Thank you for asking.

Question: Candace, are you excited for tax season to be over soon?

Answer: YES!! I can't wait for more of this:

Q: What will you name your child??
A: We have always loved the names William and Lucy...and when we moved into The Village and met these two folks (Bill and Lucy), we knew we were meant to be friends.  When most people ask the gender of a child they usually say, "are you having a boy or a girl?" Well, when they asked us our baby's gender it was: "Is it a Bill or a Lucy?" We don't know what we're naming our child. But there's at least two or three votes out there for Lucy. And everyone knows voting is the absolute best way to name a child.

Q:Have you been making anything delicious in the kitchen lately?
A: Why yes, yes I have! Conference Sunday brought this lovely pizza along with it. And I made myself another one tonight because of the miracle of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Q: Is this your sister?
A: No. This is my cousin cheesin' it up for the camera because she just got engaged. She also has the red hair I've always wanted. Thanks for reminding me.

Update: Veggie Heaven in 2011

Despite my lack of posting my daily pictures, I actually have been following through with my veggie heaven in 2011 goal! I've missed 4 days...but out of however many days that have gone by, that's still pretty good.
Thanks to my wonderful iPhone camera, here are a few of my favorites:

poppyseed dressing over mandarin oranges, peppitas,  dried cranberries and spring greens

Green Smoothie!! Plain yogurt, orange juice, frozen strawberries and spinach. (thank you VitaMix)

this is amazing yogurt ranch dressing over red leaf lettuce, cheese and black beans.

this is the first salad of the year!! The garlic stuffed green olives and fresh lemon juice made this salad yummy!

Avacado: probably my favorite salad topper, and some delicious bean salsa from Harmons. 

The DoDo's house salad. forever and always my favorite. I think I've had 3 of these so far!!

I won't feel bad if you don't watch the whole slideshow.  I kinda posted it more for my own sake than anyone else's.

This free photo slideshow created with Smilebox

Tweet Tweet

NESTING, as defined by the internet: "Around the fifth month of pregnancy, the "nesting" instinct can set in. This is an uncontrollable urge to clean one's house brought on by a desire to prepare a nest for the new baby, to tie up loose ends of old projects and to organize your world."

etsy seller

Does baking a 7 pound ham for just Christian and I to eat count as a sign that I'm nesting? How about bringing home lots of free stuff (2 couches, a piano, 4 chairs, a dresser, 3 bookshelves, and a bench) in the past month? I don't really think so...but I'm hoping for signs of this instinctive mother-to-be nesting phase...I just don't feel anything close to it yet.  I only see a desperate mama bird collecting other people's throw-aways and cooking way too much food for dinner (stuff I'm likely to do at any given time in my life). The only uncontrollable urge I have is...nothing. I have an urge to do nothing.

I think nesting would be more natural for me, if all I had to do was build an actual nest!! Fitting pieces of twigs together sounds like a breeze! I've never really been an organizer, or very particular about how I clean stuff, and I don't really make things pretty. I'm not careful when I fold clothes, and I rarely iron anything. I also have a bad habit of forgetting where things go...or not even assigning things a place to begin with. I have an entire room of "projects" that need all of those things, and worst of all, I don't really mind living in this chaos!

And THAT is why I am really counting on this nesting instinct to kick in--to bring some type of method to my madness. And for Christian's sake (can you even imagine what it's like living with me??), I hope it's sooner rather than later.

I take eating cake very seriously

Etsy Seller

I have never been much of a chocolate lover.  When I was a little girl I was all about vanilla. One time I won a drawing contest put on by Hostess.  My prize was a box of Twinkies or Ho Hos (maybe it was Ding Dongs). Being the non-chocolate eater I was, of course chose Twinkies and my siblings still will not let me forget my foolish decision. They also will not let me forget that all I drew was a circle and that I shouldn't have won anyway.

Now, don't get me wrong--I've grown up a lot since then--I do love a good brownie or chocolate chip cookie. Oh--also a chocolate shake from Iceberg with Reese's peanut butter cups. But I wasn't surprised when, this weekend, my mom made a cake that surpasses all chocolate goodness and all cakes and certainly all Hostess treats I've ever eaten! And it happened to be a vanilla cake.

White cakes get the short end of the stick--and they usually deserve it.  They're dry and sometimes they come with some "filling" that leaves you wondering if you have just eaten something that was really meant to be eaten. While you try to pry cake and filling from the roof of your mouth, you are left wondering...Was it supposed to be fruit or jam of some sort? Was it leftover Sunday Jello sandwiched between two cake layers? Will I ever have my normal mouth back?? You just never know. White cakes also tend to be paired with some nasty frosting--probably Crisco-based and died funny colors. This is perhaps only a good idea at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle birthday parties...when the point is the turtles and not the taste. (Turtle power!)

Needless to say, the best cake ever has none of those qualities listed above.  It's moist. It's white, but off-white enough so you know it was baked with real eggs, real vanilla, real butter and real unbleached flour. This white cake needs no filling (although lemon curd is a perfect pair). This white cake is perfectly delightful on its own, but absolutely heavenly topped with whip cream or chocolate almond butter cream frosting. And best of all--this cake was baked up by mom.

And that's how I like my cake. How about you?

Christmas Recap

* * Christmas Morning at the Mabeys * *

My dad set up his toy train. Choo! Choo!

My mom went all out with wrapping this year. Isn't it cute?

Thomas (Elder Mabey) sent us all presents. My mom got a Michigan cook book. There are some doozies in there.

More from Thomas' phone call. All the women are trying to understand the geography of Michigan and all the places he's served in so far. I'm not even going to try, since I still don't know the geography of Utah very well--I wouldn't want to confuse myself.

* *Christmas Morning at the Littles * *

C1 loves to make Sarah smile. Isn't that a cool plane?? Roger and Laurie handmade their gifts this year. Such a cool idea, huh?

Heather really outdid herself on this one--she followed suit and handmade this flag!

Roger and Laurie opening a gift from the kids! A Beach bag full of fun things to do on our family trip to the beach this summer.

* * Christmas Eve with the Smiths * *

the Nativity. Oh, the Nativty. It's just not Christmas without it.

C1 and his fan club. I'm serious. They go CRAZY over him.

My Grandma let me be in charge of the appetizers. But she still made her cellery and cheese sticks. I love Grandmas--especially mine.

The party never ends here.

I always tease these two because they do some similar things...I had to get a picture of their simultaneous santa hat.

One Year Older

Most people celebrate three holidays in the winter time...we celebrate four (Thanksgiving, Christian's Birthday, Christmas, New Years). It's just one more time when I'm reminded that we are indeed getting older. But also a time to celebrate my No.1.

I am so proud of C1. He has done a lot in his 25th year. Here are few biggies...listed in no particular order, of course:

1. He let us buy a house where we get to have people over and they get to sit on real couches. And have real conversation. And drink real gourmet ginger ale.

2. He's been taking CPA exams like crazy. And passing them too! With pretty good scores, I might add. It's always a good day when you find out you married a genius. Isn't he a handsome CPA-to-be? I wouldn't mind him working in my office.

3. He's been fixing up the new house like a regular handyman. I knew all along I married one of those.

4. He graduated--which is a HUGE deal. Sometimes I forget about how important it is and definitely take it for granted. He also went to the Notre Dame game where he saw his Utes lose and he's seen many other sad losses as well...So I thought he might like a U of U red and white cake. I special-ordered some red food coloring. Unfortunately it didn't show up until the day AFTER I made this cake from last year. That's ok, I'm sure there will be other cakes to try it out on.

5. The biggest accomplishment of all is, that he put up with me for a whole 'nother year. Really, I'm nice to almost everyone but him. I hope he gets his wish, he deserves it!

Veggie Heaven in 2011

one of my heroes, mary, told me that she likes to make a rhyme for her new years resolution. i thought it was a great idea. we came up with mine together. you see, in 2011 i am going to eat a salad every day. wait, scratch that. i am going to attempt to eat a salad every day. inspired by my friend who ate a bowl of leafy green goodness every day in 2009, i decided to try it for myself. check out yearofsalad.com for more details about the challenge. don't you love this cute button? it was put together by yours truly. jenny's simple style is catchy, don't you think?

last year i went off of carbonation. that was easy compared to this (and i haven't even started it yet). it seems easier to NOT DO something...i am going to have to DO stuff like plan ahead and store salad ingredients neatly in my fridge. and maybe even go to the store more than once a month. oh, and the part of actually eating the salad. sure, i like green salad...but EVERY day? i hope i'm converted by the end. i know it will make me feel better and be healthier. even with all that parmesan lemon-garlic-oil and bacon dressing from the Do Do. ok it doesn't sound that bad. now i just need to get some of that dressing.

i know i'm jumping ahead a bit...but i still need to find my camera cord to post all my fun pics of the house and Christmas. not to mention C1's birthday...the MOST important thing about this past month. eventually i'll get to it. stay tuned if you're interested.

Now the REAL holidays can start

Or so C1 says.

We had a pretty good Halloween, though!

I decided to get festive for our meal and broke out the watercolors again for some hand-painted name cards. I love painting--you should try it some time.

We dipped caramel apples at my parents' house. My mom is serious about her chocolate.

Please notice the shirt. And yes, it's puff-paint.

I had the best and only costume of the night (other than the trick-or-treaters, anyway).

C1 liked to smooth his caramel by hand, while Joe (along with the rest of us) chose the drip method.

mmmm mmmmm. Now that's one scary-good apple.

I love Fall

capturing time

yesterday

i found these lovely jars at the DI with her.

Any suggestions of what to fill that HUGE one with?

I'm not sure how many quarts it is...maybe 3 or more?

I was thinking applesauce.

and

i also took some family photos with her.

here's one of my faves:

catching up...

so i know it's been...oh...2 months since graduation, but I just recently downloaded the pictures...and remembered how totally awesome it was/is to NOT be the "most educated" one out of the two of us. I am so proud of my Master of Accountancy. Of course the BBQ after was way more fun than the actual ceremony...so we'll start with those pictures first!

my parents' lovely back patio

caprese skewers

Hires blue cheese dressing and Crown Burger fry sauce for the bacon burgers.

Also on the menu: chips, salsa & guacamole, A & W root beer and

ice cream with chocolate fudge sauce...CWL's favorites.

and a hand-painted sign--wow, how classy is that?

U U U U U U U

on the to the commencement ceremony