The rest of our week in Mexico

Apart from the fun activities we filled our days with, we also got a chance to experience the city and people. We spent a lot of time at the beach swimming in the ocean, playing in the waves (or in my case getting demolished by them lol), and tanning on the beach.

I am pretty sure I had just recovered from the previous wave when I stood up and saw this monster coming my way. I was standing right where it was going to break. Great. Really, I had a lot of fun, but there was one day in particular where the waves were HUGE. I was still cleaning sand out of my ears for a week after we got home!

Dan had fun riding the waves into the shore. He loved it out there! Our second day in Mexico he refused to let me put sunscreen on his back and stomach because the previous day I had, and he hadn't gotten any color. I decided to let him do what he wanted....and of course after spending four hours at the beach he was fried! Actually worse than fried. He was bright pink! Poor guy. But he learned his lesson--wife knows best :)

Can you spot the Iguanas?

These guys were everywhere. In the trees...and even in the hands of locals who would throw them on your head before you could see what was coming and then try to make $5 off you.

One night we decided to get away from the usual hotel buffet, and asked some locals where a good place to go was. We got told the best seafood was at "Langosta Feliz" or Happy Lobster. Boy was it delicious!



Literally a feast for two! And did I mention delicious?! We had lobster, cray fish, shrimp, and filet minon sea bass with rice and veggies. Unfortunately it was a bit pricey, so when the band came over to our table to play us an $8 song, we had to refuse.

And what did we do while we were bored or waiting for an activity to start??? Take pictures of course! Here are some randoms from the week:

Playing some beach volleyball. So I think this was on Thursday night, and by this time we had been at the beach for at least a few hours each day and nothing had gotten stolen. Yes, I will admit I was a little worried about it, but I began to think, "hey Mexico isn't that bad", and of course that day, while Dan was taking pics, and I was playing someone stole my brand new flip flops. I really hope they were in desperate need of shoes!

Spanglish at it's finest. KFC aka CHICKY LANDIA. Ha ha this cracks me up!

We have some wicked tan lines!

We left Mexico around 2 pm, but before we went we took one last stroll around the city and bought a few souvenirs for ourselves. We went back to our hotel room and packed our suitcases...why is it that nothing ever fits back in your suitcase like it did when you originally packed it??? We barely got the stupid things to close!


Our last pic in Mexico...on our way to the airport sad that our vacay was over :(

It was a great week, and the perfect time to get away from our busy lives. Even though there are more practical things we could have done with our tax return, I do not regret for a second the decision to take a vacation! We are already planning our next vacation for 2012!

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!

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 :)

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!

A whole new world

A few days ago my eyes were opened to the wonderful world of "pioneer woman". I am already hooked, and insanely jealous. If you haven't checked out her blog you should. She is very talented, and entertaining. Not to mention, her food looks delicious! Before I knew it, two hours had gone by and I was still printing off recipes I thought looked yummy. A few nights ago after work (while Dan was at work) I was bored, so I made this raspberry cream pie. It was so easy, and it hit the spot!

Another Banana Cream Delight!

Today was a slow day at work, so bored as I was I thought about what I could do to pass the time. Yes, my dishes needed to be washed, and I still haven't quite started spring cleaning yet, but really where's the fun in that?! So, I pulled out my handy-dandy cookbook and found another recipe that was calling my name...Banana Cream Pie. I have been in a banana mood lately. I made everything from the crust to the whipped cream from scratch. My cookbook made "fluting" the crust look so easy, but for the life of me I could not get it to look just right. Being that it was my first time making this, I was a frantic mess around the kitchen trying to do everything at the same time. I had a lot of fun though! Cleaning up the mess afterwards was a different story. My pie could've passed as a Villiage Inn pie, it was that good!

This was my fluting at it's best lol

I soaked the top bananas in fresh lemon juice then added a bit of lemon peel on the top. It was delious!

I had so much extra filling, so I used a graham cracker crust I had on hand to finish it up!

After work Dan and I headed down to Payson for my sister's 17th birthday party. It was a lot of fun, but I have not been around high-schoolers for many years, nor do I want to be...please tell me I was never that loud or immature lol!!! We played Catch Phrase, Heads up 7 up, and a bunch of other games. My sister got some new Nike tennis shoes. They are so cute! Here are some pictures of the fun :)

Happy Birthday Kelee!

Betcha Didn't Know I was *This* Sweet

I now realize that the cookbook Dan gave me for Christmas was one of those gifts that keeps on giving. Luckily it's been one of the few gifts I have gotten that hasn't sat collecting dust since I got it (i.e. my cuddlebug...one day I will start scrap-booking again, and my sewing machine...one day I will learn to sew!)

Tacy and Benny invited us over for dinner tonight, and I offered to bring dessert. I was flipping through my cookbook looking for something delicious, but also not *too* complicated because I know myself (meaning melt down if it did not turn out right!) Now, I'm not the most experienced chef, but these banana cream puffs turned out perfect! They are definitely not the most healthy treat, but well worth the calories! Let me know if you want the recipe :)

Bon Appetit!