MYA LOVES SUCKERS!

I had these suckers in my cupboard at work left over from Valentine's Day. Mya got into them bit the wrapper off and just went at this sucker! She was a mess!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIEL AND JULIE! Daniel and Julie share the same birthday FEBRUARY 26th! So we all went out to dinner at Made In Brazil Steakhouse last night! It was truly amazing and so much fun.
Our cousin/roommate Colleen came and our friend Carrie.
Daniel and his all too pretty PINK LEMONADE DRINK!

The meat baring sword carriers were not Made in Brazil and unfortunately were fully clothed.
Julie and Daniel scored free dessert and a Happy Birthday seranade in Portugese!Haleigh's favorite part of the meal was the chicken hearts! I was done WAY before the chicken hearts!

Mya was a sport, it was late for her. She totally knows when I take her picture now and she gives me this look! I'm pretty sure that she said JEN last night too which is a big step in our relationship since we have known each other for almost 11 months now and spend quite a bit of time together!

MYA AND MICKEY

Mya found this sucker in my room as she was going through everything else. It kept her busy for quite a while!

MESSY MYA

Mya loves to unload everything out of everything. Here are a couple pictures of her affecting my areas!

In my room has taken all the books out of my bookshelf and all the pens and sticky notes out of my basket...and my Mickey Mouse sucker from Disneyland! It keeps her occupied at least! At the park going through my purse!
At work emptying the recognition basket!
And at work going through my drawers!

FREE Redbox DVD rentals
For those of you that have not heard of Redbox, I will explain.Redbox is just that...a large, red box in certain locations where you can rent dvds. It costs $1 per day, new releases included. You choose your movie from the box, and swipe your card to pay. Then you can return the dvd to any RedBox location, not just the one you rented it from. (Go here to find a location near you.) It is a very good deal, don't you think? $1 for a new release. What can beat that?

I'll tell you what can beat it. FREE dvd rentals from Redbox. That is right. FREE. It is possible that you will never have to pay for a dvd rental again. Ever. Seriously.This website, InsideRedbox.com, will tell you hundreds of useable codes that you can use when you rent a dvd. The codes are for free rentals. So use a code each time you rent and your rental will be free!The process is simple:

1. Find a code on InsideRedbox. You can search the main database or search by state. I recommend taking at least 3 codes with you to rent in case one doesn't work.

2. On the main page at the Redbox location, click on the button in the lower left corner that says "rent with a promo code."

3. Then type in the promo code and go from there. The rest is easy. Just follow the instructions.

4. Double check your receipt (sent to you via email).Yes, this works. We have not paid for a rental in many many months.

But, here is the catch. The free code gives you the rental for free THAT DAY. You have to return it before midnight but you can return it to ANY RedBox! If you forget to return it to the Redbox location the next day, you will be charged $1 per day that you keep it. I'm sure there are many people who don't return it the next day, so that is how they make their money. Personally, I make sure we don't forget. I want my rental to be free.Give it a try! Nothing is too good to be free!
Also, if you sign up at Redbox.com they will send you a free movie rental code every Monday in your email...valid for Monday only.

SO WE ARE NOT TALKING ON OUR PHONE OR TEXTING WHILE WE ARE DRIVING!

This is a story about a girl that was texting and hit a car and the damage that was done to a poor 3 year-old boy. It made me re commit to driving when I'm driving and not doing every other thing that I can think of :)

CLICK HERE!

WELL... HAPPY FREAKIN' VALENTINE'S DAY!

This is why I don't date. For those of you that haven't caught on to my slightly feminist approach toward the male gender, this movie is SO me. I have at some point stood in all of these women's roles and became a victim of each of the mistakes made and the victim of confused, uncommitted men. I'm a professional now at picking out all the possible mistakes I'm going to make and that the smallest thing a guy does or doesn't do is a sign that he's SO not into me.

I laughed AND I cried, maybe the most accurate movie ever made.

LET'S FOCUS JEN!

One thing really has hit me up side the head this week! What am I focusing on, what am I glorifying? I love my blog but sometimes it's a little bit of an advertisement of myself and it's sad to think of what I am glorifying or not glorifying. For example, the Super Bowl is NOT a bad thing but there are so many other wonderful things in the world. I'm so excited that Brett has won his second Championship, he's so talented and determined and I'm way proud of his accomplishments. I realized though as I was getting all hyped up about the game that I am even more proud of his sister K. K is as well very athletically capable and so determined. K and her husband were sealed in the temple a couple years ago and I was so sad when Brett was not able to go to her wedding because he had football. I haven't been to either of the Super Bowl games but I did get to go to K's sealing and I'm SO grateful for that, it was SO amazing and special for me! It forced me to think about what others sacrifice to be inactive in the gospel and what others sacrifice to be active in the gospel.

I was reading in the Ensign again this morning and that thought from this week had come to me as I read the article "Left with a Violin and a Hymnbook". This family was traveling to Utah and their van caught on fire. Most of their belongings were burnt along with the van and they were very grievous over what was lost. As the mother went through what was left after the fire crew distinguished the fire she found her melted purse. Inside everything was destroyed except for her temple recommend. She says "at that moment I suddenly realized I had been focusing on the wrong things. The most important things - our testimonies of the gospel and our personal safety - were intact."

I APPRECIATE THAT!It is a little depressing to focus so much on what bothers you about life so I am going to counter act my what bugs me post with some appreciation!

1. I appreciate my beautiful roommates JULIE AND COLLEEN, two of my favorite ones so far. (I have loved ALL my roommates though). Colleen is such a good listener and keeps me grounded. She is way good about doing the dishes and I don't love doing dishes. Julie is usually so happy and upbeat and motivates me. She is also very clean so our house is nice all the time. They both are the funniest part of my life right now when we quote movies and make fun of our day together.

2. I appreciate my MOM AND DAD! They are always giving me support in a good positive or good critical way and making me a better person. Some kids just don't get disciplined in life and it's really sad. I feel like I am still disciplined in how they raised me and I'm very grateful that I'm not a crazy person, thanks mom and dad.

3. I appreciate DANIEL AND JAMAICA! Daniel helped replace the antenna in my car this weekend (cuz I took it through the car wash and it broke)! Jamaica is always letting me play with her kids and cooking me food and letting me have a place for a timeout once in awhile.

4. I appreciate MICHAEL! Oh my goodness my favorite nephew and by far my favorite 10-year old. He's always my first pick to go do anything with because he's so chill and easily entertained. He is always thankful when I go to his basketball games and stuff and asks me if I'm going to be at the next one. He's a sweetheart of a kid!

5. I appreciate the HALEIGH bug! She is my favorite 7 year old for sure and one of my favorite neices. I'm positive my body would explode if I had the amount of energy that Haleigh has. She is always wanting to do and try new things and has the most entertaining sense of humor. She is anxious to grow up and like me is now the middle child!

6. I appreciate MYA! She makes me feel important when she sees me cause she starts clapping her hands! It's awesome. She gave me a kiss, which involved her opening her mouth wide open and smooshing it on your face, and she bit my lip the other day! I love that she can't do much but motivates everyone else around her to do everything for her :)

7. I appreciate MY JOB! I am grateful for the Neil's for letting me work with them at Primerica. It is a great job for my personality to help others and continue to learn. There is never a dull moment with the agents or the Home office! I love it THANKS GUYS!!

8. I appreciate my MODERN CONVENIENCES! I would be a lost bird without my cell phone and people to call me to remind me of stuff and text me. I love my car and that I don't care much for it. It does the job and gets me where I want to go but I don't LOVE my car like that if someone spilled a slurpy on the back seat I wouldn't pull off the interstate to freak out at them for it.

9. I appreciate ST GEORGE! It's so good for me and it counters my depressive nature. I love to hike and climb and the area makes it so easy and accessible to do all of it. It's a little warm in the summer but TOTALLY worth it the whole other 9 months!

10. I appreciate MY BRANCH! My church branch is all single adults and each one of them is so sweet and special to me in their own peculiar way. They all have been instruments in Heavenly Father's hands in guiding me and teaching me what I need to know about others.

ENSIGN BY DAY SCRIPTURES BY NIGHT

I started to read the Ensign in the mornings in place of my scriptures because the words of the Prophets in the latter-days are as important or more important in the last days. I study my scriptures at night. By the end of the month I have made it through each story in the Ensign and feel like I am reading what I need to hear. The article I read this morning from the January Ensign "Putting My Hand in the Lord's" was so great. It was a story written by a woman who had 4 children and was pregnant with her 5th. Her husband ended up at this time drowning in a lake. She shared what helped her deal with her traumatic situation and the couple of quotes that she used really applied to me.

Instead of asking why is this happening to her she asked how was she going to deal with it? Heavenly Father loves us and even though we don't know why we do know that He guides our lives. She quotes 1 Nephi 11:17 "I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." Faith has to be sufficient when we do not know why.

She goes on to say, "Though pain and loss bite deep, it is comforting to know that painful experiences are not wasted. Elder B.H. Roberts of the seventy (1857-1933) said that "those who have to contend with difficulties, brave dangers, endure disappointments, struggle with sorrows, eat the bread of adversity and drink the water of affliction, develop a moral and spiritual strength together with a purity of life and character, unknown to the heirs of ease, and wealth and pleasure."

Thanks to Trish Callister for showing me this blog Fav Family Recipes I have to share the Just Like Cafe Rio recipes. They are all SO good but I have made the Cilantro Ranch twice now with the intentions of putting it on everything I eat, it's truly amazing!

CILANTRO RANCH
1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mis (not BUTTERMILK)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup buttermilk
2 tomatillos, remove husk, diced
1 full bunch of cilantro
2 cloves garlic
juice of one lime
2 jalepenos
Mix all ingredients together in the blender and refrigerate. It is better if made the night before.

SWEET BARBACOA PORK
2 pounds pork (we use boneless pork rib meat, the ones from Costco work amazing)
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can enchilada sauce (I use Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness but any will work)
1 c. brown sugar
Put the pork in a heavy duty ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry) or on low for 8 hours. Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.Put shredded pork and sauce in crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

CILANTRO-LIME RICE
1 c. uncooked rice (long-grain, white rice)
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

BLACK BEANS
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c. tomato juice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro
In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro. (**NOTE** we added a can of corn, drained, to the beans with a dash of cumin and chili powder, it was AWESOME! We recommend doing this even though it's not "traditional Cafe Rio")

CAFE RIO CHICKEN
1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing about 1 cup (or use the mix and made it as per directions)
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves garlic—minced
5 lbs chicken breast
Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour

CONGRATULATIONS BRETT AND THE STEELERS!!! AND saking Kurt Warner the Cardinals quarterback!

MVP Holmes making the winning touchdown thank goodness for those toes!
Harrison making SuperBowl history with his 100-yard DEFENSIVE touchdown!

WAY TO GO STEELERS!