Merry Christmas

Jess and I have had to be very creative this year with our decorations. Last year my mom gave me a tiny little table tree that we used as one of our few decorations. This year we were planning on using it again, but much to our dismay, we discovered that we don't have any of our decorations this year! Instead we have had to improvise. We would just go buy another tree, or get a real one, but we wont even be able to enjoy it for very long. Instead, we have decided to make our existing plant as our tree. I even found a couple decorations to put on it. For the star I used a sunflower, doesn't the sun count as a star too? I was given a very cute owl decoration, so that is the only ornament we have on it so far. I also added a couple peppermint butter mints to add the final touch... it finally feels like Christmas. I have actually really enjoyed not having all the fancy decorations these last two years. It helps me feel the true meaning of Christmas, which is Christ... As you can see, our "Christmas tree" is right next to a pictureof the Savior. I feel that this will help Jess and I remember the really important things this Christmas.

Obesity Epidemic

As most of you probably know already, I am studying how to make people healthy, happy and vivacious!!!! And I love it! Today in my Advanced Nutrition class (yes, that does sound intense) we learned about the obesity epidemic that is overwhelming our nation. Now, I have had similar lectures before, but today, I just felt very overwhelmed by my future job as a Dietician. I could not believe some of the statistics (even though it seems like I hear them almost everyday). So, here is a little run down of my lesson from today. (This is for you mom!!!! You requested I write more about what I am learning, so here it goes!)

• Obesity is an epidemic of modern times

• Obesity is most rapidly increasing in children

• There are many health complications associated with obesity
• If the incidence of diabetes continues to rise at the rate it is now, 1 in 3 Americans born in 2000 will be diagnosed with diabetes by 2050.
  
• Diabetes was the 6th leading cause of death listed on US death certificates in 2000.
  
• $1 in every $10 health care dollars is attributed to diabetes.
  

Anyway.... I don't mean to sound so morbid... but this is a "growing" problem in our country that is becoming more and more prevalent among our younger generations. So, instead of leaving you all depressed, here are some ways to combat the onset of diabetes and obesity.

• Exercise- 30-60 minutes a day... the best exercise is the kind you love! this can be anything... as long as you like it enough to do it.
  
• Eat more fruits and vegetables!!!! This is key. I know it is something you expect to hear from a Dietician, but increased consumption of fruits and vegetables are known to decrease heart disease, diabetes and other health problems.
  
• Get sleep!!!!
  
• Decrease fat intake... fat is an important part of our diet and should not be completely avoided, but limit the amount of saturated fats and trans fats and total fat. Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats (such as olive oil, avocados) have been found to be good for our bodies!
  
• Increase fiber. Fiber is an excellent way to help decrease cholesterol, which is an indicator for obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
  

There are also many more things you can do... but I am out of time and tired of typing. Anyway, hope you learned a little something extra you can apply to life!!!! Cause I sure have.

Befriending Bok Choy

In my Education and counseling class we are required to pick a topic about nutrition and give a quick lesson about it in front of the class. My friend Megan and I were selected as partners and we decided to talk about Bok Choy. Now, if you are like 99.9% of the population, you have no idea what that is. Let me tell you. It is a member of the cabbage family and grows year round. Even in Utah! It's growing season is about 2 months. You can find it in pretty much any grocery store (I say pretty much because we were informed by the produce lady at Smiths here in Logan that they don't have it, rude). It has a very mild flavor as compared to regular cabbage and looks more like lettuce. It is great in stir frys, soups and salads. We gave out samples of a delicious recipe called Slow Cooker Orange beef. Everyone loved it!

Slow Cooker Orange Beef

• 1 1/2 lbs beef round steak, sliced (or beef stir fry strips)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 6 green onions, sliced
• 1 small head bok choy, cut in 1-inch chunks

Directions:

1. 1
   Place meat in a zip top bag with soy sauce, ginger, honey and orange juice. Refrigerate overnight.
2. 2
   Transfer contents of bag to 4 qt slow cooker. Add peppers, onions and bok choy. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours or high 3-4 hours, until meat is very tender. Serve over rice.
   ( I added the peppers, onion and bok choy an hour or two before serving. It was a lot better because the veggies were not mushy, also, I added twice as many vegetables as the recipe calls)

So I know that it has been an incredibly long time since I last posted, but hey... I will try to be better :) Jess and I are nearing the end of the semester and are finding life getting busier and busier. I just can't believe how much there is left to do! But I am not complaining... (right now). I know that all this craziness will be for our benefit. We are both learning so much! Here is a list of some of the things I have learned this semester:

• How hard it would be to be a diabetic (lets just say I don't like needles)
• Sometimes, the best you can do is 90% or maybe even 80%, but if that is your best, then you are still great!
• Husbands really are sent from God. He knew what he was doing when he gave me mine.
  
• I love food. Even though I talk about it 24/7, it never gets old.
  
• Sometimes, school makes you forget who you are and what you love. It's important to hold on to those things you love the most, or you may forget them entirely.
• Leftovers are wonderful.
• Doctors are intimidating. Especially when you are an intern and they walk into the patient's room while you are giving an education, sit down and listen to you. (Thank you random doctor, who was so polite not to point out all the wrong things I was doing!)
• High fiber chocolate (aka perfect poop) muffins are the greatest.
• You only have one heart... protect it... an open heart surgery would suck....
• Salt is in everything.
  

These are only a few of the things that I have learned. I really can't explain how much I have grown in only a few months. I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father for being there for me 100%.

Diet--whatta?

For all of you who don't know... I have had the dream to become a dietitian for a LONG TIME. (When I tell people this most don't even know what that means) This dream is finally becoming a reality! After many long hours of volunteering, getting good grades and applying, I was finally accepted into the Coordinated Dietetic Program at Utah State. The coordinated part means that I will be doing dietetic experience in hospitals, food service, etc. while taking classes. It's going to be hard, but I am so excited! I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Jess caught a little of the excitement on video... how embarrassing...

New Job!

Jess was offered a job as a mechanical engineering intern at Utah Kennecott Copper Mine. We are so excited for this exciting opportunity! It all happened really fast, now we are busy finding housing and a job for me :) Jess heard about this internship from a friend, he had an interview friday and they called him up Monday. Let's just say they were very impressed! Of course though, who wouldn't be :) Anyway, congrats Jess!

Best Valentine's Weekend Ever!

This weekend just so happened to the best Valentine's day weekend ever! First of all, the weather was absolutely beautiful! It felt almost like May. I couldn't believe it. So here are the weekend events...

Friday- Jess and I went to a dance put on by our stake. We thought it might be fun to get some free dinner and a little dancing in. When we got there we were shocked at how nice it was all put together. Catered, and it had a DJ. It was totally legit. We had so much fun dancing to some old tunes (you know how church dances are). I even made it through most of the night without getting my feet stepped on ( I say most of the night because ten minutes before we left Jess squished my toes, and I accidently hit a girl in the head with my elbow, and to top things off, she was holding her baby! I felt so bad).

Jess and I made some sugar cookies for FHE. We used our new cookie press we got for christmas (thanks mom!). Come to find out... Sugar cookies don't like to stay in pretty shapes...

This is what happened! Ahhh! it's ok though.. they were still yummy!

Jess is contemplating the mysteries of life, or enjoying the beautiful sunshine!

On one of our hikes Sunday afternoon. We happened to find a random nature park. Pretty cool view.

This was after the dance. We forgot to bring our camera. So no exciting pictures here...

After the dance Jess and I went exploring Logan a little. A couple days before I volunteered at a Relief Society Health Fair and it was up in Cliffside. This is the ritsy part of town and I had to show Jess all the massive houses up there. So we went on an adventure! We also found a cool mountain trail that we want to hike sometime.

Saturday- Jess and I chilled and did homework for most of the day. I went for a run, which felt so nice! Then we went out for pizza to celebrate V-day early. We found a really good pizza place and got breadsticks, pizza and a drink for only ten bucks! Thank you coupons!

Sunday- Still a beautiful day! We had a linger longer at the church, more yummy food :) then Jess and I went for a hike up near cliffside again. We saw two red foxes and tons of deer.. fun fun. We also decided to scope out the huge houses too. We found a castle! Yep... we dubbed it the Logan castle. It's complete with turets and everything. (Wendy, Paul, David, Ryan, Liz, you may have to travel to France or England to see a castle, but we have one right here... yeah, Logan rocks). Unfortunately it was someone's home so we didn't feel like we could take a picture. But it was huge.

Monday- Valentine's Day! Jess bought me some roses and we made cookies and hamburgers and french fries for dinner.

Well... that's all for now. Anyway, I bet you wish you lived in Logan now... it's awesome...

Good News!

Today Jess and I found out he won a scholarship from the Society of American Military Engineers! They told him he is one of three people who won from the Great Basin Area! I am so proud of him! He has worked hard and definitely earned it! Love you Jesse!

Top Ten Things We are Grateful For

Jess and I have been very blessed in our short time together. I think that oftentimes we forget how lucky we are. So we decided to post the top ten things we are grateful for right now.

1. Our Savior

2. Each other

3. Our wonderful families! They support us in everything and we love them all so much, even though they are all so far away.

4. Jimbo, he brings us so much entertainment sometimes. He is hilarious to watch!

5. School-even though it is tough right now, we are grateful for the opportunity to be here at Utah State and to be learning and bettering ourselves.

6. Friends-our friends are what keep us laughing. They also keep us from being so boring!

7. Homemade bread- we have been improving our bread making skills and not to brag or anything, but our bread is... amazing!

8. Grant money! We figure we might as well put them to good use. Seeing as how we will be putting into the system the rest of our lives.

9. Laughter- Seems as if we have been doing a lot of this lately. We are both a little crazy sometimes. As Jess puts it, "We are as crazy as a mongoose on catnip."

10. And last but not least- Our Forever Family! We can't imagine not being with our family for the rest of eternity! We love the temple and family history work. God truly has made a way for us to be together forever.

Christmas Vacation

We brought Jimbo to Mama Terri's house for Christmas. All the little kids loved him! Here is Reece feeding Jimbo "cereal." He hand Jimbo some food and if he wouldn't take it, Reese would put it into his bowl, and say; "cereal bowl!" Reese loved the little "black mouse."

Jess got another hair cut! He had to sit in the tub because our whole apartment is carpet. Doesn't he look good?
Happy Birthday Jess! We invited our friends Dane and Jessica for steak, giant cookie, and homemade ice cream... Yum!

Reese and Ivy were so cute! They were sharing the popcorn bucket. If you asked Reese if you could have some he would stick his hand in the bucket and bring you a couple pieces of sticky popcorn. What a good sharer.

We went sledding on Old Main Hill with our friends Jacob and Ashley Mason. It was a blast! There were tons of people there too. It was an interesting experience since I am so used to sledding in the mountains, with no one else around. City life is still a little weird for me.

Family History is Addicting!

Jess and I got a new calling, we are the Family History Consultants for our ward. We were both really excited for this new and exciting opportunity to learn more about who we are and where we come from. We have been slowly figuring things out. The other day we had some exciting things happen. We may not have found new members of the family, but we have been combining records so that each family is more complete. I never would have thought this would be so rewarding and fun. We love Family History work and we hope more people get excited about it too!