3 Rules for A Happy Marriage

I love being married! Love love love it! I have been married for 22 and a half years now..woah! Having said that I would hate to give the impression that I have had a perfect marriage.  The fact is we have had our ups and downs. Big time downs and big time ups. All in all it is the best thing I have ever done and I am incredibly happy! Seriously happy. Blissfully happy! There are lots and lots of things we do as a couple to protect this but I'd like to discuss 3 today.

1.Your spouses needs should come before yours...this is absolutely true BUT it will only work if you are both on board. If one party is giving giving giving and one party is taking taking taking the giver becomes a door mat and the taker becomes a bully. Luckily when love is involved this one is usually an easy one and comes naturally.

2.Transparency is key...It is important for both husband and wife to allow total access to all areas of life. Bank accounts, Social media, and email address passwords and cell phones included. Does that give either party permission to "snoop" and monitor? No. But just consider if one is doing anything that they feel like should be hidden or doesn't want their spouse to see they, 9 times out of 10, shouldn't be doing it and could be playing with fire. This rule is a protection for both parties and if used with love for each other and not taking a parent/child role is very liberating.

3. Date Night is Important...Does this mean you have to spend lots of money going to fancy restaurants and first run entertainment? No. Jason and I played a game with each other for several weeks testing how cheap we could possibly go and still have a "complete" date night. (Think dollar movies, twist cones and coupons) Don't have a babysitter? Plan something to do at home together after the kids go to sleep. Keep in mind that having time to be just the two of you to reconnect and set the world aside is vital. It is a time to give each other your full attention and show outwardly that the relationship is a priority. It is something to look forward to gives a needed break of the everyday grind whether that is the job the kids or both. We date every single week one way or another and I feel lucky that Jason is on board.  It makes it much easier to make it happen. One of my favorite date night idea go to site is 

The Dating Divas

They have some great great ideas for all kinds of dates from group dates to couple dates to at home dates etc that will work for the seasoned dater and those looking to get started. 

Thanks for reading!! Do you have some great marriage tips? Date night ideas? Comment! We love to hear from nice people! 

PS. I am wanting to do a focus on marriage every month so if you have something you'd like to read about etc let us know! 

 LOVES!!

Emily

A dream outfit

The school year is right around the corner for us here. I know some people out there have already started back. Crazy! It is a big year for us because our little Lola is starting kindergarten this year. My baaaabbbyyyy. I might cry when she walks in. Anywho...  I want her to look her best. Back to school shopping was not always fun growing up. So I want to make a much better experience for my kids. Which is hard because they don't always share my opinion of what is a good clothing choice. So this is my dream outfit for Lola that she would probably refuse to wear. To be clear she wouldn't wear it because I chose it not because it isn't rad. Because obviously it is. Puberty is going to be a rough one with that girl.   

Why hello to the cutest shirt in the frickin world! Pretty much all the Hello Apparel stuff is darling. You can't go wrong with the style! Plus I love buying from a small business. You usually get better quality and better service. 

I love Old Navy Jeans for kids. They seem to withstand a lot of abuse. These are actually jeggings and I have no idea how they standup. Lola loves jeggings though. The less restrictive the better for that girl.

Hello cute lace bomber jacket! I want that in my size in black. Remember that this is a dream outfit and I would actually probably never in a million years buy my kids a cream colored jacket. It wouldn't last a week.

Lola loves chucks and the color purple. A match made in heaven. Plus you can get 25% off the entire converse website right now! Score!

I will be back another day with my dream outfit for Nicco. Which he would actually wear because he doesn't care as much. As long as he looks good he will wear anything. It is weird how we are starting into that shift of him caring what he looks like. Weird! 

Surprise Salad-A fruit salad in a potato salad suit. HAHA!!

Ok so this is not a healthy salad...Nor is it a potato salad like it looks...We call it 

SURPRISE SALAD!

It is actually an apple and grape salad with a few yummy snickers bar bites mixed in. So good and surprisingly (I'm noticing a theme here) tasty. The candy melds really well with the fruit. Yum-O!! Give it a try! It will make you 20% more popular to the people you feed it too. :)

Here we go...

SURPRISE SALAD

3lbs diced apple (we really like a nice fuji apple around here but you can use whatever you like)

3lbs of grapes sliced in half

snickers bites cut in half (as many or as few as you desire but we use a med size bag)

1 box vanilla pudding mix

1 16 oz cool whip

mix together and enjoy! 

DELISH!!

Cheesy sort of au-gratin potatoes

I have a hard time with side dishes. It has been my goal this year to really expand my side dish repertoire. It has been rough. I am finding that it is not easy to make dishes that please the whole family. At this point if I get 3 out of 4 people to like it I am pretty pleased. Then I made these cheesy yummy garlicky potatoes. They were a hit. I say sort of au gratin because they don't have onion and most au gratin recipes call for it. Onion is not a kid pleaser in my house. Which is nuts! Onion is awesome!! What can I say? They are little weirdos. 

To start this recipe out you need to really scrub your potatoes clean. Slightly dirty potatoes and you will get some grey spots in your sauce. Not appetizing! After you scrub the tar out of your potatoes you are ready to slice. I used a mandolin. I don't like using the safety guard on it and it freaks my husband out. I like living dangerously! But you shouldn't. Use the safety guard. Then stack those babies in your pan. We slivered up some garlic cloves and stuck them randomly in between potatoes. 

Next the roux to start the bechamel sauce. Roux's used to be very intimidating to me. But basically all it is is flour and butter. The goal is to cook the flour until you lose the raw flour taste. No big deal! Especially if you always use equal parts flour and butter. 

After milk is added. When you add the milk your roux can get a little lumpy. I have found that if you just whisk it like crazy it smooths itself right out. After it is smooth and has come to a slight boil you turn it off and add the cheese. I always use sharp because I feel like the creamy sauce needs the sharp cheddar to cut into the richness. 

Pour your beautiful bechamel sauce over your potatoes. Cover it all with aluminum foil and toss that bad boy in the oven. Half way through we take the foil off and let it get a little brown. 

MMMMMM! Yum. They are so good and the smell in the house was just lovely. I am pretty partial to potatoes though. They make me happy!

And the finished product. This picture leaves something to be desired, I know. But don't let that discourage you from trying them! Because these potatoes are awesome!

Cheesy Sort of Au Gratin Potatoes

2 1/2 pound potatoes, cut into thin slices

4 garlic cloves, cut into slivers

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup butter

3 cups milk- I used fat free with no issue

1 3/4 cups sharp cheddar

Preheat oven to 375. Generously grease 9x9 pan. Stack potatoes into pan. Stick garlic slivers in between potatoes randomly. In large sauce pan combine butter and flour. Cook over medium heat until bubbling. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, whisking almost constantly. Pour milk into sauce pan and whisk until smooth. Let sauce come to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, whisking constantly. Do not let sauce get too thick to pour. Remove from heat and add cheese. Whisk until smooth. Pour over potatoes. Cover casserole with aluminum foil and put in oven. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and let bake another 30 minutes. Test potatoes for doneness. Pull out of oven if they are cooked to your liking and let rest for 5 minutes. Then Enjoy!

Sparkle Bottles, Time Out Bottles or as We know them by MAGIC FAIRY BOTTLES!!

(please forgive the pictures! This bottle is well loved and hard to photograph...:))

One of my jobs at church is to be a sunbeam teacher. For those of you who don't know what this means, I am a primary teacher (Sunday school teacher) to the 3 and 4 year old children of our ward. I love these little ones so much! They have huge personalities which is on par with the huge energy and wiggles they come with too. Needless to say I am always searching for ways to help them be reverent and behaved. I came across these sparkle bottles and have been very impressed with how well they are working.  I have told my kids that the glitter is little fairies flying around in the jar and if we can hold them still long enough they will float to the bottle and go to sleep. It is their job to help them fall asleep.  It is awesome to watch them watch "the fairies" float to the bottle still and as quiet as ever.  Some people use them as a way to gauge time out times etc. The surprising thing is how my older kids can be found watching the glitter fall also.  They have been really fun to have around. After trying many times to make these just right this is finally the recipe we finally figured out to work great! 

PS stay tuned for busy bag ideas coming soon!!   

1 TBS Glitter Glue

1/2 TBS Clear School Glue

1-2 TBS Fine flake glitter (as much or as little as you like)

Hot water

Clear plastic bottle (I used a 16.9 oz water bottle)

Food Coloring (optional)

Instructions

Clean any labels or sticky glue off your bottle.

 Heat the water.  It doesn't have to boil, but it should be steaming.  You want it to be hot enough to melt the glue but not so hot it melts the bottle.

Put glitter glue into the bottom of the bottle.

 Add Clear School Glue.

 Fill the bottle about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way full with the hot water.

 Tighten the caps back onto the bottles and shake until the glues and water are thoroughly mixed.

 Remove the cap and pour in your glitter 

 Fill the remainder of the bottle with hot water and food coloring if desired for color.  

 Make sure the glue and water is well mixed.

 Put super glue in the threads of the cap and tighten it down.

 Shake and enjoy!

PS if you want the glitter to stay suspended for a longer time just add more glue.