ramblings & wanderings

just stumbled upon a delightful blog:

sayyestohoboken

wow. so stylish and cute.

check it.
(wow.. this is my 3rd post of the day. what is wrong with me? i have a house to unpack and bachelors degree to finish... not to mention the darling daughter (though she's in bed) and the dashing husband who wants to watch always sunny with me... )

tortilla soup a la kirsten

i made up a recipe!
a vegetarian recipe at that!
normally, i follow recipes- especially while baking. but, my tortilla soup has really been evolving this winter and it's one of my favorite things to make/eat so i make it often.
i thought i'd share. don't be scared by the list of ingredients- just use what you have on hand and it will all work out :)

ingredients:
1 box (or 3-4 cans) chicken or vegetable stock (veggie if you really want this vegetarian :)
1/2 med white/yellow onion
2 stalks of celery
1 red bell pepper
2 med yukon gold, red or regular IDAHO potatoes, chopped small
1 can black beans (drained, rinsed)
1 can white navy beans or pretty much any other kind of beans you like
1/2 can diced green chilies
3 large spoonfuls of your favorite salsa
1/2 small can hominy (in the hispanic food section)
1/2 can sweet corn
1/2 can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes (or regular, but if you've got to buy them- buy these)
1/2 packet of taco seasoning
olive oil

method:
in a large soup pot coat bottom of pan with olive oil.
add in diced onions, celery, red peppers and potatoes. (all same size) add salt to help the onions sweat.
cook over medium heat, stirring often till potatoes are softened (about 20 min)
add in stock and all other ingredients. i usually add the corn last so it doesn't get super soft.
taste to make sure you don't need more taco seasoning or s/p.

serves 4 (or lunch the next day, that's what we always do)

top with tortilla chips and cheese.
YuM!

chef's (haha) notes:
i have found a very easy way to make this- since most ingredients are 1/2 of the can, i put all the other halves into a ziplock bag (together) and freeze it. i even top the canned ingredients with the spoonfuls of salsa so if i don't have that on hand next time i make it, you won't have to worry.

this is so easy and tasty- hope you enjoy! (and post your additions!)

our little 11.month.old

happy 11 months daphne ryn!
@ 11 months daphne enjoys:

walking EVERYWHERE! sometimes running (if we're chasing her)

standing up to walk in the middle of the room, nice quad strength :)

pointing and saying "oh"

eating! she is such a good eater lately, but she really hates peas.

reading. she loves to flip through her books and entertains herself with that in her crib when we need a break from chasing her

saying momma and dadda

she also says some random words but not consistently: all done, kitty ect.

she's a great sleeper. at least 12 hours a night... sometimes 14. (don't hate us)

she is so happy and we really, really love her.

next month she'll be O N E. I can't believe it. it makes me want to puke. she's not really a baby anymore but honestly she is getting more fun everyday so i can't complain.

box full of daph

this is the box (complete with 50 cards) i created for my graphic design class. my subject was daphne and i listed 50 reasons why i love her. we have spent ALLLL week working on art projects (so our new house is still completely destroyed. we've had no time to unpack and we've made lots of messes) i'm pretty happy with the way my box turned out. i hope its something daphne can always treasure (once she's old enough to not eat it)

walking machine!

daphne is just going crazy walking everywhere. it's pretty freaking cute.

sleepover

this week while we moved daphne had her first sleepover. she spent the day time on monday and tuesday with grandma webster (the only person who she will crawl up on their lap and take a nap with- we're pretty jealous) and then she spent monday night with grammy (nic's momma) when janell came to drop her off (and help us move- thank you binghams!) she surprised us with this ADORABLE new outfit for daphne. actually, it's even better than a new outfit because she can wear it everyday! (and she will!) this might just make the 10 degree weather bearable...
thanks grammy!!

I've really missed blogging.
I couldn't post all week because of the giveaway, but i felt like all the sudden i had lots of things to say. so, i'll catch up.
first with this really cute picture of daphne in an outfit the long girls gave her for her baby shower. i LOVE it! the little boots are still too big but the skirt (not pictured, but she wears it often!) and the sweater (which she wears almost daily) fit her perfect and are some of my favorite clothes she has at the moment. so, thanks girls, i love it!



Yes, it's true. We're moving. On Tuesday to be exact.
I know at least Heather is wondering why... so i'll tell you :)

nic and i have always talked about living in a really small house and living really simply, not having many possessions, not having a bunch of extra space (or ANY extra space!) and just having what we need and nothing more. basically, we want to live like we're in a small san francisco apartment, even while we're not. right now we live in a 1,100 SF 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath house and its really more house than we want. plus, we figured it out and if we moved now we'll save about $3,000 for the next year that we live in Rexburg. At first I was TOTALLY opposed to moving. moving is a pain. but, its actually been a very cleansing process for us and we've kind of enjoyed it thus far. we have gotten rid of SO much stuff that we don't need. it feels so good. i think so many of us get in the trap that having a lot of possessions makes us feel secure. like: look at all this stuff i have.... ok, maybe i'm the only one who thinks like that. but, most of the stuff i didn't like, i didn't use and i didn't need. now, its gone. off to a new home (or where it belongs in some cases, the trash) and I'm feeling very liberated.

We're moving to an apartment that we really love. It is a 1 bedroom + den (daphne gets the den :) its almost as big as her current bedroom- all its missing is the closet. and we have a nice patio and a grassy area for daphne to play in in the summer. it is close (just a walk through the parking lot!) to our friends the hansens and close to the van wagoners too. it is new and clean and comes with internet and cable included, a great gym (with adjoining baby room, so awesome) so we're set. OH, and i can't believe i almost forgot this... A DISHWASHER! I've only had one during our summers in CA selling pest control, so i'm pretty excited about that.

We're kind of sad to leave this apartment but this will be a really good thing for us. Here are some pictures of our current (for the next 2 days) place -- though they were taken about a year ago, when daphne was born.

uhhh... this picture makes me shutter. we had SO much snow last winter. but, we'll miss you carport.


hahah i just had to throw this one in. (i had no other pics of the hallway) this was the
night before daphne was born. here i am in all my 40 week glory. i only gained 28 pounds, i promise, it just wasn't a pretty 28 :(