Long Lost BFF

Last night I finally went up to SLC to see one of my best friends Abby Simmons.  I met her when I committed to go to the University of Utah to play volleyball, she committed to come in the same year as me and have been BFF's ever since! We lived together in the dorms and in the plex, always hung out, and of course played volleyball together and traveled together.  After my second year at the U, I decided to be done playing volleyball and moved down south.  One of the things I miss most about leaving SLC is this girl!  So after a long time of not doing a very good job of catching up we planned a date night and went to sushi.

It was SO great to get caught up with her!  We both have had so many things to tell each other we spent a solid 2 hrs (maybe more) hanging out at the Tsunami not realizing that other people could overhear us until the waiter commented on what we were talking about ha ha it was awesome.  Anyway I am so mad that we didn't take any pictures last night, so I am just going to have to post old ones of us! (Okay this is going to seem like a lot of pictures, but  when you realize how many pictures I actually have, this is only a small  fraction.  So get over it :))

Catching Up

So much has happened in the past 3 months, I don't even know where to start.  A lot of big events, a lot of birthdays, a lot of parties and many, many cupcakes and dinners were made.  I will try to cover it all, but there are too many pictures so this post will probably be lacking in that area.

One of the biggest things that have happened was my little brother, Nick, left on his mission on October 26th.  He spent 3 weeks in the Provo MTC then went to the MTC in Peru and is currently still there.  He absolutely loves the mission so far, but the language is frustrating, as we all knew it would be.  He has been companions with my cousin, Reggie, since day 1.  They were companions in Provo, companions in Peru, and when all of the companins switched around, they stayed the same!  The mission president said that the spirit that is with those two being together is one of the strongest he has felt.  That is really amazing and comforting to hear.  So he is doing great!

Next, on Halloween Brady and I threw a Chicago Caper Murder Mystery dinner!  It was actually pretty difficult to remember all of the facts, but everyone dressed their parts and we had a great time.  It is always fun to spend time with our great friends.

Oh also, I can't forget our other halloween costumes...

Brady had a birthday at the beginning of November, he is now 27!  His family came into town to be with him so that was a lot of fun.  We went to Rodizio Grill, and again we got to spend another great night playing games with our friends.  We are very lucky!

Also in  November, my dearest friend Brooke Hansen married the love of her life, Daniel Beaudoin!  I think that is how you spell it...sorry if it is wrong!  They both looked amazing, it was such a wonderful night to be able to show our love and support for their lifetime together.  I am so happy for that perfect couple.

Just a couple of weeks ago Brady sold his first company!!!  Wooooo!!  He has worked so hard starting this and keeping it going, now finally it all paid off.  I am so proud of him for all of the effort he has put into it and am excited to see where he goes next.  This is him signing the congract.

Just last week I finally finished my finals!  I absolutely love school, but I was so burnt out.  It ended well though, I will miss my Cohort of Women though! (The group of fantastic ladies who I have all of my classes with).

And now time to relax and enjoy the holidays.  Wow I just realized that this update sounds a lot like those updates that families send with their christmas cards each year...oops!  Thats okay, now that I am caught up I won't have to do it again.

This shouldn't be my last post before Christmas, but for some reason it is, Merry Christmas!!

The big 2-1

Last weekend was my 21st birthday, and it was quite a day.  Brady and I were planning on running a 5k in Salt Lake so we were up in Sandy, we decided we didn't want to wake up at 5:45 am and so Brady, my dad and Nick made me breakfast it was great!  Right after that I met up with a girl who I used to work with in Salt lake for another breakfast/lunch then was off to a bridal shower for my dear friend Alex who gets married next month!

After the craziness of the morning and afternoon, evening came and my amazing boyfriend and friends threw me a birthday party.  It was perfect good friends were there, good food and we played volleyball for most of the night.  Which I found out that Lizzi is a champ at playing so hopefully we will get in some tournaments together this summer.

This one is really blurry sorry, I saved it off of facebook!!

My wizard party  hat and hawaiian party necklace

There was a lot of food, we grilled and had treats

Opening presents, I got a FANTASTIC cupcake book from Brooke and Dan, thanks again guys!

Oh don't worry I just got attacked by people who I used to trust....

It really was such a great day.  Thanks again to everyone who was involved!!

Bridal Shower with a lot of Cupcakes

Alright this is probably going to be a really long post since I have two recipes that I am putting in here.  I guess I could split them up, but I am too lazy to do two seperate posts and the pictures that I have are together so I will just do one. 

Last night was the bridal shower for my best friend all growing up.  Seriously we have known each other since we were like 5 so it is crazy to see that she is actually getting married.  I am so happy for her and was lucky enough to have the pleasure of baking cupcakes for the party.  I ended up making almost 5 dozen, I couldn't believe how much the batter made.  Good thing though, they were delicous.  If any of you guys know me, you know that I don't like to eat my cupcakes, I don't know why, but I am just not a cake person.  I decided to tried these and they were so yummy!  I am glad there are extra :)

My beautiful friend and her Fiance

Keylime with Blackberry Buttercream Frosting

Of course I got this recipe from Pinterest, the food blog it is from is Baked Perfection.

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons key lime juice
zest of two limes
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease or paper-line 30 baking cups.

1.  In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2.  In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla, key lime juice and lime zest; mix well. Add the flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick).
3.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Blackberry Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup blackberry filling (seedless blackberry jam or preserves can be substituted)
pinch of salt
6 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk

1.  Beat butter and vanilla until creamy. Mix in blackberry filling and salt. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until combined. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency.  When I added the milk it made it a little soft, so be careful when you add it

Devil's Food Cake with a Surprise Reeses with Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

1 package Devil's food cake
Bag of Mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

1. Prepare Devil's food cake as directed on box
2. Fill the cupcake tins with cake batter to where the bottom of the tin is covered
3. Add 1 Mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cup
4. Cover the Peanut Butter Cup with batter
5. Bake as directed on box

Pictures are not great sorry!

Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

1 stick butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
generous pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
4 cups powdered sugar

1. Cream the butter, peanut butter, salt, and vanilla. Slowly add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time alternating with the milk until you reach the desired consistency.

Enjoy :)

So Long Acoustic Night

I mentioned before that Brady and Brooke started Acoustic night last summer, and this past Wednesday night was their last night of putting the show on.  Don't you worry they will start it up again in the fall, but for the summer they are taking a break.  They did a fantastic job on getting this set up every other week, and their performances were always great!  Here is a shout out to you both, and here are their last performances.

Brooke and Brady singing Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Calliat

Brooke singing her CLASSIC song Telephone by Lady Gaga accompanied by Dan the Man

Brady singing Warning Sign by Coldpay

And the last shout out of the day goes to Trey Nelson and Mason Miles, woo woo!!  This was awesome

Are you a Belieber?  :)

A lonely day in Apt 234 turns into what??

So last weekend ALL of my roommates move out.  Lame.  Court moved out a week earlier, Al moved out on Friday and Brooke moved out Saturday afternoon.  By the time I had gotten home from work on Saturday the good ole apt 234 was deserted.  Luckily I have a good friend named Devon McBee who owed me dessert (as you know from the previous blog to why he owes me that dessert).  So in the late afternoon he brings over a delicious turtle pie and our other friend Devin came as well.

Before I know it we are all just chatting, and I am playing with my left over pie that I didnt eat, which is something that I always tend to do, Devon McBee decides to take a handful of my whipped cream and smear it on my face.  Good thing I have been doing P90X and been practicing my blocks otherwise I would have had a handful of whipped cream in my face.  Well, Dev doesn't give up too easily so I arm myself with some pie as well.  Next thing I know I have the full pie in my  hands and Devin Underwood is behind me pushing me to do it.  So after watching Dev McBee jump around for a little bit all antsy that he might get a pie to the face, I throw it at him.  I get him a little bit, but  mostly it ends up all over my kitchen.  Dev grabs a huge chunk of pie, smears it in my face and owns me!  Then runs off so I can't get him.  Luckily he came back shorty after and this was the result.

Yes that is a big blob of caramel on my neck.  Unfortunately we did not get a picture of my kitchen, or the outside hall for that matter.  It was a disaster!  So I am sad that my roommates are gone, but apt 234 lives on!!!

Victory, Oh Sweet Victory

Yesterday was a weird weather day.  In the morning it was pouring rain, but by the time I was out of school at 3 o clock it was sunny as can be.  When I got home I decided that I wanted to go for a jog to be out in the sun or play basketball outside on Alpine's court that they have.  So I call up my dear friend Devon and he said that he would like to play basketball as well.

We get out there and are just shooting around and talking.  Of course Devon is making most of his shots, as for me, not so much.  I mean I am not bad at basketball, but I was definitely a little rusty.  So after a little bit Devon challenges me to a 3 point contest, loser makes the winner dessert.  Why do I agree?  I have no idea, I had just lost a bet to him 2 days earlier and already had to make him dessert so I figured, oh well I still have ingredients I can use.

Dev starts out shooting and shoots around the 3 point line.  He makes 2 out of the 5 shots.  I go next and make one shot, then no more until the very last one.  So we tied, you know what that means, sudden death!!  So Devon goes around again and doesn't make one shot.  I was astonished.  So all  I have to do is make one shot and I win.  First shot, miss.  Second shot, miss.  Third shot (which just so happened to be my  hot spot for the day) made it!  WOOO I was the winner.  Beating Devon McBee in basketball??  Boom baby.

But wait, it gets better.  Devon then suggests to play a game of PIG.  I decide to play, but then guess what happens?  I beat him again!  So he says, best two out of three.  I agree and he beats me the second game.  By the third game he is nothing and I am PI so if I miss another shot I lose.  All of the sudden we are tied, both at PI.  It is my turn to choose a spot to shoot from, I jokingly go to the half court line and tell him that I am going to get him out from this shot right here.  So of course he walks up like 10 feet in front of the hoop and makes his own for me to make.  Mean.  Then he says, and I quote: "If you make this, I quit."  So guess what I do??  SWOOSH!  I didn't just make it, I swooshed it.  Nothing but net baby.  Does it get any better then that?!  I do not think so!!  We even had a witness.  It was a truly beautiful thing. 

Of course Devon still has his shot to see if he can make it.  Does he make it?  Nope!  Then Devon throws out of no where "I still have a donkey shot!"  Which is true, but we didn't ever  use one for the two games before!  Doesn't matter, he still missed.  I AM THE CHAMPION!!

I do have to give it to him, he is a good looking loser

Champion forever!!

I don't know if anyone even cares to hear this story, but I am proud of this moment and what better way to brag about it then online for everyone to see? :)