My Hands Smell Like Onions. . .

Ah. Canning season is here. Dawn helped me whip up some salsa this weekend; I'll let you know the results when I taste it tonight. Fingers crossed! (I'll add pictures to this post later. But I wanted to make sure I actually wrote something, so check back later for beautiful pics of me and Dawn.)

I'm going to continue my weekend update in list form. I've already displayed my love of the list. So here begins another adventure.

1. Friday night was spent in the BYU Bookstore. That's right! It's time for school and Rich is going to the BYU. He's big time. We wandered through the quiet and deserted textbook section while the rest of the crazy Education Week people overwhelmed the rest of the store. Rich is all grown up now and going to school. He even has a brand new hoodie to prove his newfound school spirit.
2. After the buying of books (which I'll admit made me really happy, and then sad because the books weren't for me), we ate at Carrabba's. We'd never been before, but it was tasty! And our waiter was working really hard for his tip, so we got free frozen lemonades and Rich got free soup. I made myself dizzy trying to watch the Olympics on the flat screen right above our heads. This was the only sad part of dinner.
3. Saturday we visited the Deseret Book discount store in the Deseret First Credit Union in South Jordan. I'd never ventured here before, but my Mom told me this book I wanted was there for only $5. I don't think I'll ever be allowed to return. We left the store with a lot more than the one book we planned on buying.
4. Farmer's Markets make me happy. So much energy and creativity and earthiness. I was searching for Roma tomatoes and Italiam plums. (I just realized how Italian I was being!) They didn't have the plums yet, but I did find out that they'll be in soon, as will the apples I'm searching for, so now I get to make another trip in a few weeks. The tomatoes were too expensive at most of the stalls. Then I found a cute little old man who was willing to sell me tomatoes for a really cheap price. And after we bought them he gave us another half box just to prove that he was really the most adorable farmer in the world.
5. Now that I had the tomatoes, I had to make the salsa! Dawn was my salsa teacher; she also provided the peppers and anaheim peppers. She is amazing. It was a lot of fun to make the salsa and to spend time with Dawn. We bonded. Big time. There was sisterly love all over the kitchen. I'm pretty sure that this will infect the salsa and make it the best salsa ever. You can ask Rich later for the unbiased critique.
6. Sunday night I made tuna casserole. That's right. Tuna! Casserole! It was actually very tasty. Though I will double the sauce next time. I'm going to pull out all the Mormon stops and share the Cheesy Tuna Casserole recipe here:

1 can of cheese soup
10 oz. frozen mixed vegetables
1 can (6 oz.) tuna
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce
1 8 oz. can of ready-to-bake biscuits

Heat all ingredients until warm. Pour into 8x8 baking dish. Roll each biscuit into a thin rope and place over the top of the creamy mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Like I said. I would double the mixture. But this may be because I went overboard with the biscuits and covered the entire casserole top. Don't judge. I had two cans that were expired and needed to use them. Anyway, it was actually a pretty tasty dish. I was suprised, considering the sad reputation tuna casserole has.

The Olympics are Taking Over

I decided I should post about the Olympics, since that is the thing to do right now. And honestly, they have taken over my life. I watch them every night. Until way too late. They are making me tired. I love them, but I'm beginning to see that I may be neglecting other parts of my life. For instance, last night Rich and I came up with ideas for our family home evening night. We talked about going for a walk, getting a sno cone, reading an Ensign article, etc. What we ended up doing was watching the Olympics all night until Rich fell asleep.

The Olympics really are amazing. Such drama. Such athletic prowess. But, the part of the Olympics that has affected me the most? A Visa commercial. Not kidding. I tear up every time the Go World campaign commercial featuring Derek Redmond comes on. I even started crying just TALKING about the commercial. I was trying to explain it to Rich and I started crying. He responded to my emotional breakdown over a commercial with a mixture of disbelief, confusion, and making fun. I think the Olympics are really making our family stronger.

Here's the commercial for your viewing enjoyment and/or your emotional moment for today.



Am I the only one who thinks this is a total tearjerker?

Surprises!

My husband is the sweetest. I don't want to brag, but he's pretty much better than anyone else's husband:)

I have to give him props for sending me a dozen roses out of the blue. Nothing better than feeling extremely loved on a random Monday. The little ladies down at the receiving desk were so cute and so excited for me. One called to tell me I had a package downstairs I needed to pick up. And when I got down there I was shocked to see these beautiful roses! The vase is amazing and the whole presentation is just so fun! I hope you can tell how great these are in real life.

Love you Rich! You are the best!

Apricotness

I feel domestic and accomplished! My mom taught me how to make freezer jam and homemade fruit leather. This was my first time using the fruit dryer Mom and Dad gave me forever ago. I've been wanting to use it because I love homemade dried fruit and leather. This go-round didn't disappoint and I learned new skills! I've helped my mom with all of this type of stuff before, but I guess I wasn't really paying attention, because I needed a lot of direction!

We began by climbing ladders to pick the apricots ourselves over at my sister-in-law's mother's house. Thanks Jo and Colleen! The apricots were so tasty and so pretty! We got sooo many. We made apricot jam, apricot-pineapple jam, and apricot leather. Everything turned out great, and we had just enough fruit left over to eat whole. I love apricots! I want to have a tree in my yard when I'm a grown up.

I just love the start of the harvest season. This is just the tip. I've frozen raspberries so I can make raspberry peach and raspberry plum jams once those fruits come on, and I'm hoping to learn how to bottle peaches too. My first dip into bottling was last year after our wedding and we had some apples left from the centerpieces and I made applesauce. But Dawn had to help me do most of that, so I'm not really comfortable with the canning yet. I'm sure Dawn will be receiving many phone calls from me this year. Really, my goal is to become as amazing as my mom at bottling, drying, and being totally awesome at domestic things. Here's hoping I accomplish half of what she has!

3 Things

Sheena didn't actually tag me. I did this to myself. But I thought it was a fun thing and wanted to try it. So here goes the self-inflicted pain!

How to play the game. Post these rules on your blog: List 3 Joys, 3 Fears, 3 Goals, 3 Current Obsessions/Collections, and 3 Random Surprises about yourself. Tag five people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

3 JOYS-
*Puppies!
*Knowing someone loves me.
*Eating ice cream cones.
3 FEARS-
*Becoming "dumbed down"
*Hurting someone beyond repair.
*The future!
3 GOALS-
*To think more optimistically.
*To increase my faith.
*To be more kind.
3 CURRENT OBSESSIONS-
*Pink lemon sour snow cones.
*Those melt-away mints with the sprinkles on them.
*The Colbert Report
3 RANDOM SURPRISES ABOUT MYSELF-
*My toes are very talented, i.e., I can take my socks off only using my toes, I can pinch with my toes, and I can pick things up with my toes.
*I hate Jell-o salads.
*I don't like swimming in salt water.

I tag. . . Annalisa! And Faith! (Because she needs to update her blog so I can know what's going on in her life!) And anyone else who wants to do this. It was actually fun to think of things!

Happiness List

I worked with the author of the blog Pink of Perfection at Cambridge University Press. I love her blog. I've loved it since she started it and let me read it while I was working with her. I haven't talked to Sarah since I left NY, but I'm glad we got acquainted. Going over for a chat with Sarah always brightened my day and helped me be more optimistic. She just had such a refreshing outlook on life--everything from her attitude, her clothes, her food, and her stories. Her blog continues to be a refreshing part of my day. So you should read her blog too. (Does this sound like I have a crush on her? I don't. But I'll admit that I want a lot of her clothes.)

Each month Sarah does a Pink of Perfection (POP) project in the hopes that everyone will be able to "add some pleasure, beauty, or creativity to [their] lives." I love reading what her simple ideas for making our lives more meaningful will be. I guess I'm sort of a chicken though, because I've never actually told her I was going to participate, nor have I left comments on the site. The people there are all so amazing! July's project was to create a happiness list. It could be anything that brings you joy. I've done this before in a small way, but normally I think we create "gratitude" lists. So, I thank Sarah for making me realize that it's not just being grateful, it's about looking at the positive. And while I didn't actually do this in July, I'm still going to share my list here. It's long!

Brianne's Happiness List
1. Laughing so hard my belly hurts
2. Stars
3. Quiet nights outside
4. Fireworks overhead
5. Secret smiles
6. Rich putting his hand on my face to look me in the eyes
7. Kisses on my cheek and forehead
8. Going on a real date with my husband
9. Being told "I love you" right before I fall asleep
10. Ice cream cones
11. Seeing the setting sun light up the red rock of southern Utah
12. Hearing "Fishin' in the Dark" on the radio at just the right time
13. Feeling that things are "just right"
14. Holding hands on long walks
15. Sleeping outside
16. Puppies!
17. Books that stir my emotions, i.e., make me cry or laugh out loud
18. Reconnecting with friends from long ago
19. Bike rides
20. Hearing a soft breeze rustle the tree leaves
21. Aroma of baking bread
22. Crackling of campfires
23. Cooking something that turns out wonderful
24. Picking and eating fresh fruit
25. Sleeping in
26. Learning something new about history and how it all connects
27. Enough time in the morning to make breakfast
28. Small town celebrations
29. Snow Cones in the summertime (from the SnoShack in Riverton, of course)
30. Hugs from my nieces and nephews

This list is not exhaustive!