it's 11:04 p.m. and..

I just love a good storm.

Pouring down rain.

Gigantic bolts of lightning followed by

Deep thunder.

And of course the sound of the wind blowing through the trees.

Ah, heaven.

Henry is CRAZY.

having cats is preparing me for kids! people laugh at this, but it's true. about three nights ago henry woke me up every hour it seemed like. this is unusual because when we go to bed, lucy and henry know not to bother us until the morning. they hop down and lucy sleeps in her cage or her pillow and henry sleeps in his cage. sometimes they will hop up on the bed and sleep on our pillows because i sleep at the very edge of mine, but they still don't bother us. but this night was bad. henry was pawing me and meowing so loudly non stop and licking the back of my neck (i think he knows this is super annoying). i threw him off every time and then realized that something was probably wrong. at about 4 in the morning i got up, checked the food bowl and sure enough, it was empty. i filled up the bowl and wasn't bothered the rest of the night.

Tiburon...

South Carolina is where the majority of Sue Monk Kidd's novel The Secret Life of Bees takes place. I finished reading this last night- at 7:45 to be exact.

The story was rich of Southern culture, summer romance, adventure, friendship, belonging, and hope- just enough to keep a gal entertained.

I especially enjoyed reading about the Southern culture- particularly on the food.

Smothered chicken, boiled peanuts, orangeade, corn fritters, butter beans, and for dessert, ice-cold Coca-Cola with salted peanuts- "We [Lily and I] like to pour our peanuts straight into the bottle. It's the perfect combination of salt and sweet in liquid." - August Boatwright.

Mmmm, sounds delightful.

I Heart NJ.

Change and I have a weird relationship. And most of the time, I don't like it.

The most recent change in our lives has been leaving Utah- permanently. We always knew that Utah would just be a temporary place, but I guess the saying it true "You never truly miss something until it's gone." (well, something like that).

Maybe I don't miss Utah itself but what I do miss is- family, friends, not having to use a GPS 24/7, familiarity, the mountains, J-Dawgs, Brick Oven, Guru's, Los Hermanos, BYU ice cream and pulled pork sandwiches, and of course Cafe Rio (because Moe's just doesn't cut it).

Towards the end, Devin was especially excited about leaving. All he kept saying was "I can't believe our time here is almost up. And the best part is we're never coming  back!" Even I found myself saying how much I can't wait to leave.

But now I miss it. Sigh. And the saddest part of all is not knowing if or when we will ever be back.

Ted Mosby on change (from the TV show How I Met Your Mother- I suggest watching this by the way)...."We're going to get older no matter what, so the question is whether we want to get on with our lives or desperately cling to the past..."

Well I choose to desperately cling to the past.

j/k :)

Oh, and Happy Pioneer Day!

today was a great day...

Devin came home with a flower pot and a bag full of blow pops. I was especially excited about the flower pot because of Devin's brilliant idea (and because it's something to paint).


We just love our guacamole.

i dislike Jabba the Hut.

While my husband watches Star Wars, I'm going to share with you a recent creation of mine. I encourage you to make this when you have some time because well, it's awesome, time efficient, easy to make, and pretty dang good.

Here's what you need:

1 Oreo or graham cracker crust (we used Oreo)
1 large box of vanilla pudding
1 8oz container of cool whip
2 squares of Baker's Semi-sweet chocolate
2.5 cups of milk
A handful or two of fresh blueberries

And here's what to do:

1. Prepare the pudding mix as directed on the box. Also, add about half the container of cool whip and whisk all of the ingredients together.
2. Use about 3/4 cup of the remaining cool whip and combine this with the chocolate squares. Microwave on high in 15 second intervals until creamy.
3. Mix the blueberries into the pudding mixture.
4. Pour the pudding mixture into the crust, and finally, drizzle the chocolate over the pie.

It's hard to drizzle. Enjoy :)

B is for birthdays.

Maybe this time around I won't have to make my own cake, wink :)

Well, I'm glad I share this special month with these guys:

then & now: All we know is that their birthday is sometime in July. For now, let's just say the 17th :) Happy 2 years!

and Parker, Christa's little man who'll be turning 1 on 7/28! Can't wait to see you guys at the end of this month!

Happy Birthday!