March 31

We're figuring that the local Baptist church is trying to drum up attendance for their Easter sermon next week. This is the second week in a row that we have gotten something on our door from the Bethel Baptist Church of Cary. This week it consisted of nerds and a Smile... Jesus Loves You booklet located in an Easter egg. Next week Jannette was thinking of putting some Book of Mormon verses on the door specifically for them and wonders if they would even know what to do with them.

March 30

Jennifer found a great craft idea on Pinterest. Today Jannette went and bought the last piece for it- a 3'x 4' canvas. They typically aren't cheap so today Jannette went to Michael's because they were having a huge sale and got it 1/2 off. It's a huge canvas (read: monstrous). To help show exactly how big it is, the picture of the canvas was taken with it up against our counter. It'll be hung eventually over Jannette's bed.

March 29

One week from today, Jennifer and Jannette will be in Texas!!!! It has been a tradition to make a cross-stitch temple for Jannette's roommates as they get married with the temple that they get married in. Charlie is no different. But in order to not spoil the surprise here's only a bit of the present that Charlie and Steven will get in a week!

March 28

Jennifer never lets a trip to Publix go by without getting spinach artichoke dip. It never lasts very long either. It's one of the best things that Publix carries. Luckily for her, Jennifer's friend Marlette was on the way up to see her and was nice enough to stop in and pick up some for her - YUMMMMMMMMMM!!!

March 27

The grills at our complex are finally working now. It's been fun going up there to grill whatever we decide to have for dinner. Steak was in order for tonight. In order to feel better about the steak, we loaded up on the veggies on the side.

March 26

Jennifer had to ht the grocery store today to grab a few items since Marlette came into town and got a chuckle out of the fact that when she went to check out at the grocery store, the total was an even $100.00!!

March 25

Decorating the apartment continues, slowly but surely. This time the decorating was concentrated in Jennifer's room putting up pictures. These are pictures that Jennifer has taken, one for each season. Winter- Utah 2008, Spring- Washington 2006, Summer- California 2010 and Fall- North Carolina 2011. What can we say, we like to travel and we like taking photos. - it seemed like a great combo!!

March 24

Today was spent shopping, eating out, dodging rain storms and 11 month E pictures. While trying to help Megan get an outfit together for Emmett's 11 month/birthday invite pictures, Jannette decided to put a baseball hat on Emmett. We dare say that he was quite charming.

March 23

Today Jennifer and Jannette drove out to spend some time with Megan. It's always fun to be out there. We had a girls night out full of yummy mexican food and America's Most Smartest Model (seriously - google it, there really was a show named this...). Jennifer must have some special powers because this is what Emmett looked like at 9p this evening.

March 22

Jennifer wanted to try a new recipe out- ricotta gnocchi. It's supposed to be made out of potato but to save carbs it was made out of ricotta cheese. They didn't quite turn out. They weren't bad but they weren't the best. Lessons in Italian cooking may be needed.

March 21

For the last couple of days it has been thunderstorming quite a bit. To the point that it has woken both Jennifer and Jannette up out of a dead sleep. You would think that with all the thunder it would have driven the geese out of the retention pond. These geese are around honking until 3-4am. At least now there is only 2 of them, at one time when we first moved in there were 13. They are so annoying. Meet our friends the geese.

Ps. The yellow stuff in the water is pollen- it's everywhere right now.

March 20

Happy First Day of Spring! Tulips adorn our apartment and our seeds are sprouting. Jennifer and Jannette are trying to plant a small garden of herbs (basil, cilantro and parsley), tomatoes and watermelon on their back porch. Time will tell just how green their thumbs are.

March 19

According to the saying - showers aren't supposed to start until April. However, North Carolina has had a run of showers ... or in today's case - a monsoon!! While out running errands, Jannette was caught in this mess. Yuck!

March 18

Happy Sunday! In Jannette's ward, it was Ward Conference - the theme was temple attendance.

March 17

Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Anniversary to the parents!! As Jennifer worked today, Jannette prepared a fabulous traditional Irish dinner- corned beef and cabbage. It was super tasty!!

March 16

Traveling back to real life (a.k.a. North Carolina) after a quick get-away was the agenda for today. The drive through the Smoky Mountains (KY, TN, and NC) was beautiful. The purple flowered trees were Jennifer's favorite.

March 15

NCAA Round 2 game. BYU vs Marquette. Louisville, KY. While the game didn't have a happy ending (mainly 'cause Jennifer's a sports jinx) for all 30 of us BYU fans that were there, Jennifer and Jannette had a really good time. They even converted some random Kentucky fans to be BYU fans for the game. It was fun to see the boys play in person again.

March 14

The perk of Jannette not having a job yet is that Jennifer and Jannette can pack up and go on random trips when Jennifer has multiple days off. Today, they decided to head to Kentucky for the NCAA Round 2 game between BYU and Marquette. Seeing as Jennifer worked last night... Jannette drove most of it. She loves getting out of North Carolina - even if it is for only 48 hours.

March 13

It's not offically Spring yet. But the trees across the street from the apartment are blooming. The tiny white flowers that are beautiful!

March 12

Since nursing school, Jennifer likes to work on reading multiple books at one time. It's a really bad habit of hers. Plus lately, it's kept her from finishing any of the books she has started. Super sad. However, currently her reading attempts have been centered around a few books including these...

The Hunger Games is out in theaters March 23rd - and The Lucky One will be out April 20th. And she made the decision that she won't see either until the book is finished. Good Luck Jennifer!!!

March 11

Spring Forward. Ugh. It just screws with people and is extremely pointless. Or so we think. Both Jannette and Jennifer were up super late - partly due to the time change and partly because they were working out super late. This was the last time Jennifer saw on the stove clock, but not when she went to bed. It was sad to see clocks go from 1:59AM to 3:00AM  :(

March 10

Tonight was copy cat recipe night in the apartment. After going to see The Lorax, Jennifer and Jannette whipped up 2 things they love eating at Sweet Tomatoes and located recipes online for: Deep Kettle House chili and Grilled Cheese Focaccia Dippers!

Quite yummy - not exactly right, but extremely close (thanks to this site: http://coffincm1972.xomba.com/deep_kettle_house_chili_recipe) - especially the dippers... cheesey goodness!!!

Here's the recipe for the Deep Kettle House Chili:

Ingredients:

1-2 16 oz. cans Dark Red Kidney Beans 

2 16 oz. cans stewed tomatoes with liquid

1 Small Stalk of Celery 

2 Mince garlic cloves 

3 Tsp Chili Powder 

2 Tsp Salt 

1 Tbsp Pepper 

2 lbs Ground Hamburger or Turkey Meat

1 Bell Pepper (Green) 

1 Onion (Yellow or White)

Directions:

Chop and sauté onion, celery, garlic, bell pepper, and meat until meat browns. Drain fat. In a standard soup pot add other items, bring to boil - then boil hard for 10 mins, then simmer until vegetables are tender.

March 9

Jennifer worked the last 2 nights and decided to go by the grocery store on the way home because for dinner the girls are making chicken. Here's a shot from what she bought, any ideas why getting carded at 9am was interesting?!?

The decorating of the apartment continues as Jannette and Jennifer find things they like. Here's what now adorns the wall above Jennifer's toilet!

March 8

Jannette went out to Walkertown yesterday to lend Megan a hand with the beast... I mean E :) He's almost 11 months old now, completely adorable, and is turning into quite the handful! Megan needed to get some things done at home before the big ENT visit on the 8th and Jannette takes any opportunity to babysit the handsome little beast... I mean E. Here are a few shots from the pre-ENT morning at home with him.

March 7

Tonight I gotta cut loose, footloose/ Kick off your Sunday shoes/ Please, Louise, pull me off of my knees/ Jack, get back, come on before we crack/ Lose your blues, everybody cut footloose....

Shocker - Jennifer and Jannette loved the remake!! And now they've added another DVD to their growing collection of movies!

March 6

Jennifer is officially licensed in NC for 2 more years as of today!! Renewing professional licenses are a pain and a hassle. Thank heavens there is a reprieve for her in 2013!!

March 5

Today after Jennifer took a much needed nap she went back to Chapel Hill with Jannette to celebrate a very important 8th birthday. Signs were made, cake was had, LEGO's were built - all in all an A+ night :)

THEN...

They decided to venture to Kohl's to look for whatever it is they shop for when they came across this wall of clothing in the women's department. The wall looked "zoned." Which one of these things is not like the other? Night went from A+ ... to A++!

March 4

Jennifer is on a quest to get Jannette to watch all the older Disney classic movies - the latest Netflix rentals were Bambi and Peter Pan. Jannette decided that Bambi will now prevent her from eating venison (good thing it isn't a huge part of our diet) and that seeing Peter Pan helps the Disney World ride make LOTS more sense. (Jennifer: "duh").

March 3

Weight Watchers approved tasty treats continued! Jannette fixed this recipe called BLT Lettuce Wraps and they were YUMM-O!!

March 2

Jennifer and Jannette are finally back in North Carolina. While making dinner they decided to make their go to recipe for low-carb brownies as well. They are yummy and use whey powder in place of regular flour!!

March 1

Leap day celebrations continue. Here are the rest of the pictures for every hour at Disney.

12am- Main Street Electrical Parade time and another shot of Cinderella!

1am- resting on the People Mover

2am- Turkey leg!!! These things are too yummy!

3am- Tea cups!!!! A favorite ride for sure!

4am- We decided that a small breakfast was in order to power through the rest of the morning! 2 more hours - go team! The building looks a little weird because the exterior is being redone.

5am- Another The Magic, The Memories, and You! viewing... Whomever came up with this was a genius!

6am- Retreat to the car - we did it!!!! 24 hours of Disney fun at Magic Kingdom!!!! Here's to another chance in 2016! :)