6 Years Later.....

It's hard to believe that I have been married for 6yrs and one day!!!  Sometime it feels like it's already been forever and other times it's just like we barely said our "I Do's"  Does that make sense to anyone?

As I look back I am glad to see that we have been so blessed in our lives.... no that we haven't had any hard times, but rather that we have always been provided with all that we needed to get thru them.  We have a beautiful relationship and a healthy and exciting marriage!!! I can't wait for the next 6yrs and beyond!!

Here are a few fun facts I was reflecting on. Since we got married we have:

• Moved 5 times (almost once every year!!)
• Taken 3 International trips
• Gone on 9 road trips
• Taken 4 airplane trips
• Visited 6 different states and 2 foreign countries
• Had 2 pets
• Had 10 different jobs between the 2 of us
• Had 12 different callings in the Church between the 2 of us
• Started our own business
• Been broke 4 times (always dug ourselves out!!)
• Had accounts with 5 different banks
• Had 4 cars
• Replaced 10 car tires (what is up with that??!?!? Doesn't this number seem a little high?!?)
• Gone thru 10 cell phones between the 2 of us
• Bought 5 computers (plus endless parts for my piece of junk machine!!)
• And we have had way more fun than it's probably allowed!! :)

For the next phase of our lives I wouldn't change a thing!! ... well maybe a couple of things, like moving a little less.... and not go thru so many cell phones!!

I have been so blessed and am so grateful for all that I have and the people in my life.  Dana you are such a treasure to me and I will love you forever.


Till next time...

Valentine's day update...

So... remember when I said that I had the best husband?!?! Well, I am about to prove it... for Valentine's day he bought us a chocolate fountain machine with all the fixings (strawberries, bananas, rice krispy treats (no idea how to actually spell this....), marshmallows, cookies etc...) and Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" to watch while we gorged on over 2lbs of chocolate and I don't even want to know how much in dipping items......

Best night ever.... even the tummy ache afterward was totally worth it! :)

My guy really is the best!!

Now off to the gym to work out all this chocolate!!......

Yay! It's Valentine's Day!! :)

Every year, right around the middle of February something happens that turns one day into a special celebration!!  Though some say that it's just another day made "special" by greeting card companies to assuage their greed... I don't really see it that way :)  What can be more special than a day dedicated to celebrate LOVE?!?!?  if you ask me... nothing!!

I used to hate this day (I never really dated before I met my wonderful husband so I never had  a date for the big day) until I realized that it wasn't about me, or about what someone would do for me, this day is about telling the people you love how you feel and a day to make them feel special!
So date or no date, today is a GREAT DAY!!

..And also it's Migey's birthday! so that alone is cause for celebration!!

I am married to the most wonderful man in the world... (sorry all of you ladies out there... but I did see him first! ) He works so hard to provide for us, he is strong, righteous, a worthy priesthood holder, really funny and full of life, he is kind and generous, calm in the face of trials (namely an OCD wife!!) he never complains and is happy with whatever meal I prepare (yes, even the not so great ones!) he somehow manages to deal with all 10 Corinne's equally well and most of all he is not freaked out that there are ten of us! He pushes me and motivates me to be better, to do better and to try harder.   And so much more that I can hardly list everything!!  Today I want to celebrate him and tell him how much I love him and cherish him; my life is so much richer because of him.

To all of you out there whom I love, I take this opportunity to say how much you all mean to me, whether we are friends or family, or both!! I am truly grateful that you are in my life and that I get to share this journey with all of you.

And to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ I wish to say that my life would be meaningless without Them in it. Their love and support of me is what gets me thru and inspires me to work hard to become more like Them. There is no greater example of love than that which we read of in the scriptures and that which we fell as The Lord's Spirit and Comforter touches us in our times of need.

John 3:16-17
"For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should no perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that through Him the world may be saved"

May your Valentine's Day be filled with love for those around you and may we all be a bit kinder, more understanding and more open with one another and make this day one to remember!!

Oh and don't forget to hug and kiss your Valentine, because without him/her it wouldn't be as sweet!

Till Next time....

Gasp!!

Gasp!! It's been 5 weeks since I posted anything..... too much work to do and not enough brain cells to do everything!  At least we are making money! :)

I'll have to write more later... I just didn't want my blog to feel alone and forgotten!!!


Till next time.....

CAKE!!!

So, for my first post of 2011 I wanted to do something cool..... and it was really hard to think of something I could blog about that was indeed cool.... for those of you that know me you can see how this could have been the case! ;)

Then today I made the most spectacular cake and thought! AHA! that's cool, I should blog about it!!  And guess what?!?!? I actually have pictures to attach to this post! another first for me!!  So, here is picture number one..... (If I can figure out how to do this....)

Alright, here it is!! and it's a thing of beauty if I do say so myself!!

Cake ID:

• Base: Delicious Italian Sponge Cake
• Filling: Chocolate Ganache and fresh Blackberries
• Garnish: Homemade whipping cream, chocolate ganace, fresh blackberries and sponge cake crumbs!!!

Results: AWESOME!!

Here is a view of the delicious inside!!

Ah, the slice of pie that was consumed by me!! no wait... this was consumed by the Birthday boy, Callen, it was for him that I made this cake.

This is what is left of the cake as of now.... not sure if it will make it to tomorrow ;)



It was a lot of work... and I forgot to soak the sponge cake so it was a little heavy but the chocolate ganache make up for all of that... and yes it is loaded!!

(I don't know why all of our pictures come out so dark... this apartment must make our camera feel depressed.... we have tried everything to get them lighter... nothing has worked so far.. sigh )

A great thanks goes out to Dana for sifting the flour for me, most of it made into the bowl!! ;) Another thanks goes to the box that gave up it's shape so I could have the base the cake sits on, I couldn't have done it without you!!  And a great big thanks to whoever invented chocolate ganache, this world is so much better because of it!! Oh, and thanks to Callen for having a birthday that brought all of this about!!

Till next time........
Corinne

P.S.  I can hear the cake calling me!!!!

Quick update....

Ok, here is short and sweet for all of you out there who don't think I can do it! :P

We are home..... it only took an extra 6hrs but hey, we made it.... I cannot tell you how grateful I am to be writing this post from home as opposed to the angry and bitter one that I was prepared to write while stuck at the Denver airport (even though, now that I think about it, it would have been rather entertaining....after a month or so ;) )   Our luggage may or may not be on the way..... how is it possible that we checked 3 bags in, at the same time, and only one of them made it?!?!?!? sigh....  But at least the bag with all the presents in it made it!! woot!!!!  who needs clothes and toiletries when one has presents!??!? Not me!!

I have now been up for about 36hrs total, with a few quick and uncomfortable naps in between.... it is not a pretty sight... I have been casting longing and suggestive looks at my pillow... thru the wall, cause I am too tired to get up and look at it thru the door opening....  it knows what's coming.... oh yeah, that's it, 12hrs of sleep coming my way!!!!!

Must end the post now to remain within the short and sweet parameters afore mentioned!!

will check in again once I have had my way with the pillow, mhuahahahahah!! (in a totally non creepy way!!)

Corinne ;)

The Missouri trip... written while stuck at the airport.

Ok, so here are the highlights of our Missouri trip...  please beware that this post maybe slightly skewed and a bit angry due to the fact that I am sitting at the Kansas City airport after having been delayed for 4hrs and not knowing whether or not we'll actually make it home once we get to Denver as we are on standby..... so we ask for you forgivness and understanding :)

How could have 9 days gone by so fast?!?!?!  well I guess once  you count in trip time and all, it only adds up to 7 1/2 but still.... I swear we just left Seattle 2 days ago!! So, let's start at the beginning....
After an uneventful airplane trip of about 6hrs give or take (that includes wait time) we landed in the very weird Kansas City airport. Upon exiting the gate area we almost walked past Toby and Jill, don't ask me why but we did.... we were grateful to them for coming to pick us up and for being there when we landed, you guys rock!!  Then we had to wait for about 1 1/2 hrs for the Utah crowd to land, we had a good visit and ate some spectacular ribs generously provided by Toby and Jill.  Some Angry Birds was played..... gotta love that game, easy to play and it provides hrs of entertainment for all age groups!  Once the Utah crowd landed.....about 10min early (which was not reflected on the arrivals screen.... silly airport!!) we all loaded up in the great van and headed home......3hrs later we were there!  Our arrival woke everybody up... sorry guys, I know it was early.... I think it was around 3am?!?! somebody correct me if I am wrong...  We had a good if short visit and then people headed to bed.

What followed that first day was and array of delicious food, hilarious children comments and conversations, more food, trips to town in multiple vehicles, crying/screaming children, more food and general pleasantries.  The time flew by way too fast, we got way too little sleep and ate way too much food, pretty much what you would expect from a vacation :)

Food Highlights:

• breakfast sausage balls (Provided by Michelle)
• breakfast cookies (Provided by Vea)
• bread, yum!!! (provided by Vea and Natalie)
• Turkey noodle soup (provided by Vea)
• Chinese buffet (provided by nameless chinese people)
• Lasagna (provided by yours truly)
• Delicious barbeque pulled pork sandwiches on homemade buns (provided by Vea) FAVORITE MEAL :)
• Sweet and savory crepes!!! (provided by Vea with an able assist from Michelle)  still digesting those as we just ate them 5hrs ago... oh how we love food
• Scrumptous chocolate mousse (provided by yours truly)
• Chocolate scones... yum!! (provided by yours truly and Michelle, supervised by Vea)
• Awesome cheese night!! 6 or 7 cheeses were present, plus an array of crackers, pears and grapes. Thank you to all the ladies that sliced, diced amd arranged everything in a beautiful and inviting composition; is there ever such a thing as too much cheese!??!? I think not!!

On the not so positive and exciting column one must mention the horribe sickness that went around..... a few of us were deathly ill for most of the time, I am glad and sad to report that I, for once, was not the most sick, except for the day I spent throwing up which made us miss the Silver Dollar City expedition.... however we did get some awesome Christmas decorations from Vea, thank you so much!!!

A shout out goes to all the fun stuff we did:

• shooting guns, always a favorite
• Hollis' baptism, thanks for arranging to get that done while we were out there and could be a part of it :)
• watching rift tracks.... yes Eclipse was THAT bad!!
• opening presents with the children, even though we had to wait till 1pm to start, what torture!!!
• driving around town with the ladies
• driving to the smallest post office ever known to man
• checking out Toby and Jill's awesome new place
• Checking out Lynn and Dallas' new place, Lynn's workplace and his new swanky car... go Focus!!  :P just kidding, I know it's a Taurus! :P

So, as I sit here at the airport waiting for our flight I am very grateful to be able to remember all the good memories we made and the great time we had, it was worth a little airport drama to see everybody.  All of the children have grown so much I am starting to feel even older than I alread did.

We desperately wish we lived closer and that moving closer would be an option, but it doesn't look like we'll be able to do that anytime soon; so for the next little while we'll just have to make trips back and forth as often as we can. 

A shout out to Emma and Barrett who due to inclement weather related issues didn't make it out there, you were sorely missed and we wished with all our hearts you could be there. We miss you guys and hope to see you soon, maybe in Montana somewhere??!! Hugs and kisses to you both and to your adorable dogs! :)

I am sure I am forgetting a whole lot of things, but seeing how I haven't really slept yet you can't really blame me... I may have to edit this later but for now I am happy as it is......

Till next time.....
Corinne