2 Year Anniversary

James and I celebrated our 2 Year Anniversary this past Thursday on the 20th. I can't believe it has already been 2 years. Here are our 2 year milestones:
We have lived in Arizona for 2 years, survived 2 summers (going on 3), lived in 2 apartments (the one we live in now has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms), I have completed a 2 year degree in dance, James has completed 2 years of Medical School and will be taking 2 boards exams this week.

I am so blessed to have lived these past two years married to my best friend. I look forward to many anniversaries and to eternity with this amazing man.

June 20, 2011

June 20, 2012

June 20, 2013

 We went to this amazing fine dining restaurant Tutti Santi that is right by our place (we could have walked there but decided to drive since we live in Arizona and need air conditioning haha). 

We ate the best-ravioli-in-the-world along with the pollo della casa which is chicken breast topped with fontina cheese, prosciutto sautéed in a brandy cream sauce with asparagus, and 

porcini mushrooms, served with a side of penne panna rosa. Oh and the bread was delicious too. 

 The servers there were kind to surprise with a complimentary slice of cheesecake to wish us a happy anniversary. They also gave us a thank-you-card with a complimentary ravioli appetizer for our next visit. Sweet!

I love this man.

We ended the night by renewing our temple recommends with the stake presidency and cuddling at home. We will celebrate more on our upcoming cruise vacation starting at the end of this week! 

Happy 2 Year Anniversary James!

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the past few days

1. Celebrated Father's Day. I talked to my wonderful Dad on the phone and James talked to his wonderful Dad on the phone. James got a candybar at church, being a future father (not near future yet).

2. Watched The Bachelorette with my girls. We all like Drew the best, from Scottsdale, AZ!

3. Went to the temple with the lovely friend Talia. We were able to do initiatories and endowments for two family names. It was a wonderful experience. Afterwards we enjoyed lunch at a trendy place called Liberty Market. I had the Best Chicken sandwich with a side of pasta salad.

4. Babysat Rex. So cute. We watched the Beatrix Potter DVD (Peter Rabbit) I bought for my future kiddos. You can hear the theme music in the background of the video. Also in the video, he has a toy stethoscope he keeps putting around his neck and he keeps trying to open the door and wave goodbye haha. So cute!

He's doing baby aerobics! Haha.

5. Our good friend Kent & Cim came over last night to drop off this cute candygram to wish James good luck on his first boards exam today. They are so sweet! James was really appreciative.

The candygram reads: James, We can think of 100 Riesens (reasons) why you're gonna rock the boards! Remember, you are a Smartie(s)...and before you know it, the tests will be over, and life will be Bliss. Best of luck! -Kent & Cim.

6. Last night we got together with our med student friends/wives and the boys administered Priesthood blessings to one another for the big exam tomorrow and for the rest of this week (James has his MD boards tomorrow and DO on Thursday). Dessert was included of course, but I think the best part was feeling the Spirit of the Lord in the room when the blessings were administered. So thankful to have such wonderful friends to help support each other during the crazy life called MED SCHOOL.

Here are the boys two years ago right when they first started medical school. They have come so far! I am so proud of you James, Than, Chad, Trevor, and Luke! You will do great on  boards!!!!

It will probably be a week or two before my next blog post (besides our anniversary blog post) since we will be going on vacation! Stay tuned for that awesome adventure coming up!

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James' 27th Birthday, Dates with my Girls, and Free Date Night!

My sweetie pie husband celebrated his 27th birthday this past Monday! Happy Birthday babe!

Due to the incredible amounts of studying that this awesome, dedicated guy had to do, we celebrated his birthday by heading to FireHouse Subs for his free birthday sub!

I also surprised him by baking his all-time fav cake...Texas Sheet Cake! Let's just say it was To.Die.For. I gave away half the sheet to friends because we couldn't finish it all in a week's time but what was left sure kept us happy for the next couple of days. The recipe for this cake is here.

June 3rd is a very special day in my family.

On Thursday, the 6th, I had an awesome day off of work! First I had a lunch date with my girl Talia! We went to Pita Jungle where I tried Mediterranean food for the first time. I had the Mediterranean Roasted Chicken Shawarma. Yum!

Then I went to a girl's get-together at my good friend Kali Jo's place! She invited the 2nd year D.O. wives over to get away from the stress of our hubbies studying for Board Exams. Thanks for putting that together Kali! 

Hailee, Cim, Emma, Kelsey, Kali Jo, Me

Then I went to a MaryKay party that my amazing friend Whitney threw at her place. There I met MaryKay consultant Lindsey, who is pretty awesome and gave us all facials and we tried some new products. By the end of the night our faces were glowing with pretty new makeup! We didn't wanna wash it off! But I had to because I went to bed a half hour later haha. Thanks Whit & Lindsey for a super fun girls night!

Whitney, Marni, Nicole, Jenna, Me, Jessica left earlier, and Lindsey is taking the picture of us

On Friday night James and I had a completely free date night! It was soo nice! We could relax together and James didn't study for boards one bit that night! We ordered a FREE pizza from Hungry Howie's...we were pleasantly surprised. Not too shabby for a free pizza! 

We also got a FREE movie from Redbox by using the coupon code DVDNIGHT. We rented The Impossible. So.Sad. It's a drama based on the true story of a family who survived the 2004 Tsunami in Thailand. It has Ewan McGregor & Naomi Watts in it. LOVED it. James and I were choked up with emotion the entire time. If you haven't seen it, see it. What an amazing true story. 

And here's the trailer for the movie. So so good.

Lastly, I had to share with y'all this gem of a recipe. It's cookie dough frozen yogurt. Whaaa?

Yes. SOOO tasty and SO rich! The recipe says it makes about 2 cups, but I literally can only eat a spoonful at a time it is so rich. The ingredients are chocolate chip cookie dough and vanilla yogurt. Mix them together and freeze in a freezer-safe tupperware for 24 hours. SO easy! Here's the real recipe that includes the cookie dough ingredients. No eggs! The picture and recipe is from the blog Tasty Kitchen. The consistency of the frozen yogurt actually does in fact look like the picture below. Yay! Enjoy!

• ½ cups Unsalted Butter, Softened
• ½ cups Packed Dark Brown Sugar
• ¼ cups Granulated Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• ¼ teaspoons Baking Soda
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¾ cups Mini Chocolate Chips Or Chunks
• 1 cup Vanilla Yogurt

In a mixing bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat until combined.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, soda and salt. Add the chocolate chips or chunks and stir.

Add the flour and chocolate mixture to butter mixture and fold in gently. Add yogurt and stir again.

Place in a container and cover with lid. Freeze until set, preferably overnight.

Cookie dough recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Bridal Edition Cookbook.

Makes about 2 cups.

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Photo Overload & Recipes

A photo overload to document our lives & some delicious recipes for y'all to try!

April

 Hailee & I at Jake's 30th Birthday Party (Jake is Hailee's hubby)

 Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory!

 The wives

The guys wishing Jake a happy birthday (Jake is on the bottom right)

May

 James became the treasurer for the Sigma Sigma Phi Honors Fraternity at Midwestern University. Here we are at the banquet honoring his membership.

Cim's Baby Shower!

I got her some cute blue boat shoes for baby Anderson Willis!

Baby shower guests minus a few that had to leave early. Cim is one popular lady!

 James & Jake celebrating the end of their 2nd year of medical school! (I was already in Texas)

 Celebrating our May birthdays at The Melting Pot (missing Nicole)

Whitney, Jenna, Me, Ixchel (Nicole couldn't make it, but she has a May birthday too. We all do except for Whit, she has an October birthday!)

I get to drive by this beautiful temple worksite on my way to work almost every day! The angel Moroni finally went on top! My coworker asked me what it was that he was holding, she couldn't figure out for the life of her. I told her that the angel is holding a trumpet!

 James is studying so hard for his boards exams he will take at the end of June. He is using two computers to study! So amazed at this guy's dedication.

Tried eggplant for the first time! It was homegrown in someone's garden (someone in our ward was giving them away for free). It was pretty good. On my momma's birthday & memorial day, I went to see The Great Gatsby by myself (James was studying like crazy that day). LOVED it. I watched one of Nana's favorite musicals, CATS for the first time. Really enjoyed the dancing in that! I also made James' favorite meal from scratch for the first time: Beef Stroganoff. Recipe on that later.

This just made me laugh after seeing The Great Gatsby.

My dad's incredible artwork in the LDS magazine the Friend.

 Downloaded these songs for my Running Playlist. I got this list from James' friend's famous blog The Hungry Runner Girl. I am trying to go running more often. Yesterday I ran 3.25 miles. Here's the treadmill plan I did that nearly killed me. I need to work up to this next time. I am proud of myself for not cheating or slowing down. I followed it exactly:

Steady-State Session from Shape Magazine

Time: 0-5 min  Warm Up (walk)  MPH 3-4

Time: 5-40 min Move at moderate intensity (run) MPH 6-7

Time: 40-45 min Cool down (walk) MPH 3-4

Total Time: 45 mins/calories burned 350+

Recipes

 Healthy Confetti Macaroni & Cheese

 The BEST I've ever tasted Skinny Zucchini Lasagna

Easy Crockpot Mexican Chicken 

I have made this before in this post, but this time I used cream of chicken soup instead of cream cheese and added a little of my homemade salsa you can find in the post. I served it over tortilla chips. James & I LOVED it.

Easy Crockpot Italian Chicken Alfredo

Also known as Crockpot Italian Chicken, but it is a better version of Alfredo sauce to me so I call it alfredo even though it's not technically alfredo.

 Homemade Reeses Peanut Butter Bars

I have made these twice now and we love them. Here's the post when I made them the first time.

Easy Beef Stroganoff (healthy version)

Made this for James because it's his favorite meal!

Secretly Healthy Chocolate Brownie Cookies

SO easy to make, pretty darn healthy, tasty. The picture above looks weird but they tasted incredibly moist with a firm cookie form. How do I get the cookies to look more flat and cookie like the original picture?

I look forward to trying more healthy & delicious recipes!! Wish me luck on my running workouts & look for more pictures and updates to come!

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