2012 - farewell. At least the world didn't end.

Fewf!!! I'm glad the world didn't end ;) I figured since I haven't been on  in a while I would catch you up with what has been happening the last year.

JANUARY - We rang in the new year banging on pots and pans and then going planking! We went all over Utah Valley and planked on the PF Changs horse, firetrucks, soda machines, on top of buildings. It was a lot of fun.

FEBRUARY - James kept tricking me with fake proposals. He got me good a few times and then on Valentines day, he proposed. :) Then we went on a cruise with his family to Mexico, it was soo much fun!!

MARCH - We started planning our wedding and chose a date in July and where we would have our wedding and reception. I don't have a lot of pictures from March. Here is one when James and his brother came to pick me up and were dancing for me :).

APRIL  - More wedding planning and shopping. We went to A Day to Remember concert which was amazing. Plus James was finishing up his Spring Classes. Finals suck. We started looking for a place to live, and going through our rooms to de-junk.

 MAY - James turned 21!! We found a place to live, and I moved out.We also took our engagement pictures and fell into the lake :). I planted my first garden and spent my first night in our condo alone. So scary.

JUNE - I found my wedding Dress!! Then I had my bridal pictures taken. We were finishing up the last few touches we needed for our wedding. His cousin got married too and had his family reunion!

JULY  - We were married!!!! Then we went to Vegas for our Honeymoon. It was over 100 degrees the whole time we were there! Then our sweet niece Vera was born!!

 AUGUST - James, his dad and brother went to Alaska for a week! They had a blast! I also got my KitchenAid mixer!!!!! I love it :) James' twin sister also got married this month! It was an awesome summer!

(photo credit)

SEPTEMBER - I sold my jeep and bought us a new car!! We had Lucy's first birthday party!! I made her Minnie Mouse cupcakes! James also sliced his thumb open and had to get stitches!

OCTOBER - We went to St. George for Matt's birthday! We went and spent a day at Zions National Park too. We also had a Zombie attack warning! Bahahh! We had a fun first Halloween being married. I dressed up as a bumble bee and James was a bee catcher (he took off his net for this picture)!

NOVEMBER - I turned 20!!! No longer a teenager :) James made me crab for dinner!! Yumm. James did movember and didn't shave all month. Gross. We had our first snow storm! James bought me flowers because I had a bad day :). James' sisters, mom and I made thee cutest Christmas Tree from reclaimed wood. It recently had a small feature on this blog. I also made a pumpkin pie from scratch for our first Thanksgiving!

DECEMBER - We bought a fresh Christmas tree! I made a few crafty things for Christmas as well! It was our first Christmas together and I wanted it to be a great one! I made a Peppermint Cheesecake, Pumpkin pie and banana cream pie for a Christmas party!  We spent a fun weekend up in Salt Lake with James' family and saw the temple lights! James got me a Nikon camera! I bought him a hitch for his truck! We were both happy campers!

 2012 was a great year and I can't wait for whatever 2013 brings us! I hope you all had a wonderful New Year!!

Update

Not a whole lot has been happening lately. James and I went on a walk the other night and ended up at Target. We bought the Bourne trilogy. I haven’t seen any of them so I was excited to watch one.

We went to St. George last weekend for a trip with his family. It was so much fun to be away for a weekend! We went to Zions on Sunday for the day which was a blast! A few pictures to come soon!!

I found this picture on Pinterest the other day, and I really love it. I sure hope Utah doesn't get a fall snow so early where all the leaves are on the trees still. I want time to enjoy fall.

(source)

Happy Friday!!

Welcome October!! Tomato Tortellini Soup recipe!

Welcome Fall!!!!

I made this recipe on the first day of Fall, even though it was like 80 degrees outside, I wanted soup for fall.

Tomato Tortellini Soup - Yummy!

1 Package (9 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini

2 Cans (10 3/4 oz each) reduced-sodium condensed tomato soup, undiluted

2 cups vegetable broth

2 cups 2% milk

2 cups half and half 

1/2 cup chipped oil packed sun-dried tomatoes

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Additional Parmesan cheese optional to sprinkle on top

Cook tortellini according to package directions (I think it would be good to cook the tortellini in the broth and tomato soup so there's more flavor in the tortellini).

Meanwhile, in a dutch oven, (I used an 8 quart stockpot since I doubled it.) combine the soup, broth, milk, cream, tomatoes and seasonings. Heat through, stirring frequently.

Drain tortellini and carefully add to soup. (Very slowly, you don't want it to splash on you!) Stir in cheese and sprinkle each serving with additional cheese if desired. Yield: 10 servings (2 1/2 quarts).

(Source) for recipe

James bought the big package of tortellini, so I decided to double the recipe. Boy did we get a TON of soup. You could easily use twice as much tortellini with the same amount of liquids if you like a lot of STUFF in your soup more than the broth. Which we do, so I think we will do that next time we make it. This recipe would also be good with shrimp. Mmm, so good.  James and I also drove up the canyon last week. The leaves are changing. It's beautiful.

We set the camera on the top of the car with the self timer to get a picture, we're so clever!!