Christmas Adventures

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. I love everything about the season including the music, the birth of our savior, the treats, the spirit, the shopping, the time with friends and family. I also love the traditions associated with Christmas. Dan and I were talking about traditions our families had and which ones we would like to continue. One of my families traditions was celebrating Christmas the Peruvian way. My mom would send us to bed early on Christmas Eve night, then wake us up at midnight on Christmas Eve to open presents. Afterward, we would eat our Christmas feast. It may sound odd, but as a kid I loved it because it meant I got to open my gifts sooner. However, Dan and I decided to celebrate our Christmas' the good old fashioned American way. We open one gift on Christmas Eve--not neccesarily PJs (this year it was slippers for Dan and a wallet for me), and the rest whenever we wake up on Christmas morning. One tradition Dan's family has is their annual Jensen family Christmas party. We look forward to it each year because it is always so much fun. We start the night of by riding around on a trailer full of hay caroling to various houses. We eat lots of yummy food, then the grand kids act out the nativity. Later on in the night Santa stops by for a visit and leaves everyone presents. Christmas morning Dan's mom makes her famous and delicious egg casserole and later on in the day we have a yaki niku dinner. This year we didn't make it down in time for the egg casserole, but we wouldn't miss yaki niku for the world!

This year, my sister Kelee spent the weekend with us, and it was a lot of fun! Christmas morning, I ended up waking first at 7:30, contemplated going back to bed, but finally my excitement got the best of me, so I took Yuki out to go potty, then woke Dan up. I went in to wake Kelee up only to find out she was wide awake, and had been since 5 am-- ha ha she was too polite to wake us up that early! We all came into the living room, checked out what Santa had left in our stockings (Dan and I never really buy candy to put in our stockings. I figure we don't need it, and get plenty of other holiday treats to make up for it :) But my sister Kelee was disappointed in the lack of candy lol)! Everyone got spoiled this year. Kelee's highlights: clothes, boots, and makeup; Dan's highlights: snowboarding coat, snowboarding pants, snowboarding day pass, cologne; Savannah's highlights: boots, food processor, Nook, clothes. After presents Kelee and I made breakfast cinnamon rolls (they are basically a biscuit dough that you roll out, cover in cinnamon and sugar, and roll up and bake. Very simple and delicious) and bacon and eggs. After breakfast we lounged around, played with our new toys, and got ready to head down to Payson to visit family. Dan's family also got spoiled. Santa brought them a Kinect, and we spent most of the day playing it. They bought Dance Central to go with it, and I'm addicted. It was so much fun, even the guys got into it. I recorded Dan busting a few moves, but he has forbidden me from posting them on here.

This time of year really puts into perspective how lucky and grateful I am for all I have. All of it comes from our father in heaven and our Savior, and I need to focus more on making this holiday about celebrating his birth and his life. I am so grateful for His love for me. I could not have made it this far in my life without Him.

Instead of posting a thousand pics, I decided to make a collage of our Christmas morning.

Kelee made this cute headband for me. I love it!

(P.S I have started up another blog specifically for food, since that is primarily what I have been blogging about lately. Check it out: jensenmenu.blogspot.com)

Holiday Treats

Dan loves spritz cookies. His mom made them when he was younger, and they have been a favorite of his around Christmas time. So we got his mom's recipe, and I went out and bought a cookie press...which I must add is a lot of fun and super easy! Anyway, the recipe made about 8 dozen cookies! Instead of letting Dan eat them all (which he very well could have :) I figured I would share with friends and family (don't feel bad if you didn't get any, it means you don't live close enough lol). I had some ripe bananas that were past the point of eating, so I made a few loaves of banana bread as well. Homemade spritz cookies was a first for me, and they are good, but not my favorite. They are not sweet enough for me. But they were fun to decorate, Dan was happy, and I got into the giving spirit of Christmas!

Christmas Time

It seems like Christmas is taking forever to get here this year! Is it just me? It might be because I started (and practically finished) my shopping early November, so I have had all this time to sit and get excited to give Dan and other family members their gifts. It might also be that with the exception of today we have had virtually no snow. Snow is a necessary evil at Christmas time. Without it it just doesn't feel right. Another reason may be that I have had Christmas decor up around my house since before Thanksgiving (don't judge me). But whatever the reason may be, these four days better pass quickly!

This year Sue showed Bridgette, Whitney, Chey and I how to make a great gift out of blocks of wood. We sanded and painted the wood, then mod-podged the pictures on, and decorated them with ribbon. It was a lot of fun, and I loved the idea so much that I decided to make a set for all my sisters and my mom. I wish I had taken pictures of each set, some turned out cuter than others! It was easy, cheap, and a lot of fun! Plus I think they are pretty cute and am going to be making myself some soon!

This was the set I made for my sister Jessie. There are pictures on both sides. Her little boy William is adorable!

This one was for my sis Ximena, but it was taken with my cell phone so it looks kinda fuzzy



Merry Christmas!

Grown Up Mac n Cheese and Asparagus

On the menu tonight...another new recipe. The "grown up" version consisted of extra sharp cheddar, Gruyere cheese, blue cheese, and bacon. I was suspicious of how it would turn out because I don't really like blue cheese and had never used Gruyere, but it was delicious! I used too many noodles, because it wasn't as cheesy as I would have liked. But Dan devoured the meal, which means it was a success!

If you're interested in checking out the recipe click here

What's for Dinner

If you are like me, you get sick of making the same things for dinner all the time. I have my regular ten or so meals that I cycle through...and don't get me wrong, they are not going anywhere, but when you eat them week after week, they get old.

SO, I turned to Google, surfed through a few blogs, and finally found one that caught my eye. I printed off a few recipes that looked good, and got to work. Saturday I made carrot cake cupcakes for a family party--one word... yummy!

Tonight I made an Italian sausage, mushroom, and red pepper risotto for dinner. I had never attempted a risotto, but it's safe to safe I will be doing so again! The possibilities are endless with risotto, and this particular version was creamy, flavorful, a tad bit spicy, very Italian, and just plain delicious! I want to try and cook a new meal every week and add to my repertoire. What are some of your favorite dishes?

It looks like mush...this is because I cannot take pictures of food and make it look good...not because it tasted like mush, trust me this was delicious!

Now share with me your favorites :)

The Celebration

Friday night we went to the jazz game to celebrate Dan's big 26. Daniel got the most amazing seats...Front row! Okay they were front row of the upper bowl, but still it was nice being able to put my feet up on the rail, and we had so much more leg room. The only down side of the night was the fact that the Jazz lost. The second half of the game was pretty pathetic. The jazz couldn't make a basket to save their lives, and Dirk Nowitzki was unstoppable...I wonder what it would take to get him on our team??? The celebration didn't stop there-- Saturday night Dan's parents took us out to dinner at Texas Road House (AKA Texas Mad House). Indeed it was a mad house, but we were able to get seated within 10 minutes (love call ahead seating!) The food was okay, but what I really love is their rolls with the cinnamon butter. Dan got some nice shirts, new jeans, new shoes, a new hat, and a nice coat (all black friday finds!) He looks very handsome in his new wardrobe. He also got a PGA Golf pass from his parents.

I tried to get him to model his new outfit for me, but he was not having it! I did convince him to at least put the coat on :)

Happy Birthday Hunny, I sure love you!

Tribute to the Birthday Boy

Dan is 26! He has been having an early mid-life crisis about it. Not really, but he seriously thought he was turning 25 this year. A few months ago he was convinced it would be his 25th birthday, and it wasn't until I pulled out the pictures of last year's birthday cake with the big 25 candle on it that he finally realized 25 had come and gone. So today I get to brag. Not that I don't want to brag about him everyday of the year, but his birthday is a day where I can do it and no one can get annoyed with me or think I'm being snooty. Dan has been on this earth for 26 years now and already accomplished so much. He has set goals for himself and our family and has accomplished many of them, and continues to work towards accomplishing the rest. In order to celebrate 26 and show him it's not that bad after-all, I came up with 26 reasons of why I love him/what I love about him:

1. Dan is a hard worker. He works 2 jobs and goes to school as well, all in order to be able to raise our future family, and save for our future goals.
2. Dan is not a complainer...he is the complete opposite of me in this regard.
3. He is a sincere person.
4. He reminds me that it's okay to not be perfect, and accepts me for who I am, while encouraging me to strive to be better
5. He has a great sense of humor, and makes me laugh without even trying
6. He has a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel
7. He likes to cuddle
8. He reminds me that life doesn't have to be a "stress fest" and gives me massages and tickles whenever I need to relax.
9. He looks at life as being "half full". He sees the good in every situation
10. He is very selfless
11. He is very intelligent, and likes to challenge himself
12. He is always there for me
13. He is very physically attractive...despite what people say, looks do matter :)
14. His eyes are a beautiful blue, I am hoping at least one of our children gets his eyes
15. He is very rarely angry or short tempered...again the complete opposite of me...I blame it on hormones :)
16. He is a good cook, and is always willing to help out in the kitchen
17. He is good at everything he does (sports, hobbies, etc)--it makes the seasons more fun!
18. He is not over-competitive, and can lose gracefully
19. He has the cutest laugh, I LOVE it when he finds something hilarious and just laughs uncontrollably!
20. He has strong values that have been instilled in him through living a good life and will not compromise on them
21. He has his priorities straight and keeps his long term goals in mind
22. He tells me I'm beautiful all the time...even when it's "that time of the month" and I can't even look in the mirror and it feels like none of my clothes fit...for some reason I still believe him even though I deny it
23. I love the times I see him playing with Yuki, and I can tell he *loves* her--admit it already Dan :) Nope, he never will, but trust me, I know.
24. He supports me in all my goals and aspirations. He was willing to quit his second job just so I could go to school full time.
25 To him, my happiness is more important than anything.
26. I have never doubted he loves me.

Well, this would be the abridged version. I know you all feel you have the best hubby out there, but let it be known...I have the best of the best. I thought it would be fun to post a baby/childhood picture of him. When I started looking through the pictures, I just couldn't choose one! (In fact I get so baby hungry looking at his baby pics because they are so cute!) Here are a few of my favorites!

Ha Dan's expression cracks me up! What a good big brother :)

This is definitely one of my favorites of all time!

Thanksgiving 2010

Our Thanksgiving was great! We picked up my sister Kelee and spent the day with Dan's family. We had a delicious feast-- turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, corn, sweet potatoes, rolls, and my favorite-stuffing. Dessert was also delicious; I made some yummy pies-chocolate and 2 layer pumpkin; they turned out great, and I wish I would have got a picture. Speaking of pictures, I didn't really get any (which is so not like me, I know). I did snap a few early on in the day which are below.

After lunch we played around. Dan has been going through airplane withdrawals (he sold his so he could buy a monster truck lol), so he took the opportunity to fly his dad's. We also had a family ping pong tournament. Dan and I did pretty good winning some games and loosing a few to Dan's dad and brother. It was Kelee's first time playing ping pong and she did really well too. We also played pool and tons of card games. It's amazing how fast a day off work goes by. Before we knew it, it was time to head home and go to bed.

Friday I met my friend Kristi at Wal-mart around 7 to see if there were any good video games left. Dan wanted me to pick up Madden 11, and since it was a doorbuster I didn't have high hopes of getting it. You would think the video games would be in the electronics dept ...nope...they were in the produce department. Leave it to Wal-mart. I did find a copy of Madden after all, and I'm pretty sure it was the last copy because it was buried under a bunch of other games. Go me! We hit up target and big five before the craziness and crowds were just too much. I went home, took a nap, played walleyball with the family, then went back to a few stores later that night and had no trouble getting in and out! I am proud to say I have officially finished Christmas with the exception of one more thing for Dan and presents for our parents.

This year has flown by, and has sure been full of lots of craziness. But it has also been full of so many blessings (albeit in disguise at times). I am so thankful for Dan and the great hubby he is. I am so blessed, and have so much to be thankful for. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

My pilot

My puppy

My sister


Now I can finally put my Christmas tree up. I'll admit, I have had most of my decorations up for a few weeks now. I told myself I would hold off on the tree until after Thanksgiving!

Would You Rather...

Last night Dan got home at 12:15 (am) and we immediately hopped right into bed. I wasn't very tired though, and have this thing where I like to talk about our day, and stuff, before we fall asleep (Dan doesn't love the idea...but he puts up with it lol). Last night we randomely started asking each other "would you rather" questions. For example, some of the more lighthearted ones were these:

"would you rather be blind or deaf?"
"would you rather be blind and deaf or paralyzed from waist down?"
"would you rather eat dog poop or human vomit?"
"would you rather live with my family or yours?"
"would you rather own a boat or a nice car?"
"would you rather have 10 kids or none?"
"would you rather lose all your hair or be obese with acne?"
"would you rather be poor or a work-a-holic?"


*Disclaimer* these questions were not meant to offend anyone or make fun of anyone.

Some of the questions and answers were pretty funny, and cracked me up; others were pretty serious and make me appreciate Dan even more. We took turns alternating questions and next thing we knew it was 2 in the morning! Time flies when your having fun I guess.

Halloween Part II

More costumes, more parties, more treats, and more Halloween spirit...all combined into one long post!

I love dressing up, so I am glad I had a bunch of parties to do so! Our garden gnomes were my favorite this year, but to mix things up I created a few other costumes as well. Zombies was sort of the theme this year (as you will see from the pics). I went to three different zumba Halloween parties, and tried to change up the costumes a little bit for each one, so I was a zombie on Thurs (and a freaky one at that...its crazy what make-up can do!), an 80s girl on Friday, and an 80s zombie on Saturday! It was a blast!

Thurs zumba:

I look like Sweeney Todd the demon barber lol

Friday zumba:

Saturday zumba:

I did both mine and Karen's make-up for each party, and I'm pretty proud :)


Saturday afternoon we had a family Halloween bash which included pizza, games, and scary stories; I didn't want to wear zombie makeup the entire day (my face has already suffered the consequences of my zumba zombie-ness) SO we simplified things and went as bowlers (our garden gnome costumes were borrowed and we forgot to get them back in time). Later that night we had a party with friends which equaled more pizza and more games...(side note: has any one played battle of the sexes?? Horrible game and completely biased towards the woman!) We decided to try another zombie creation, this time as sports zombies...we may have overkilled the zombie theme!

My bro David as a hippie

50's bowlers and Gpa T

Costumes for Sat night's party, once again I did both our make-up

The party crew

Yuki was our little pumpkin :)

She wouldn't keep the hat on

Ha ha it was fun, but I don't think I can even see another zombie for at least a year!! It has been a crazy, busy weekend, and I can't wait to relax all day Sunday.


Happy Halloween!

October Madness

Madness might be an understatement. October has been busy! Lots of homework, lots of stress, and lots of fun. But who wants to hear about our homework or stress?? So about the fun...

The main event (or so I like to think) was my birthday. Yep, 23 and rolling. We celebrated by taking the day off work and biking down Bennie Creek in Payson Canyon with my bro David, Dan's dad, and brother, Jake. It was pretty intense; some spots were so steep that I had to get off my bike and walk it down, but it was still so much fun! I was afraid I would die on my birthday, but I didn't even wreck! (We've already been 2 more times.) Later that night we met up with some friends and ate at Outback. I got a kitchen mixer (which I LOVE) and an i-pod (which I broke already). That Sunday we celebrated with my mom and siblings. She made a delicious meal, as usual! We played volleyball in the back yard in the pouring rain.

Another fun event was pumpkin carving with friends. Ours turned out pretty good for no stencils... We also played catch phrase (which always gets more hilarious the later the night gets).

Group shot

Another event was Jensen family FHE. It is supposed to be a monthly thing, but rarely works out that way lol. I am blogging about this FHE because something small and insignificant to most people happened that made me realize how lucky I am to have married into such a great family. Dan and I were walking out the door, down the front steps when one of my earrings fell out. It was a pretty big one, and I thought I had seen were it landed, but Dan and I started searching for it in the grass and couldn't see it anywhere. One by one people came outside and started helping us look. Gpa J was on his hands and knees in the wet grass, aunts and uncles, cousins, and siblings came out just to help us find my stupid earring. We looked for about 20 mins when Dan and I had to go; it was only a cheap pair of earrings, and I was fine with letting it go. But the family was determined to find my earring, and sure enough they finally did. They must have been out there looking in the dark for about 40 minutes. On the way home Gpa Jensen dropped it off at our house. Such a small thing, but they were willing to stop everything until they found my earring. This is true of them in all aspects, when someone needs help, they are there to give it! It's refreshing to be surrounded by a family that is so selfless, positive, and just plain good!


Usually Dan and I don't make too much of a fuss on Halloween. Last year we just painted each others' faces and called it good. This year, however, we went all out. We decided it would be fun to have a Halloween party with friends, so we had to think of some clever costumes...I had lots of ideas, but we finally settled on garden gnomes. It was fun putting together our costumes! We made a simple felt skirt and Dan's belt and the hats. I found the shirts and shoes at DI, and just sorta put the look together with stuff we had lying around. We did buy the boot covers and the beard. The party was fun! We visited with friends whom we hadn't seen in a few months, and played catch phrase (it's a party favorite). There were plenty of yummy treats. I was the only non-pregnant woman there, but I am pretty sure I ate the most :) Halloween only comes around once a year, so I made sure we got plenty of pictures in our costumes!

Okay...the sign might be a little overboard lol.

My favorite part of the outfit. These shoes were a great $5 find at DI and I bedazzled them.

Pumpkin Creme pies with cream cheese filling, yum!

Ace and Easton, such cuties!

Oh yeah, Jersery Shore yeah (Pauly D anyone?)

Who ya gonna call? (I had this song stuck in my head all night)

When we got home and looked through the pictures, I realized none of the ones of Dan and I had worked, so, of course, I made us take a few. I wish we had a front lawn...

Dan is so good to put off with me and my crazy ideas :)

I have a few more costumes up my sleeve for other zumba parties this weekend; it should be fun!

Fishing the Provo River and Big Spring Hollow

Saturday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn (literally...6 am!) to fish the Provo River. We met Lorin, Bridgette, and Brent up there. It was a "first time" experience for many reasons: 1. First time wearing waders, 2. first time trying to shove a foot the sign of a football into a size 7 tennis shoe (thanks to the waders), 3. first time fishing waist deep in a river, 4. first time losing 3 lures in one fishing trip (snag after snag after snag!). I caught one fish, but it got off my line before I could get a picture. Dan caught three. These trout were much bigger than the fish I caught earlier on this year up Payson Canyon and down at Scofield, so reeling mine in was fun! Yes, I had fun...though it is not something I can see myself doing more than once a year.

Lorin with his first catch, and very first cast of the day!

While my shoes felt five sizes too small, my wader were five sizes too big!

Later on we decided to take our first "off road" mountain bike ride. We found Big Spring Hollow trail, a "must see classic" according to utahmountainbiking.com, and decided to give it a try. It was a short ride, about 4 miles is all, but man, for a beginner like me that was enough! It is steady climb the whole way up. At one point I was walking my bike up the trail. The way down was a bit scary at first. I was flying without even touching my pedals, and it took me a minute to get used to the rocky trail, but once I did I had a blast! Riding down hill is quite the adrenaline rush, the feeling is almost addicting...now I am not an adrenaline junkie or anything, but I can't wait for the next ride! It took us about an hour to get up (mostly because I wanted to take so many pictures, but okay, if I'm being honest, taking pictures was my excuse to take a breather lol) and only 20 minutes (at the most) to get down. The scenery was amazing! It truly was a "must see." The leaves have started changing colors, and you ride over several wooden bridges that cross over Big Spring Creek; all of which made for awesome pictures, and if there's one thing I love, it's pictures!

a beautiful meadow

I was praying for a 4-wheeler, a horse, really anything that would carry me up the mountain lol

The fun part! Flying down the trail

Once we got back down we took a short nap on the grass.