Jaunting Back

I was in the car with my mother in law and sister in law earlier this week and we got to talking about BLOGS...

And then the conversation that mine at the moment sucks, needs some love.  The problem is, while a lot has happened in the past year, it's not necessarily

You know what I mean?  But then I got to thinking, and they actually are pretty cool... So I'll give you a recap of FIVE big things that happened since the new year.  (Mostly Chronological...)

1. We Moved.  

   We are still in good 'ole SL,UT but in a different location...and I'm loving it.  We walk EVERYWHERE, I have probably driven myself somewhere MAYBE twice a month.  It's LOVELY!

Since I don't have a picture of the house readily available, here is a new wreath for our door.  Heh.

2.  I started a business...

I've been doing transcription with my mom for the past year and recently started my own business with it.  Basically I type out audio files for movies, businesses, and people doing investigative work.  It's pretty cool.   And I've learned A LOT!

 So far I've worked on 3 documentaries and with various companies, and most recently the 2013 America's Cup.  Pretty fun! 

Here's my website:

www.aesctranscription.com

3. Cooper turned the big 3-0.

Oh boy!

4. Astrid turned TWO! 

We had a total blast.  In the morning I decorated the house, made birthday cake pancakes (*Recipe on bottom of post!), Mr. Chuck-E-Cheese hosted a lovely family party, and had cake a presents at home.  It was low key and very, very fun!

5. Marcus started Kindergarten!  

He is having THE BEST TIME EVER.  Every day he talks about something fun he did, like today he painted tigers with ink in art...! Mmm-kay bud!

So it's been a pretty fun year so far.  Probably blog worthy... sorry I didn't let you in, dear readers... I'm starting anew (again!), and am going to try harder (again, again!), and make more time for y'all (again, again, again!).  I'm going to try to add more tutorials on fun C-R-A-F-T-S and add more yummy recipes!  And of course lots of kid pics and (hopefully) funny, good stories.   So to start it off... 

*Here is that recipe I promised...

No-Fail Pancakes 

(Birthday-Cake Pancake Variation Below!)

2 c flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2 t baking powder 

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 egg

3 T melted butter

2 c milk

1 T lemon juice

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (to keep made pancakes warm) and put in a heatproof plate.  And preheat your griddle to 350 degrees. (Or a skillet on medium/medium-high for five minutes)

Whisk together milk and lemon juice in a small mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, add all dry ingredients together and whisk.  Make a large hole in the middle of the dry ingredients.  Add egg to the milk and whisk, pour into dry ingredients, then fold in melted butter.  Mix until JUST together and STILL LUMPY!

Cook pancakes until brown, flip and put in the oven until ready to eat!  Enjoy! :)

*Birthday Cake Variation:  add 1/2 cup powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar and lots of sprinkles into the batter to liking.  When the first side of your pancake is cooking and the other side is still runny, add more sprinkles!  We serve ours with a thinned down royal icing made of powdered sugar and milk.  (And happily only enjoy this on birthday mornings!)

*Whole Wheat Variation: Substitute whole wheat flour for regular flower, add 1/4 cup applesauce to wet ingredients and 1/4 cup wheat germ to dry ingredients.  Cook as usual.  

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Kid Likes: Crockpot Rio Chicken

So, I found this recipe on Pintrest for Cafe Rio Chicken.... and since I have not had it in ages (being that we are over 2000 miles away from the closest Rio location) I thought I would give it a try.  It was so quick and easy-- throw it in the crock pot.  The best Sunday meals--hassle free.


The recipe I based it on is from  Mandy's Recipe Box:

Crock Pot Rio Chicken

3 large chicken breasts
1/2 cup Zesty Italian Dressing
4 cloves of minced garlic
1 packet of buttermilk ranch dressing mix
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 cup water
1 tsp chicken broth base (the refrigerator kind)

Put breasts in the crock pot and add the dressing,4 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp broth base and 1 cup water.  Then sprinkle over all of the dry ingredients and DO NOT MIX.  Cook on low for 8 hours (or high for 5 or 6) and then shred with a fork and enjoy!

Tonight we had ours over brown rice and lettuce with cheese topping and some buttermilk ranch dressing made with the mix, 1 cup Greek Yogurt, and 1 cup milk.  So yummy!

As you can say my kids really hated it. {wink}

  

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Conversation with a 4 Year Old

This just happened.

MARCUS: Mom, will my college have a Lego floor that I can play on?
MOM: Probably not honey. But you can bring your Legos if you really want to.
MARCUS: Only if I don't pee in them right?
DAD: Wow. Marcus has a better understanding of college than I thought.

Hahahahaha!!! Pin It

Fun St. Patricks Day!

We have been very blessed this move because Cooper and I both received very social callings at our church, so we have made lots of new friends!  Cooper has been called to be in the Sunday School presidency, so he helps coordinate all of the lessons and making sure each class has a teacher.  He gets to teach some Sundays too, so that is really fun for him.  I have been called in the Young Women's Presidency and I've had such a great time getting to know the sweet girls!

Anyway, this past weekend was a blast!  We went over to Lindsay's mom's house and had a pool party with some people from our church! It was really fun and the best way to spend a 87 degree day in MARCH!  {Hear that cold weather folks!  We went to an outdoor pool party... in MARCH.... It's STILL winter time! ;)}

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March Family Visit

So this past week was Auntie M's LAST EVER spring break!  She and Gma S came to visit us here in Georgia!  It was quite a fun trip and it was great for them to see the kiddos!  We had lots of fun, ate too much food and treats, and went to fun places around the area.  Here is a little recap:

First off, we went to go see "The Lorax" movie, which you may or may not know, is my FAVORITE Dr. Seuss book.  I remember reading it in elementary school and I still read it to my kids regularly.  I was extremely nervous that I WASN'T going to like it because of how in love I am with the book.  Luckily, I do love it just as much as the book, and will probably be buying it when it comes to DVD! :)

The next day we went to Providence Canyon, about 45 minutes south of here.  We had such a great time doing the loop and exploring on the canyon floor.  I felt like a bit of a supermom carrying Astrid in her Moby Wrap while hiking canyons! Marcus was a little 4 year old rock star and hiked the whole 3 mile loop AND through all the canyons.  He didn't even fall asleep on the ride home!  He's getting so big!  Anyway, here are some pictures!

At Providence Canyon they have an area that used to be an old homestead with super old cars abandoned there.  So on your hike you get to pass by some old cars with trees running through them! Marcus was very concerned and kept asking if "Mader and Lightening McQueen died" haha.

We also spent the day in Atlanta.  We went to the Georgia Aquarium and at dinner at THE BEST PIZZA PLACE.  It's called "Blue Moon Pizza" and it is DIVINE!  Here are some pics!

After all that fun, we spent the next day at home just hanging out and getting ready for Auntie and Grandma to leave. We did go see "Journey 2: the Mysterious Island" and we were the only ones in the theater!  It was a fun movie.  I loved the first one so it was fun to see the sequel.  Marcus really liked it!

Anyway, that's a recap of our fun adventure! Pin It

5 years!

Cooper and I have been married five years!  Yesterday was our anniversary.  We had a great time, we went to take pictures at the chapel that we got married in, and then we went out to eat at the Melting Pot!  It was so much fun.  We took the kids and had Auntie M and Gma S come.  It was the best.  I loved spending it with family! :)

2006...

2011...

 

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Thanksgiving!

Oh. My.

So. Full.

Seriously.  So full.

We had a pretty dang good thanksgiving. :)  We had Maddi and Stori over and we made WAY TOO MUCH food.  We had:

Chips and Cranberry Salsa as an appetizer.  (SO YUM!), Turkey (duh.), Cornbread Stuffing, Butternut Squash Gratin, Amazing Sweet Potatoes (Thanks Connie!  So delish!), Creamy Parmesan Peas, Green Bean Casserole, Roasted Carrots, Scalloped Potatoes Mushroom Gravy, Cranberry sauce and rolls...

Then, For dessert, we made a Gingerbread Pumpkin Trifle, Pecan Pie, Apple Cranberry Crisp and Maddi and Stori surprised us by bringing Fluffy Pumpkin Bars.

I'll have to come on and post all of the yummy recipes!

8,000 calories later...

We were tired.  We all got together and watched Jim Carey's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".  It was lots of fun. :)

We also took a minute to remember things that we are thankful for this year.... Here are a few:

Family, Friends, Skyrim (haha.)

Candy, Legos & Toys, Getting Loves

My Family and Milk!

My Family, My Kids

We love you all and are very thankful for all of our friends and family. 

Happy Thanksgiving,

 from The Jensons

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Countdown to Thanksgiving: 16 and 15 Days

So, I missed blogging for what I was thankful for yesterday... so today I'll do two...

Two sets big beautiful brown eyes.

 

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Countdown to Thanksgiving: 21 Days

I'm thankful for my kid's smiles.

No matter how grumpy you are, how stressful your day has been, or how much you want to scream into your pillow for hours... if your kids smile at you, you smile back.  And it makes you feel better.

See?  Now go smile. Pin It