One of those weeks

Don't get me wrong. This week was fine. Nothing terrible happened. Nothing made me cry too hard. And nothing I couldn't handle (although at the time I thought so...)

But. I'm exhausted. And the week isn't over. I have a few minutes before I have to leave to play at the Wind Symphony Concert. I'll be happy once Sunday hits..too bad Sunday is just one day.

It was one of those weeks where all my body was craving was sweet, fatty goodness. Let's see. Today I had 3 Reeses cups, 1 subway cookie (all nice and soft. and gooey. and satisfying.) and 2 "fun" size 100 Grand. Yesterday I had creamery Ice cream (pralines and carmel with a cone on top. I never get the cone. But I needed to splurge. Not to mention there was more caramel then ice cream. Ask David if you don't believe me. It was delicious.)

Who knows what I will eat tomorrow.

But I tell myself it is alright. I need it. Literally. I'm not getting any fatter...I think...so far... Sometimes it is the only thing that will get me through. And I think that is ok. We can go too far, like having these sort of cravings everyday for a week. But considering my week and the amount of sleep I have been getting, it is worth it. I will sacrifice a few extra (hundred) calories for the sake of my sanity and my soul.

Rehearsals until 8:30, 9:30, and 10:30 at night, a concert, a competition where you have to be in Ogden at 8:45 in the morning, will get to you. Not to mention everything else.  Maybe not everyone. But I'm tired.

But I think that's ok. It is amazing how prayers will sustain you.

And I will keep going to matter how crazy life gets, because I guess it is the crazy things that makes life worth living.

A rose David gave me while we were engaged. 

Quick Food: Broccoli soup

Who knew Broccoli soup would be so fast and so good? Basically this recipe consisted of butter, broccoli, 1 cup of chicken broth (or water and bouillon) and onion boiled together until the broccoli is tender. And of course salt and pepper. It's then wizzed together with an emersion blender.

It was so simple! If you don't have a cool blender like this: ask for one from dear old Santa.

Or you could put it in a blender, but make sure you fill the blender only half way with the hot soup because the soup expands and is VERY hot. Just trust me with this one.

It ends up looking like this:

Doesn't it look cool? I'm totally making this for Saint Patrick's day. Personally I think kid's would eat this if only because it was green and looked awesome.

I thought it needed a bit more depth of flavor, but David adored it. What I would add next time: bacon crispified and added at the end, one potato for smoothness, and a touch of cream for creaminess.

But it was good as is! Try it! Let me know if you want the EXACT recipe...

year and a half old cookies... sort of.

Perhaps I am sentimental, but exactly a year and a half ago today David and I made snickerdoodles for his birthday. It was ours second date (a month and half after our second) and we made snickerdoodles for a Sunday afternoon activity. I barely considered it a date, but David did, so I'll take it. Little did I know it was his birthday and so I was quite surprised by the balloons on his door decorated by his sister.  It does not need to be said that I thought a birthday date was strange, but I was flattered.

He also jumped higher on my boy interest list by 1) making snickerdoodles instead of boring chocolate chip 2) baking his cookies so they are just slightly under done and 3) his recipe was amazing and equaled my own.

2 Days ago we made snickerdoodles for a baby shower and we waxed sentimental. Here are a few pictures that documented the epic event.

The handsome man hard at work. Notice his apron. I find it very attractive. Also, if you want to know a secret, David did all the work this time. I had a boat load of homework that I did at his feet.

The beatufiul cookies right before we took them out. Notice how puffed and gooey they are. Long gone are the crispy, mournful cookies of the grocery store.

With the last dregs of dough David waxed experimental.

Don't they look cool?

Huh. But the final product was pretty similar. The one on the left was the square and the right the circle with the divot. I wonder what other shapes we could make.

Link to an amazing blog post

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This is an AWSOME blog post. So inspirational.

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Awesome pins

Disneyland. It's magical. We all know this. But it is certainly most magical ALONE with your newly hubby. :) We went to Disneyland on our honeymoon and it was so much fun. We got special treatment because we acquired the most amazing pins!

We saw only one other couple who wore them, and on the very first day. It provided great conversation starters for any friendly person in line with us. We met an awesome family from Amsterdam. But the best part was having EVERY (literally EVERY) Disneyland employee say Congratulations! It made us feel special. It was interesting noting, the different couples in Disneyland. The VAST majority of the couples our age weren't married. We were definitely an anomaly, and I loved it.

I mean, who wouldn't feel special? David was my Prince Charming and I was his Cinderella. And together we formed a new Reece Family... which we giddily represented by taking a picture next to the R in California.

On a different note, we both discovered an AMAZING ride we both hadn't been on before in California Adventure. We wore a set of 3-D glasses. as we went through the Toy Story themed ride. Each of us had a score board as we raced to see how many bulls-eyes we could make as we shot various targets. It was really cool. In fact, I thought it would please even my father in terms of creativity. The ride even kept a tally of the day's, weeks, and all-time high scores.

If any one is considering going to Disneyland on a honeymoon or get-away, David and I approve most heartily.

Real Dreams

Hello devoted readers:

I really do appreciate you stopping by. Maybe it is sad, but I think all of us love feeling validated by a little comment or being a "follower." On second thought, it's not sad at all, just human nature. That being said, you lucky folks get a preview of my favorite pictures from our wedding reception.

My reception was everything I could ever have hoped for. It was in my backyard which lent an amazing casual and homey feel. And that is what a wedding should be, right? It is all about families and friends. The food was great, the music was fantastic, and everyone stayed and talked to each other. And there was literally not a cloud in the sky the entire day. I have never felt so blessed, so happy, nor so loved. It was incredible. I feel so blessed to have married David. God really does love us. I promise. :)