6.25.2012

Dirt.

 I never thought I would be so happy to say that I own a piece of dirt, but today I am more than ExCiTeD (because bright colors and big letters = excitement, I'm surprised you didn't know that) to say we own this big hunk a dirt.

Why you might ask, it's just dirt? Well it's because starting July 2 and come September 2 a cute little house all our own will be sitting right on top of this glorious piece of dirt! I bet you're looking at my (our) dirt in a whole new light now aren't ya?

I know we are :)

* It comes to my attention that I may have failed to mention earlier that we pulled out of our short-sale and it just so happened to fall through in the same day. Inspired personal revelation? I think so. I knew there was something out there better suited for us and I'm pretty happy to say that we found it.

Moral of our story: Pay your tithing boys and girls and you will be blessed like we have!

Updates to come, stay tuned!

6.22.2012

Mr. Seare's Birthday

Mr. Seare's birthday started out with breakfast in bed, to which he replied, "I've never had breakfast in bed before." To which I thought.. "Well I know I've never done it before, so this better be his first time!" ;) We went to dinner after work and he received a 'gift certificate' (homemade by yours truly) for a new pair of Nike shoes. I learned my lesson about 2 birthdays ago and will never buy him a pair of shoes unless he is there to pick them out. Of course after dinner we headed straight to outlets where Mr. birthday boy picked out his latest pair and we ended the night with a good ol' soft serve ice cream cone from Dairy Queen. (I begged him to let me make him a cake, but he declined. I think I'll bake one this week anyway..)

Second he went in to take a shower to find this cheery note 

 
                                     and later into the family room where his loot stood waiting


We went to dinner after work and he received a 'gift certificate' (homemade by yours truly) for a new pair of Nike shoes. I learned my lesson about 2 birthdays ago and will never buy him a pair of shoes unless he is there to pick them out. Of course after dinner we headed straight to outlets where Mr. birthday boy picked out his latest pair and we ended the night with a good ol' soft serve ice cream cone from Dairy Queen. (I begged him to let me make him a cake, but he declined. I think I'll bake one this week anyway..)

PS. I came home from work the next day to find him sitting on the couch in only his G's and his new sneaks. I think it's safe to say he had a good birthday :) love you babes!

6.21.2012

Birthday Boy

Just want to give a little Birthday shout out to my man.


Happy Birthday hot stuff!
I love you!!!

6.06.2012

What we've been up to

We had some friends from our ward over for dinner and I made a black bean cake. It was super easy to make and actually tasted delicious! Had I not told them, nobody, including my bean hating husband would have known. I would definitely recommend giving it a try!



We ventured up to Utah this past weekend for Scott's (Jeff's brother) graduation and Seare family photos. We were also able to see my family and got to check out the new City Creek downtown which is awesome! My mom was sweet enough to take Scout and "babysit" for the day while we did family photos in Midway. He was in heaven at her house and took advantage of their huge yard, they even got some gardening in. 


 Dirty, muddy boy!

As soon as we got home this was the position Scout assumed for the next 24 hours. All tuckered out!
Abbie let me borrow her sewing machine and this was a little project I did first to get my confidence level up, it's been a while since I have sewn anything. A little dog park bag for my boy on 4 legs.

I have officially started back to school. I am only taking one online class this summer and applying for the phlebotomy program this fall to give me a leg up on nursing school. It's been only two days and I'm already being reminded of what it's like to have to schedule for homework/study time. Not my favorite but it is kinda fun and nice to be back in school.

5.15.2012

Dos

  It seems like just yesterday Jeff and I were waiting in the Celestial Room of the temple for our turn to be married, but we have already made it to two crazy years! They have been the best, hardest, most adventuresome and happy two years of my life!


I am so thankful you chose me Jeffrey! Love your guts!



We celebrated our anniversary by getting pedicures and going to dinner and Jeff got me this awesome clock I have been talking about wanting since we got married. I love it!

5.07.2012

Update

 A lot has been happening here in the Seare house over the last couple of weeks which can explain for the absence of updates on our blog. Here is a quick run down of what we have been up to:

-Scout lost his first baby tooth (on his own) we won't forget about the 4 to 6 to 8? we don't really know, that he had pulled. I put it under his pillow and the puppy tooth fairy payed him in cheerios.


-We also ventured out to another dog park that everyone was telling us about, turns out it's not as great as everyone said but we did manage to get some pictures with this big guy. Only after I picked Scout up and carried him over, as you can see from the photos he was not so sure about it.



-2 Saturdays ago we spent about 3.5 hours washing, waxing and polishing the 4-Runner. She looks beautimus now! Lucky for us the neighbor kids came over and entertained Scout while we worked.





 



















-Jeff and I have been watching a lot of documentaries and doing some homework on our food system and government regulations which are awful by the way. We are slowly (as time, energy and $$) will allow making the switch to organic, homegrown and local foods. If you are interested in learning about what we have log onto Netflix and watch some of the documentaries they have on there. We have watched most of them and they are all very good, true and educational. Eating is something we must do to sustain life on a daily basis, it's sickening to know that most of us don't know where our food is coming from and what happened to it before we buy it, take it home and feed it to our families. Anyway, enough of the soapbox.

-I made some dang good buttermilk biscuits and gravy for my hubby, mom and aunt and Jeff said they were the best biscuits he has ever had. Here is the recipe for anyone who is interested, I have already had a few requests so this will make it easy and available for everyone.



1/2 cup cold butter (1 stick real butter)
2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
additional Self-rising flour
(for counter surface to knead dough)
2 tablespoons melted butter

*If you do not have self rising flour, you can make your own using all purpose flour. To make your own self rising flour, simply add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt for EACH Cup of all purpose flour. 
* If you do not have buttermilk, you can make your own using vinegar or lemon juice. 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice plus enough milk to make 1 cup. Let mixture stand for 5 minutes before using.


Cut butter with a sharp knife or pastry blender into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Sprinkle butter slices over flour in a large bowl. Toss butter with flour. Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender until crumbly and mixture resembles small peas. (I used my hands) Cover and chill 10 minutes. Add buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 3 or 4 times, gradually adding additional flour as needed. With floured hands, press or pat dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches). Sprinkle top of dough with additional flour. Fold dough over onto itself in 3 sections, starting with 1 short end. (Fold dough rectangle as if folding a letter-size piece of paper.) Repeat entire process 2 more times, beginning with pressing into a 3/4-inch-thick dough rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches). Press or pat dough to 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut with a 2-inch round cutter, and place, side by side, on a parchment paper-lined or lightly greased jelly-roll pan. (Dough rounds should touch.) Bake at 450° for 13 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; brush with 2 Tbsp. melted butter.
Prep: 20 min., Chill: 10 min., Bake: 13 - 15 min.



-My mom and aunt came down to spend one night with us and it was so fun. I am so glad they came. We relaxed and caught up, took them to Trader Joes which they both loved and we even got to walk through the short sale we have under contract with them. They both loved it naturally. Jeff and my mom just happened to be twinners on saturday in their plaid shorts. 



-While shopping for a baby gift for my Cousin Kylie I came across something that I couldn't resist so I bought it. After taking it home, I timidly showed Jeff who was not mad by the way but did tell me it was a bit premature. I know, I know. And no we are not pregnant and NOT trying. Just couldn't pass up this darling romper for our future babies.







so sweet right? 






















-I am going back to school. It's exciting, scary and dreadful all rolled into one. I have had some issues so far with credits transferring and all that jazz but we are trying to work it out. I am still hoping to do nursing but will not compromise on starting almost half of my pre recs over if they don't transfer so i have been exploring other options as well. I won't know for 8-10 weeks so until then I am hoping for the best and planning on nursing. Here's hoping it all works out!


 -Jeff and I have joined a team with our cousin's Carissa and Brandon and will be running in the Vegas Ragnar in November. Our team name is Mustache Mafia and I have been "shopping" for some awesome t-shirts for the team, this is one of my favorites. We are excited for the event, now for the training... haha


-No word yet on the house, we have had a few bumps in the road but it has been resolved. But I have stopped calling it our house just in case things don't turn out the way we like and we lose it. Ah, the joys of short- sales. There's not a thing that's short about them! 


Anyway, that's the gist of what we have been up to over the last few weeks along with the regular work day. Hopefully things will slow down here a bit and I will be able to stay on top of the blog again. Until then...






4.09.2012

"Those People"


I must admit, with a bit of regret (regret isn't the right word, embarrassment? that's more like it) that we have become "those people". You know who they are, they treat their animals like they are children, talk about them constantly, brag about them, pull out pictures for anyone who will look at them, even for those who would rather not. What can I say, Scout is our "baby" right now. Someday I now know that I will be one of "those moms" and you know what? That's ok. If our kids are even half as cute as Scout is I will have plenty to brag about. (ugh, annoying right?) haha So without further adieu here are some pics of our boy.

This is Scout's favorite way to ride in the care, he ducks back in for breaths every few minutes but other than that he is a happy pup.

Apparently they give out for than lollipops at the banks these days, I opened up the tube to get my cash and this pretty red bone was sitting inside. Again, one happy puppy!