As every facebook follower knows, I HATE grocery shopping.  With a passion.  With the kind of passion that starts and ends wars.  It’s that bad.  But it’s not the actual grocery shopping I hate the most.  It’s getting a list ready.  It’s going through my recipes, deciding what sounds good, what we haven’t had in a while, and what doesn’t take an incredibly long time.  Because these days I’ve got a one year old who cries and pulls at my clothing every time I enter the kitchen.  And a three year old who insists I watch her dance routine she’s just made up, or the latest picture she’s just drawn–as soon as I enter the kitchen.

So if anyone is in the same boat as I am, I thought I might make your job a little bit easier this week.  With a new, refreshing, quick and easy recipe!  (And if you want to return the favor of your favorite recipe, I’m here to be impressed.)

This specific recipe came from my second favorite sister-in-law.  (I’m just kidding, Kerstin.)  (No I’m not, Kim.)  And we’ve eaten it two weeks in a row, it’s that good.

Spinach Pasta Salad (originally featured on this blog)

Salad:
1/2 lb. rotini pasta, cooked al dente, drain, rinse in cold water
1.5 C cooked chopped chicken
4 cups fresh spinach, shredded/torn
1/2 C black olives, chopped in 1/4’s
2 oz. Feta cheese, crumbled
1.5 cups diced tomtatoes (grape tomatoes, YUM!)
1/2 C monterrey jack cheese, shredded

Dressing:
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
4 Tbs olive oil
5 Tbs vinegar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbs honey
1 clove garlic, minced

Blend dressing ingredients. Pour over mixed salad. Refrigerate 20-30 minutes before serving. Salt to taste at table.

*This makes 12 delicious 1-cup servings, 178 calories each. Not bad for all that pasta and cheese!

And when I make it I don’t add olives, because, let’s face it.  They aren’t that good after they don’t fit on your fingers anymore.

So go ahead and try it!  Tell me what you think!  This recipe seriously can’t be beat for ease, caloric content, and beauty.  Happy Friday!

I don’t know how to start this post.  So let me tell you a little about them.  They met at BYU orientation on the first day.  And they said it was pretty hot from the beginning.  No “let’s just be friends.”  He said he was instantly attracted to her long legs and long, silky hair.  The rest is history.  They married, had 8 fabulous children (my mother included), and owned an apple orchard.  My grandma said she didn’t know what to think when her husband moved them to an old army barracks.  But that is where they lived and made their life.  Their beautiful, wonderful life.

I remember visiting them and going into their pantry to find two gloves that were about my size.  Inevitably they were mismatched, but I counted myself lucky if I had at least one that was pink.  We would then put on our jackets and go out into the back of their house into a large building where sorting apples took place.  I would stand on a stool so I could see, and would watch as apples went by on a conveyor belt, picking out the bad ones.  All the family went out to help on these days.  Someone would be folding boxes, someone would be driving a fork lift, someone would be weighing, and the kids did a lot of sorting.  It would be cold, my hands would be frozen despite the gloves, but the smell of apples permeated my nose and filled my chest.  I loved it.  I still have lotion to this day that smells of apples.  Just so I can close my eyes and remember those moments.

Since those days, the orchard has been sold, my grandparents have moved down the street into a beautiful new home, and the “orchard” has become a town.  My family bought our own land and built a home on it about 10 years ago.  We live in the orchard.  And during my last visit I knew I wanted to do a photoshoot with my grandparents.  To capture those tender moments that I grew up seeing between them.  The stolen glances and quick little kisses.  The smiles and laughs.

So after many visits to Utah, and seeing my grandparents without my camera in tow, I decided it was time to stop procrastinating.  I did that once with my great-Grandma Gwen, and knew I could not do it again.

My mom and I went over early to help my grandma get ready.  (My grandpa was still gone golfing, of course.)  She got some new clothes for her birthday not too long ago, but didn’t like the bright colors.  She said the camera would see her shirt, not her face.  Looking in her closet we pulled out a few shirts that looked nice, but once my mom held up he pink shirt I knew it was “the one”.  The one that I always envision her wearing.  While my mom was helping my grandma curl her hair and get ready, I saw her jewelry box sitting on her dresser and had to grab my camera for a few shots. 

Once my grandpa got home, he quickly combed his hair, changed out of his shorts, and was ready to go.  We almost left the house with him wearing his sandals with white socks.  Luckily I caught the fashion faux pas before we left the house.

Being away from home, with my props all left behind, I wasn’t sure what I was going to have my grandparents sit on.  My mom knew a lady, so we went over to her house and picked up some chairs.  Chairs from around 1820, to be exact.  Worth between $200-$500 each.  We were careful, but I was stressed.  But they worked perfectly!  And studying them was fascinating.  How everything was so intricately carved, though not exactly perfect.  Beautiful.

My favorite:

For my last image I told my grandparents to hold hands.  But they grabbed onto each other with both hands.  Just like their marriage.  They’ve held onto each other through all those years with everything they had–never letting go.  My grandma wondered why anyone would want to photograph her hands.  Who wouldn’t want to photograph those hands?

So thank you to my grandma and grandpa for letting me photograph you.  For letting me help sort apples, drive the four wheeler, and for all those movie nights, with popcorn served in old, washed out, cool whip containers.  I love you!

Nate’s favorite food?  Onions.  Me?  I don’t feel like I can commit to anything, but if I had to, as of now, it would be: salsa.

Mackay is weird.  There, I said it.  In Utah, we found  a swarm of ants.  I told her that Utah ants don’t bite like Texas ants do.  And somehow that gave her license to make friends.  She picked one up.  And LOVED it.  Actually, loved ON it.  She let it climb all over her, named her ant, and took it inside to show her grandma.  Mackay found Grandma in the laundry room, who was completely disgusted by the thought of having an ant inside her house.  And then somehow they turned from her “friends” to her “favorite cousins.”  She asked if she could take one home with her.  She even began naming them all.  And when my mom put poison out for them to eat, Mackay pled with her not to kill her favorite cousins.  My mom showed no sympathy.  We have survived, and my daughter has friends, I promise.

I’m out of mousse and eye shadow.  And have been for a while.  Instead of going out and buying new, I’ve reverted to digging underneath my bathroom sink for the hair products that just “didn’t work” and have been using pink on my eyes instead of the usual brown.  (Color is in, right?)  The real problem is that since we have brought on the second child, I am a one-stop-shop kind of gal.  If it’s not at Wal-mart, I’m not getting it.  Taking kids in and out of car seats multiple times a day is just not worth it.  But I will buy my designer cosmetics before I buy from Wal-mart.  Just sayin’.

Celebrity status and popularity is such an interesting concept.  Who defines it anyway?  And how weird is it that someone who is SO BIG in one atmosphere may be a no-one in another.  Jasmine Star, Jesh de Rox, Jerry Ghionis.  If I saw any of these people in real life, I would probably faint.  And you have no idea who I’m talking about.

Someday I’ll be a celebrity to more people than just my mom.  Who am I kidding?  She doesn’t even read my blog.  (She doesn’t know how to type it into the address bar.)  And I know I can write that because she won’t be reading.

Traveling home from Utah last weekend went okay.  For one leg of the trip I was alone with the kids.  I survived, though if I had to do the entire trip myself I probably would have been in tears.  But I think I handled the wrestling and bloody finger with grace.  Oh, by the way, I hate flying.  At least I didn’t throw up.  At least Mackay didn’t throw up.  And at least Zack didn’t throw up.  Let’s count it as a success.  If you want to hear more about throw up let me know.  It might make you cry…and laugh through the tears.

My daughter has started saying, “Wowza”, which made me realize that I say that.  I’m going to try to stop saying that.

I’m going to start a diet.  Yes, I said it on the internet.  That means no more oreos, and I am limiting my McFlurry’s to once a week.  Pathetic, I know.  But I dream about them.

I can’t wait for Wednesdays blog post.  I had the opportunity to do a “just for me” shoot while in Utah, and can’t wait to share.  I’m going to try to do more “just for me” shooting.  To keep my heart happy and the creative juices flowing.

Vacation.  I’m going on vacation.  Okay, it’s actually “vacation”, since my week away will be packed with photoshoots.  (In a good way.)  So while I will be working my tail off, I am taking a break from you, internet.  And I get a partial break from my children, too, since there will be plenty of them to go around to grandma and grandpa and uncles galore.  I’m excited for that part them most.  Oh, and a break from the 100+ degree heat.  That will be heaven sent, too.  Wish us good luck on our flight today with a 1 year old.  *cringe*

I can’t believe I broke my own rule.  I had a free weekend and wanted to fit Zack’s one year photoshoot in.  We got up on Saturday morning, had monster pancakes, and started getting ready for Zack’s big day.  About to leave he started rubbing his eyes.  A lot.  Duh, it was nap time.  But if we didn’t get this shoot in now, later would be too late.  Too hot and bad sunlight.  So it was either now, or another day, yet to be determined.  So I took a deep breath, and we packed the kids into the car.  The kid who NEVER falls asleep in the car fell asleep instantly.  We hit a few different locations, and each time had to wake our sleeping child.  Despite the less than pristine circumstances, things went well.  Mackay kept herself busy drawing a map and kept saying, “According to our map…”  And it took Zack a while to realize that he didn’t have to do what we said and could crawl wherever he wanted.  So before that realization, we got some images.