Ohio

Cincinnati Chilli... Super easy, super delicious, and super messy. For us it was more fun than normal chili because Cincinnati chili is eaten over pasta noodles and is made with baking coco, cinnamon, and sugar. I personally have never COOKED with these ingredients, just baked,so it was especially fun.  We thought it would be fun if we put everything on one plate and share it. That was not as fun as we thought but whatever, we all loved it and I will probably use this recipe for all my chili nights from now on.

 So the recipe called for A POUND of cheese!! We couldn't really afford a pound of cheese.

Can't get enough

It feels like every day Kelsey gets cuter and cuter. As she slowly destroys our house, she learns new tricks that are just so cute. I just thought that these pictures were too good to pass up

She has learned that she can see things out the window. She loves to watch our neighbor mow the lawn and gets so excited when she sees Ethan come home.

 These are not our space heaters (longer story that I don't want to explain), but Kelsey LOVES them. I find her like this multiple times a day and recently she has learned...

 that if she reaches far enough she can touch her other toys. This was fun for one afternoon, but I have recently moved it because she tried to stand up which led to falling which led to tears which led to an unhappy baby. I mean we all see that coming, but I really wanted the picture

 Just a cute pic of Ethan and Kels on our picnic

 Nothing new here except that I love this dress Ainsley is letting us borrow and it finally fits!

Washington

Because I am from Washington I felt that I could personally cook Washington very accurately. As I was thinking of a meal I had several things come to mind:
1. Zips- but because there are no Zips or shake of the week around town that got bagged
2. Apples- now this should have been the go to, but we eat apples all the time and that felt really boring for my home town
3. Starbucks- This also should have been a go to, but we really can't enjoy too many things at Starbucks
4. Salmon/seafood- Alaska was higher on the salmon totem pole and so we did not do salmon.

So that left me with only one option for Washington

CHEAP CHICKEN AND PASTA SALAD!!!!!

 For those who many not understand, many years growing up my family would go take a picnic by the river and eat fried chicken from Albertsons. Some where in those years it became a tradition and we started calling it cheap chicken. We would take our chicken and fruit and pasta and whatever, set up a plate for the bees so they would leave our food alone (because FYI bees love meat) and then enjoy our picnic followed by a walk on the river.

And pasta salad. Past salad has been my favorite meal like forever. It has noodles, brocoli, pepperoni, olives, and tomatoes covered with cheese and italin dressing. The ideal way to have it is with nothing more and nothing less. I loved this so much I would take it to school, I would take it on camping trips when I needed a meal, and I would take it to any ward function or party when I needed a salad. I love this stuff so  very much.

So there you have it, to me there is nothing that says Washington like cheap chicken and pasta salad.
8 down 42 to go!

Oh Happy Day

Some moments in life can be hard, but its pictures like this that remind me that they are just moments and not lasting. I have such a wonderful family that I need to be grateful for every moment of every day.

April 24th day

One night last year, while we were brushing our teeth Ethan said "I wonder what I looked like exactly one year ago from this moment," and from that has come April 24th day. We picked a random date and took a picture right before dinner. This year we did it again. We are hoping that it turns into something that we always do every April 24th and who knows, it may turn into one of those wacky family traditions that everyone talks about at funerals but know one has a good reason as to why it is a tradition. Anyway, I have been thinking that as the kids get older if this day becomes a big deal in our house, but I haven't thought of reason to make it special. I think if that happens it will come as more kids come. As for right now we take a picture right before dinner on April 24th creating our own special holiday.

Massachusetts and Arizona

On Sunday I made a roast and so I was all set and ready for Monday to become Arizona night which is chimichangas. Unlike some states, there was absolutely no disagreeing that Arizona's meal was chimichangas. I only fried two of them because they don't sit well fried in the fridge, but the baked ones were alright too.

On Tuesday, we had Massachusetts which again was a state with a unanimous vote of New England Clam Chowder. I quickly made this one because hopefully we are getting into our spring weather and we don't eat soup when its hot. Technically soup season ended a few weeks ago, but I made an excepting for Massachusetts. The calm chowder was very runny which confused me because I followed the recipe exactly, but none the less it was still delicious.I don't think I'd make it again, but it was a good meal.

Life in twos

 

Today marked the two year anniversary of Ethan working for Overstock. We are very proud of this milestone because neither of us have ever worked somewhere for 2 consecutive years. We have always had school in the way, missions, or moving. This is the first time that we have been at the same job with no hiccup to mess up the timing. We celebrated by eating omelets (Ethan's favorite meal) and having chocolate ice cream with raspberries (Ethan's favorite dessert). Kelsey also made Ethan a really cute sign. We are just so proud of Ethan. He as learned so much and has worked so hard to provide for our family.

After celebrating we got to talking about Ethan's life the last two years and were realizing that he has been living his life by two years for the past 10 years. I will break it down:
Mission 2005-2007
Single School 2007-2009
Married schooling life 2009-2011
O.co 2011-2013
MBA 2013-2015

and after that who knows. Hopefully a house, hopefully another job, hopefully more kids. All we know is that the married life will continue for many two years increments to follow.

On top of work, Ethan is so dutiful to his callings and has a very service oriented mind. I don't think I have ever heard Ethan say no to anything. He is willing to help anyone at any time under any circumstance. Ethan is the most selfless person I know. He only wants to make sure that Kelsey and I are happy, that we as a family strive to be more like the Savior, and that we have fun as we improve our lives and the those around us daily. I love Ethan very much and am so grateful that he asked me to marry him. He is like a ray of sunshine that I can always count on.