Out With the Old in With the New!

The semester is coming to a close and true to tradition, we had our closing social for the BYU Ballroom Dance Company tonight at Aspen Grove. It's always a fun event where we dress up, give out silly awards, eat great food and watch a slide show. I was caught off-guard when Curt (one of the directors) approached me and asked me to be the new Company president for 2011-2012. The fun thing is that my former dance partner, Caleb Merrell was the president this year so he can give me lots of pointers and help. At the end of the social we always take lots of fun pictures. I guess ballroom dancers love pictures of themselves when they are dressed up. Here we are!

 Me and the hubby

 The Bobbsey twins (nick named by Lee Wakefield)

 Some of our closest friends Trev and Liss. Jer is selling pest control with Trevor this summer!

 The Mictendo monkeys!

 Plus mario

 Love all these girls.

 Me and Amers.

Best partners for two years, old president and new, sure will miss you Caleb. :o(

Dandy Girl

Here's a little taste of what I did for 4.5 hours today. I'm hooked. No pun intended ;o).

Apparently Jer likes them too. :o) I'm sending off my first shipment tomorrow!

Flowers n' Frills

Well I've done it! I've opened an Etsy shop. It is still in the beginnings but I'm pretty excited and i'm having a lot of fun. You can check out my shop by going to:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Flowersnfrills

OR there is a little link on the top right side of my blog you can click on. :o) Enjoy!

Oh What a Beautiful Weekend!!!

We had an awesome weekend with my family!! I was so so so happy that they came to visit for a few days while my little sister was on her spring break. My sister Katie made a detailed blog post about a few of the things we did while they were here. Her blog is http://mshouston.blogspot.com. Conference was so spiritually nourishing to me. I felt like for the first time ever, I was able to really grasp at least something from each talk. Jer pointed out that this could be a result of my calling I have had this year as a Relief Society teacher. I have definitely been thinking in a different way for the past several months and it has really helped me grow spiritually. My mom and I worked a little on getting me back into crocheting because I really wanted to learn how to make those cute flowers people wear in their hair. Here are some of the things we came up with. I'm pretty excited about it to say the least.

 This was my first attempt while watching a video tutorial on Youtube. This one I gave to Anna and she had it pinned in her hair today. :o)

This is one I made for Katie. I like the two-toned look.

 After my family left I was kind of on fire wanting to learn more so I found another tutorial to make crocheted headbands. These are newborn headbands. I think they are just so cute. There is something about crocheted accessories that looks so vintage and cute.

 Love these colors together.

This was our girls night in project. I orchestrated the craft because I was really wanting to make one of these the second I saw my friend Alison's hanging in her house. She is my crafty inspiration. Her whole house is decorated with things she has made. One day I will be as good as her. :o)

Cheddar Cheese Muffins

I was making a pasta dish for dinner today and really wanted to make some bread sticks to go with it but I didn't have any yeast! Then I had a great idea, what about a savory muffin? I got out my wonderful Williams Sonoma baking book and found this recipe. It was a hit! And so easy to make.
Cheddar Cheese Muffins

1 3/4 c flour
1 1/4 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 T sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t chili powder
1 large egg
3 T olive oil
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 7 std. muffin cups with butter or non-stick spray. Mix all ingredients until just evenly moistened (batter will be slightly lumpy). Spoon batter into each muffin cup filling until level with the brim. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden, springy and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Surgery Update

Jer's surgery on Thursday went well. It ended up being 3 hours long which was more than twice as long as they said it would be. You can imagine I got a little nervous after hour number 2 but they assured me everything was fine. It turns out his MCL was completely torn from the bone so they needed to fix that as well.
Here he is at 7:30 am all suited up for surgery:

 I think he's pretty dang cute if I do say so myself. :o) He was pretty funny coming out of anesthesia. He couldn't stop talking about the Cougars and Jimmer. He loves his basketball.

This is the day after surgery. They had him in physical therapy the very next day an the doctors were shocked at how well he was doing. His swelling isn't too bad yet either. The plan is no weight bearing for three weeks and then he will be walking with a brace for another 5 weeks or so after that. We have had lots of friends come and bring him Dr. Pepper and little treats they know he likes and just stop by for visits. It's been really nice to have visitors for both of us because being cooped up in the house all day gets a little hard sometimes. I'm really grateful for Jer's mom and for all of our friends who helped with dinner and taking care of Jer while I was working. We are very blessed!!!

Life

A lot has happened since the baby shower, so let me fill you in. But first:

HAPPY EASTER! 

Sorry, I don't really celebrate St. Patty's day. I'm lucky if I remember to wear green.

 Next item of business is my new obsession: This pillow.

This is a felt pillow my mom and I found at Quilted Bear for $20. I was tempted to buy a couple but my mom, (so wise) said, "I bet you could make those pretty easily." Well guess what? I found out how to make them on a blog, it IS easy, AND they cost under $3.00 to make! Are you kidding me? So, once school is out, we are back from Asia, and I unearth my sewing machine from our second bedroom, that's my next project along with a rag quilt. Can't wait!

Next: DANCESPORT!! Wow, what a weekend. My Mommy came to watch which was literally the highlight of the whole event for me. Other highlights:

I got a full-tuition scholarship for next year.

 We placed 4th in Pre-Championship Ballroom

 6th in National Open Amateur Smooth

 My really good friend Becky did an amazing job on my hair. Seriously?! So cool.

 

I got 5th place in Gold Bar Paso Doble. 

AND some of my students took 1st, 2nd and 5th place in their Quickstep final! I was such a proud teacher.

I'm so grateful for the wonderful opportunity to dance and to teach. I love it!

Now for a couple of life-y things. Remember the last post with the picture of Jer with his knee brace? Well today he went to the doctor and got an MRI. The results were not fun. He tore his ACL, MCL and fractured his femoral condyle. All in the name of church ball?! :o) Well anyway, regardless, he is going in for surgery tomorrow morning at 7 am. He will be on crutches again for at least 3 weeks and then no physical activity for 6 months. Needless to say we're both pretty bummed out. I know in my head that of course this isn't the end of the world, and everything will work out. But being the worried, emotional wreck that I am, I had a little break-down today. It seems that when it rains it pours, don't you agree? I have felt that way lately so this event kind of broke me. I don't know if its just me but once the flood gates open and I start to cry, there is no stopping me. I was a total baby at school today and made myself look like an idiot but Jer and I have been blessed with wonderful people in our lives. We had dinner brought to us and have seen so much concern and compassion from teachers, friends and family. I know everything will be OK but sometimes you just need a good cry. I feel like I have learned a lot of valuable lessons from all the little things that happen that I get so dramatic about and I'm grateful for those experiences. I will keep you posted on how the surgery goes and how he is recovering. We are going to work extra hard to get him better before our trip to Asia. Lots of PT and lots of rest.