Family, Friends, Spring & School

FAMILY TRADITION

Nick's family has a "Chinese Dinner" tradition where each of them make a Chinese dish and then get together and have an AMAZING YUMMY dinner. I can remember when Nick and I were just dating once he got off his mission and I was invited over for Chinese Dinner with his family... after eating that amazing food, I knew I had to be part of that family and if Nick didn't propose to me, I would have to propose to him! ;) Of course the Chinese food isn't the only reason I wanted to be part of their family... just a major PLUS!! :)

SO... over Spring break, Nick and I planned and homemade our own Chinese Dinner. We invited a good friend and her son over for dinner to join in the fun with us. :) Like Terri said, making these recipes sure is a lot of work, but its SOO worth it!! :) WE LOVED it and I was SOO excited that it all turned out so good! I do have to say the hardest and longest part of the process was probably finding out what half of the ingredients even were before going up and down and up and down each isle at Walmart trying to find them. :)

(I apologize in advance for the lame pictures... my camera was dead, so Nick took them with his phone. I even had the funnest table setting for the occasion, but you would never know!)

Our appetizer was PF Chang Lettuce Wraps:
I actually got this recipe from cousin Claire!! :)

We did 4 main dishes:

1.Beef Broccoli

2. Panda Express Orange Chicken

3. Egg Rolls

4. Fried Rice

I love Chinese food and am SO excited that I know how to make it from scratch. Thanks Kim, Terri, and Claire for ALL the yummy recipes!! Our friend was able to take home left overs and we also had left overs for a while!! :)

TENDER MERCY
When Nick served his mission here in Las Vegas, he met the sweetest and kindest family, the Geworski's. Nick baptized the mother of the family, Laura, as her daughter, Ashley, was already baptized. Nick became great friends with the family and even today, they call to "check up" on us and have us over for dinner all the time.

Ashley is a great eaxmple and has such a strong testimony and has decided to serve a mission. Last week she recieved her call in the mail and asked if we would like to be there when she opened it. Of course we said yes and went right over. Here is a VERY important fact to this amazing thing that happens next... about a month ago Ashley was telling us that she had a dream that she was going to be called to the New Hampshire mission. She told everyone about it and how wierd it was and how in the dream she was upset because it was cold there and serving in a cold place wouldn't be fun. SO... as she opens her mission call and begins reading it outloud for everyone to hear, she read that she had been called to serve in the NEW HAMPSHIRE Mission!!!! Overcome with emotion and the strong feelings she and everyone felt in the room, we were all crying. It truly is amazing how well the Lord knows each and every one of us! Congrats Ashely, you will do GREAT!!

Crazy thing happened while we were there... we met a guy named Ryan (whose wife and 2 kids names I cannot remember) who asked where we were from... we said small town in Wyoming. He asks what's it called. We tell him Lovell. Then he asks us if we know the Crosbys. :) Of course we know them, I worked for them for years and Nick helped them around the farm. Ryan and his wife went to school in Arizona with Chris and Crystal Crosby!! It's a small world!! :)

SPRING BREAK SUCCESS

Some of you may remember my "to do" list for Spring break. Well I got MOST of those things done on that list... I did a lot of sleeping in, watching movies, and spending time with Nick. But I also completed:

1. Addie's surprise package...
a book, a jacket for her spring walks and more hair things!! :) flowers made out of fabric!!!

(if anyone is interested in knowing how to make these or wanting some yourself, let me know)

2. 50+ Mother's Day Cards for Young Womens Camp Fundraiser:

Adding cardstock behind them and some ribbon to attach them to the top of the dinners will fully complete them!

3. Successful Stampin' Up Party at my house! Of course I have No pics of this either... camera was STILL dead and I ran out of time to get batteries! :) We had lots of fun with good food and had a great turn out too!! THANKS EVERYONE!!

BACK TO SCHOOL

Now were back in school and only have 6 weeks left!!! WOW... its been FLYING by so fast, and its a good thing too, we're SO excited to be able to see all of our families SOON!! Last week in Nick's Fire class he got to put out car fires and a "bon fire" as well. He loved every minute of it. Hes been studying and preparing for his fire tests this summer in Montana and is looking forward to that.

I am trying to keep up with all the school work and internship hours. It's crazy that I'll be done with school so soon. You would think after 5 long years I would want to be done and just stop with the schooling, but guess what?? I found an Online Interior Design Bachelors Degree program through The Art Institute of Pittsburg Online Division!!!! I know, I know... 5 years in school and I STILL don't have a bachelors??... things never goes as planned and between back surgery and a degree change, here I am with two Associates degrees and thats it!! I have always wanted to finish online, so that I could get a job now and finish up as I go... well, NOW this is possible. I have looked and looked for online Interior Design programs but NO ONE offered them until NOW!!! So crazy as it is, I applied for the school and sent all my transcripts in to see what credits they will accept. If everything goes as planned, I will probably begin that program within the next year. Never stop learning and progressing, right? :)

HAPPY EASTER!!!!