Working Woman

That's right, I am now a working woman. I got a part time job at Halloween USA for the next 6 weeks. Yep, I work with all of the gothic teenagers. No, everyone is actually really nice. So, I'll work a few nights and Saturdays while Ryan's at home. I told Ryan that part of the deal with me going back to work is that the house may be a disaster and I might be ornery. He said he could handle it for 6 weeks, so off to work I go. I'm excited to get some extra cash to play with for a little bit. Plus, I get 30% off. My friends and family get 30% off too, so if any of you are around and are looking for some Halloween fun, come my way :)

The Proposal

A couple of you asked about our proposal, so here it is.

It was Labor Day weekend 2004. Ryan's roommate was getting married in Logan Utah. We had other friends up in Logan so we decided to go up together and stay Friday and Saturday night. So, we went and I stayed with my friend Neesha and Ryan stayed with his friends Chalise and Mike.
On Saturday morning Ryan went to his friend's sealing and wedding luncheon. I hung out with Neesha and was waiting for Ryan to pick me up for the reception. Ryan was taking longer than planned and I was getting a little bugged. It took him so long because when he got out of the sealing, he got a call saying my ring was ready. Instead of going to the luncheon, he drove to Clearfield, which is an hour each way, to pick up my ring.
So, he picks me up for the reception and we drive to the Sherwood Hills Resort, where the reception is. The whole way I'm asking Ryan when he thinks my ring will be ready, but he didn't give anything away. We get to the Resort and go into the nice little restaurant there. We walk in and the waiter asks if we have a reservation. Simultaneously I say "No" and Ryan says "Yes". I'm totally confused and Ryan tells me that he wanted to surprise me with a romantic dinner instead of going to the reception. I accepted that explanation. We ate a yummy dinner and then the waiter brought out cheesecake for dessert. Along with it he brought out a tray with a dozen red roses on it. Ryan got down on his knee and proposed there in the restaurant. His friend had dropped off the roses and a camera while Ryan was getting the ring. So, a waitress was taking pictures while Ryan proposed. It was just like in a movie! It really was so romantic and just perfect!
Afterward was so funny. We were staying another night so we headed to the grocery store to get some breakfast stuff. We got pulled over twice on our way to the store because one of the headlights was out on the car. We finally make it and are checking out and the cashier mentions how sparkly and new my ring looks. I told her that we just got engaged. She calls over all of the other workers and they all start oohing and ahhing and clapping. It really was like in a movie.
So, yeah, it was a great proposal and we went and stayed in that Resort for our first anniversary and they even gave us free cheesecake :) Perfect!

Husband Tag

I was tagged by Tiffini, so here we go....

1. What is his name? Ryan LeRoy Woodland
2. Who eats more? Definitely Me
3. Who said, "I love you" first? Here's how the conversation went...he said "I think I'm falling in love with you." And I said "I'm already in love with you." Oh so cheesy.
4. Who is taller? Ryan
5. Who is smarter? Definitely Ryan, he had a full ride scholarship to BYU all 4 years!
6. Who is more sensitive? Me of course
7. Who does the laundry? Mostly me but Ryan helps a lot.
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? When you face the bed, I do.
9. Who pays the bills? Me of course!
10. Who cooks more? I do, but Ryan likes to try new recipes every now and then.
11. Who is more stubborn? I say him, but he says me. Honestly, probably me, though I hate to admit it.
12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Neither of us ;)
13. Who has more siblings? Me, I have 7 and Ryan has 4.
14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? Definitely me!
15. What do you like to do together? Watch movies, play games, just hang out.
16. Who eats more sweets? I do!!
17. Guilty Pleasures? I want to say his guilty pleasure is High School Musical, because he loves it, but he doesn't feel guilty about it at all, even though he should!
18. How did you meet? Through friends
19. Who asked whom out first? Technically Ryan but only after I mentioned that there were no guys around to date. He said "what about me?" and I said "ask me out then!"
20. Who kissed who first? I kissed Ryan first.
21. Who proposed? Ryan, and it was very romantic.
22. His best features and qualities? He is just an all around great guy. He is an awesome dad and loves playing with Hayden. He is hard working and gives us everything we need. He is also funny and really easy going. I love you, babe!!

I tag Laura and Melenie

Go BYU!

We want to give a shout out to the Cougs!! They won today 59-zip. Even though we don't live in Utah anymore and we don't even get the games on tv, we still get excited for game day. Ryan listens to the game online and we wear our BYU gear. Ryan's last year at BYU we got season tickets. It was so fun going to the game each week and we definitely miss it. But we still love BYU football, so go Cougars!

Hayden got so excited at the thought of BYU that she grabbed a bag of marshmallows, dumped them out, and stuffed her face before we could clean them up :)

Cafe Rio Recipes

Here are the Cafe Rio recipes we use. Again, they don't taste just like Cafe Rio but are still super yummy.

Chicken
3 chicken breasts
1 can green chile sauce
1 C chicken broth
1 T cumin 1/2 onion
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 limes juice
Chopped Fresh Cilantro to taste

Place chicken breasts in crock pot, pour green chile sauce and chicken broth over the top and add cumin, garlic, lime juice, and cilantro. Cut an onion in half and place full onion rings on top of the chicken to flavor...they will be removed when the chicken is cooked and discarded. Cook for 4 hours, shred meat and cook for another hour.

Black Beans
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c Tomato juice
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
2 T Olive Oil
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 T fresh cilantro chopped

In a skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

Tortillas
2 cups flour
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup warm water

In a bowl, blend flour, salt, baking powder and shortening until it resembles fine meal.

Add warm water, a little at a time, to flour mixture and toss until liquid is incorporated. Water amount will vary with different flour types.

Form dough into a ball and kneed on a floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic. Divide, and make 12 smaller balls. Cover and let stand at least 30 minutes.

Roll each ball of dough on a floured surface to make 6 or 7 inch sized tortillas. Place on a pre-heated griddle or cast iron skillet and cook till medium golden on both sides.


Well there you go. These are the only recipes we have tried. There are other Cafe Rio recipes out there, just google them if you're interested. These tortillas aren't my favorite but they're easy so they work for us. Enjoy!

Weekend Stuff

We haven't been up to anything too exciting but here are the few things we have been doing.

Hayden is now officially in a big girl car seat. Well it hasn't quite made it to the car yet, but she loves to sit in it in the living room. I can't believe how big she is. I remember when she barely took up any room in her newborn seat. Oh memories ;)

Yesterday the weather was so nice. So, we headed outside. Hayden rode her little bike. Then we headed to the park.
She absolutely loves slides. She likes to climb up them (if she can) then slide down over and over and over again. We discovered how strong she is, which is super strong, by putting her up to the monkey bars. At first Ryan was holding her body but she was holding her weight so Ryan let go. She just hung there smiling until we pried her fingers off the bar and made her get down.

Later that day we headed to the Volo Bog with my bro's fam. If you've never been to a bog, it is a marshy type place with a floating board walk that circles it. The first time Ryan and I went, it was super hot and super humid and I was 8 1/2 months pregnant. Needless to say, I was very ornery and decided I hated the stupid bog. Well, yesterday was actually very nice and we had a fun time. We found a few turtles, a snake, and Celtin was throwing a grasshopper at Shylo. Hayden screamed for a bit because we wouldn't let her get in the nasty water. Oh the fun!

We've been so domestic at our house this past week. My visiting teacher gave me 2 huge zucchini and I made 6 loaves of 3 different kinds of bread to freeze. Then Ryan looked up a recipe for Cafe Rio chicken burritos and tortillas. We made it last Sunday and today because it is super easy and super good! I don't think it really tastes like Cafe Rio but it is definitely good.

The blond in my hair was looking really bad and was really hard to keep up with. So, Ryan dyed my hair. The first time didn't work out so well and I ended up calling Clairol's customer service to find out how to fix it. We tried what they told me and instead off my natural brown color that I was going for, I ended up with red. Actually at first it was kind of orange and I was kind of freaking out. Thankfully, the orange has faded over the last few days and now I'm okay with having Auburn hair.

I know it doesn't sound all that great, but it was a really enjoyable weekend :)

Happy Labor Day

So, I have a love/hate relationship with Labor Day. I love it because it's a holiday and Ryan gets to stay home from work. I hate it because it means summer is pretty much over and that is a big fat bummer. Oh well, what can you do, right?

We spent the day with my brother and his family. We started off playing at a big park. Then we realized how incredibly hot it was outside (about 90 degrees).
So we ditched the park and made a Target run. We picked up this cute but very small frog pool and a sprinkler. Then headed to Adam's to get wet, eat pizza and have root beer floats. It turned out to be a not too eventful but very fun and relaxing day :)

On a side note here, we washed our cars last week and Hayden was so excited. She immediately ran and sat down in the direct flow of water, picked up the bowl and dumped it on her, and then ran around swinging the rags everywhere. Car washing is definitely one of her favorite activities. She was soaked but loving it!

And I just love this picture so I decided to throw it in. Isn't she so sweet? I love that little face.