My Dreams Have come True!

Today I am thankful, very thankful indeed. Since my very first trip to New York at the age of 14, I have dreamed about the day that Salt Lake would get a Crate and Barrel! Today it was announced. I remember the pandemonium that broke loose when Krispy Kreme, The Cheesecake Factory and IKEA came. I also remember thinking that we had nothing until we had a C&B! What a great day!

Birthday Boy!

Sorry I have been slacking, Birthday Weekend Extravaganza was a blast! A blast that left me tired and exhausted. Every night when it came time to blog about my thankfulness, it was all I could do to take out my contacts and collapse into bed, watching reruns of House.
So thankful for Big E! I love making a big deal out of Birthdays, I really feel like the Birthday person should feel loved and special. We had a great time together and so much fun.
Eric is one of the kindest people I know, how I got so lucky I am not sure. Just one example to illustrate the kindness: When we got married, we bought a top of the line pillow top mattress. Big E loves our bed, like as much as I like my Cricut. He came into marriage with an amazing pillow that had traveled to college with him. I came into marriage as a very needy sleeper. I had to have a fan blowing air onto me, and it had to be loud enough to drown out any noises in the house. Eric preferred silence. But of course, he acted fine with the fan thing, even though it dried his sinuses like the Sahara Desert. With the crap back, I couldn't sleep in our lovely bed anymore, so sure enough Big E flips the mattress to the awkward hard side and is fine with buying a memory foam topper. That favorite pillow of his? Yup, now mine. He is amazing and so much fun! I love him with all of my heart, and I am so glad we found each other. As tumultuous and dramatic as dating was, marriage is awesome and couldn't be better! To Big E, I love you and thank you for all of your sacrifices for me and our growing family!

I have to say that I am really grateful that I decided to do this whole "Thankful Blog" thing. With being so limited, sometimes I have gotten really discouraged. Then, when I sit down to blog at night what I am thankful for I am overwhelmed at my many blessings. Usually when I used to blog I would look to see how many comments I had received. This whole thankful thing has really changed that, it's been awesome. Like absolutely awesome to blog just for me, not for anyone else, not for comments and reactions. This has been a great thing for me!
Probably won't hear from me tomorrow. Big E and I are spending his BIRTHDAY alone together. That's right we are going on a hot, steamy date (even the Tom Selleck pics are staying home).Wish us well as we stay at a great B&B and celebrate 32!

I am so glad that Big E puts up with me, he must be in love, he even thinks I am funny. It is pretty fun to get in bed every night and laugh together. He also puts up with all of my older men and little boy crushes (i.e. the cute little Yogurt Stop boy and the man of all men Mr. Sellick.) So for tonight's giggle, I taped a couple of pictures of Tom Sellick to the ceiling over our bed. I love that Big E. got a kick out of it!

So thankful for babies today! Rob and Merisa welcomed a beautiful baby boy, Porter Jones! There is nothing as beautiful as a new little life! Congrats to them and Big Brother Carson!

The Mr.

I am so thankful for the Mr. He really is the best little boy ever and I love that he is such a snuggle bug. I love him so much and he brings so much happiness to our little family. I especially liked that during snack time in Nursery today, he asked for a Coke!

Today...

Remember how a few posts ago I mentioned all of the awesome, generous people we have around us? Well,I am thankful for all of them, but my cuz Janie has done so much for us! She is such a giving person, she would help anyone, anytime. She has been taking such good care of Mack, and he loves her so much. Today when I told him she was coming up, he actually tried yelling her name.
Last week, it was Papa J's big 60th party, I texted Janie and she spent all day with us setting up. Today I really wanted to make something but I would have had to go to the grocery store. Unfortunately, not being able to lift the Mr. I am really not able to go anywhere because I can't lift him into baskets, strollers and his car seat. I texted Janie and sure enough she came and helped me all day. Janie, you don't hear it enough. YOU ROCK!

Thankful For...

Water, Colace, Zofran, and Phenegrin, in that precise order. Because let's face it, if you are not drinking enough water and not taking some form of fiber, you have a problem A LOT bigger than just puking your guts up.

I totally dig Fall. I love everything about it! One thing I really love about it is making warm yummy soups. The pregs in me has been craving Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, but I pretty much have no interest in going there. (Way overdid that restaurant on random dates in college.) So when I saw this recipe on Studio 5, I thought I would give it a whirl and make some of my own changes. I must say it was darn-tootin' good (well not literally), but honestly I liked it better than the Olive Garden's (as did the whole fam). Here it is, try it!

* 1 (12 oz) Jimmy Dean hot pork sausage (I actually used 1 (12 oz) reduced fat and 1 (12 oz) hot.
* 1 yellow onion, chopped (2 onions is the only way to go)
* 2 tsp minced garlic
* 2 cups chopped collard greens (I used Kale, I liked the texture better and I probably used about 3 cups total, next time I will probably still use more.)
* 1 (49 oz) can chicken broth, plus 1 (14 oz ) can chicken broth (Trying to cut down on sodium I used the large can and then water instead of the smaller can)
* 4 russet potatoes, chopped, skins left on (5-6 large russets)
* 2 tsp red pepper flakes (I did 1 1/2 tsp, but in making it again I would only use 1 tsp, the soup turned out a little bit spicier than I thought)
* 2 tsp Italian seasoning
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 pint heavy cream (Use milk, I am afraid the heavy cream would make it way too rich to eat.)

Method:

1. Heat wok or large soup pot. Add sausage, onion and garlic. Fry until sausage is cooked through and onions are tender. Break sausage into small pieces as it is cooking. (DRAIN THE SAUSAGE and pat with paper towel. I honestly don't know how you could eat it without draining the fat!) Add chopped kale and stir fry 3 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth, potatoes and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer until potatoes are tender. Stir in milk and warm through. Adjust seasonings and serve. Serves 6-8 as a main dish. Even with draining the sausage grease, I suggest skimming the grease off the top if there is any!)

Enjoy! You might like her version better, but try one of them. It was SO yummy. I am especially thankful that I was able to cook, it's been a long time and this soup was pretty quick prep. Wow, three days of blogging in a row, I rock!

Today I am thankful for where I live. What a great nation we live in and what an awesome opportunity we have to vote! Big E, the Mr. and I trudged down to our voting location and stood in line. I am pretty sure the Mr. and I looked mildly homeless. I was wearing sweats, along sweater that's actually pretty nice, a T-shirt stained from dinner, threadbare slippers, hair in a bun and glasses. The Mr. was decked out in the ever fashionable outfit of jammie pants, stained sweatshirts, sandals WITH socks, and the ever present snot encrusted nose (the poor guy is fighting a bad one). Even though we looked a site, so glad we went and so thankful for where I live!

November

Every time I make a goal to blog more, I always fail miserably. Who knows, maybe I will this time too. But I really don't want too! Because I have so much to be thankful for, I am attempting to blog everyday about one thing I am thankful for. Here is day number one:
I am thankful for The Mr.'s laugh. It makes me smile immediately. It has grown into more of an adult laugh and it is so cute!