My Newest Blog/Hobby

I have never been a very good cook. Before I got married, I knew how to make pancakes, hamburger helper, and brownies from a box. Seriously. Luckily, a couple wonderful people gave me cookbooks for my wedding, which helped a lot. I found some relatively easy recipes and was able to actually make my husband a few good dinners here and there.

Well, as Pinterest grew to crazy popularity, I found myself with a growing Recipe board. Some of the recipes were actually pretty dang easy, so I started giving them a try. My husband was definitely a fan of my newest hobby. ;-) And as it turns out, I actually don't mind cooking at all when I have an easy recipe to follow. (I am still most definitely not a natural chef.... I need a very detailed, relatively simple recipe). However, sometimes I'd be eating dinner and think, "Oh, man, I'm going to have to remember to _______ the next time I make this." (fill in the blank with anything from 'cook this longer' to 'use a lot less cheese') And then I'd make it again and of course forget what I wanted to remember.

It was actually Michael's idea for me to start a blog with all the (mostly Pinterest) recipes I've been trying. He said something like, "You should write it all in a blog and then you can always look back at the things you wanted to remember.... plus, others could know what's worth making and what's not." Not a bad idea. Kind of like my own personal cookbook..... except that it's public. :-) And since so many of my "Pinterest friends" have a lot of the same recipes pinned, it could even be kind of useful to others. Besides, I get to be totally original because there are certainly NO 20-something LDS stay-at-home-moms with a cooking blog. Ha. ;-)

So yeah, if you ever need a new dinner idea, feel free to check it out:

http://carlysrecipes.blogspot.com

Just A Few Things We've Been Up To

- Michael finally got to use his Christmas present from me... Phoenix Suns tickets! Sadly, they lost at the very end - bummer! He still had fun though. He took his friend to the game while I stayed home with Matthew. And yes, he brought tissue for the nosebleed seats I bought him.

- Doctor visits. Matthew jumped from the 60th percentile in height and weight to the 80th percentile in height and weight. My little boy is not so little! And the kid loves to eat.


- Speaking of eating, Matthew is now getting a little more variety than just rice cereal and oatmeal. He has now also had bananas, prunes, and sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes were definitely his favorite of the three.... but I'm sure that once I start giving him the good stuff, he'll have new favorites. Oh, and he's quite the messy eater. He tries to feed himself. And then gets mad at me when I clean his face.


- I take Matthew on a walk every day... most often to the pool. We usually just put our feet in, but in a couple of months I'm going to buy him a baby float and we're going to go swimming every day. Sounds like the life to me.


- Grandma Kathy is in town! And she came with a cute basketball toy present for Matthew, which he adores.


- Lots of family time! I'm loving this stage of our lives. Even though I often feel really busy, I know that I'm really not in comparison to how busy I'll be in a few more years, and then a few more years after that.... and I'm enjoying all the time we get to spend as a family. Our current favorite activities include treating ourselves to frozen yogurt on Friday nights, playing Uno, and teaching Matthew new tricks. That kid is learning more and more every day!

Family time. I was playing too, but somebody had to take the picture. :-)

I May or May Not Be Loving Phoenix Right Now

The last few places I've lived.....

January in Provo:


January in Nashville:


January in Phoenix:


Okay, so the weather isn't usually this amazing in the winter, but still. Taking Matthew swimming for the first time in January is pretty awesome. And yes, he's a total water baby, which made both me and Michael very happy.

I often miss Utah and Nashville and our friends there, but right now, I'm pretty content to be right here.

Mele Kalikimaka

No, we definitely weren't in Hawaii for Christmas, but I found that song stuck in my head a lot over our Christmas break... probably because we spent lots of time at the beach in short sleeves and sunshine. It was a fabulous trip to LA and we loved being with family in the warm weather. The only downside? We all passed around the flu (why does that ALWAYS happen on Christmas?) and that was no fun. Luckily Michael and Matthew seem to have avoided it, but most people (including me) spent a good portion of Christmas and the couple days following sicker than a dog. Still- the trip was awesome and I'm thrilled that we went and had such a good time.

Matthew's first time to the beach.....


He loved his feet in the sand......


......but HATED his feet in the water. Can't really blame him I guess- the Pacific Ocean in December doesn't exactly feel like a warm bath.... ;-)


Christmas Eve at the temple.... I did this every year growing up and I'm glad I got to show Michael and Matthew a bit of our old traditions- especially since Matthew loves lights.


And Christmas morning was a blast. I didn't expect Matthew to be very interested in anything that was going on, but he seemed mesmerized by his presents and it was so fun to watch.



With all the grandparents, cousins, aunt, and uncles around, Matthew wasn't bored for a second.


The drive home wasn't as fun.... when Matthew wasn't asleep, he looked like this-

Poor kid hates road trips, like his mom. Hopefully we can brave another one sooner rather than later so we can see family again soon!

Future Suns Fan?

I think that one of Michael's proudest moments was when we took Matthew downtown to the Phoenix Suns arena tonight. Even I, an LA fan, thought it was cute how excited Michael was to show Matthew one of his favorite places in the whole world. Matthew thoroughly enjoyed it too. Maybe it was just the lights, but hey, maybe he's already a Suns fan too. :-) (And thank goodness there will be an NBA season so that Michael can root for his home team).