"i knowed i made a good choice"

each day, the wisdom in my decision to marry john becomes more apparent.

seriously, i was so smart to pick him.

i think sometimes that he must have had a brief lapse of judgment when he brought that ring.... what else would be a reasonable explanation for how i got him?  he is so incredible in so many ways.  i've never heard him say a negative word about anyone- ever.  he truly is my best friend.  i am reminded of the words of mater, "i knowed i made a good choice... in my best friend".  

john, thanks for picking me.  you're my favorite.

a few photos from babysitting last weekend.

life lately...

i have been loving the weather lately.  it gets up to 60 degrees here each day, and that is quite different from what we experienced last april.  this weekend we are going to the temple with sam for the first time, hopefully using our ski passes up in sundance, and watching general conference.  and i am stoked!  here are some pics of life lately:

brigham square on a beautiful warm night.

wings {again!} with friends.  just looking at this picture is making me crave them....

graham canyon ice cream.  i am going to make the most of it while i'm here, because once john graduates, i will seldom have some again.... 

7pm now looks like 3pm because it is so light outside!

someone buy this man a banjo.

terra mia, my pizza affair.

have a wonderful weekend!

it's over!

i just realized that my intensive care clinical is over, and it was a bittersweet moment.

on the one hand, i loved those pre-assessments.

on the other hand, i hated those pre-assessments.

but icu clinical was so fun!  and i believe just a small part of me will miss it when i'm knee-deep in my labor and delivery capstone next semester.  {can i just pause here and say, i never thought i would make it?}

now i just have one test, two finals....

30 days

735 hours

44103 minutes until....

taiwan.

and i can't wait.

just beautiful.

we've spent a fun weekend babysitting the neffs.  the weather has been just beautiful and we even had time to have a picnic in the park and play frisbee golf!  i think the boys really enjoyed it {john included!}  we had a great weekend.  {even though those boys kept me very busy and distracted me from homework....}

hunger games and joe's crab shack with friends.

lemon blueberry cupcakes.

i love blueberries, i love lemon, and i LOVE cupcakes.  why not have all three of them together?

For the cupcakes:
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour, divided
¾ cup cake flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Zest of  1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. lemon juice
½ cup plus 2 tbsp. milk, at room temperature
1 cup fresh blueberries

For the frosting: 
8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Zest of 1 large lemon
Additional fresh blueberries, for garnish

• Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the ¾ cup all-purpose flour, the cake flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon juice. With the mixer on low speed, mix in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Blend in the milk. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated.
• In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Using a spatula gently fold the berries into the cake batter. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners, filling each about ¾ full. Bake 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pans 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. (I used a large, unlabeled star tip to frost these cupcakes.) Garnish with fresh blueberries.
  
  via annies-eats.com

saturdays like this make my heart sing.

i love warm, beautiful saturdays when your husband plays hooky from work, takes you out to kneaders for lunch, and then you get to go frisbee golfing with your friends.  last saturday was so incredibly fun.

john hates this picture.  but i think he looks cute! 

phil not pictured :(

thanks friends, for all the fun!  

the warm weather has truly lifted my spirits.  i feel excited about life once more. {which is hard to do in the doldrums of winter!}  i am excited that in only six weeks from today, i will be in taiwan.  have a happy weekend!

saturday date.

this is what we did on our saturday:  after working and school, {and all that not-fun stuff}, we did some really fun stuff....

i really love going shooting.  i feel more confident with john's gun {and therefore, more safe}, and i feel confident that if either of us had to use it, we could.  we ended the night off with this mexican place called diego's.  they have a killer carne asada burrito....

have a happy friday!

i made these, and they were delicious.

i did it, folks.  i made pumpkin donuts.  and they were one of the most delicious things ever.  i highly recommend!  

recipe found here if you're interested.  {i used 10 oz. pumpkin, instead of 8}.  enjoy!

what a great week.

i have taken a lot of pictures this week.  there have been so many fun and happy things that we've done, mixed in with the drudgery of school{me} and work{john}. here are some of the highlights of the week, just for kicks:

singing with john playing on my mom's ukelele:

i tried {and failed} 3 IVs at clinical.  i'm gonna go ahead and admit this isn't one of the highlights of my nursing school career.  but i wanted to document it because, when i'm a nurse, i am going to be freaking great at starting IVs.  now i just need to find someone to practice on....

we went out for wings with our cousins.  and can i just say, this picture totally grosses me out?  but gosh were they good.  the waiter also said, "are there holes in these cups?!" because we were going through the water and lemonade so fast.... whoops!

john took me out for a pumpkin oreo shake on monday night.  oh man, i love that pumpkin oreo shake.

the missionary fireside, where we learned about exercising faith.

my current afternoon snack....

my view on the walk home:

a perfectly wonderful snowy date with that handsome man of mine.