Here She Is!

What you have been waiting for! It's not the most glamorous picture in the world but you get the picture. When the brown curtain is open there is a cream colored sheer underneath and we will probably move my favorite picture in the whole wide world because it doesn't match :( But...I love the color, love my bedding, and I bought some new decorations to put up that match. What do you think?!

Chillaxin' All Cool

That title is for the Fresh Prince fans out there...I know you're out there :) This week flew by! I left for Minneapolis early on Tuesday morning for a big meeting with one of our customers. We went to some great food places, little hole in the wall places that I would have never gone to on my own. One is tucked away in an old building and is actually two stories of dining room that don't connect...you take the elevator up to sit in the upper dining room. The other is an old refurbished fire house that sources everything from right around their area and has a ton of history.

112 Eatery - I got the pork tenderloin and gnocchi mmm...so tasty
Cafe 28 - I got a locally grown, organic burger with fresh cheddar and guacamole....hit the spot

I came home from Minneaoplis on Thursday night and took the next day off just to recoup and take a little Kristina & Tyler time. We ate out all weekend which is totally against my plan for saving money...but it was nice not to care.

We put the finishing touches on our room on Friday night and I am so excited to post pictures!!! Give me about 8 hours and I will have some eye candy up here for you :) Saturday morning I dug up part of our drip system in the front yard because the dripper heads were clogged and weren't letting any water come out. Got those all cleared out so now my plants can drink up. Tyler changed the oil in our cars and then sprayed all the weeds in our backyard. This week week we are going to buy some brick to extend our patio and I'm crossing my fingers that my father-in-law will bring his tractor up here to clear this hot mess of a backyard up!

I cannot resist......

telling you about the easiest, tastiest dinner I have made in a really long time!

Chicken & Spinach Bake
3/4 bag of small egg noodles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 C of milk
2 cans of chicken
2 handfuls of frozen spinach (I know that isn't very technical..but neither is this dish)
2 slices of provolone cheese (you can use whatever you have in the fridge)
1/2 tsp. Garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Cumin
1/2 tsp. Salt
1tsp. Pepper

Boil and salt water in order to cook noodles. When noodles are al-dente, drain and set aside. Mix cream of mushroom, milk, spinach, chicken, and spices in a 9x13 casserole dish. Gently mix in noodles and even out the top in order to lay cheese flatly across the top of the noodles.

Bake on 350 for 30 minutes...mmm...mmm...delicious!

The Good Ol Days

This weekend Tyler went on a boy's trip to the dunes and I went down to Tucson for a babyshower. My cousin Camry is absolutely adorable and even more adorable pregnant! But I'll back up and give you the whole weekend.

Friday night I drove down right after picking up my dog and saying goodbye to Tyler. I dropped Ruby off at my mom's house and drove to Fred's Bar and Arena to see my friend Megan since her birthday is on Monday. Her grandpa owns this bar so it is basically a staple of my childhood. We went in the back and made some tacos and ate some birthday cake and then topped it off with a little karaoke and a present :)

Saturday morning Mom, Charles, and I drove out to Ryan Field, another childhood staple, and ate some breakfast at the cafe in the small airport. Then we went out to my grandma Janet's house and they helped trim some trees for an older couple that lives near by while I visited with my grams and my cousin Morgan, her husband Doran, and their beautiful little boy Wylan. (Morgan is Camry's sister) When Mom and Charles were down the three of us drove back to the house and watched general conference and ate some lunch.

Wylan, Morgan, and Kristina

Saturday night I went to the babyshower and my aunt Nila, Morgan, Camry, my aunt Terry, and cousin Sasha were all there! We had so much fun, I think we scared Camry's inlaws...we tend to by loud and laugh a lot when we are all together. Right after the shower we stole Camry and the 4 cousins all went to Chilis for a little post-baby shower noshing. It was so fun to catch up with everyone...this was my crew growing up...my best friends....we had a really good time.

The Whole Crew

Sasha and Camry

After dinner I drove Sasha back to her mom's house (Aunt Terry) in Sahuarita. That house is absolutely beautiful. Terry and Joe have only been there since around Christmas and it is decorated so pretty with the bones of a beautiful back yard that just needs to grow into itself...the area is awesome. I loved it and I couldn't resist hanging out and visiting with Terry and Sasha for another 2 hours. I felt like a single girl again driving all over town and getting to my mom's house just before the stroke of midnight..haha!

I drove back early Sunday morning with my puppy did a few things around the house, watched some more conference and took a little nap. Now I'm getting my second wind and I think I'm going to clean like a mad woman...haha. Happy weekend everyone!

Just when we think it slows down...

Oh it is that time of year again...the holidays are long gone, dune season rolls to an end, but what is around the corner...so much more!!

We have at least 3 weddings coming up in the next 3 months, a baby shower, the end of the semester for Tyler, annual account planning at work for me, and a honey-do list about 80 miles long :)

Granted...I do a lot of my own honey-do tasks.....it's more of a Curtis family list. The catch? We have to get it all done before lake season!!! We have decided it's time to do the backyard right instead of just half way, so within the next few weekends we will have a ditch-witch, some sod, gravel, and weed killer. I know it sounds like SO much fun, so if anyone is interested please give me a call. Luckily my father in law has a tractor and even more luckily our backyard and side gate are big enough for him to tackle the hot mess that is currently behind our house.

I visited with my grandparents this weekend down in Tucson and my grandpa is such a green-thumb, just talking to him gives me the itch. He has beautiful blossoms (popcorn popping) on all of his trees, an awesome garden-by-the-square-foot, and I just want to be a farmer now!

I am also really excited because I have finally decided that it is time for a family picture update and I am doing it right this time. I have gotten some awesome suggestions for photographers that are all at a really great price so now it's Tyler's choice. I narrow it down and he picks or he just makes me pick :) We're a good team that way.

Just for fun......

I don't have any pictures from exciting adventures so I thought I would throw this on here to break up the words. We were on our way home from the temple in Snowflake for a wedding and caravaning with Tyler's parents. We stopped at the lake for a quick break and Jessie caught us with our puppy :)

Whoa Whoa Whoa...where did it all go!

My time is just escaping me! I've been traveling for work and out of town for fun so I am running behind in my posting :) Right now I'm in Minneapolis ready for a training. It is about 50 degress and drizzling. It is such a refreshing change from the Phoenix heat. I am a cold weather girl at heart that is for sure! My favorite thing is to walk or run in the cold so after our AMAZING dinner tonight (sea bass that just melted and an amazing tangy sesame sauce with asparagus), we walked the 1/4 mile back to the hotel...sorry girls! Mmmm...it was so nice!
Well, it's 10pm in the big MN right now so I better get some beauty rest for tomorrow.

Finally...I know...

Nope....it's not our room! Our lofty goals of having that all wrapped up in one weekend are long gone :) The painting is done, but the chair rail is a pain in our side...that may take a while.

BUT....I did finally put together my meal calendar for March. I was talking with Mindy about it at the park by our house and I realized I've been a bit behind.

March Meal Calendar

March Shopping List

I also thought that since I have been slow to get this up that maybe I should post a recipe too! We had the Brady Family and the Elders over and I made this really quick.

Easy Ground Beef Fake Enchiladas

15 Corn Tortillas
3 C. Cooked Ground Beef
2 C. Rice (I had microwave Mexican rice that made this easy to throw in)
3 C. Shredded Cheese
2 C. Salsa
1 C. Sour Cream
Green Onions for garnish and crunch

Pre-Heat oven to 350. Cover the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish with salsa. Fill a corn tortilla with a spoonful of ground beef, 1/2 spoonful of rice, and some cheese. Roll and place seam side down in baking dish. Repeat process until baking dish is full. Drizzle salsa on top and sprinkle remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Spread sour cream over the top and sprinkle with chopped green onions.

Serve with refried beans and salad or veggie of your choice.

Puppy Love

I love my little Ruby Sioux! This is her waiting for me to get home :)

I'm An Aunt!

My sister had her baby last week! I was out of town on business so it was kind of surreal at first. I got a picture on my cell phone but it didn't really hit home because I wasn't a part of it. We went down on Saturday afternoon to check the youngin' out and make sure my sister was in good spirits. Emery is soooo sweet. Like I have mentioned in previous posts, we are surrounded by babies and they are all so adorable. Some of our good friends have such cute little kids, but there was just something about Rachael's little boy that resonated so much deeper with me. I have a connection with him as family that really makes him so special. I held him for probably 4 hours straight and just loved him like crazy! I am so excited to get to know him.

On Saturday morning, before going down to Tucson, Tyler and I had the chance to go to the Mesa temple with Tyler's family. His mom got permission to do her father's work (Tyler's grandpa) so Dan, Christie, Lilly, and his parents all met us there and we spent all morning together in the temple. It was really a wonderful experience.

This week Tyler is on spring break from school so it will be nice to soak up all of his free time...hehe. Hope everyone is doing well!

It Was A Success!

Lovebirds

We had so much fun this weekend! I was about to go on this trip myself because Tyler was driving me crazy with all of his questions, but I was able to withstand and it turned out well. I think I had him convinced for quite some time that we were going snowboarding. I always played stupid but I let him run with the idea as a distraction. He got so excited, bought a new snowboard (which he needed anyway, so I just went a long with it), and kept asking me if he needed his knee to feel better for his birthday adventure. Finally, in order to protect my own sanity and fun for his birthday weekend, I broke down the day before and told him we weren't going snowboarding. I knew that if I woke him up Friday morning and sprung a different plan on him than what he was expecting it wouldn't be a fun weekend for anyone so I thought I would save us all the trouble. :)

I packed his bags and some extra goodies and loaded him up in the car. I let him see where we were going for a while but then as we got to the freeway I told him to put his blindfold on. Then, being the naughty wife I am I said we would be to our destination in about 30 minutes. LIE LIE LIE LIE LIE...haha. I took the blindfold off and with some help from friends had "Viva Las Vegas" playing in the background. He got a huge smile on his face and screamed, "I thought so!". Let's be honest...what would Tyler like to do that isn't snowboarding, the sand dunes, or the lake? My only other option is Vegas.

The Mandalay Bay

We walked and walked and walked on The Strip, I swear we all probably lost 2 inches in our hips (which I quickly counter acted with my yummy dish of Haagen-Daz). Tyler had a designated amount of money to "enjoy" (aka: play casino games, aka: gamble with)...and he thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm sure the casino will thoroughly enjoy all of it as well ;) While sitting at a table one night, I had slyly sent some text messages to some of his buddies from Utah who I arranged to meet us there. YAY!!! That was the kicker because he had NO idea that Park and the Boys would be there. It turned out great. I think we are still both recovering from the lack of sleep.

I got to see a few things that I had not seen before. The Wynn...which is absolutely beautiful...and is now my dream hotel in Vegas. The whole thing was an amazing garden with beautiful ceilings and a panoramic window with a 3 story water fall in the middle of pine trees (in the middle of the city!). I love the street performers too. They probably make our trips to Vegas the most fun. These were both in the Palazzo and who doesn't enjoy a good living tree or statue now and then?

The Living Trees

The Living Statue

We had so much fun and it was a great weekend to reconnect with friends and enjoy each other away from our everyday lives for a while. I flew out of town for work on Monday night so it was nice to get some good quality time in while we could.
Next vacation...who knows? It's gonna be fun though!