Crock pot chicken curry

I have yet to try a curry I didn't like. I love that stuff. Since I've been pregnant, I've been craving Indian and Thai food something fierce, so when I found this recipe on Pinterest I knew I had to try it out. It looked so easy and delicious, and it lived up to my high expectations! 

I will absolutely be making this again, and maybe experimenting with turning it into a freezer meal. I really want to stock up on those before this baby comes along in a few months.  

All you have to do is puree the sauce, throw it in the crock pot with some chunks of chicken breast, stir in some cornstarch an hour or so before it's finished cooking to thicken up the sauce, and serve over some good rice. I used jasmine, my favorite. 

Does it get any easier than that? 

I followed the recipe exactly except for a few minor changes. Since I like a lot of flavor I added some extra garam masala, curry powder, and salt. I also substituted a bit of cayenne pepper (somewhere between 1/2 and 1 tsp) for the dried red peppers, just because that's what I had on hand. Last of all, I didn't end up cooking it for the entire 6 hours. I put this in around 8am and the chicken was done (And smelled amazing. Seriously.) when I got home from church a little after 12pm. I added the cornstarch then and let it cook for another hour or so until Dallin got home from his meeting. It's a good thing it was done a little early because we were both really hungry and the smell was tantalizing. 

Click here for the recipe! Also, if you have any other favorite Indian/Thai/curry recipes you should do this pregnant lady a favor and send them my way. ;)

23 weeks down, 17 to go

My pregnancy has been going really well lately! I feel good most of the time (although I have a pretty hard time getting going in the morning for seminary) and my doctor's appointment this morning went smoothly as always. I'm big enough to be obviously pregnant, but not enough to be uncomfortable... unless I am silly enough to try to wear something too constricting. I've already got a lot of clothes I have had to put in the back of my closet for at least the next 4-5 months because there is just no way to comfortably fit this growing boy in there. It ain't happening! 

I wonder how much longer I'll be able to see my toes...

People often ask me what I've been craving. Uh, what have I not been craving? Now that's the real question here! ;) I just want to eat all the food. I can't eat very much a time, but I am constantly snacking all day errryday. I do have a few things I've been hungry for lately, namely pomegranates, tomatoes, salad, waffles, chips & salsa, and Ben and Jerry's pumpkin cheesecake ice cream. 

I've been fulfilling most of those cravings, especially with deals like these that made me so excited I did a happy dance in the store...

...but unfortunately I have yet to see a single carton of pumpkin cheesecake ice cream anywhere, and this is a very sad thing indeed. I MUST HAVE PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE ICE CREAM. It's October 22... shouldn't that have been out with the Halloween decorations two months ago? Also, if you have not tried it, you are missing out big time. I've had some other pumpkin ice creams, but this is simply the best. Perfectly creamy, pumpkin-y ice cream with slightly crunchy graham cracker crust swirls... 

Oh man. We need to change the subject. 
This is making me want it even more, which I didn't think was possible. 

People have also been asking me what we're going to name him. I have two answers: (1) We're split between Hagrid Bartholomew or just giving our kids numbers instead of names, and (2) I'm not telling. ;) You'll know when we officially name him... after he is born.

In other news, I'm currently working on turning our other upstairs bedroom from the canyoneering/hunting room into a nursery. It's taking some time though since I've been so indecisive about what the heck I want to paint the walls. I picked out a really light blue I liked and painted a couple test spots, but now I'm having second thoughts. I think I probably like it, but gosh... I just don't know for sure and I'm worried I'll paint the whole room and then end up not liking it, which wouldn't be the end of the world but I only want to paint once if at all possible. I might end up going for some kind of neutral instead, like a light tan or something that would be a good base for colorful pictures and things on the walls. We'll see.

I'm anxious to get it done though so we can get a crib, decorate, and put away the four big bags of cute boys clothes my mom gave me! My nesting urges are starting to kick in big time so hopefully that will help me be more motivated to get 'er done already. Or maybe I can just convince Dallin that he wants to do it. Right babe? ;)

Although I am a bit impatient to meet the wee man-cub that is growing in my belly, I have to remember to enjoy this waiting, anticipatory period. I know I am going to miss the quiet evenings with just my husband and me, being able to sleep/eat/go to the store/shower/use the bathroom whenever I want to, and feeling our baby kick... even when it is aimed at my bladder. ;)

Pregnancy is one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had, but also one of the best. I love it. I'm so happy to be at this stage in my life. 

I love Sister Hinckley.

Yesterday, I had a quote in my head from Marjorie Pay Hinckley, who is the wife of my church's previous president, Gordon B. Hinckley. She passed away in 2004, and he was reunited with her in 2008.

I absolutely adore them both. They are such beautiful examples of happy lives and a happy marriage. 

Ah! I can't handle it. They are too adorable.

Anyway, as I was saying, I had this quote come to my mind, and I looked it up so I could share it on instagram. 

 

 

While I was looking it up, I found a plethora of quotes by her, some that I had heard before and some that were new, and I spent some time reading through them. I have some things on my mind this week that have been stressing me out a bit, and some of the quotes by her were just what I needed to hear. I love her way with words and spunky personality. Here are a few of my favorites:

“The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either 

have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.” 

“We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are.” 

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “Wow what a ride!” 

“We are His children, and if we ever got that through our heads thoroughly, understood that completely, we would never do a small thing, we would never say a cross word, we would not use bad language, we would not criticize anybody, we would love everyone the way the Savior loves us.” 

Isn't she the best? I want to be just like her when I grow up.

P.S. Please tell me you thought of The Three Amigos when I used the word "plethora". If not, you should click here to be enlightened. ;)

P.P.S. Happy Friday! Yippee!

Wanderlust, homesickness, and Segovia

There are few things I love more than travelling. I love to explore, especially off the beaten path, and I sure am glad that I married someone that shares my love for adventure.

However, I do have a bit of a problem. You see, every time I go somewhere I get really emotionally attached, and then I miss it like crazy when I leave, but at the same time I am a major homebody. When I'm away from home for very long I start itching to be back. I spent four months in Russia when I was unofficially engaged to Dallin, and every day was a mix of intense homesickness and equally intense happiness and love for that beautiful, crazy, somewhat sketchy place. Every day I crave Russia's colorful architecture and culture, California's sandy beaches, southern Utah's canyons, Spain's vineyard-spattered countryside, Maui's rocky coasts, Arizona's mountain peaks, and my own home all at the same time. I love them all and wish I could somehow be everywhere at once.

Today, however, I'm especially missing the quaint, picturesque town of Segovia that we visited on our trip to Spain earlier this year. This place was like stepping into a painting from a fairy tale. It's a bummer that there is an ocean between me and this... if only going back were easier and less expensive! 

The castle was my favorite.

Inside the castle

View of the cathedral and town from the castle

Looking up at the ceiling in the cathedral

Roman aqueducts, with Dallin standing at the base for scale.
This was so impressive!

Seminary, sleep, and a haiku

Fall break is officially over (*insert dramatic sigh here*). It has been glorious. I slept in until 7 or 7:30 every morning and enjoyed it thoroughly. 

In fact, maybe I enjoyed it a little too much because I think I died a little inside when I turned my seminary alarms (yes, plural) back on this afternoon. 5:45 isn't that early, right? I can do this, right? I'm not going to be a grumpy mess from Hades in the morning, right? 

Ah, hopefully those things are all true. We shall see.

To summarize my feelings, I wrote a haiku. Please enjoy.

How I Feel About Waking Up & 

Putting On a Bra at 6:00am

No no no no no

No no no no no no no

No no no no no

Good thing I love my students so much, eh? Even though this waking up early thing has become much more difficult now that I'm pregnant, I'm happy to do it, I promise. I might whine about it, but I love it. It is challenging but rewarding, and I know I will miss it, even if that is hard to remember at zero dark thirty when all I want is sleep. Wish me luck... I'm going to need it!

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails

I have some exciting news! We had an ultrasound on Tuesday and our little pterodactyl is a... 

BOY! 

We are so excited and can't wait to meet him in just a few months! 

Also, now that we know the gender this is all becoming very real to me. 

I'm really having a baby. A son. A little man-child who is going to bring bugs and lizards and dirt in the house and drive me crazy in all the best ways. I can't wait. 

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." -Albert Camus

I love the mountains. As much as I love to travel, mountains will always be home to me. 

And although I love my mountains all year long, there's something especially beautiful about how fall turns the quivering aspen leaves to gold. It's my favorite. :)

I made it up here just in time... a cold, wet storm blew in last night and these aspen are probably crusted in snow and ice right now and I don't think they will last much longer. I'm glad I got to enjoy it first! With Arizona's unpredictable weather it can be really easy to miss. Trust me, I've done it many times. I was especially glad I made it this year so I could play around with my new-ish camera. I'm becoming more and more familiar with manual mode and almost never switch back to automatic, although I still need lots of practice. Anyone want to volunteer their faces for me to shoot instead of trees? ;) 

(P.S. I'm serious, especially if you live nearby! Free pictures, anyone?)

Anyway, happy October! Can you believe it is already the tenth? Time is going by so quickly! It's going to be November before I know it, and then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, and then February will be just around the corner... and we'll have a baby! But for now I am just going to enjoy this beautiful fall weather and not think about how soon February is going to get here... or how much I need to get done before it does.

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

-Anne Shirley