We had sort of an eventful week this week. Although, our idea of "eventful" is doing anything besides work and netflix.

Zoey had surgery on her ACL on Wednesday, and has been drugged up ever since. The poor thing has to stay in her crate unless we are right there with her to make sure she doesn't use that leg. I feel so bad for her.And we have to hold that leg up with an old scarf whenever she has to go outside. So it's kind of a pain, but I guess we're lucky she's only 70 lbs unlike some of her 120 lb relatives...

On a happy note :)

Matt has been working so hard on fixing up the backyard and the house. The family that lived here before us did a lot of work on the inside of the house... but looks like hardly any on the outside. And now that the weather is getting warmer (finally!) Our backyard is super green and I was able to plant flowers out front. Now i'm in love with our house. It's a lot of work, but worth it. And I do admit it will be hard to go back to rocks and cactus in our front yard instead of this. 

Louisiana Chicken Pasta

If you haven't ever tried the Louisiana Chicken Pasta at The Cheesecake Factory, I think it's safe to say your life may be incomplete.

Matt was craving it so I told him I would give it a shot and try to make it myself. I found the recipe online and, not to brag or anything, it turned out really really close to the real deal.SOOO Good.
So if you're looking for a new recipe to try, try this one :). It does have a little kick to it, just to warn ya.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Chicken

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons flour

Cajun Sauce

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 small yellow pepper (chopped)
• 1 small red bell pepper (chopped)
• 3/4 small red onion (chopped)
• 3 whole garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/4 pints whipping cream
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 4 tablespoons fresh basil (thinly sliced)
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 (12 ounce) package bow tie pasta
• 1 cup mushroom (sliced)

Directions:

1. 1. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.
2. 2. Add yellow and red bell peppers, mushrooms, and onion to same skillet,until crisp-tender, about 4 minute.
3. 3. Add garlic and crushed red pepper to skillet and saute 3 minutes.
4. 4. Add whipping cream and chicken stock.
5. 5. Simmer until sauce re-heats and thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.
6. 6. Add basil and 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese to sauce, stirring to incorporate.
7. 7. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, simmer; sauce will reduce and thicken.
8. 8. Wash and drain chicken breasts.
9. 9. Pound until very thin (the thinner the chicken breasts the better).
10. 10. Mix breadcrumbs, flour, and Parmesan cheese together.
11. 11. Place milk in dish for dipping.
12. 12. Dip chicken in breadcrumb mixture and then in milk and then back in breadcrumbs.
13. 13. Place in fry pan that the oil has been heated and fry at medium high temperature until golden crisp and cooked through.
14. 14. Add more oil as needed.
15. 15. Remove and drain chicken; keep warm.
16. 16. Meanwhile, cook bow-tie pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite.
17. 17. Drain and return to pot.
18. 18. Add sauce and toss to coat.
19. 19. Place pasta with sauce on plate, and top with chicken breast.
20. 20. Serve, passing additional Parmesan separately

WARNING: This might BuG you.

The other night Matt was in his office with the dogs. He saw them playing with something on the ground but didn't think anything of it. A couple of minutes later, Zoey came and rested her head on his leg like she always does so Matt looks down and....   BAM!

Whatever they were playing with obviously wasn't playing back, and must have stung or bit Zoey around her eye. It was pretty disgusting. And we never figured out what the bug was. But she's still with us so i'm guessing it wasn't poisonous. 

We loaded her up on benedryl, so that,combined with her pain pills because of her torn ACL (sad face) She had to of been feelin Goooooood. 

She kind of looks scary. Matt didn't let me look at it until the next morning. But he sure did bring her to bed with him because he felt so bad for her. My poor Zoey Boey. She's just gettin' beat up left and right. 

And needless to say, Matt sprayed the house for bugs the next day.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

These two quotes were printed on our bulletin in church today:


"There is no role in life more essential and more eternal than that of motherhood" -Elder M Russell Ballard.


"We are living in a great season for all women in the church. Sisters, you are an essential part of our Heavenly Father's plan for eternal happiness, you are endowed with a divine birthright. You are the real builders of nations wherever you live, because strong homes of love and peace will bring security to any nation." - Dieter F. Uchdorf


I missed my mom more than usual this Mother's Day. I should have known when two weeks ago I stood in the Mother's Day card aisle for twenty five minutes with tears streaming down my face. 3 hours away I could deal with, but 11 hours? It's not exactly a short drive home. 
I'm so grateful for my mother. She is the most selfless, spiritual person I have ever known. I have so many precious memories of her throughout my childhood. Coming in to sleep on the floor with me when I had bad dreams, or letting me crawl in her bed, playing the piano in our house, singing The Carpenters, her famous Thanksgiving Stuffing, her painting or making jewelry,teaching me, helping me...I'm especially grateful that she let me live past my childhood. I know I caused her quite a few sleepless nights. She is always serving others, whether its friends, church, or our family. She always calls exactly when I need her to, and very rarely doesn't pick up when I call her, even during nap time. 
She's my hero, and I can never repay her for everything she's done for me. 

My mother-in-law is such an amazing person too. Since I've known her, I have never once seen her not up-beat, and I've never heard her speak ill of anyone. She is so super sweet and I love being around her. I'll never forget seeing her drive up to the house, a little lady in a big ol truck, jammin' out to 104.7. Or her singing "New York" by Jay-Z when we were camping. I love when Matt talks about her, and seeing the bond that they have. She would do anything for anyone. I definitely lucked out my in-laws. I love her to death.

I have so many examples of great mothers in my life. Sisters, sisters-in-law, friends.. My sister Shauna gave birth to a precious baby girl just yesterday and it reminded me how beautiful motherhood is. I love being an auntie, but I'm so excited to be a mother someday. 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

As much as I like our new one, I miss it. 

A lot.

The Big 3-0 in VEGAS!!!

Matt turned 30 last week! Weird. And for the first time I think ever, I was actually able to surprise him and do something big for him. His friend Mark's birthday is 3 days before his, so Mark's wife, Adria, and I have been planning this vegas trip since last year. 

I didn't realize how hard it would be to try to keep Matt from finding out about it. In the end he knew we were going to Vegas, but thought it was just us two. 

We flew in super duper early Friday morning and started vegas off right with some delicious crepes at the Paris Hotel, did some shopping, and went to the wax museum (which was awesome). We also went to the Pawn Stars pawn shop. We love watching that show. We were hoping Chum-lee would be there, but no such luck. They are all too cool now. 

 Mark and Adria weren't getting into town until around 3 so I had to stall until then. They showed up to our hotel room and Matt was in the bed watching tv while I was crouched down in the bathroom trying to record Matt's reaction when Mark walked in. Apparently Mark was a little freaked out walking into a room that had clothes and a phone sitting out and told Adria "We gotta get outta here!"

Adria said the boys stared at each other for quite a while before either of them said anything. I'm not sure if it was because of shock or because they weren't wearing their glasses. 

After some more shopping and WAY too much crab at the Bellagio buffet, we had another surprise for them.  At the botanical gardens, they were grabbed from behind by the Erbs, Todd & Kristin. Then the partying began. 

Adria apparently has some sweet hook-ups and got us into the Palms VIP for free Saturday night. So we danced the night away while surrounded by some crazy people. And lets not forget our elevator ride and exit with Ryan Cabrera. If you don't know who he is, don't feel bad. Google him. 

Our big B-Day surprise for the boys was their Exotic Racing experience at the Las Vegas Speedway. I knew after Matt was driving our rental Infinity G37 like a maniac, causing Adria to threaten to walk, that it would be PERFECT for him. They had some sweet cars and I think they had fun. He ended up driving the Audi R8. Maybe for his 40th we'll upgrade to the Lamborghini.

 It was so good seeing our friends for a weekend. (And my sister and her family that live in Henderson :) We really miss everyone. If anyone else wants to meet up in Vegas, just let us know and we're there!

Happy Birthday Matty. XOXOXOXO

They found us.

I thought we could get away with not talking in our new ward for just a little longer... guess not. We tried sitting in the back and laying low, but that didn't work. In fact it backfired on us because we are giving talks AND we still haven't really met anyone. I actually don't mind giving a talk, I just feel bad for everyone sitting in the congregation listening to be stutter and most likely cry. We're talking next week so i'm trying to start preparing my talk on Faith today. I read this quote in a conference talk and loved it. 

"We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day."

Elder Richard G Scott goes on to say, 

"Righteous character is a precious manifestation of what you are becoming. Righteous character is more valuable than any material object you own, any knowledge you have gained through study, or any goals you have attained no matter how well lauded by mankind. In the next life your righteous character will be evaluated to assess how well you used the privilege of mortality."

It made me realize that it doesn't matter how great my goals are, or how wonderful the person I want to become is, if i'm not consistently living my life according to those goals & according to my faith, I will get nowhere. 

I think I have some work to do and some changes to make  :) 

Yay For Visitors!

Our good ol' friends the Erbs paid us a little visit last weekend. A much needed visit :) Unfortunately us girls were told we wouldn't need our cameras for our first night together, so we don't have pictures of the AMAZING ice castles we visited in Midway, but i'm hoping to go back soon. We finished off that night in steam rooms, hot tubs and a pool at the Zermott Resort. Awesome.

We got a ton of snow that weekend. Not as much as we were supposed to, but still more than we've had since we've been here. I loved it. And so did the dogs.  I did realize that snow boots might be a good investment for me. 

Erbs: Thanks for visting!!Good times. Maybe next time our house will be done. Come again soon! xoxo