A GIANT POST!!!!!

So lets see, its been over a year and i think working on two years since i did a blog post haha! That's so sad! I really don't have much to post about generally so rather then bore anyone who reads this with the not so exciting details I just haven't posted, but i'm committing to be better from here on out. 

So to recap the last year and a half....well I graduated from Dixie State University cept for it was Dixie State College at the time however for some reason they missed putting my name i the program for last year and put it in this years program haha so I think i can claim university status right?! Anyways I along with my sister in law Chrissy Lee graduated it may have taken us a while to accomplish this goal but hey who's keeping track haha! 

I should also mention that my older brother Christopher Weaver graduated the same day he was back in the W's part of graduating group so i didn't get to sit by him but congrats to him too! We had a lot of support of family and friends which was awesome and we got to celebrate with all of them afterwards!!! 

Then as a graduation gift to ourselves for me and my sister in law we gifted ourselves a 4 day baja mexican cruise to Ensenada and Cattalina Island, and a nice gesture we took our husbands along I mean they did have to put up with us while we did school so i guessed they deserved to come ;) It was a lot of fun though we had a blast! Thanks Tam and Chrissy for going with us!!!!

After that it was back to work at the Dr. Prince's office and everyday life as normal which continued on without really much to elaborate on for a while. I guess as a side note I could add that shortly after the cruise my husband and I were called out of our married ward and asked to go to the home ward so I  could be in the Young women's presidency and so my husband could teach Sunday School for the 14-18 year old class. It was weird going back into young womens since i don't feel like it was that long ago that i was there myself and going back as a leader was a tad comical to me but its been a lot of fun and i've loved it! We had family pictures done with Shandons family which was an adventure to say the least both mine and my sister in laws husbands showed up in the nasty flag t-shirts they found at walmart (which i wish i had a picture of) because the color scheme for family pictures was red white and blue so why not be patriotic right?! anyways after a lot of chaos we did get some decent pictures! 

Moving on to September my husband and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary on Sep. 7 and then my husband turned 28 on  Sep. 28 our anniversary didn't consist of too much since my husband had to work so it was pretty low key but it was still nice and for my husbands birthday we had a party for him!

 We also in September started the process of trying to move up north so we could both finish out school. Shandon to finish out his bachelors degree and me on to culinary school since they don't offer anything for that here the plan was to go to UVU so i could fulfill my current dream of becoming a chef or something closely related to that, but through a series of unfortunate events of  UVU getting our transcripts for both highschool and college lost several times and not getting accepted into the school till 2 weeks before registration closed then having to visit with the counselor before we could register and they were out of town and once they got back everything was filled once we talked with them it apparently wasn't meant to be for us to go there at that point. We were kinda frustrated, but it just wasn't the right time! 

Lets see that puts us at thanksgiving which was pretty standard of spending it with both families and my sister in law and i doing the annual black friday adventure! which is always fun and scary at the same time! Then for Christmas we also were with both families at Shandon's families we did the annual nativity which is always epic unfortunately i don't know where my pictures are of that or else i would post them. We did however for my dad's christmas gift do a bunch of service projects where we donated to the soup kitchen and the food bank in my dads name along with others and that was an amazing experience 

In January we said goodbye to my sweet Grandma Wilma Ellison Weaver and she is greatly missed. She was a loving mother of 8 boys Ken, Dan, Rhys, Mike, Scott, Russ, Warren, and Tom. She went fast, multiple family members had talked to her earlier that day up until an hour before her stroke and she was fine she laid down cuz she had a little bit of a headache and then her stroke hit. She was found by my uncle mike a couple hours later and rushed to the hospital. She was coherent well sort of  for about 2 days long enough for all her boys to make it in and say goodbye and the she left on January 12, 2013 5 years to the day of the passing of her husband. Which was kinda romantic in a way she had been saying for about a year that she missed him and she just wanted to go and be with him. We all thought she would live for several more years because she was so healthy but she was a determined lady! We know she's happy and has been reunited with her husband and even though we miss her we are happy for her!!! 

Next in line of events Shan and I found out we were pregnant at the end of February! And when i hit 16 weeks which put us towards the end of may i found out it was going to be a girl!

 Due NOVEMBER 6, 2013

Shandon and I are so excited!!! We honestly thought it was going to be a boy....for some reason that is the vibe we were both getting but when we went in for the ultra sound she was definitely not hiding what she she was! We can't wait to meet her!!! I still have my freak out moments where I wonder what it is that i've done and being a mom in general just freaks me out and gives me the willies but i know it will all work out and hopefully i will get the hang of things when she gets here! And luckily i have the husband i do who can be the voice of reason and talk me through my freak out moments haha the poor guy! i'm sure he wonders what he got himself into being married to me! Oh well! 

My pregnancy has been fairly easy which has been really nice I had nausea at night in the first trimester and then that ended when i went into the second trimester. I've been lucky enough to stay working throughout my whole pregnancy and will continue to work up until a month before i deliver! Which my delivery is a month after my little brother gets home from his mission so he will be here just in time to get in some fat jokes about me and then to meet his new niece! I did get really big really fast...a lot faster then i was expecting I started to show at like 3 months it was crazy and i have continued to get massive haha! as you can see! 

To continue on in our recap my husband and I recently got back from a trip to new york! my moms family lives out there and my husband had never been before so as our last trip before i became a flight risk we went so i could show him around! We went to all the church historical sights in palmyra such as the Hill Cumorah, Sacred Grove, Josephs Smith Home, and Alvin Smiths burial spot! each place was amazing! I hadn't been since i was a little kid so it was cool to be able to go as an adult and have a deeper appreciation for everything. We also had a blast just hanging out with my moms family out there as well! 

And Thats basically it for a recap on the last...since i posted. I'm about 8 1/2 weeks out from having our baby and i'm so unprepared! We haven't decided on any names yet and her bedroom still isn't put together or anything haha but I intend to make some serious progress on that in the next couple of weeks at least on the bedroom front anyways. Lets just pray she doesn't try and come too early and i still have a bunch to do! luckily i only have about 3 1/2 weeks left of work so i wont have that to take up most of my time. Anyways thats a rap on our lives up to this point! 

Happy 31 years mom and dad

Happy 31 Anniversary

Mom and Dad.

It's my parents anniversary today and they now have been married for 31 years. My mom is a convert to the church who lived in new york all her life (until she came out to utah to go to cosmetology school at 19) and my dad was a church nerd from utah so the concept of how they managed to meet and then get married is amazing really to say the least. Not that they aren't perfect for each other because they are. It's just amazing to me that they lived at opposite ends of the country and managed to meet each other at all, but they did and i'm so grateful for that. My parents are so amazing to me and i look up to them in so many ways. They are the perfect example for anyone to look up to. My mom is so compassionate and the people in her life are so important to her especially her family and there is never a day goes by that you cant tell that she loves you. She has been not only my mom but she is also one of my best friends. I can go to her for anything. she is an amazing listener and friend to anyone! Her example of how to be an amazing mom and wife encourages me to be better on a daily basis. Her testimony of the gospel is evident in everything she does. My dad is the only way to put it a "saint" he will do anything for anyone, even if he doesn't have time to. He is devoted to the gospel and his callings and always has been. He never complains about anything and i have never seen him mad. He is always staying busy (trying to get him to sit still for 5 minutes at a time is somewhat impossible actually). His Family and the Lord are his most important priorities and he devotes himself to them completely! He is hilarious, and bit of a goofball (in a good way no one would have him any other way). I'm so grateful i have both of them in my life and for everything they are for me and everyone in my family. Happy anniversary mom and dad I love you guys very much and thanks for all you are and have done for me and all of us!

Farewell Bockman

Its crazy but Nicholaus James Weaver Left for Ghana Africa on his mission yesterday morning! It was a bit of a rough day! I am so proud of him though he is going to be an awesome missionary! Its weird thinking that im not going to see him for 2 years my brother and i have always been really close so not seeing him for a while is a weird concept for me, but it will be good! See ya in 2 years bockman!

i'm not there yet, but this is where im at!!

Ok so I'm having a lot of fun cooking/baking lately!!! I have been figuring out more how to improvise, im getting more familiar with foods and which flavors go together so when im cooking sometimes i will get an idea to put something else in that wasn't part of the recipe but thought it would be good and for the most part it works out so that's been a lot of fun! also i have been inventing recipes too i have only done it a few times but its a blast!( im hoping to one day be more confident with stuff like this because its fun) But there is just a few things i can't figure out. How is it that people on all the cooking shows i watch and trust me i watch my fare share of them..i record them on our DVR and watch them at like 11:00 at night while at the same time trying to get my homework done. Anyways so what i can't figure out is how they can keep their kitchen so clean when they cook and still cook really fast. i know they kinda fast forward through a lot of the stuff but really it still doesn't take them that long to make their stuff and their kitchen is still way clean by the time they are done. I just can't figure that out. For me either my kitchen looks like a tornado went through it or if i try and clean as i go whatever i make takes ten times longer to make it . So this is my next goal in life....to figure out how to cook fast and still have a normal looking kitchen when i'm done. So if anyone has any insights on how to make this happen feel free to share.

Pasta Ponza

So i'm going to start posting some recipes that i try every once in a while that have worked out pretty well for me. So for all of those who read up on my blog, which i'm not sure how many there are, but for those of you who do and want some easy recipes to try. Or are just looking for something new you can enjoy it too! anyways this was one i saw on "Giada at home" cooking show and its called "Pasta Ponza" it was super easy and way good! everyone i made it for seemed to really like it! anyways give it a try and see what you think!

Ingredients

• Butter for greasing
• 2 cups (12 ounces) red cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 cups (12 ounces) yellow cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup capers, rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
• 1/2 cup Italian-style seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 pound ziti or other short tube-shaped pasta
• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 ounces) Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter an 8 by 8-inch glass baking dish. Set aside.

Place the tomatoes, capers, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in the prepared baking dish . (i cut up some onion and put it in the baking dish too and it gave it a little extra flavor) Toss to coat. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the tomato mixture. Drizzle the top with olive oil and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the top is golden. Cool for 5 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water. (or you can just a little olive oil instead of the pasta water if you want to try that instead or forget to save the pasta water)

Place the pasta in a large serving bowl. Spoon the tomato mixture onto the pasta. Add the cheese and toss well. Thin out the sauce with a little pasta water, if needed. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve immediately.

a chef's lament

So ever since i decided to go into cullinary school. I have been on this cooking/baking binge. I'm constantly on the food network website looking for new recipes to try. I figured i need to get working on my skill so i can actually accomplish something in school plus seeing as though it will probably be a little while before i actually get to go into cullinary school since they don't have one here in st. george i didn't want to waste time. I also wanted to see if i'm any good at it so if i need to change my mind and decide its not something i want to do i can figure it out now before school starts. So ever since my little(ok huge) binge started I have come to the conclusion that i'm just confused. I have days where things work out great and i think i'm really getting the hang of things and then i have other days where the recipes i'm trying for some reason doesn't work out and can't for the life of me figure out why and i get frustrated and think maybe cullinary isn't my thing. Its funny though everytime that happens where i have those moments of weakness where i say i'm going to give up and pick a new career the next recipe i try works out perfectly and it leaves me kinda annoyed. I'm excited that it worked out for sure but at the same time its like really?! now my cooking works out after all the other recipes didn't! I just would really like to know if i'm good at this or not so i can decide whether or not i need to pick a new game plan. I still feel like its what i should do because if it wasn't none of the things i made would work out so maybe it's just like what they say "anything worth having (or in my case doing) is worth working for" and i just need to continue to work at it and things will gradually get better especially once school starts. Anyways thats it for now!

My Epiphany

K so i just had the biggest epiphany over the weekend. It was one of the bigger AH HAH! moments of my life. So before i share what my epiphany was I'm going to have to bring in some background. So I'm sitting at home writing up a business plan for my co-op class as my final while I'm watching amazing cakes. That show is amazing just the cakes they were able to make and I found myself thinking that i really wish I knew how to do that and how awesome it would be to create cakes like that. Then comes the epiphany! It hit me...possible business plan, doing cakes, CULINARY SCHOOL! What?! that had never crossed my mind before. Not sure why, but it just never has. I'm always looking for new recipes to try and I have tried decorating my own cakes before. Never anything to fancy mind you but it's something I like to do. So Culinary school with an emphasize on doing cakes! I have already started looking into schools, and the cost of tuition which will be on the pricey side but ya...I'm thinking this is it! This is what i want to do! I want to go to culinary school and have my own catering/cake decorating/ possible party planning business when I'm done! I would love to go over to like Venice and live there for a year and do school over there but I don't think that my husband is going to go for that actually I know he isn't because he told me he wouldn't which I guess the idea of living over there is kinda far fetched but I think it would be awesome to do! Oh well....Shan did say he was ok and excited about me going to school somewhere closer and thinks that it would be something i should do. I'm excited! hopefully everything for it will work out to where i can actually follow through with this. I know shandon isn't sure whether or not to take me seriously he thinks it has potential to be one of my crazy spontaneous whims that will eventually go away or i will change my mind about it or whatever. I really don't think I will this time at least I hope I don' t because I'm really stoked about it. I think the only thing would be the cost of tuition that would make it not an option! Anyways that's it for this post just wanted to share my excitement with whoever reads this blog.