EWWWWW

Last night I saw something strange move by the wall. I was hesitant to get up and look but I figured I better. What my little eyes saw was not a happy sight. Low and behold... a snake. In my house. Yes, that's right. A snake, I hate snakes. I'm terrified of snakes. And there was one, in my house. In my house! I immediately called Jeff, very frantic of course. Luckily he was just about to pull into the neighborhood. He told me to come meet him outside if I was too scared. But I didn't want to leave and then not know where that creepy, slithery, disgusting thing was in my house. Jeff came home, I think partly excited to see a snake, partly worried because I was so frantic, and partly (maybe mostly) thinking I was crazy. Once he saw the snake he started laughing. He said "it looks like a big worm". And ok, maybe it did. But it looked like a really, really, really big worm! It was just a little bugger- but still, a snake nonetheless. He was pushing it out the door, and as I'm standing on top of the couch hovering in the corner I say, "oh wait, I want to take a picture." He laughed at me and flung it out the door and onto the grass.

So, no picture of my yucky visitor. I was horrified and Jeff thought I was silly- and maybe I am. But I HATE snakes...big, small, or in between. I hate them!

friday's favorite

This week friday's favorite has 2 parts!

part #1: T.G.I.F.
I fell asleep last night before Jeff got home from work (no big surprise, I know) but then he woke me up to get me to bed and I couldn't fall back asleep. I think he started to regret ever waking me up because I got really chatty and he was so ready for bed now, being that it was 1:30am or so. I started thinking about how excited I was that it was Friday and then I was remembering when I was younger and I was always excited for Friday because t.g.i.f. was on! You know the shows... "step by step", "boy meets world" and I'm not sure what else. I couldn't remember at 1:30 in the morning and Jeff couldn't either (and probably didn't care too. poor guy.) Did you guys ever watch that? Or was I just a nerd to get excited for it?! Probably the later, either way it made for some fun memories for me.

part #2: sweets, sweets and more sweet treats

Oh man! Most of you who know me well know I'm a sucker for anything sweet- I might just have the biggest sweet tooth known to man. Seriously. Yesterday I made a "quick" trip to Target (I don't really think there is such a thing as a quick trip to Target. And if you've done one, and you know the secret, please do share.) I was craving "twizzlers" so I had to grab a bag! I guess better that then a huge calorie visit with "Ben and Jerry". Anyways- when I get a sweet tooth, there's no ignoring it. So, Wednesday I was in charge of the yw activity and I thought it'd be a good idea to take some treats. "What to bring?" I ask myself. Cupcakes? Rice Krispy treats? Brownies? Skotcheroos? Root beer floats? I wanted to take them all, but I narrowed it down to 2. Cupcakes and Skotcheroos. And after making skotcheroos again I knew that I must share them with all of you. Unfortunately they were all gone before I could snap a picture to entice you with their deliciousness...but if you're like me anything with peanut butter and chocolate is a winner. So to make a short story long, I thought I'd share the recipe with you so you can try the goodness for yourselves. Plus they're super fast and easy to make, which I love almost just as much as the yumminess itself. So here it is:

SKOTCHEROOS

1 c. sugar

1 c. lite corn syrup

1 c. peanut butter

6-7 c. rice krispies

6 oz. chocolate chips (I usually end up using a little more)

6 oz. butterscotch chips

Mix sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan until boiling. Take off heat. Mix in peanut butter. Add rice krispies and stir until well mixed. Press into well greased 9x13 pan. Melt chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in double broiler or microwave. (If you do it in the microwave, put it in for 30 second intervals and stir in between. It usually only takes between 60-75 seconds...it's easy to burn so be careful) Spread on top of rice krispies. Wait until topping hardens. (I'm not good at waiting because I want my sweets! So I stick it in the fridge for a little bit to speed up the process) Makes about 24 squares.

If you make these, let me know what you think. I personally think they're great, but then again I am the sweet treat monster!

new friend

This little beauty is my new friend. She's hanging out in my office/craft room that is still coming together.... slowly, but surely. Until the rest of the room is done- I thought I'd let you take a peek at one of my favorite finds. Not only is she one of my favorites, but she was on clearance too... you gotta love an adorable bargain!

Isn't she lovely?!

our adventures

warning: long post ahead

We started our time with the family in Orlando spending Wednesday and Thursday enjoying Disney World.

Wednesday we journeyed through "Hollywood Studios". Then Thursday we jammed in "Animal Kingdom", "Epcot", and "Magic Kingdom"- crazy but very fun! I was thinking I wasn't going to be able to ride anything (last time I went I blacked out on a couple of rides and got really sick) but I took some "motion sickness" pills and I was in pretty good shape... yea!

So my tips for any future Disney World goers:

*It's a must to ride "Tower of Terror". (No matter how many times you've been on it, well, at least for me- I still scream my little heart out.)
*Take advantage and use "Fast Pass" whenever you can.

*Take lots of pictures. (even with the cute little "Snow White" plant and other things of the sort)

*Drink lots and lots and lots of water. lots. (If you can, freeze a couple of water bottles the night before. Stick a couple of frozen bottles along with other non-frozen water bottles in your bag. That way you can fill up the frozen one with water from the fountains during the day, and can pretty much keep cold water all day.)

(*If you're traveling with kids, which we weren't... but I over heard someone in a line passing on a great idea....put an ice pack under the stroller pad so you're little one stays cool. Just make sure it doesn't freeze their little buns.)

*Rock out on the "Rockin' Rollercoaster"

*If you like the photos they (they meaning the rides) snap of you, take a shot of the screen with your camera. Saves you all the money they want to charge you and you can still laugh at your silly faces. (Thanks for that Chad! He has some great ones on his camera, I'll show when I get them)

*Get in line a little early for any of the shows you want to see. (We saw the stunt show at MGM, it was really fun. Jeff was fighting the urge to try the tricks he saw when we were driving back to the hotel. Thanks babe for sparing our lives, we appreciate it.)

*Pack snacks in your bag. A little variety is great- sweet, salty, chewy, crunchy, healthy... you never know what you'll be craving and you don't want to have to pay an arm and a leg for a little bag of m&ms.

*Go to Animal Kingdom. (This was my first time at that park... it was great! The safari and the Everest coaster were my favorites. It's a beautiful park full of great things to do and see.)

*Throw a poncho in your bag. (It's Florida... we're a rainy state. And yes, we got poured on. Hence the reason for so little pictures. I had to wrap my camera in my sweater, then Jeff double, triple, quadruple knotted it in a target back to keep the water away.)

Friday through Monday's adventures consisted of:

- lots of food

-a trip to see "The Hulk" (I liked it, mostly. It was pretty violent and intense. The ending confused me a little. A little romance, lots of action.... great acting, and cool special effects)

-golfing inside "Golf Smith"
-searching for alligators in the pouring rain, running from the lightning

-watching Ziggie follow Chad around

-going to "Fort De Soto" beach. We met up with the Packer family- they were out there camping. We played in the water and had fun in the sun.

We had such a great time. We were busy, busy and I'm pretty worn out now- but it was so worth it. I loved being able to spend time with the family and show them a little bit of our home here in Florida.

We miss you guys and hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! We love you!

s & s

sad.

&

sunburned.

Today mom, dad, and chad flew home to California. Now I'm home in a quiet, lonely house. It's no fun being back home alone. Jeff's at work and I'm here- in an empty house.

We had SOOO much fun with the family here. We went to Disney World, ate yummy food (Mellow Mushroom, Mariposa, Chevy's, homemade hamburgers, ice-cream, brownies... yum. yum. yum. and yep, of course my belly's much bigger now, I guess that's what happens when you love to eat. and I love to eat.), had an alligator adventure in the pouring rain, hung out at Fort De Soto this morning (hence the reason for the red burning of my skin. And yes, I did put sunscreen on. Twice. In 3 hours. I guess I was destined for a burn today. ouch.) We were spoiled having them here with us. Dad (a.k.a Mr. Handyman) fixed the blinds, saved me from a light bulb crashing down on my head, gave our computer an energy boost (it's so much speedier now, so nice!) grilled some delicious hamburgers, and all the other wonderful things dad's do. Mom sweetened the house up with her love. She was constantly doing little things here and there- dishes, cooking, laundry, sweeping... and this is vacation for her! It was so fun to be able to spend time with her while the boys were off on their crazy boy adventures. We talked, laughed, cried at times (because we both do lots of that... good cries though.) shopped, cooked, and relaxed together. Jeff was so happy to have them around, especially Chad. With Chad around he had someone else to help tease me and go on adventures with him. Chad was Mr. Handy too- he fixed our stupid door knob that randomly fell off one day- well, now it's nice and sturdy and definitely not falling off anytime soon. Thanks Chad. He kept me laughing- as always. And we always have fun beating up on each other, well really he beats up on me and I try to beat up on him. Bottom line- we love them and miss them soooo bad. I dropped them off at the airport a few hours ago and I was tempted to just drive away and not let them out of the car, I hate that they had to leave. Our time went by too fast- but we are so grateful that we were able to spend the time we had and make so many fun memories together.

So to ease the pain of them leaving, I came home and ate some of the Peanut M&Ms we all loved.

And found this- 20 days of giveaways... you know that's right up my alley.

Also found these cute aprons... and they're doing a giveaway as well. Yea for giveaways!

Monday night = Bachelorette. I know, silly show... but Tiff and I love it and all of the cheesy things it brings. And now we get to look forward to the fact that Bryan and Rachel will be here next week and we are so excited to have more family around!

p.s. pictures to come shortly.

celebrating dad

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dad's out there!

I may be a little biased but I definitely have the best dad in the world. He's so amazing! (amazing enough that he's been pretty much surrounded by women for the majority of his life and he still loves us!) He's humble, organized, hard-working, fun, patient, determined, gracious, loving, and so much more. His testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ is so strong, and He is such a great example to me. He's always been there for me, always. He's one of my best friends and I am so happy that I get to celebrate him as my daddy! (yes, I'm still a little daddy's girl)

I love you daddy, Happy Father's Day!

I'm also super lucky to have an incredible father-in-law. Raising 4 crazy guys isn't an easy thing, I can only imagine, but they all turned out pretty darn great! He's so fun and caring, always up for an adventure. He is very patient (he's taken me to play tennis... that right there says enough about his patience) and his love and testimony of Jesus Christ is so strong and powerful.

Thanks for taking me into the family- I love you!

for a laugh

I had a sleepover with Kirra and Mekena last night... adorable as always.

This morning, my friend brought her little 2 month old over so she could go to work for a couple of hours. The girls were sooo excited to see the baby.

kirra: "Auntie Mamy, can I touch (which really sounds more like tush) her hand?"
me: "yep, just be gentle."
kirra: "Can I touch her cheek?"
me: "yeah, just don't get too close to her eyes."
kirra: "Can I pet her?"

yeah, I would say they're ready for a baby in their house.

(photos by me. edits by the fabulous Brooke.)

friday's favorite

this place

The buy all, sell all, one stop shop.

A free couch, my favorite camera, and a place to sell my Bonnaroo tickets... all in one!

No matter where you live in the world it can be your best friend, so use it wisely. My favorite thing ever about this was finding my Canon for such a great price. Do any of you have any Craigslist success stories?!

awaiting.

• a fun filled sleepover with the cutest 2 and 4 year old girls on the face of the earth
• CleAN carpets
• a trip to Disney World with the Martinez fam
• an organized office. finally.
• baby boy Packer's arrival to the world
• motivation and a PLAN to get my booty in shape
• Thanksgiving with the Pasqua family (just how to get back out of shape)
• pictures from Dad'S triathlon
  finishing "our 1st year" scrapbook
• a cool summer breeze. Oh that's right, I live in Florida ... not gonna happen here folks.
• the next letter from Elder Martinez
• cherries to be cheaper than $4.99 a pound
• wanting to be tired enough to go to bed at 1:32am (yes, I know. Crazy that I'm actually not tired.)

links

In the process of trying to give my blog a "face lift" I lost my links... love when that happens. I realized that I should have all of my favorite people's links saved somewhere besides my blog, but I don't. Lesson learned. (just like the time my phone fell in the toilet (I know, ewww. But not gross, promise) I realized I had some of the numbers written down in another place, but not all of them) Now I need to have an address book with:
-Name
-Phone Numbers
-Home Address
-Email Address
-Blog Address
That's going to be quite the book....

If you would, please take a little glance over to the left and see if your link is there. If not, would you please be so kind as to let me know so I can get you added asap?!

So, no "face lift" today.

Instead, I guess I should go finish cleaning the bathroom. And it's "Day 10", which means the I can make my friendship bread now... yummy.

I'm heading to the airport in a couple of hours to pick up Chad, better get busy. Yea! Can't wait!

friday's favorite

Winning free things is one of those things I have a love hate relationship with.... I love the idea of winning something cool for free and I hate it because I'm not one of those lucky people who ever wins! Blog giveaways are fun because most of the time all you have to do to enter is simply leave a comment on the blog. So today I'll share with you some of the giveaways I've found and if you know of any others, please do tell!

for way cute personalized stationary visit kelly
to win a huge load of cool music check out rocks in my dryer (and check out http://www.wowonline.com/)
for a boxed set of cards go see elizabeth
join in being eco friendly with a free bag from kim

way to go!

Congratulations Chaddy!! We are so proud of you! You no doubt passed with flying colors... you smarty pants, you! Hope graduation goes well. We are super excited to see you Monday!

three years

Today marks three years of being married to my bestest friend. We have been through so many incredible and difficult times together and I've loved every minute of having him by my side. I am so grateful for his love, happiness and strength. He's pulled me up from difficult times and helped me find the best direction. He sees the best in me and helps me become a better me every day. I am the luckiest girl in the world to have this handsome hottie for my hubby.

(now...if you all want to help me out- I'm embarrassed to say I have yet to order our wedding pictures. 3 years- I know, ridiculous. I'm wanting to get a big print for our house but I'm not sure which one I love best. I was hoping to get your help- if you go here and enter site- then click on "featured weddings and albums" and go to "Oakland Temple, Amy and Jeff". Two of my very favorites are 69 (although, if I decide on this one I don't want them to fade the background so much- I want the golden gate bridge to show through more) and 70- so I'd like to know which one you think would be better for a large print....let me know, thanks!)

swap

I just happened across this when looking here and thought it'd be fun to tell all of you about it.

If you want to get involved it's really simple just email the gal hosting the swap (link above) and give her some of your info and then she'll send you a name. Once you get a name, you send that person 3 (or more) of your favorite things. It's a fun way to get a present in the mail and get to know some people. Who doesn't like a present in the mail? I sure do!!! Send her an email if you want in... and have fun!