Ukrainian Borscht

Tonight I made borscht for Garrett (it's one thing that involves veggies that he will eat). For those who don't know, borscht is a beet soup that originates in Eastern Europe (you know, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, etc.) It kind of looks strange, but it is SO GOOD. The base of the soup is beets, and you add potatoes, onions, garlic and salt and pepper. You can eat it vegetarian-style or put chunks of pot roast in for a more savory (and filling) stew. Add a dollop of sour cream (He even eats the sour cream!!!) and you've got yourself an authentic Ukrainian meal.

His mom made it for us soon after he got home from his mission and I loved it, but was too afraid to ever make it because it seemed so complex. However, it was very simple.

It just took about 7 hours.

Here is the result!

Thanksgiving Break

Some pics from our fun break with our family and friends.

It started out with a spa night, mom and I got our hair done.

Then a girl's-night-in with my favorite sista-friens' (so fun)

Then Thanksgiving at the cabin in Star Valley, WY with the Paces

Oh yeah, and Todd bought a 4x4... woohoo! Injuries here we come. :)

And also, my brothers are the cutest. These three are the only ones left at home! Crazy.

Giving Thanks

So every year at Garrett's Family Thanksgiving feast we all go around the table and say something we are thankful for. Of course this is a beneficial and traditional exercise, but who likes to be put on the spot? Well, maybe some people, but not me. And actually not anyone else in my hubby's family either. So this year we did things a little differently. Sherrie made a REALLY cute little basket and some note cards (they were adorable- if you have been to the Pace's house you know that nothing there is merely functional, it all looks great, too) and she set these out on the counter for a couple days before Thanksgiving. The idea was for everyone to add a note of thanks for every blessing they thought of during the days before Thanksgiving. At the feast (and oh boy, was it ever a feast. We had 7 people there and enough food for thirty) we passed the basket around and each read three or four notes. They were so sweet! Some of the blessings-counted were so thought out and sincere, you never would have got that from an on-the-spot situation. My sister-in-law even took her husband's note home with her to keep forever because it was the sweetest thing anyone has ever heard. Just thought I ought to share such a brilliant idea, as it left us with gratitude for our blessings and for a new family tradition that made counting them easy :)

All Done!

Well friends, this week I taught my last student teach. Almost all my students passed my class, and I got a perfect score on my final evaluation :) I am a happy camper. These are my students. We had a lot of fun! I will miss the students and the lessons, but not the commute, the lunches, or the exhaustion at the end of the day. I have my interview tomorrow morning for the subbing job, hopefully I can get it!

Happy Halloween from the Frankensteins

Last night we went to our ward Halloween Carnival. In fact we planned and set up and ran the carnival because we are on the ward activity committee. We went dressed up as Frankenstein and His Bride, and we won the first prize in the costume contest! Yeah for us. The prize was popsicles. Kind of a weird prize at Halloween time. Haha. Here are some pics! Happy Halloween!

Long Time

Holy Smokes, it has been forever since we updated! Sorry to all my neglected bloggin' friends. I suppose I have just been waiting for something interesting to talk about, However, nothing really happened, so I'll just make some not-exciting stuff seem exciting! Ha.

Well since I wrote last in JUNE (yeacch,I told you it's been forever.) Here is our life in a nutshell:

Garrett worked this summer washing windows with our neighbor who owns a window-washing business (obviously) and I worked at Mill Hollow (of course).

We went on a super fun trip with Audrey and Steve to Yellowstone which I loved even though I had a cold almost the whole time! Blecch. And we also took many trips home to see our family and to Star Valley to the Pace family Cabin/Luxury home. haha.

My second oldest younger brother Ben went on his mission to Germany, Hamburg, and we took a whole bunch of Family Pictures. Cuteness.

I have been student teaching at Rigby High School since August 17th and I have TWO WEEKS LEFT! Then I get to GRADUATE. Oh man, I can hardly believe it. I have an interview with the principal of Madison Jr. High (which is right down the street from my house!) to be a substitute teacher for their school, which I hope to do until Garrett finishes and we go to Graduate school (BYU? U? USU? Who knows?) And I tell you what, I am loving my life right about now. Four and a half years and at last I will have the degree. Totally worth it.

Garrett started his social work program this semester and is really enjoying it. He has 18 credits this semester! Very ambitious. Luckily he is so smart that he gets scholarships, so neither of us had to work during this VERY busy semester of school, which has been excessively nice. He will graduate (hopefully) next December, and then it will be off to Utah with us for graduate school. I am rooting for BYU. Hopefully all of our friends will still be there so that we can play! I miss you guys.

We both had our 23rd birthday this fall. We bought a fish aquarium and six really fun fish, two snails, and a ghost shrimp as a joint birthday gift. It is so fun just to watch them! Better than TV. They are hiliarious. Sadly, one of our fish died yesterday, and was sent to an un-watery grave at the garbage dump. Sad.

Garrett also wrote and recorded a TON of music this summer, which he put on a CD to create an album, and which I surprised myself by actually liking. He would love to send you a copy if you want one. $3. :)

Well, That's about it! Sure love ya'll and hope everything is great!

Hey friends!

Wow it is June. And like everyone else who has recently posted...I am wondering where May went? Well. I'll show you :)