And blog #2 as per request CafeRop :)

Cafe Rio yummy!
3 fresh tomatillos cut into quarters.
1 package of Hidden valleys buttermilk dressing powder. 
1 cup of mayonaise. 
1/3-1/2 cup of buttermilk. 
1 cup cilantro. 
6 Green onions roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves minced/crushed. 
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper(optional- I dont use quite this much, I have also seen variations in recipes using green tabasco sauce and jalapeno but I am wimpy when its spicy cilantro adds enough spice for me) 


Put all the ingredients into a blender of food processor and blend until smooth.
Makes Lots of dressing, I stored mine in old spaghetti sauce jars and this filled one and a half jars. And I have posted another recipe I think where I used some of the extra dressing for the base of some chili that was amazing and quite green :)




For chicken that is similar to Cafe Rios I just season to flavor with honey, cumin powder, and garlic salt and fry it in some olive oil. Or you can cook it in the crockpot in Chicken Broth, little water and a Packet of taco seasoning I have also added 1 can of green chilies before.


 If you want to do the pork or beef I have this recipe I have never used, but I hear its good I just get nervous sometimes with new recipes that make large quantities. 


5 lbs pork
1 pkg onion soup mix
12 oz Dr. Pepper
4 oz taco sauce
1 c brown sugar
dash cumin
1 pkg taco seasoning

Sprinkle soup mix over roast. Cover with water 1/2 way. Cook on high 4 to 6 hours. Drain. Shred.
Add remaining ingredients, stir until mixed. Cook 1 more hour..
 Pork shoulder can take up to 10 hours on low in a crock pot to shredd well, Another reason I haven't tried it yet because that is a very Long time here is another recipe I have for same thing:


2-3 pounds of meat. 
1 bottle of A-1 sauce. 
1/2 tsp pepper. 
1 1/2 cup salsa. 
juice of two limes.
 3/4 cup brown sugar.
cook in crock pot on low for 7-8 hours.




Can make burritos or salads or whatever dish you are craving!
So this is making me very hungry I think we will be having some for dinner very soon :)

Dreams

Do you ever have strange dreams and wonder if they might mean something? This is just something I have always had some interest in and I've learned a lot about some things regarding dream meanings and I like to analyze my dreams.

I have had some crazy dreams lately and some repeat offenders! But I often look things about them up in online dream dictionaries like this one.
A few days ago I had a dream (yes I totally still remember it) with a guy I used to date and his brothers, being so mean to me! In real life those brothers didn't really like me so much, in this dream they were being super rude and gross and making me serve them snacks at my own house! Then my Jesse shows  up and gives them the what for! Yes I dreamt of my husband beating up guys being mean to me. Wanna know the weirdest part?! Jesse had a similar dream the very next day! I mention I dreamt of him beating up boys in my dream but never said who or too many details, and so he starts telling me his dream. We were dating again and I was super tiny (short too) and my ex-boyfriends brothers were pushing me around and well being ruuuude so he beat them up for messing up with his girl. Only then did I tell him more details from my dream, uh goosebumps anyone?!
It was very interesting to look up some meanings from these dreams because depending on how you look them up they can symbolize different things. So I searched this one as protection cuz I was being protected from mean boys, right? So when I looked it up it was very interesting to me to read this:

To dream that you are being protected or need protection, indicates that you are feeling helpless in some situation. Life's difficulties has made you dependable on others. You need to start taking charge of the situation.


What was so interesting to me was that the only real life situation I feel is out of my control is all the darn nausea and bloating and fatigue I have been having with being pregnant. Can be difficult to take charge of that situation but I will try?
Last night I had another dream with similar connotations from dream moods. I had a dream where my teeth were falling out. Didn't even have to do anything they were just falling out and my mouth was full of teeth that were not attached...it was awful I was doing all sorts of stuff and my teeth would just fall out, then the dentist could fix them. But I would go and do more stuff and they would fall right back out! Click here to read all about Teeth dreams. I wanted to quote a couple of parts I found interesting:

Teeth are used to bite, tear, chew and gnaw. In this regard, teeth symbolize power. And the loss of teeth in your dream may be from a sense of powerlessness. Are you lacking power in some current situation? Perhaps you are having difficulties expressing yourself or getting your point across
and this:
A scriptural interpretation for bad or falling teeth indicates that you are putting your faith, trust, and beliefs in what man thinks, rather than in the word of God. The bible says that God speaks once, yea twice in a dream or a vision in order to hide pride from us, to keep us back from the pit, to open our ears (spiritually) and to instruct and correct us.


Yeah so the powerlessness showing up again was very interesting, and the just not being able to get your point across I can think of a couple of situations where that occurs. One of them being with my one year old definitely. But some others with some projects etc that I am working on. The second part that caught my eye was surprising, I didn't think teeth could be spiritually representative. Cuz I know for sure that I have been slacking in my personal scripture study and I know that always help me be more at ease and able to cope with situations that come up and surprise me. 


So I think I have a couple of things to work on and it took dreaming up a storm to get my attention. I think dreams are cool and I like to analyze how my brain is trying to tell me what I need to remember or realize :)

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Yummy yummy!! I really like asian cuisine lately (last pregnancy all I wanted was mexican) and I was particularly missing lettuce wraps so I googled. And I found hundreds of recipes some the same some strange so I took the 3 easiest ones I found and combined and added based on what was in my kitchen (minus a quick trip to the store for some water chestnuts) Here are my best guesses at measurements cuz I didn't measure anything...

Ingredients:
5 chicken breast tenderloins (and we had no left overs!!)
couple shakes of McCormick Montreal Chicken
1/2 Tbsp minced garlic (from the jar style)
2 tsp dehydrated minced onion (used all my onion for sunday dinner oops)
1- 8oz can water chestnuts sliced and drained
1/4 bag of frozen veggies (again what I had on hand..)
1 cup Teriyaki sauce
2 Tbsp lime juice (or 1/2 fresh lime would be good)
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce (reduced sodium)
1 1/2 Dash of Ground Ginger
1 Tbsp Cornstarch/ Flour (or more depend how think you want the sauce)
olive oil for cooking (I did once around the pan..)

I diced up the chicken while heating up a small amount of oil in a skillet
add onions and garlic to skillet, toast
add chicken and Montreal seasoning cook until chicken is no longer pink
add vegetables stir until frozen ones are thawed
add Ginger, Teriyaki, Soy sauces and lime juice, combine
then add Cornstarch/Flour until you reach desired thickness of sauce (i made it a bit thicker so the wraps wouldn't be too runny)
let simmer a few minutes
Serve with Large lettuce leaves for wrapping

Yes I couldn't wait to take a bite before I took a photo too tasty :)

All I had on hand was romaine lettuce and it didn't want to wrap very well so after a very messy first attempt we tore up the next few pieces to finish off a little more like a salad. Even Maia ate all hers! With a little help from daddy and his  airplanes ;)


So that was our tasty dinner which I will definitely make again, maybe even try switching things up or even following a recipe :) But I'll definitely try with a more pliable lettuce :)
All in all DELICIOUS

Dilemmas...help!

Recently my sweet little girl has decided she no longer wants to sleep through the night. In fact she has decided we all need to wake up at at least 6am to play. So put her to bed later right? Wrong, we tried putting her to bed an hour later even an hour and a half later and even with how exhausted she was she was still up the next day at 6:15! The 7:30am she was doing was tough enough for me, but now its nearly impossible. Jesse has been an awesome help of course he goes and picks her up and brings her to our bed thinking maybe it was a bad dream she'll go back to sleep. She then proceeds to tell stories and ask for baba and its impossible.
Help we don't know what to do! She's been well adjusted she's only been teething like the last 6 months but no new bumps or swelling in her mouth...and mommy and daddy are tired!!

Along with her waking up early my body has also been waking me up too early. Not only do I dream about food now I wake up at 5am STARVING!! Most nights I just have some water and try to go back to sleep, since my window of opportunity is growing ever shorter to sleep. When I drink too much water on an empty stomach I start to get really nauseated, and have on more than one occasion had to get up to throw up.. something needs to change. Last night I tried having a protein shake before bed so there was something to help my blood sugar level last a little more. Didn't help. Woke up around 5am starving water helped none and about 20 minutes into trying to sleep who but Maia wakes up and starts screaming. Ignoring has not helped she doesn't go back to sleep...I guess we can try harder... We just don't know what to do! I am trying to change her nap time to make it earlier and its a work in progress. She is tired all morning as am I poor kid gets to play with a cranky mom. I seem to be leaving my patience in my bed with my appetite.
Losing all this sleep I am becoming even more forgetful than normally as a pregnant woman. Like last night I left the groceries in the car, somethings were fine cuz they didn't require refrigeration, like toothpaste, but the pork roast we got for Sunday dinner was an unfortunate casualty. I've also left laundry for days, and messed up the cutest baby blanket for my sister in law (I'm still mad about it, I know I can fix it but I'm just mad so I'm not even gonna go near it for a little while). I'll find the remembering part eventually...I think...I feel like Dori from Finding Nemo!

  Here is what Maia has to say on the subject:

 n       m                         m  n                                                         mm       j                                                                      cccnnb   xn m ,s
k kl    c   vvnhjknhknhkjhjkjjjhjh          hj hz             nn

followed by "fishies! fishies meeenmo!  "

'Morning' Sickness 2011

So I don't remember exactly what my 'morning' sickness was like with Maia I know it only started in the morning but lasted all day for a while. I remember starting to feel better around 20 weeks! But I was in school, so I was busy always had things to keep my mind on. This time around has been different for sure because now J is in school and I am chasing a toddler around instead of school. Still something to keep me busy. But man oh man this time has been rough! It's getting better but I do still get sick. I actually only took a pregnancy test because I was getting nauseated in the mornings, and low and behold it was positive. ;)

But it has just been so intense I wanted to document it somewhere and sometimes its easier to put up here. From about 6 weeks the all day sickness was so intense and only got worse throughout the day that I actually asked my doctor for some medicine to help. They were great about it and gave me something I have taken before and found effective. Unfortunately my insurance will only allow me to have 12 pills per month. With 30 days in a month and the pills only lasting a few hours at a time I knew that wasn't going to work. So at a real appointment I asked for help with what to do. They gave me another one that my insurance doesn't have issues with, but it can make one very sleepy. I'm already sleepy. But it helped a lot for when things get worse at night I could take it and go to bed.

One day it was so bad I could hardly do anything. Maia read books and watched mElmo like a good little girl it was very helpful, and I felt quite guilty for not really doing anything with her; But I was so sick and upset about being sick and feeling so over it I asked my husband for a blessing. And it helped me a lot to remember things I know, that I wont be tested beyond my abilities and this too SHALL pass!! Which I really needed to hear, and to be reminded of all the people around me that are so willing to help me out when I need it, I just need to ask. So that has helped give me some extra stamina and strength to get through this.

I am now at 12 weeks and 4 days things HAVE improved, I haven't had nausea intense enough to take one of the pills for a week and a half now. Which feels like a giant accomplishment! But I do still get the nausea. Like this morning has been rough, yesterday afternoon was rough but  I'm getting there!
My little baby is now about the size of a lime, and my big girl Maia is still on the shrimpy side :) a whopping 22lbs! She is so fun and happy and very supportive for a toddler. Every time I've paid my respects to the porcelain throne she comes up behind me and pats my back, and it just brings tears to my eyes she is so sweet and doesn't even know how much little things like that help me out! Then often she will spit in the toilet too and be so proud of herself that I just smile :) and give her a good squeeze.

 Speaking of my sweet girl I just have to post this photo of her showing off at my parents house when we went to visit for Scott's farewell

She had no clue why we all thought it was so funny :) Just that we were laughin

Maia 19 months

This is my Sweet Little Princess I'd be so sad without her. Even when she wakes me up too early or doesn't want to go to bed until too late I still LOVE her. I am so grateful to be responsible for such a sweet spirit. I am one lucky Mama!!

But let us not forget my J! He is the most supportive man in ever. He is at school all day and then will still come home and cook dinner or play with his little girl or let me take a nap or whatever I need. Even bringing me my orange juice w/ bubbles that has helped me so much! I am so grateful that I get to have him forever. 

I've really got it all :)

My 'Yockey' star :)

My smiley girl

Pregnant sickness or not I know I am truly well taken care of

Baby #2

Yes we are expecting! I am terrible at secrets but this one I kept for a whole month! Go me. Well a couple people found out by prodding but not because I slipped, I can't straight up lie. Well actually I really can't lie, it's written all over my face. You see I've been blessed with the inability to hide my feelings, good or bad happy or sad. But keeps me honest and keeps me open with others, and that's okay with me.

I have been very sick and very busy to boot! I am in the presidency of the primary at church (secretary) and I am also a member of the board for the International Chiropractic Association Auxiliary (ICAA). I love both jobs, I work with some fabulous women who I've learned soo much from! At least they all know that I've been having a rough time they have been so helpful! You see if it's a day where I can get out of bed things deteriorate as the day goes on, if it's a day I can't get out of bed I probably wont be tryin to do much else. I was pretty sick when pregnant with Maia, I have a very sensitive stomach and acid reflux disease so not really surprising to me. It has been different though being more sick at night than day etc but it's a different pregnancy so don't want to jump to any gender conclusions too soon.

I am due March 5th 2012. Super exciting for us :) and who knows since we have a New Years Eve baby now there is a chance this next little one could be a Leap Day baby. Could keep a last day of the month trend ;) who knows, only baby.

SO my Maia is just growing so big! She loves books! (or boops as she calls them) she could sit and read all day, until she remembers she wants to play outside. I love my little book worm, such a sweet girl!!

The Little Engine that Could

"Surprise" Face

62 hours and counting!

Yes I haven't blogged in quite a while! So lets start from Summer break! What a road trip we took! It was long, approximately 62 hours round trip, but we had a great time! I was just able to upload all of the photos and videos from out time in Canada. But we should start at the beginning!

Right after finals we MOVED! (those photos to come in a diff post) So if moving right after FINALS isn't enough stress we left for Denver after only 2 nights in our new home! It was a lot! And I still don't have EVERYTHING together in the house yet, but we are functional! We just ignore the basement mess its a work in progress!  So for the vacationing! I forgot TONS of  stuff! I was a little rushed (I know I did this to myself though) We get to the hotel in Kearney (about halfway to Denver) and I realized I left our over night bag in my bedroom. Awesome. So we bought toothbrushes and figured we'd get everything else when we got to my parents. 13 hours to Denver, check!We spent 2 nights there with my family just relaxing as you should on vacation! Then 8 hours to Utah, we stayed with my sister Karly in PG, but guess what I forgot this time? that's right the battery to my camera! I charged it the last night we were in town and I packed the cord and left the battery on the counter. Perfect, lucky me we had the camcorder with us and it takes still shots! Not highest quality but still we had something!

 So here is Mai playing at Auntie Karly's house

Bag of bracelets = perfect purse

Maia self photo

So since we were only in Utah for 36 hours we made sure we got to see family! My Uncle Mark and Aunt Anjanette came to visit us in PG! They brought my cousins Laura, Samantha and Melissa the other 3 were various other places like Florida and Youth Conference so I'll forgive them :) It was great to see them though, and it was their first time meeting Maia! Later that evening we went up to SLC. We first went to visit our sweet niece Marie, who would be 5 this year!

I wish we could be closer and able to visit more often, but we think of her lots. After our visit we went and had a BBQ with Aaron and his girl Samantha! Yes we finally met Sam!! We had some awesome food and fun and then the next morning on our way out we had breakfast with them on our way out of town.

Then we stopped by my Aunt Janet and Uncle Randy's in Bountiful. We didn't get to stay for long but it was great to stop and chat with them! We then continued 4 hours to Rexburg Idaho! We got to spend the night with Lisa in her new place (it's gorgeous!) and she gave us the BYUI tour. And we got to have us some Frontier Pies! I had never even heard of it, but it was good food and tasty pie. I have lots of friends in Rexburg but unfortunately was not able to get to see any of them this time around! Hopefully there's a next time!

BYUI gardens with Auntie Lisa!

we like waterfalls :)

From there it was only 8 hours more to Cardston, AB where we spent the next week. We stayed with Sunny and Don and got to see nearly everyone! Lots of hangin out with the kids, we also got to take some time and go to Lethbridge for some Boston Pizza! Delicious! We got some fun pictures at the Birds of Prey Sanctuary.

the kids got to hold an Owl!

Maia was a little nervous

caught him and dinner time

Hedwig!

Playin with games at Grandmas!

Jesse and lil Griffin

No trip to Canada is complete without time at Grandpas Ranch!

Maia liked the cats a lot, they liked her back.

She also loved watching the horses! She did get to ride one too!

and danced and sang on the truck bed

"where they go?"

She really wanted to go after the horses once they got put away for the night, watch and see :)

lots of fun and family in Canada!

Happy Independence Day! 

We spent the 4th in Billings, Mt in a hotel cuz we were so tired from the 8 hour trip there. The next morning we drove 7 hours more to Denver. Where we stayed a few more days before heading 13 hours back home. When we left for Iowa this time we brought my lil sis Mandy with us!! It was so great to have her here with us! We love her so much, and Maia already misses Auntie 'Di-di"

Yaya taught her all different ways to get wet; the pond

the tub

and the rain!

Road trip with Auntie Mandy!

Such a cute little girl, loves having her own suitcase! 

Well that's our summer trip I'll post about the rest later!