Crockpot Lasagna

If any of you know me..and I mean REALLY know me, then you know that Lasagna is my best friend...shh...don't tell Jamison! I LOVE Lasagna. Well, seeing as we have no stove for a while, we've had to get creative with the crockpot. So we got a recipe from a friend...tweaked it to meet our liking, and voila!

Yesterday we had crockpot lasagna for dinner (We used different noodles so it doesn't LOOK like lasagna, but it most certainly has that beautiful lasagna taste!) and it was GoOoOoOoOod!!! mmm...Seriously it might not look good on the plate because I'm bad at my presentation skills (sue me!), but it was SO delicious. Thanks to Amber for the recipe. It has officially been added to one of our family Favorites! Want the recipe? Shoot me a request and I'll get it to you! It's one of those recipes that are good for quick fixes...when you have little to no time to cook and prepare meals for your loved ones. Takes 15 minutes prep time, and 30min-1hour in the crockpot. It really is a great recipe and easily feeds a family of 3 or 4. LOVED it!!!

....stay tuned for Pumpkin muffins.

.......................................................Seriously it's a 3 ingredient recipe. YAY!

Buddy

Benjamin is my buddy.

When he was about 2 years old he moved out of my parents bedroom, and came to be my sleeping buddy. Around that age, he was a late-nighter...he LOVED to stay up after everyone was asleep and watch Disney movies. But he was scared to be up all by himself--he usually stayed up til about 2 in the morning--so I'd leave my door open in case he got nervous, or wanted to crawl into bed with relative ease. One night, I was asleep in my bed and I had that feeling that someone was watching me, so I opened my eyes, and there was that little 2 year old buddy of mine sitting quietly on the head of my pillow, just above me, and he was just watching me as he had his legs criss-crossed and smiled ever so sweetly. It was one of those moments that you NEVER forget. He could've done anything at that point, made a mess in the living room, peed his pants, ANYTHING and I would've been soo happy helping him clean it up...just because of the way I awoke to him sitting there. Obviously at 2, little ones are still learning to talk, so I asked him what was wrong, and he said in his little voice that the movie had ended. I checked the clock- about 1:30am - and then asked him if he was done or if he wanted to watch another movie. "Another movie" was his answer, so I got up and helped put another on, and within minutes he was fast asleep, and as I carried him to our little room I couldn't help but think, "PLEASE let him stay this way forever."

Things never stay the same, we always change, and we keep moving forward. But one thing that DID stay the same is his sweet and loving personality. I wouldn't be the least surprised if one morning I woke up to him sitting there again at the head of my pillow, gently and patiently waiting for me to wake. I asked that he stay that way forever, not being specific. He grew in years, and is now 11 years old...but his heart remains the same. He is the most beautiful boy I've ever known, and ANYONE that knows Benjamin---REALLY knows him---would say the same. He has such a tender heart, and is loving and fair with everyone. He is our Angel.

Benjamin remained my sleeping buddy throughout the years, up until the very end, up until a couple of days before my wedding. Because we have been so close through the years, I will always have an extra special place in my heart for that little one. And I will always remember that day, oh so many years ago...when I awoke from a deep sleep, and saw... an Angel.

Autumn is for walking

Who wouldn't want to go for a walk in a place like this?!?

Jamison and I are going for a walk today after work. Not any place special. This time of year just makes me want to walk everywhere and all the time! Yay for fall!!!

Top Ten Tuesday...well err...Wednesday!

Before starting off with my list of top tens for today...which I will try and keep up on every week...but usually on Tuesdays (bad start, I know)...I want to point out in my defense of not having many pictures on here I usually only find time to update the blog when I'm at work. Because of this I never have my pictures, since they're on the computer at

home. :( But I'm trying to be better and remember to add them onto a disc, or do my blogging later on in the day. With so much going on right now, it gets complicated but I will try a little harder.

Now.......onto the top ten:

1. We are SLOWLY organizing our apartment, and getting things in place. The apt. is a very small, one bedroom space, but right now seeing as we are both at work everyday and he has school, (we are only really there to sleep at night and then get up the next morning and get going) the space is just fine. Because it's a rather small space, there is not a place for everything [which drives me CrAzY! but I won't get into that]. With no oven/stove and little wiggle room, we are currently mostly "living" at my parents house....which I'm grateful for. I'm hoping that we can find a nice house soon, especially when right now is a good time to buy, and for once in my life have a place for everything and everything in it's place. That will be nice!

Organization...a beautiful thing!

2. Starting today I will be using a planner. I hated planners in high school, even if I wasn't using it for "school" simply because it made me feel like my life was on a schedule - and I didn't like the thought of that at all! I wanted to run my life the way I wanted to and have fun and adventures along the way. Now a days, I find myself righting my to-do lists on scrappieces of paper and then losing them everywhere, which leads me to making MORE notes on paper, and it's just getting out of hand. I am giving in - I NEED a planner to schedule out my life. And I'm totally okay with that.

3. Because Jamison and I have no stove/oven in our cozy and snug apartment...we have been challenged to come up with creative dishes. Yeah. Mmmhmm...cause I can come up with that type of thing. I'm struggling to say the least, and we often dine at my parents. Sad I know...but my new goal is to seek and FIND great and easy crockpot recipes. We have a wok, griddle, skillet, and crockpot. Any and all recipe/ideas are MORE than welcome!! I'm going to start making a schedule each week of the meals we will have the following week and go grocery shopping each Saturday for the ingredients necessary. But step one is obviously...find quick, easy, and yummy recipes! HELP!

4. I have made a resolution to USE my curling iron. I have NEVER in my life curled my hair, and am quite scared to do so, but there's something in the air today that's putting a drive in me to try new things, and experience the unknown (I know...I'm a bit of a dramatic). Tomorrow shall be the first attempt, seeing as it's my day off, so if it turns out a horrible wreck I won't have to go and see anyone with my hair messed up! And I can take my time, without my wonderful husband laughing, teasing, or even cheering me on. Yikes! I'm a little nervous. Wish me luck!

5. Got a new phone. Mine was tattered, seriously. But it was my fault, I dropped that thing like you wouldn't believe. It had a mind of its own, and when it wanted to vibrate, it did a different dance each time so I couldn't ever keep a good grip on it to save it from falling. It was a MESS. So, last week I went in with my dad and got a new slide phone type deal with a keyboard and all, and it is WEIRD! I really don't like change, and this is one I really need to get used to. I honestly could not ever have a touch screen phone, everything is too high tech for me and I really would rather stay with something simple that works. I like the phone so far, and hopefully I can learn all the little tricks to this one soon...crossing fingers!

6. I really need to catch up on my journaling...every time I sit down to do it, something takes precedence and I find myself putting it off. Good thing I have the blog to help out in that way. I seriously am SO good at keeping papers, handouts, flyers, etc. and then want to journalize them. My journal looks a lot like this right now:

7. What number am I on??? Oh yeah! --okay seriously! My mind has been ALL over the place with SO much to do. I still haven't even started changing my name yet, nor have I even mailed in the forms for our official marriage license yet. Yeah, I've gotta get on that. We've got pictures to hang on our walls, things to unpack, Primary to teach, work to go to, and lives to live. It gets complicated, and with SO much to do..............I can't help feeling like my brain has wandered. I don't blame it. But really, just in case it's reading this:

"Dear Brain, I need you...please come back! Thanks!"

8. I love my job! I couldn't have asked for a better one at this point in my life, with the exception of one in the field I'm going into. I currently work at Kayenta Therapy Center. We have two buildings just up the sidewalk from each other. I work with a great deal of my relatives...Roberta Vande Voort, and Cherrie Fernelius. Tiffany also fills in on occasion when we need her. It's really the best. I do reception work, and when all the work is done I am free to do homework, catch up on the blog, and do "my" thing and STILL get paid for it! It's such a blessing and I will always be grateful for it.

9. I L.O.V.E. Family dinners. More than ever now that we're all off doing our own thing. Can't wait til Sundays come around, even moreso when we have dinner with Grandpa and Cherrie. I can't get enough of it! Can't wait until Thanksgiving either!!! Yummmm.

10. And the final thought for the day: LOVE him....and fall more and more in love with him every day. I'm so blessed!

~Amy

A Stolen Moment

In March of this year I took place in the bridal party of one of my closest friend's wedding. We had SO much fun, and gained some new friends. One of which was the wedding photographer, Donalee Walker. We grew to be friends over facebook and have kept in touch within the past 6 months.

Well....a couple of Saturdays ago, on the 4th of this month I ran into her at another friend's wedding. While there, she snapped up TONS of pictures. She is really a wonderful photographer! One picture that she took was of Jamison and myself while we were dancing. Here's what she had to say about it.

"A Stolen Moment
Here I am in the process of editing thousands of images from a wedding and the one I fall so instantly in love with and just HAVE to post isn't even of the newly wed couple... haha They ARE, however, {"A" newly wed couple.} ;) This shot reminded me so much of the WWII portrait of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square. Look at how he's grabbing her. I love it!"

LOVE IT! I'm so glad she captured this! I will always treasure it.

WOW!

Mr. and Mrs. Jamison Pruitt

Okay, So here are all the happinesses that I am going to post about in the near future:

1. The Reception!!!!!!

2. The Wedding.... :D

3. Honeymoon

4. Apartment

5. a Bucketload of pictures...really, be prepared...

6. And all in between.

I'm still waiting on pictures from the reception/wedding itself, which is why I'm holding off on posting until then. I also haven't uploaded the pictures from the honeymoon, so once that's all done we'll getcha updated! Love to all.

Amy

Marriage

...yes we kiss...it happens. ;)

My CrAzY boys...minus daddy.

There's my daddy! Best daddy in the world.

LOVE

Wow...I thought the day would NEVER come when I would finally be with my eternal sweetheart. But about 5 years ago I met him, and two weeks ago...August 7th, we were sealed together. I am so very very blessed, and I know with all my heart that I've found the perfect man for me.

An imagineer wrote:

"The magic is as wide as a smile and as narrow as a wink, loud as laughter and quiet as a tear, tall as a tale and deep as emotion. So strong, it can lift the spirit. So gentle, it can touch the heart. It is the magic that begins the happily ever after."

I am so very excited about what's ahead for Jamison and me in days, weeks, and years to come. Not being able to ever imagine being married and finally feeling {complete} I am learning every day what comes next in life. What happens after the "i do's"...and I've been having a blast finding out.

"Life is too short and too hard to not feel safe with the one you love" -Charly

SO true. And I'm very blessed to have found that someone that I love and who loves me back. A while back, actually it was about this time last year, I was writing back and forth with a good friend of mine. One day she asked me what my definition of love was...only being able to relate "love" to Jamison, even THAT long ago...this is what I wrote:

"anytime I saw him I felt a warmth all over. It wasn't a feeling of passion, or physical desires, but rather a feeling of comfort, safety, guidance,...love. I think that people all have different feelings that they get that define love for them, but ultimately for me I have noticed that love isn't the frufru and physical attributes of a person, nor the abilty to flirt, nor money, nor worldly possessions...no...for me love is being with someone that makes you want to be better. Someone that can make even the worst of times beautiful."

Even now, this is how I define love...and it is how I feel when I think about Jamison, when I hear his voice, when I see his face, whenever. He is my [dream] come true and I'm SOOOOO happy.