Bridals

Remember that time Jer and I got married over 2 years ago? Well, embarrassingly enough, I am JUST NOW putting my bridals on my computer. Since I never shared any of them and because I wanted to take a trip down memory lane, I'm forcing all of you to do the same. :o)

 These were all taken at Thanksgiving Point Gardens by Michael Lloyd Photography.

 Wearing my mom's gorgeous wedding dress. I wanted to wear it for my actual wedding but thought it would be nice to have my own dress too.

 Wearing my wedding ring and my grandmother's wedding ring (mom's mom.) I never got to meet her so it was a really special remembrance and made me feel like she was there with us on our special day.

Just being silly. I love the ruffles that come down the back of my mom's dress.

It is really funny to see how much I have changed, as well as my preferred style, in just two short years. Man, I'm going to look way out of date when my kids see these if I'm already thinking I look out of date now. But that's the fun of it, right?

Lazy

This week has felt pretty lazy to me. Although looking back I have actually accomplished a lot. Let's work backwards, shall we?

Today I made a gift for my dance partner and his wife's baby that is due in September. They are having a little boy and believe it or not, this aviator-style hat and goggles was requested by Caleb months ago (my partner). I don't think he was really serious about be making it so it will be a fun surprise when I give it to them. I couldn't find a free pattern I liked so I kind of put a bunch of things together and made my own. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out! It is always fun to find a cute accessory for a baby boy, considering there are SO many cute girl things out there.

I'm getting excited for fall again and being able to make and sell more of my crocheted stuff.

Yesterday was dinner group and I was in charge. I tried a new recipe and it was a winner! Everyone seemed to like it a lot, and I would definitely repeat it. Here it is:

Spicy Avocado Chicken Enchiladas

Yield: serves 4

Recipe Note: To make these as Spicy as their name, leave in the seeds in the Serrano Pepper and use a "medium" Salsa Verde. For those without the love of heat, seed the Serrano Pepper and use a "mild" Salsa Verde.

Ingredients:

for the sauce:
1 tablespoon butter
1 Serrano pepper, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup medium salsa verde
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
for the enchiladas:
3 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts (about 4 breasts)
8 oz Cabot Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded & divided
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 avocados, peeled and chopped
8-10 flour tortillas

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Saute serrano pepper and garlic, for 1 minute. Stir in flour, constantly stirring, and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in the chicken broth, cumin, salt and pepper and bring to a low boil. Once boiling, whisk in the sour cream, salsa verde and cilantro. Remove from heat.
Spray/grease a 9×13 baking dish. Add 3/4 cup sauce to the bottom of the pan. Add chicken, Cabot Monterrey Jack Cheese, onion and avocado to the center of each tortilla and roll, placing seam-side down in the dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas. Top with leftover cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes or until bubbling. Serve immediately.

One of these days I will actually take pictures of all of us at dinner group...

On Wednesday I was able to perform in my friend Allie's senior project showcase. I'm kicking myself because I fully intended to take a picture with all of us at the end but totally forgot! Grrrr.

I've always wanted to be in someone's senior project so when Allie asked me I was really excited. She choreographed a modern piece about the attacks that occurred on September 11th. It was an awesome experience and one I will always remember.

Katie and Dave came to watch the show along with Jer and afterwards we went mini golfing. For an update on that, click here.

People Like Us and the envelope Method:

On Tuesday we went to see this movie at the dollar theater. If any of you are familiar with the dollar theater here, Tuesday is dollar night which means tickets are REALLY only a dollar. I remember my dad telling me about the times when he and my mom were first married how they would keep their money in envelopes alotted to each spending category to help with their budgeting. Jer and I decided to try this out this month and are actually having fun trying to stick like glue to our budget. Ergo, dollar night at the dollar theater. With our two tickets and popcorn we spent $7 total on that date. Stick that in your back pocket. :o)

 

We were pleasantly surprised with the movie. Definitely worth a dollar. I don't want to ruin the movie for any of you so I won't say anything more.

 

Running, Pilates, Dancing

 

One benefit of having a little more time on my hands is choosing when and what I do for exercise. I have been running, which you all know I hate, but I feel good about it. I'm also really enjoying pilates classes at 24 and of course dancing everyday! 

 

Jer, Caleb and I are headed to Vegas for a comp next weekend. We will let you know how it goes!

Sweet Summertime

It has been such a wonderful summer. I'm sad this summer is coming to a close. I'm going to miss this:

Big yummy avocados from my parents' orchard for quinoa salad, fresh peaches and corn on the cobb. It seems like summer meals are the easiest because there are so many great fruits and vegetables in season.

Up For Grabs!

Remember this skirt?

I have a medium (size 4-8) and a small (size 0-4) available for sale. $30 each! Let me know if you are interested. Shoot me an e-mail at cmariependleton@gmail.com or message me on Facebook.

Well Aint That Peachy

Have you ever seen that fruit and vegetable stand, Harward Farms on University Parkway? Well every year my family loves to get apples, peaches and corn on the cobb when they are in season.

This little beaut here is a half-bushel of "seconds". This means that they are discounted because they may have a bruise or a bump here or there, or are a little smaller, but are pretty much exactly the same as the others. The best part is, this half bushel was only $7 as compared to the regular priced half bushels which are $17! Wowzers!

So, if you can't tell, this is a LOT of peaches. My fam bought me this box and took a few for the road when they left, but Jer and I are only 2 people and knew we couldn't eat all of these before they went bad. So I decided to have some summer peach fun on a budget.

Project numero uno:
Bottling

I've never bottled peaches before and I only had one big bottle. Since I'm cheap and wasn't about to spend ten bucks on a huge case of bottles as a first timer I just decided to try one.

I found the EASIEST bottling instructions here. Seriously, no blanching, no syrup making. Try it.

Project numero dos:
Pie

Seriously people, I stink at making pies. I have never made one that I am happy with. So I may just end up forever being a bakery-bought pie person for special occasions only!

I only had one pie crust in freezer so I combined two recipes. I added the streusel topping and it was really yummy because it had almonds in it.

The pie ended up being really soupy but tasted yummy in a bowl with ice cream.

I bottled the leftover pie filling.

Project numero tres:
Jam

I decided to make peach-pineapple freezer jam. Peach jam is a little too sweet for me, I like the tart flavor the pineapple adds. Here is the recipe. My mom swears by MCP pectin and their freezer jam recipes. I grew up on homemade strawberry freezer jam made only with the best: MCP! It is setting now so that is a good sign. The single recipe actually made 6 jars. I'm so excited to try it!

And guess what?

I still have 25 peaches! Oh dear. I'm out of bottles, out of jars and ALMOST out of ideas. I think I'll freeze some for smoothies next.

In other news:

Here are two more maxis I made for my sisters! If you look closely, Katie's (zebra) is a mismatched pattern so the print goes different ways at an angle. It looks super cute on her and I love the fabric Anna chose for hers. Loved having some sissy time this week.

My students competing in BYU summer Dancesport this past weekend and Anna and her cute friend Devin joined me to cheer them on. They did an awesome job and I am so proud of them! It was fun to teach a summer course and I'm excited to get started with my fall class.

Family Fun

So I have done a lot of random things in the past week and a half or so but the best part is, the whole time I have been enjoying the company of family!

I just got back from a fun few days with the Bartons at Newport Beach. This is a wonderful tradition in Jer's family that is a great way for everyone to get together and draw closer to each other. I was sad I couldn't stay for the whole 10 days but I had students I needed to get back to. :o)

LUCKILY when I got back to Utah, my family was just arriving! My parents have spent the week at a family history workshop at BYU. It has been so fun to be with them especially since I am extra lonely without Jer Bear.

 Anna has been my buddy all week while the parents have been at the workshop. Here she is reading her book at good ol 7 Peaks!

We also got to check an item off our bucket lists and go to the Cherry Lane Boutique in Provo. SO CUTE. We loved everything. Can everyone please take a moment and check out Anna in this picture? Not even intentional. Oh Sis.

 I got my fabric today to make some more skirts. I had a couple gifts to make and wanted another one for myself. I was so excited about this that I drove to UPS and picked up my package since they attempted delivery but I wasn't there. I couldn't wait another day.

Here's the finished product of a mismatched striped maxi I made for my friend's birthday. My friend is much taller than my model (my sister). :o) I LOVED this fabric.

I Scream for Ice Cream!

In case any of you Provo/Oremer's are suckers for ice-cream like I am, I found a great deal through Savvy Shopper for:

$15.00 gift card to Sub Zero Ice Cream (Brigham's Landing) for only $7.50!

Gosh I love a good deal.

Click here for the link.

Enjoy!