sort of} sorry about that. But we have had two straight days of warm weather.

Two!

Did we just break a record?

To celebrate the warmth, T.J. and I are dusting off our tennis rackets and hitting the court tonight. I can’t guarantee you that an actual match will be played without a tantrum (I always get frustrated because I’m such a horrible tennis player… maybe you remember my past post), but I am looking forward to getting outside, some fresh air, and exercise. If any couple wants to join us for doubles let us know… but you can’t be very good.

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In One Year’s Time

Yesterday was mine and T.J.’s first anniversary. I’m actually not sure what I want to write in this post. Clearly it has been an incredible year.

The best.

I have learned so much. About myself, T.J., and our relationship. One of most interesting things I have learned though is that love continues to grow. I guess I thought when you are in a relationship, it starts with a crush, then you “like” them, and then love them. I thought love was the last plateau and it just stopped once you got there. But through our marriage, the good times and the hard times, serving T.J. and becoming his eternal partner, my love has grown immensely and it just keeps growing. It’s really incredible.

Here’s to our first year and countless more. Love you, T.

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3rd Birthday

I can’t believe this was the third birthday I have had with T.J.

For the first, we had just been dating for a couple of months and my brother took us to the Bombay House for dinner and the Melting Pot for dessert.

Last year we were engaged for my birthday. T.J. took me to Gateway in SLC and I experienced Tucanos for the first time.

And this year, we have been happily married for 10 months. We celebrated once again at Tucanos because it’s the only day I can splurge on such a meal.

I can’t wait for the many birthdays to come with my sweet husband! He sure spoils me!

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