Nephi Shooting Range

A couple of weekends ago, John's brother (Victor) and his girlfriend (Connie) were in town from California. John and I had already been talking about going shooting. I always enjoy going target shooting and John has a rifle and had been wanting to go....  so we planned a double date while they were here!

John took us to his favorite shooting range in Nephi. Everything was covered in snow, but it turned out to be a pretty nice day out. The only reason I got cold was because I don't have snow boots and my feet started to freeze standing in the snow for so long.

It was cute to see John and Victor with their brotherly bonding.

It was Connie's first time shooting ever. It was fun to have another girl there. I liked Connie a lot. She's great.

We brought a few bottles and clay pigeons and the box with the targets on it was already there. We used that for a bigger target until Connie and I got the hang of it. I have been shooting before of course... but each gun has a little bit of a different feel... I think. I was proud of myself because not only did I hit the box, but I hit and knocked over a couple of bottles AND I hit a clay pigeon. I have never been able to do that before. I feel like it is not easy to hit a moving object, but maybe that is just me. John was impressed with me. He told me later that he liked that I could shoot a gun.

John of course was a total pro... hardly missed anything. He makes it look easy.

We all had a blast. What a fun day. It was fun hanging out with Victor and Connie.

Me and Johnny.

Chicken Stuffed with Ricotta, Spinach, Tomatoes and Basil

This is a recipe I found off of Pinterest and made it for my fancy Christmas dinner party. It was a big hit. It was so good, I would definitely make it again. Especially for special occasions.

Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Panko Crusted Chicken Stuffed with Ricotta, Spinach, Tomatoes, and Basil:

 

• 1 cup of low fat ricotta cheese
• Small handful of baby spinach, chopped
• Small handful of grape tomatoes, diced (remove the seeds if possible)
• 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
   
• 1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
   
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• Dash of oregano
• 2 chicken breasts
• Italian seasoned panko crumbs
• 2 tsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the ricotta, spinach, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, basil, garlic, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Rinse the chicken breasts then cut a long horizontal slit along the center of the thin long edge of the chicken breast, nearly through to the other side. Fill the cavity of the chicken breast with the ricotta mixture. Season each side of the chicken with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Carefully dip the chicken breasts in the panko crumbs until both sides are evenly covered. Close the slit together with toothpicks (or if you are like me and realize that you don’t have toothpicks, simply break some kebab sticks in half and use them).

Heat the olive oil in an OVEN PROOF skillet on the stove over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, place the chicken in the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the chicken is golden brown, flip the chicken over and place the skillet into the oven. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Let the meat rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Enjoy.

Flashback Friday 148

Found this one of me when I was 7 or 8. Not sure why I'm covered in hearts... maybe I was celebrating Valentines Day.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 201

Well.... Christmas is over. I'm done with Christmas music and Christmas movies. Speaking of Christmas movies... since last week, I watched:

Snowmen
Becoming Santa
Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe (never seen Santa Baby 1)
Love Actually
Christmas with a Capital C
A Perfect Day
Christmas Town
The Gift of Magi
Charlie Brown's Christmas
VeggieTales: St Nicholas" A Story of Joyful Giving
One Magic Christmas
All I want for Christmas
Muppet's Family Christmas
The Grinch
Home Alone

I believe that puts me at 47 Christmas movies watched this month before and on Christmas. I'm sure you are impressed. I'm impressed with myself. I have never watched so many movies in such a short period of time before in my life. Although being able to watch them at work sure helps a lot. I would say I accomplished my goal. There is NO WAY you can watch ALL the Christmas movies that are out there. There are WAY too many... and what did I learn from watching all of these movies? That they make way too many Christmas movies, most of which are not worth watching.

Besides the Christmas movies... I have seen a couple other movies too. Last Friday, John and I went to see the second Hobbit movie. I liked it a lot more than John did... but I have a special place in my heart for the Hobbit in general. It was the first novel I ever read thanks to my sister Kristy bribing me with buying me the animated movie if I read the book. The bride worked. I still have that movie. Classic.  We also went to see another movie last night. We went to see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It was a different role for Ben Stiller who also directed. We both LOVED it. One that I want to own when it comes out. It was creative and just well done and.... made me want to go on another adventure. I know I just got back from one a month ago... but seriously, I'm already ready for another one. John is going and I think it made him even more excited to leave... which makes me a little sad, but I'm excited for him too because I totally understand.

John also met my family on Sunday. I think it went well. It was all of my immediate family that lives in Utah, plus my Grandma and my Aunt Joanne AND my Uncle Dale and Aunt Teresa ended up coming over too. Everyone liked him. Not surprised.... everyone loves John. He is so easy to like. He will need to come around more often. I already feel very at home around his family.... I have been around them a lot. His mom even got me a little Christmas present and I brought them a lemon cake. This is part of the kind of stuff I have missed about dating someone. That and the double dates. I LOVE going on double dates. It means I get to hang out with my friends that are dating or married again! ha ha. We did the Gingerbread double date with Liz and Ben and this Saturday we are going to do a double date with one of his friends. hopefully something really fun.

I got another massage on Saturday. Signing up to get messages once a month was one of the best decisions I have made in a while. I feel awesome. It is going to be great come January when I start becoming more hardcore about working out too.

I have 60 tamales in my fridge. Jess's family started a tradition of making them on Christmas Eve (even though they are all gringos) and I was invited to participate this year. I bought all the stuff and brought it over Christmas Eve morning before I went to work... but sadly, because I had to work I missed the making of it. However, John and I still hung out for an hour after everyone else left and I now have 60 tamales in my fridge which I will make John help me eat. :)

For my birthday I asked my dad to get me some new windshield wipers for my car because mine were SO BAD. He did... because he is a good man and John put them on for me. I feel like I'm not even sure how I saw out my window before... it made the WORLD of difference. I think I will survive this winter. John also filled the air in my tires. He takes care of me. I need that.

I also got a gift card from my parents to get new snow clothes. Since I lost so much weight.... I don't fit in my snow clothes anymore that I usually wear. So John helped me shop for those too. Thanks mom and dad! Next I need to get the snow boots. I think I know which ones I'm going to get too. John also helped me buy quality camping gear for future adventures. Used Grandma's Christmas money to buy my nice new sleeping bag. Thanks Grandma! I just need to get a sleeping pad and a camelpak and I'm set! Ready to adventure!

My mom also got me a little seat cushion that heats up and you can use it to take to sports events (like John's soccer games that are over). I have always wished I had a seat warmer in my car during winter though... so I have been heating it up while I'm eating breakfast and sitting on it in the car on the way to work.... SO NICE. I even take it into work with me and sit on it until it isn't warm anymore. It helps! It stays warm for a good 3 hours! Pretty rad. I think I will get good use out of it! Thanks Mom!

Work has been real slow and I am one of the only ones here.... but they have been letting me go home early pretty much everyday because there is nothing to do... so that is good. I'm glad my time off went to a cruise and 2 weeks in Southeast Asia. It was worth it... even though it stinks to come into work when everyone else is gone.

I finally went to City Creek for the first time last week when we were looking at the lights at Temple Square. It's so beautiful. I still love Riverwoods too though. So classy. We walked around after the movies last night. I love all the lights there along with the fire pits and water features. Makes it a fun place to hang out... even in the winter. Just have to hang out by the fire while you look at all the pretty lights. Glad we hung out there for a little while after the movie.

P.S I think John is getting tired of all the pictures I make him be in. ha ha.

Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope it's been a wonderful day with loved ones. I hope that 2013 was great and that 2014 is even better!

My Christmas Eve.... I had to work half the day. I ran some last minute Christmas errands... John and I stopped by my sister Kristy's house to help with tamales, but we were too late, so we just hung out for an hour. Then the rest of the time.... John and I spent time together. I requested that we go find the Christmas lights in Orem that you can see from the freeway. So we did... and they were BEAUTIFUL!

Christmas day I spent hanging out with my family that lives in Utah. Wish we could have ALL been together, but we had a fun day relaxing, eating, opening presents and playing the Wii. I especially loved  baby time. I love babies and so I try to hold Calvin as much as I can. He is a sweet little snuggler.

Then Christmas night I was back with John. We exchanged gifts and I finished watched Jesus of Nazareth with him and his dad.

It was all very low key.... but it was a good Christmas.

Photo of the Week 199

Switching Photo of the Week to Tuesday this week so I can blog about Christmas on Christmas. Here is a picture of the Salt Lake City Temple I took when I went to go see the lights. Merry Christmas Eve!

Fancy Christmas Dinner

Last year I did a fancy Christmas dinner with my roommates. I loved doing that so much that I wanted to do it again... except this year I invited friends that are from Utah and not going anywhere for the Holiday, so I had over Geoff, Tara, Sara and of course John.

I didn't make them dress up like I did my roommates last year, but it was plenty fancy. Geoff brought fancy drinks, Sara made cheesy mushrooms and potatoes which were both super good and Tara brought some Cole Slaw and John helped me make the main dish. I did a ricotta stuffed chicken that I found off of Pinterest. It turned out SO good. Everyone loved it. I will be blogging the recipe later. I also made home made rolls and Christmas jello! It all turned out perfect. Everyone really enjoyed it and that is what I love about party planning. I love cooking for friends.

The room was lit just by Christmas lights and candles... oh and I had the fireplace for your home off of Netflix on the TV which was extra cozy and even made the crackling noises. Towards the end of dinner, Geoff showed us the "behind the scenes" and trailer for it. SO FUNNY.

It was a great Christmas Eve Eve spent with some good friends. We all had a great time and were stuffed full of good food. I really should do dinner parties more often. I really love them.  The pictures are all from my phone, so they are not the best... but you get the idea.

Blurry Group photo's