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!

It's Almost D-Day for the B-Day!

It's all I can do to resist teasing him like crazy! The dog is being picked up tonight to go down to the babysitter's (my mom's house) and thank goodness my sister-in-law is willing to do that for me. I love you to pieces!!! So now it is time to pack our things, since he is not allowed to pack his own bag, get any neccesities together for the weekend all in one place, coordinate with some folks who will remain un-named, wake up and blaze! Oh..so sneaky.

Tonight I am going to my first enrichment meeting in probably a good 10 months. I'm such a bad Relief Society member it is just hard for me to get motivated to leave the husband that I never see since we both work and he has school and cub scouts in the evenings. I figured since I have tomorrow off and I will be with him all weekend for some good quality time, that I should get out with the girls and have a little fun at the Relief Society. I'm kind of looking forward to it.

I know you are anxiously waiting...

but I don't want to post pictures until it looks completely done. I am so proud of us! We used plenty of tape and a chalkline and it turned out pretty dang good. We finished all the painting on Sunday afternoon but we still have to touch up the chair rails and hang them. When those are done and I have some pretty pillows to match..I will take a picture. I promise.

While I'm on here I thought I would also post about how excited I am for this weekend. I told Tyler to take Friday off and we are having a little post-birthday bash. He has no idea and I have been SOOOO good about being sneaky. I cannot wait for him to find out what he has in store!

Just When I Thought.....

we were going to have a nice relaxing weekend! Oh no, that's not how we Curtis's play the weekend game :) It was such a nice day at work on Friday, relaxed, productive, and fun. I was looking forward to coming home picking up my boy and doing a little shopping (we both need new sneaks). Saturday morning I was going to go shopping by myself to update my sad little wardrobe, run by a baby shower, and host a big birthday dinner that night for Tyler. All of our friends and family are making a trip to the good 'ol Queen Creek to celebrate at a nearby Mexican place. Fun right? Well instead...in Tyler and Kristina fashion...here is what we stayed up doing until 2am..........



That's right! Those are the beginning of stripes on our bedroom wall! We are freakin' crazy but that is why our lives are so fun I suppose. We are going to do alternating stripes of tan and a metallic tan with a chair rail and a dark teal/blue on the bottom. Sounds crazy...I know, but hopefully it will turn out well. We are going to paint the baseboards, all the trim, and the chair rail a dark chocolate color. AND, you know what all this means? New room decorations too! AND, you know when we are going to have it done? This weekend.
WE ARE CRAZY!!

Quick Dinner

Chicken Chili

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, shredded
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 Bell Pepper, chopped
1 can each of Kidney beans, Cannelini beans, and Black beans
1 can of Chopped Tomatoes w/ Chilis (Rotel is a common brand)
1 tsp. Cumin
1tsp. Chili Powder
1tsp. Lime or Lemon Juice
2 Cups Chicken Broth
Salt and Pepper

Put a small amount of Olive Oil in a quart sized pot. Heat onions and bell peppers until softened (about 5 minutes). Add shredded chicken and mix on low heat for 2 minutes. Add Chicken Broth, Lime Juice, Spices, Tomatoes, and Beans and simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes or until completely warmed through.

Pretty easy huh!? I think this is on the wrong day according to my calendar, but it was fast and tasty...so I made it because I have all the ingredients. I also substituted celery for the bell pepper...different but still tasty since I didn't have a bell pepper around.

ENJOY!