Whats for Dinner?

Lately, David and I have been trying to be really good about planning out our meals in advance. It started several months ago when we had eaten pasta with ranch three nights in a row (or something like that). We realized that if we don't have a plan for what we are going to eat... then we end up eating junk. Thus, our ten day forecast was born. 

For some reason ten days is much more effective than just a seven day menu. AND we like to call it a forecast, because it's like we are predicting the weather. "This is what we think is going to happen, but really we're flexible."

We eat WAY more healthy if we can plan out our menu. We usually do it on Sunday or Monday, but having the extra three days means that if we can't get to it until Wednesday... we won't starve. (Not to knock pasta and ranch dressing, because I really do enjoy it, but there isn't a whole lot of nutritional value to be found.) 

When we sat down this Sunday to plan our menu we decided to just plan out the next three weeks. We knew where we were going to be for several of the days (like over Thanksgiving) so we didn't really plan out those days... but for all of the days that we knew we would be here, we planned out something delicious. It's freaking me out a little bit, because we now have meals planned up until the week before we move! (And we figure that during "moving week" we will just eat pizza anyway... nutrition shmutrition.)  

Last night David and I ate my favorite "Chicken Enchiladas"

(This is not my picture. I stole it from Google Images - but I can't remember where. Sorry!)

2-3 chicken breasts
3 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 small can green chilis
1 pkg. flour tortillas
1 medium tub sour cream

Lots and lots of cheese

Boil chicken in a large pot. While boiling, chop onion and shred cheese. In a large bowl, combine Cream of Chicken soup and the sour cream. Mix well and remove enough of the mixture to cover the top of the 9'x13" baking pan. Set aside. (You should have a small bowl and a larger bowl set aside with the chicken soup and sour cream).
Once chicken is done, shred into small pieces. Put chicken, onion, green chilies and cheese in with the large bowl mixture. Mix well.
Get your baking pan and tortillas out. Put about 2 large spoonfuls of the large bowl mixture into each tortilla and roll it up and place it in the pan until full.
Cover enchiladas with the mixture from the small bowl. Cover with a thick layer of cheese.
Bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes or until cheese is melted and mixtures are bubbling.

 It was delicious, as always. This recipe has been one of my favorites for, well, ever. In fact, the other day as I was watching some old family home videos I watched my 9th birthday (or some age similar to that.) I was explaining why I had requested Chicken Enchiladas for my birthday dinner and why I loved them so much. Yep, that love has not diminished over time.

Tonight, I will be making Cheesy Potato Soup. It is also a favorite in this house and I think that the weather calls for some yummy, warm, comfort food.

Home Sweet Home

David and I have been getting pretty sentimental about leaving our wonderful little apartment. We seriously looked at like 50 apartments before we found the one that was just right for us, and we have LOVED it here. Everything about this place is perfect for us, from the quirky dish-disposal/dishwasher placement to the large and open front room. We have talked about wanting to take pictures of our apartment before we move down to Salt Lake so that we will always remember this place, but life has been crazy and things haven't exactly been "picture-worthy". 

Unfortunately, this has been getting in the way of us getting a head start on our packing. We couldn't start packing until we had taken pictures, and we couldn't take pictures until it was clean. It was this weekend or never, so we put our shoulders to the wheel and pushed along until our apartment was sparkling!

And so, for your viewing pleasure (as well as our desire to document this for our posterity and/or anyone else we may be able to force show these pictures to in 25 years) we give you...

Our Home:

For those of you who have been to our home, you know that it can be pretty tricky to find. The key is locating this little driveway/road that goes back into the block. It can be tricky, but it is possible! 

This is our mailbox. All of the other mailboxes are black, but ours is grey. It makes us feel special. 

"The Haven" 

(Our apartment complex is called PineHaven Apartments. We started calling it "The Haven" after we found out that about half of our ward lives in an apartment complex called "The Horseshoe." Not to be outdone, us and out neighbors decided that we would start referring to where we lived by a cool name so that people wouldn't think that we were the outcasts of the ward.)

Just a quick sidenote: There used to be an empty lot across from our apartment behind the East fourplex. It had a bunch of random junk like an old boat and a big wooden box and the like. Then one day during the summer, we drove home to find that all of that had been removed and that a house was being built! 

It is such a random place for a house. It has NO yard and it's huge picture windows in the back have powerlines criss-crossing about five feet away. (We know this because we snuck in while they were building it and scoped everything out.) The old man who built the house seems nice enough. We wave to him in the parking lot sometimes. Unfortunately, we have to be a little bitter about the house on principle. You see, our garbage cans used to be right in front of his garage, and now they are in front of our parking spots so that instead of there being 8 spots (2 for every apartment) now there are only 7 1/2. It causes a little bit of drama every once in a while... like when we have to park on the EAST side of the parking lot instead of right in front of our doors. Haha. Poor dramatic us. 

Now, where was I? Oh yes...

The steps leading up to our porch. (We have spent many wonderful rainy days, curled up on couch cushions, with good books and lots of blankets on this porch.) 

Our Front Door. 

(The wreath was a housewarming gift from our darling neighbor Kristen McNinch. We absolutely LOVE the wreath and are SO grateful for it!)

And now for the good stuff:

Our living room.

 

 

 

 

(I love the blue tea-light candles)

(We love our "Logan Shelf".)

We love how large the living room is. It makes it perfect for inviting friends over, and we love spending time here. Before my graduation party, David let me "re-decorate" this area. I had $100 and I love the way it turned out. I made curtains, spray painted picture frames, bought the mirror, sconces and green "sticks". I love the way that it turned out. There is still a little bit of red decor mixed in with the blue and green, but it works really well for us. We are going to miss this room! 

Welcome to the Kitchen: 

 

For the first six months of our marriage, we didn't have a table. Instead we just sat at this little bar on the stools that we got for our wedding and it was perfect. We love how the kitchen opens up into the living room. It has been nice for when one of us is in the kitchen and the other is working on something in the living room.  We like to be together, and are glad that the kitchen isn't a separate room.

 

The one problem that this kitchen has is the placement of the diswasher/disposal. You see, the disposal is in the right hand side of the sink, and the dishwasher door opens up directly in front of that. It makes for some acrobatic dish-washing (and a sore back).

We had to take a picture of all of my aprons. I think that I have seven of them. I love them all so much! Seriously, I wear them every time I cook, or even do dishes. I must just be exceptionally messy, because if I don't wear an apron I get food all over my clothes. Anyway... I adore cute aprons. 

Now lets head over to the bathroom:

 

 Through the "hallway"...

 

Three words: Storage, storage, storage!

 Isn't she cute?

And now, the 

"Second bedroom/craft&sewing room/Red Ladder Design room/

office/throw all of the junk in there so the guests won't see it room"

 You can see a bunch of my Red Ladder Design stuff in the corner. I have several thousand envelopes, as well as hundreds of extra invitations and Bridal Faire display items. Also, we love that orange chair. Davids parents gave it to us and it is so great!

 My sewing area. *sigh* I love to sew. 

 This is Davids little corner of the room. He gets his own bookshelf (that I keep a few things on anyway) and a little white bin for all of his things that he needs. I can't help that I have so much more stuff! 

And, the desk where our beloved Romeo lives. I spend a lot of time sitting at this desk. Side story: Do you see the star mirror that is hanging on the  wall by the desk? We got that for our wedding and when we opened it, we thought that it was the most ridiculous thing. I had no idea what we were going to do with it. We stuck it here for lack of a better place to put it and... I LOVE IT. I don't know why but it has really grown on me. I will probably keep it in my house forever. As for right now, I do my makeup in that mirror every morning. When people ask us about our weirdest wedding gift, I usually say this one. (It came in this super old box and has probably been re-gifted like 7 times.) But truly, I love it. 

And now... the Master Bedroom! 

 (The necklace holder my Uncle Roger made for me for Christmas like 15 years ago.)

 (The cedar chest my Grandpa Brown made for me. I got it on my 14th birthday and I love it.) 

 We didn't get a great picture of our blue wall, and this one has weird ghost spots (which would explain A LOT)... but our landlord let us paint this wall and we have loved it. David picked out the color helped me paint the whole thing. We have to paint it back when we leave, but it was WELL worth the time and effort spent. We have loved the splash of color in our room. 

 I begged David to let me get this chalkboard at a garage sale we went to this summer. We love to leave little notes like this on it for each other. 

(p.s. we really like popcorn.) 

Do you see the cork-board hanging on the left side of the room? My Dad made that for me out of a calender hanger (or something). I love it. (I have really crafty family members, don't I?) The drawing on the right was done by one of my really good friends out of ink. It looks really cool close up. The dresser used to belong to my dad. He had it since before I can even remember. We will probably keep it forever as well.  Maybe someday I will be courageous enough to try to re-finish it.

And that, my friends, is our humble abode. 

Oh wait... there's more! 

Lets go back outside: 

And around the back...

One of the many perks of living here is the storage shed in the back. 

It has been so nice to have a place to stick all of the random items that just don't have a home in the main body of the apartment. You know those large red ladders... they always are getting in the way. 

And there you have it folks! The whole kit and caboodle.  Our home sweet home. 

We hope that you have enjoyed this virtual tour of our apartment. I realize that most of you are probably bored stiff, but we really want to remember this place. We have loved it so much and there just isn't anything like it (in our price range) in the Salt Lake area.  We are excited for the next phase of life, but it is definitely bittersweet. 

Now... on to the packing!

Today's thought...

I love reading people's blogs for the great inspirational ideas that they have. Sometimes I am inspired to be more creative with crafty things, to be more dedicated to sewing things, or to be more consistent in cooking good meals. More than all of these things, I love to be inspired to be a better person. I love to read about people's lives and the realities of the things that they face and their positive attitudes in spite of everything. Sometimes the things that I read about are deep and thought provoking. Sometimes the things I read are silly and good for nothing except to make me laugh. 

Today I found this: 

and I was inspired.