It is your birthday....

Shout HOORAY!

Today is a day of birthdays....

Traci my cousin

This beautiful lady turns 40....can you believe it. I hope I look like her at 40.

Read all about her and her greatness here.

My second cousin Boe...who is more my niece.

She turns the big 7 today.

See the video she made that makes me smile on every bad day here. You will die.

My sweet boy Angelus.

He turns 8 today.

Sweet boy....he saved my life you know. Literally.

So happy day to all!!! 

Hopefully only one of you still eats their own poop.

The Chicken Salad Sandwich

Two years ago at the Relief Society Broadcast I took miss....

We have kind of started a tradition...we switch off stakes...mine one year hers the next.

Aubs and I always joke about chicken salad sandwiches.

Mormon staple.

They are everywhere. 

I like my bonus mom's and usually only at the beach....but that is really it.

Aubs...well....not a fan.

So we show up, as we walk in she says

"if they are serving chicken salad sandwiches i am out"

And guess what...they did.

And I laughed and laughed. 

So today as my mom took me to lunch at the Joseph Smith Memorial I had to laugh. 

On the menu....

The BEST Chicken Salad Sandwich.

Miss...you in? 

Finally

In the blog world there are crafty fabulous people.

I am not one of them...I am just a recovering addict with great taste.

And there are things out there that these bloggers make...that I want. 

And this week the two things that topped my list...I finally procured.

A sweet family portrait by ashmae

and....

baby moccs by freshly picked.

Do you die???

I do.

I mean I have ashmae hanging in my home and those baby moccs are worn by celebrity tots. All this thanks to bestie and her sweet contacts and birthday gifts.

Hurray!

Random Things....

The floors in Navy's nursery are SQUEEKY. So in order to stare at her when she sleeps (creepy) I have to do a mine field like jaunt across the floor to her crib as to not wake her up.

Today I ordered a photo book. I am a mom.

Thoughts on the mix tape? I have gotten mixed reviews. I am sure you are ALL thinking that the GNR on it is the best. That or "Another Night" by Real McCoy...that was a GEM I was happy to re-discover.

I am couponing. Ed and I made a deal...he puts a certain amount into my account for food and such and whatever is left over will go towards a Disneyland trip in November. I am ROCKING it. I mean I even went to customer service to argue about the price of cereal. I am serious about it.

Today I became an adult. I was able to be put on the auto insurance WITHOUT hurting our cost. In fact...I helped it. Big day y'all...big day.

Mad Men was......perfection. Everything I hoped for. 

I miss my best friend. Meh.

VACATION! Ed and I are going to Logan again this year for conference..THEN...I am going to AZ for two weeks. HOLLA.

Did any of you watch the Young Women's Broadcast? My Young Women were in it. They were the most beautiful ones. 

I love being surrounded by strong, funny, capable women. 

Saw the Hunger Games and it did not disappoint. It was beautifully done and I found the camera work captivating.

And as J Biebs said....

Baby, Baby, Baby oh......

In one year Grammie Lori has had 4 new grandbabies.

Harper, Zane, Navy, and Madden

Navy will be surrounded by cousins her age.

I mean we need to move to AZ.

madden.zane.harper.

And today we make it five.

Nikki will bring sweet Ruby into the world today and I could not be more excited!

All five....born in a year. 

I love these babies and their mommies and daddies.

Hurray for family!

Watch your mailbox

Your mix tapes are on their way.

3 CD's in all.

54 Songs.

I hope you all listen to every song.

I was considering putting a track listing on here....but decided y'all should just listen.

If you have a question about a song or if you want the track listing email me.

sweetjdp.at.gmail.com

There are some gems.

But....

There is also Coldplay.

Mom's Sugar Cookies

There are a few holidays in the year when my mothers sugar cookies are required.

I usually put in a request for them.

But this St. Patrick's Day I took it on my self.

I truly believe my mothers recipe is the best.

Try it out and tell me what you think.

3/4 cup butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Mix it all....let dough chill for one hour.

Cut them out....bake at 400....6-8 minutes.

The frosting is a little harder for me to measure out. I usually just start with like...

1/2 cup powder sugar

2-4 Tablespoons of butter

2 Tablespoons milk

1 Tablespoon vanilla

The consistency needs to be thick enough to spread. So keep adding powdered sugar and or milk to get your desired consistency.

Yum....thank goodness Easter is coming up.

True Story......

I just started crying with excitement at the start of this post.

Tonight is the night.

Miranda Lambert. 

Oh how I love her.

Like we go back....

I think you, as my readers, know I am not a fan of new country. It makes my heart sad.

Except for a select few.

Miranda....she is like a female Merle or Waylon or Hank.

She sings REAL country. No crossover crap. 

Look...let me give you some reasons I love her...

1. When I was in jail, I kept to myself to rehabilitate...but there was a girl who had a radio and every time "Famous in a Small Town" came on, she would try and switch it....and I would damn near cut a b to get her to keep it on the channel. That is not an exaggeration...I had words with that girl more than once. Miranda was my bright spot sometimes. And that song will always have a special place in my heart. 

2. I did the whole Nashville Star thing the same year she did. I mean I did not make it on TV...but I made it pretty far. I said I was going on to bring back strong female country singers. Well Miranda did that for me.

3. She is a song-writer. And she writes more than break-up songs and cheesy poppy crap. 

4. She shreds on the guitar.

5. Blake and Miranda = George and Tammy...without the tragedy

6.  Girl baby Navy loves her....her favorite song is "Baggage Claim" unedited. Navy is pretty hardcore.

I die for tonight. I had the chance to see her in Vegas when we went to see Oasis...but we went to Tesla instead. And I was sad. Not about Tesla of course...but that I missed out on Miranda.

She is rowdy and strong and fabulous and beautiful.

And BONUS this is Ed's first country concert. I mean he has NO idea what he is in for. 

I die.

Here come the tears.

Bestie Gifts.....

are the best.

Aubry knows me and who I am and what I like.

So she always nails it.

This year was no exception.

It started with a ball covered in confetti....and ended as....

and ...

1. Party favors...all that could be folded into the sweet compact ball

2. Things from J. Crew that could be taken back for J. Crew cash...last year for my birthday it was a size two Nordstrom mini dress...returned for Nordstrom cash.

3. A FAMILY PORTRAIT FROM ASHMAE ......I die for her. I am waiting for her to do the Bountiful Temple. I just die die die for her.

Perfection.....my bestie is perfection.

See how she did it here.

Because tomorrow is my birthday......

I should buy myself a treat...or two.

Die for the coller....

Die for the color.....

35 is going to be a great year.

Update

Miss Navy.

Three months

Blessed and official

Laughs

Sucks her fingers

Grabs at things

Chubby cheeks

Smiles big when her mom sings old R&B hits

Rockin a sweet schedule that includes 12 hours of sleep at night

Sleeping out of her Angel Wrap....(that was a tough one)

Still sweet

Williams

These beautiful people are the Williams (well Carrie is a Horejs now).

From left....

Parker.Whitney.Carrie.Navy.Daryl

Carrie was my best friend in High School.

I have great memories of her and I....she is lovely and has not aged a year.

Her family is like a second family to me. 

Her sister Whitney is the funniest thing.

And her father Daryl is beyond amazing.

I love them all soooo much....like my own family.

This weekend they flew down to be with Navy and I on her special day.

It meant so much to me.

I am so grateful to have them all in my life. I am a lucky girl.

P.S. - That is the sock bun on Whitney's head....I want to try it so bad.

Monday

Looked like this

1. Failed pound cake that caught on fire while I was on the phone with my cousin, she helped me get the fire out. 

2. My oven caked in pound cake and baking soda. It was super fun to clean.

3. I ran my dishwasher 4 times yesterday...and the dishes I need to return are piling up.

4. Burned the biscuits we had for dinner

And then this....

And it all seemed OK.

Birthday Month

Today begins my birthday month.

I am actually depressed about this one

35

buh.

But nothing cheers me up more than thinking about things people can buy me like....

A Cuisinart SmartStick....in tangerine please

Iron Maiden concert tickets

Miranda Lambert concert tickets

Lumiere candle in clothesline

J. Crew gift cards....please

Hunter Wellies

Happy Birthday month to ME!!!

Here

This is how it looks in these here parts today...and the snow keeps coming.

So to soothe my desire for a move to AZ.....

I had soup and cornbread for lunch today.

Because I am eating my sadness away.