Yoga Classes

I am starting Yoga classes again! This time they will be offered on both Tuesday AND Thursday evenings. This will be a 3 month (12 week) course starting in September and lasting through November. One evening will be reserved for those of you who are interested in Restorative Yoga (great for prenatal/postpartum, or calming the mind and body before bedtime) and the other evening will be geared towards the Vinyasa Flow style of yoga (more intensive stretching, strength training, higher impact). Both will give you benefits of getting lean and limber before the holidays!
If you have been to my classes before, you have an idea of what to expect. I hope that by separating into two classes, I can tailor fit a yoga routine for you.
Classes will be semi-private, consisting of at most, 5 people. They will be held once a week at my home yoga studio for 1 hour from 8-9pm. I am leaning towards teaching restorative on Thursdays and the Primary Vinyasa series on Tuesdays, but this may change as we get closer to September, or depending on your responses.
I'm excited to open my yoga studio to you! (We finally have a place togo, instead of meeting in living rooms and club-houses!) . Classes will be $7.50 per class. I ask that this be paid in advancefor the 12 week course ($90), similar to what you would expect from agym membership. Hopefully this will give you the incentive to come each week, and I won't be left hanging with a less-than-full class if you can't make it a few times.
If you have a friend or a visitor that would like to come with you once in a while, they can pay as theycome. Please call in advance for permission to make sure there is roomin the class (my studio will only hold so many!).
Reservations:Please e-mail me which day you are interested in, and I will hold a spot for you. The class will be closed once 5 people sign up, and spots are fillingup! There are only a couple of spots left in eac class. Can't waitto see you there!
If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail or call!
Namaste! Chelsea

A new way to Polish your Silver

I read this post MONTHS ago on a friends blog (I hope she doesn't mind me adding this link to her post...). I finally got around to trying it out and was so impressed, I had to pass the idea along.

I got a really nice thing from my mom for Christmas, it was a cool way to store jewelry, using hooks. The idea was great, because you could see what you actually have, instead of digging through a jewelry box, but I think it would've worked better with beaded things (most of my jewelry is silver, and it tarnished almost immediately).

Well, 5 months later, I finally got around to polishing that tarnished silver. I am excited to have my jewelry back! Check it out....
http://zinke.wordpress.com/2008/01/04/polish-your-silver/

This week in our lives....

Brian and I started the weekend off with a great date up the canyon. We use to hike a lot, and to be honest, it's been a while. I loved it. It's always beautiful when you can get away from the city and be in nature. Grandma and Grandpa Beutler watched Jackson for us for a couple of hours. The time just flew by, before we knew it, we had be gone 3 hours! It was great!
Hiking with Brian means never hiking on a well known path or trail. We basically bush-whack our way through things, and that's half the fun. This one was straight up a mountain river bed, half the time our feet in water (why didn't I wear my montrels? I should have known better)! But because we don't use the typical path, we get to see some gorgeous sites that not many others get to enjoy. Can you see my baby bump? 5 months prego!!

Next, we took Jackson to the Zoo. This was his second time, but probably his first interaction that he enjoyed the animals and things. We didn't take too many pictures of this because I'm not one for taking pictures of animals behind cages...but the elephants and the giraffes were his favorite! He was fascinated by how big they were, and the tongue of the giraffe as it tried to get leaves off of a tree. It was a short stay at the zoo...hot and crowded, but it was good enough for us. We got our fill of the zoo for a while...

Finally, we had a BBQ up the canyon with some friends. Luckily, Ethan's sister was smart enough to bring a bunch of balls to play with...Jackson was in Heaven! He is such a boy and loved this little t-ball set. He'd be happy with just placing the ball on the stand, but of course, dad had to show him how to really hit! I think they both loved it.

Greek Pasta Salad

This week, we have a 3 different family BBQ's and one ward celebration to attend, with the requirement of bringing a salad to share. I love side dishes, and I love not having to cook the main meal for half the week! For one of the gatherings, I'm making this salad. It's pretty tasty, but it's definitely got the Mediterranean flair, so if you don't like feta cheese and black olives...this one's not for you! Our family loves flavor, so we love this one...



INGREDIENTS

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon white sugar

Salad:
1 bag of cooked pasta (i used bowtie, not the family size)
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 sliced red bell peppers
1 chopped cucumber
1 bag baby spinach
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions, optional
1 (4 ounce) can whole black olives

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder, basil, oregano, black pepper, and sugar. Add cooked pasta, tomatoes, red peppers, cucumber, feta cheese, green onions, olives, and spinach. Toss until evenly coated. Cover, and chill 2 hours or overnight.

Sometimes it could use a little salt, but that's basically it. Pretty easy!

Before and Afters

ok. I'm finally getting around to it. I hadn't realized how few "before" pictures we have of the home until now. Those of you who have been to visit, will appreciate the many changes we made! Some of these photos were taken off of the actual home tour listing... and had we looked at the home on-line first, we would have never scheduled a walk through. There was so much frilly wallpaper and trimming!

But since we drove by the home first, we fell in love with the curb appeal and scheduled the walk-through from there. Actually seeing the home in person was the selling point. We saw so much potential! Little did we know what amount of work that "potential" would require!







We removed so much wallpaper, repainted just about everything in every room, re-textured walls, new light fixtures, new carpet, new kitchen, you name it. And we are just getting started! I hesitate to call any of these "after" pictures because they are still in the works (as you can see, this mud room closet still needs a door).

Many of these projects I have done while Jackson is sleeping, or when Brian is on a trip (I was really busy while he was in Israel!). Needless to say, my card making has taken a back burner for other crafty hobbies! Hope you like what you see!

Maybe I should have kept this carpet? What do you think?

Old Kitchen....we sold all of it on KSL! You can read my old post about that....cabinet doors were falling off, appliances didn't work. Etc., etc.

New Kitchen, we still are working on the window area and placing the outlet covers on. But at least I have a stove!

More of that frilly wallpaper that had to go!! I love my polka dot pigs!! We are going to replace the faucet next, right Brian?

More wallpaper....we turned this room into the playroom. It's pretty cute and I got my color inspiration from Stampin up! We decided to put carpet here (it use to be a blue wood floor), because it's a playroom and kids wrestle...enough said. Don't mind the mess. We also made a cute little cubby space just for kids. Can't say enough about that wallpaper though!

Here is the parlor. We didn't change much, just painted, but I love this room. It's my favorite and the ceiling is sooo cool!

This is the master bedroom. I don't have any "after" pics, I haven't had a chance to decorate it yet, and we still have work....but wait and see! Our bathroom has no light fixtures yet and is only textured and primed. But we have a lot of plans for it!!

Farm Country

Ok, so I've been posting like crazy this month. Maybe it has something to do with me starting to feel better from this pregnancy and we are actually doing things!

All week long, I thought Brian was coming home today, when in fact, he doesn't get in until tomorrow (Wednesday). Since I was a little bummed at my disappointing news, I decided to take Jackson out for a fun day to let the time pass.

We went up to Thanksgiving Point to see the Farm Country! Jackson loved it! I wanted to take him for his birthday, but it was snowing that day (yes, in may- if you remember- it snowed). The sheep and goats had their young and Jackson really liked the baby animals. He is becoming familiar with Horses now, and so he really liked seeing them, as well as the cows (but only from a distance). He would get scared if the animals tried to poke their face through the gates and try to lick him. I think he was fascinated by the chickens and ducks, and we even got to see a peacock with it's feathers on display.

The animals are really friendly and come right up to the gate to see if you have any food to give them (they let you feed the animals corn if you pay 50 cents). Jackson had the opportunity to be at the goat pen when the animals were being fed by the farmer. He gave Jackson a handful of hay to feed the animals with. Of course, Jackson doesn't like the animals coming to him, so he threw the hay on the ground and was just as excited to see the goats cluster around the food he gave them, instead of feeding out of his hand.

We also got to go for a wagon ride and he could have ridden the ponies for free, but he was scared of them too. We just settled for petting them and moving on our way.

We had a wonderful day at the farm. It was hot, but he was just happy to be running around exploring someplace new without many rules. After a refreshing lemonade and snack, we hit the road back home.

We patiently wait for Brian to come home tomorrow!
I would have taken pictures to post, but Brian has the camera. I got these off the web-site, but you get the idea.

Recipe of the week

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe. Partly because I just barely got the rangetop installed and can actually get to cooking again.

I have 2 enchilada recipes that I use often. One is creamy and the other is tomatoey (if that's a word). Tonight, I am using the creamy recipe. It's really easy to make, but full of flavor. One of my favorites. Since Brian is out of town, I'm hoping this will make enough for plenty of leftovers!
Oh, sometimes I add a little more milk to the sauce at the end...just to make sure there is plenty enough to cover the tortillas, I hate it when it dries out....

Chicken Enchiladas II

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
1 (10.75 ounce) can
condensed cream of
mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked
chicken breast meat
1 cup shredded Cheddar
cheese, divided
6 (12 inch) flour tortillas
1/4 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking dish.
2.In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and saute the green onion until tender (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the garlic powder, then stir in the green chiles, cream of mushroom soup and sour cream. Mix well. Reserve 3/4 of this sauce and set aside. To the remaining 1/4 of the sauce in the saucepan, add the chicken and 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese. Stir together.
3.Fill each flour tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll up. Place seam side down in the prepared baking dish.
4.In a small bowl combine the reserved 3/4 of the sauce with the milk. Spoon this mixture over the rolled tortillas and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

More News from Brian...

I didn't get any footage yesterday, but today I made up for it! We got a little bit of a late start because we rented a car which took forever and then we got lost trying to get out of town. Finally we figured out how to get out and we drove to the dead sea; which is the lowest point on Earth. I got some good footage that I will share with you later. It was blazing hot and even the water was hot; they say the water temp can top out at 98 degrees! It was pretty cool. Then we drove safely through the West Bank all the way up to the Sea of Galilee where we visited the branch house for the only land in Israel that the church owns. We ate lunch on a pier overlooking the lake and ate fish that was caught that morning. The fish is called St. Peter's fish and is probably the same kind that they ate in the days of Christ. Every main meal we've had is also served with fresh pita bread...really yummy. Not everything has been good but at least I haven't got sick from anything.
Then we went to the Mount of the Beatitudes where Jesus taught the sermon on the Mount, and Capernaum and some other sights that I will tell you all about when I show you pictures and footage!
Once again I'm beat but I think I'm adjusted well enough to sleep well tonight and be in good shape for my meetings tomorrow and Tuesday.
This has absolutely helped strengthen my testimony and it makes we want to read the New Testament now that I have a better idea how the area is laid out...it really changes so many of my pre-conceived notions. It is teaching me a lot about the people and even the current news will make more sense after being here and having these experiences.

News from Brian

It's almost 8PM here and I just got back to the hotel. It's been a long but good day. We ended up getting to church around 8:40 thinking that it started at 9, but it turns out that it didn't start until 10 AM so we went on a self guided tour of the grounds and just sat and took in the amazing view overlooking the old city including the Mount of Olives, and the Dome of the Rock. The church and BYU have done an amazing job with that center; it's really an amazing place with a great spirit. Apparently the church leases the land and it was very difficult for them to gain permission to have a presence over here (lots of opposition).

The students were in Egypt so the group was pretty small; mostly tourists and a group of LDS students studying at the Hebrew University which is just down the street from BYU. The service was nice. The best part is the amazing view. Behind the pulpit there is big 20 foot glass windows that look out through two sets of arches and over the city. We decided to leave after sacrament meeting. There is no way I could have stayed awake through 2 more meetings.

We decided to try to find the top of the Mount of Olives (which is really more like a hill) and the place where Orson Hyde dedicated the land of Israel for the gathering of the Jews. After walking around for more than an hour we gave up and asked a taxi driver to take us there. He didn't know where the Orson Hyde monument was but he took us to an overlook point on the Mount of Olives. Maybe tomorrow we'll try again to find it.

We went back to the hotel and took about an hour long nap. I was just wasted tired. I set my alarm for 1 hour so I wouldn’t sleet too long during the day here; which I easily could. When I woke up I changed into more comfortable clothes for walking around...and walk we did. We started by going through the Jaffa Gate into the "Old City"; which is what they call the part of the city that is inside the old city walls. There are still about 30,000 people that live inside of the city and it's really an amazing place. It's divided into 4 parts; the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, and the Armenian Quarter. I got a much better sense for why this area has been plagued by holy wars for the past 4,000+ years. The city has holy significance for 3 major religious groups: Christians, Muslims, and Jews and all 3 groups would be willing to fight and die for it. I'm amazed that it's as peaceful as it is.

I really liked the Jewish Quarter- it's really an amazing place with little walkways and arch-ways everywhere- probably not too different than it was 2000 years ago-the merchants just sell different things. The Jewish people amaze me- they are so devoted to their religion. It's amazing that they can maintain their culture so strictly while being surrounded by the outside world. The Western wall is one of the most (if not the most) holy places in the world for Jews; it was pretty cool.

A lot of the Muslim Quarter was closed to us non Muslims because it was Shabbat (Hebrew for Sabbath) and what we did see I really didn’t get. On so many occasions I wish that I would have had a knowledgeable guide because I'm sure all the things we saw would have been more significant had I know the history and background and prophecies about these places.

The Christian Quarter was interesting but significantly different from the time of Christ. I was amazed to discover that the Catholics believe that Christ followed a different path with his cross, was crucified, and was buried in different places than we believe in...I wish I understood why. We went to the place where Pilot supposedly condemned Jesus and where he was scourged. Beautiful architecture but not really on my list of favorites. Then we went out of the Lion's gate and across the Kidron Valley which sits between the Old City and the Mount of Olives. The Kidron valley is pretty significant…Christians believe that Jesus Christ will return to earth on the Mount of Olives, cross over the Kidron Valley, and reenter the City of Jerusalem as King of Kings. Jews believe that the Messiah will come from the East, pass over the Mount of Olives and through the Kidron Valley before arriving on the Temple Mount (part of the Old City). Muslims have their own account where the prophet Jesus will return in a similar way. These views of the 2nd coming have caused all three religious groups to build huge cemeteries throughout the Kidron Valley, hoping that they will be the first to be resurrected as the Savior moves West. I’ll show you pictures when I get home. The Kidron Valley is really small by our terms. It’s really more like the bottom of where two hills meet. About 5 minutes after leaving the Old City we were at the bottom of the Kidron Valley and 2 minutes later we were at the foot of the Mount of Olives at Gethsemane. This spot is owned by some other church and it’s surrounded by streets on 2 sides, one of which is pretty busy. There are only about 8 original olive trees left in the garden buy they are ancient and some say that they are old enough to have witnessed the Angel comforting Christ as he took upon him the sins of the world. As I tried to tune out all the noise it was pretty easy to feel something special about that place. I could have stayed there a lot longer than we did, but we wanted to make sure that we could get into visit the Garden Tomb. It’s a good thing we hurried, because we found out when we got there that it will be closed tomorrow because the church that owns it observes the Sabbath on Sunday. This is also a pretty special place that is very nicely kept. It was one of the few places that was not overrun with street vendors. There were a lot less people than I expected (partially because all the Catholics believe in a different spot), and I even got to spend a few minutes inside the tomb all by myself.

While we were walking around the grounds we ran into a group of 6 Sisters that we had seen at the LDS branch at BYU. They were all over there attending the Hebrew University. They were seated on some benches between the tomb and Golgotha (which are less that 200 yards away from each other). They were singing “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” when we walked up and we recognized at once. We went and sat down behind them and just enjoyed the moment. After the song we chatted a minute and they invited us to sing along with them. We nicely declined because we would have detracted from the good thing they had going. Two of them played the violin and so them played together the song “He Is Risen” while the other 4 sang in parts. I told them it was the highlight of my trip so far…it was very cool.

Then we went back to the hotel and I started writing this. After the first paragraph we went to eat dinner but just ended up getting a waffle with ice cream on it. We had a big lunch and I didn’t really feel like having another big meal. It was warm today so I mainly been drinking a lot.

A couple funny things that I noticed during the Shabbat:
-Taxi drivers wouldn’t use their taximeters until the sun went down today.
- The buttons in the elevators in the hotel didn’t work; it would just stop on every floor
- The revolving door to enter the hotel wasn’t functioning until after sun-down today
-There was a metal detector at the entrance of the Western Wall had a big sign in front of it saying that it was “Shabbat Safe”, certified by some institute

I could go on, but you get the picture…it’s another world. Thanks for reading this far!! There are more details but It’ll have to wait till I get back. I’m going to bed. YEA!

Isreal

Brian is gone for the week in Isreal, part business part pleasure. He has an important meeting in Tel Aviv with a potential partner, and since he's all the way on the other side of the world, he decided to take 2 vacation days to go see the holy land! I'm excited for him. I sent him off with the camera and video camera to document all the sights that I may never get to see on my own. I'm sure he'll catch you up on the trip when he gets back, but I think he plans to see the Garden of Gethsemane, Golgotha, the tomb, the BYU center, etc. I told him to bring me back some olive oil and a nativity scene made from olive wood, and something for Jackson and Zoe, but he said I was cheating and just wanted more things :)

On his way out of town, we stopped by to have brunch at the home of one of the guys he works with (and also traveling with, thank goodness). They are a super fun family that happens to live next to the old Hinckley home. We got to see the stump of the walnut tree that was cut down to make the pulpit for the conference center. It was a huge stump! Anyway, it was cool to turn the farewell into a fun/historic/sight-seeing morning before we had to say our goodbyes. We will miss him while he's gone!!

Homemaker

With decorating on a budget, I've learned to get creative. I am not what most would consider a seamstress, in fact, I hardly ever sew. But, who knows why, I decided to tackle sewing my own window coverings for our entry.

I was looking for something very specific. Not too formal. Create some privacy, while still allowing sunlight in. And I wanted it to be pretty from both sides (inside view, and the view walking up to the door). I was looking for something with more color, but I fell in love with this linen and I think it goes well with our style...

Anyway, here's what I came up with. No pattern, just went to work. I think it turned out kinda nice. I'm proud of myself!

Handy man

So, you may have heard Brian complaining of the "laundry list". This is what he calls our "to do" list of chores to get done around the house. Basically, it's things that I can't do myself, electrical stuff, plumbing, carpentry, etc. Guy stuff.

Brian has been really great at trying to save a few bucks and learn how to do it himself without getting a professional. This has been a great learning experience for the both of us. Not only is Brian very capable, he's a perfectionist, and he does the job better than leaving up to someone else. I just have to be patient and wait for when he has the time to get things done AND wait for how long it takes him to get it done!


Every project has ballooned into something larger, and more time intensive, then we planned. A goal Brian set recently was to get this initial list of things done by the 4th of July (that way, he could truly celebrate freedom, in his own words... i didn't have the heart to tell him that this was only an initial list of to-do's). What he planned out to take around 45 hours of home repairs turned into something like over 80 hours. And remember, this all takes place after he gets home from work in the evenings and on Saturdays, so he had his work cut out for him to say the least.


I just wanted to take some time to brag about what we've accomplished...mostly him, but I usually work beside him or on one of my own projects:





1) fixed, rewired and programmed our sprinkler system that was broken


2) replaced 13 light fixtures, and counting


3) helped paint 3 bathrooms


4) installed new towel bars and toilet paper holder in each bathroom


5) installed our appliances, and most recently the cooktop!!


6) mowed and weeded the yard, and continues to each week (by the way, this is not a picture of bushes we thinned out from the flower beds, yup they're weeds!)


7) cleaned our garage


8) installed carpet in the cold storage room


9) rewired some light switches


10) did some finishing/trim work around the window in our kitchen and bar area


Of course, there is plenty more he has done to help with the home improvements. But as you can see, he's a hard worker!!

Happy 4th of July!

4th of July was great like it should be. A little relaxation, swimming, barbeque and fireworks. Next to Christmas, it is Brian's favorite holiday. We had to go all out in red, white, and blue!

We got up early to take Jackson to see the hot air balloons. Actually, it wasn't that much earlier than any normal day...we got up at 6am instead of 6:30am. Jackson loved it! He was pointing at them floating in the sky and kept saying "ball". Close enough! (By the way, the picture with the balloon coming out of my head is a typical example of how pictures turn out when you ask a stranger to take them) ;)

Grandma and Grandpa Beutler joined us for the balloons and then we headed over to their house for a pancake breakfast. It was yummy, and a great way to start the day.

We all came home to take naps, and then decided to watch a movie while we waited out the heat of the day. Around 5 o'clock, we met up with Danny, Liz, Scott and the kids and went for a dip in the pool. Jackson was NOT a fan! He hated it! He clung to us, both arms and legs, like an octopus! He was a little suction cup that we couldn't get off of us too easily.

Swimming cooked up an appetite. We headed back over to the Beutler's to grill hamburgers. We had the typical 4th of July meal: Hamburgers, fruit salad, chips, and drinks. Yum! My appetite is starting to kick in, and so I ate about as much as Brian did!

I didn't think Jackson would stay awake for the fireworks, but he seemed to be fine playing outside. We hung around till about 9:30 and caught a few good explosions, then headed home to put J-buster to bed. He was fascinated by the colorful fireworks, and the fireworks that shot up in the sky, but he didn't like the loud ones!

All in all, it was great! We are so lucky to have a holiday like this to celebrate our freedoms. God Bless America!

It's a girl!

We had our ultra sound today and Brian was right all along! It's a girl! We are so excited! Since I won the naming game with Jackson (Brian wanted to name him Jesse), Brian might get his choice of names this time around. Zoe Lynn. He has had this name picked out since Jackson was born, and forewarned me then that if we had a girl, her name would be Zoe.

Beside the fact that we got to find out the sex of the baby, we were also reassured that she is growing normal and healthy so far. We are so luck to have modern technology so we can find these things out! I had many concerns about our appointment today because up until this week, I haven't gained any weight! Being almost half way through the pregnancy, that was kinda scary! I've now gained 2 lbs. and the baby is measuring at 8 oz. (which is still small for how far along I am supposed to be).

Brian's reason's for supposing it was a girl are: 1) I've been moody (more so than my pregnancy with Jackson) and 2) I am still dealing with morning sickness. I can't disagree with him too much here. This pregnancy has been so different than my last (and I here that they ALL are different), but I would have been really shocked if it was a boy!

We'll keep you posted as things progress! I'm excited to decorate her room and go shopping! I wish I just had the time and finances to do both!

Jackson and the Giant Peach

Ok, last post for the day, I promise! Scroll down and read them all, I said I had some catching up to do! I know a lot of these posts are about Jackson, and yes, Brian and I do have a life outside of Jackson. But most of that life lately consists of working on our house. So unless you want to see pictures of the new light fixture, or the texture we decided to put on our walls, or the lawn getting cut, be happy with the ones of Jackson!

Back to the story....yesterday, I was going to eat a peach. Jackson wanted a bite, so I let him dive right into the whole peach. After the first bite, he wouldn't give it back. He wouldn't even let me sneak in a bite, he kept it right next to his mouth and just went to town, juice spilling out of his mouth and running down his hands...the whole bit!

Anyway, I took a series of pictures because it was the funniest thing. He got so mad when I took the seed away and there was nothing left. About 3 hours later, I had the diaper of a lifetime! But it was all worth it.