a bowl of cherries and a bit of style

I found out today that I like cherries. I always thought I didn't, but a co-worker brought in a bag of cherries from her very own cherry tree today, and they looked delectable! So shiny and red and plump... I couldn't resist trying one. After I did, I realized that I have been missing out on quite a wonderful and delicious fruit. The only downfall is the pit that you have to avoid breaking your teeth on and eventually spit out.

One more thing. My sister-in-law Brandy has launched an extremely cute etsy shop called Just Our Style. The shop has handmade items made by Brandy, Sarah, Tammy, and eventually myself (I'm still working on posting a painting or two...). So, if you have the time, check out http://www.justourstyle.etsy.com/. I think you'll find something that you might not be able to live without! (P.S. All of the handmade cards by Brandy are on sale until June 21st!)

Oh Happy Day

Jared is officially done with school! I should've mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't... (I'm sorry Jared). His graduation and our anniversary were on the same day, so we went out to celebrate both events that night. I am so proud of him and his accomplishment! Here is a picture of one of the cards he got for this special occasion... I thought it was pretty fun.

Now on to the next big adventure!

Two Whole Years

Two years ago, on May 8th, 2007, Jared and I were married. I can't believe it's been two years, but at the same time, I can't remember my life before being Jared's wife!

Here are some highlights from our wedding day...

We were married in the Salt Lake Temple

Our wedding colors were pink and brown

The wedding luncheon was at the Memorial House in Memory Grove

We had a great photographer

Our reception was at The Gathering Place at Gardner Village

My bouquet was a combination of roses, tulips, peonies, and renuculas

My mom made my wedding cake

My wedding dress had a white sash that was switched to brown for the reception

One of my best friends flew in from Florida, and my sister in law and nieces came from Washington

We had a candy buffet with all sorts of fun pink and brown candies

The weather was beautiful

My hair actually stayed curly the whole day

We saw so many family members and friends

We flew to Cancun the next day and spent a week there for our honeymoon

It was the best day ever!

The Best Birthday Ever!

Last Thursday was my birthday. It was a delightful day. Children were excited to tell me happy birthday and sing me songs all day long at work, we went to dinner with my favorite people (the Olsen and Wilcox families), and had them over afterward to hang out and open gifts. The day was great, and Jared gave me the best present ever. He got a new job! When he told me I cried, laughed, and breathed a sigh of relief. We consider ourselves so blessed to have this new opportunity.

We know that Heavenly Father is mindful of us and heard our prayers. We are so grateful for all of the support and prayers on our behalf, and can't thank those around us enough for giving us kind words and advice through these few weeks.

Jared will be working in the HR department at a company called DWG and associates. He already has great experience in this field, and he enjoys this type of work very much. I know that he'll do a fantastic job with this new company, because he is such a hard worker, a great learner, and he's pretty smart too. I'm pretty lucky to have him!

The gang at the Olive Garden. We had a great time!

It's all about who you know, right?

Hi there friends and family. This week Jared and I had a big change. Megaplex Theatres and other Larry H. Miller companies had to let go of 50 employees, and unfortunately, Jared's position was one of many that were dissolved.

Although we are very sad and shocked, (I guess no more free movies, dang it) we are very hopeful and excited for any new opportunities that could come our way. We know that most jobs are found by networking and talking with people you know- so if any of you out there happen to hear of anything Jared might be good at, just let us know! We'll be so happy to hear from you.

And the winner is....!

My GIANT purse. This week I went to our Relief Society birthday party. We had a yummy dinner, a lovely short program, and a fun game involving our purses. The game had all of the women in the ward frantically digging through their bags looking for requested items- normal or random. Some of the items included... Pantyhose, a needle and thread, a DVD, an airline ticket, etc. My purse won the biggest prize of all though, drum roll please.....

It is the heaviest (weighing in at 7 pounds) of all the purses of the night. HOW in the world did I let it get this way? It's not even a diaper bag- it only holds junk for me!

I won a candy bar though. Yay! That makes my sore arms and hunched back seem worth it...

Have you met my husband?

Jared's been tagged by Eva and Peggy! This will be fun because most (mmm, I guess all) of the posts are done by me, even though the blog is called "Cass and Jared." Here's some fun information about my cute husband- these answers are from his own mouth, typed by my fingers.

Here are the rules:

(1) post rules on your blog

(2) answer the six “8” items

(3) tag others and let each person know by leaving them a comment.

So, here goes:

8 Things on My Wish List

1. To be done with school forever!

2. To go on a trip with Cass to Monterey CA.

3. To be on the Amazing Race.

4. To weigh 175 pounds.

5. To be on the beach with Cassidy in Cancun.

6. To see all of the summer blockbuster movies NOW!

7. To have a regular work-out routine.

8. To get a raise at work on Monday.

8 favorite TV shows

1. The Office

2. 30 Rock

3. Lost

4. Heroes

5. Life

6. The Biggest Loser

7. The Amazing Race

8. The Soup

8 Things I'm Looking Forward to

1. To be done with school at the University of Utah. (Only two months left!)
2. To start school at the University of Phoenix.

3. Paying off my car.

4. Being a dad (in a few years, of course).

5. Moving up the corporate ladder.

6. Going back to Salinas California.

7. This summer.

8. Getting grass in the front yard of our home.

8 Favorite Restaurants

1. Olive Garden

2. Macaroni Grill

3. Chili's

4. Tepanyaki

5. Subway

6. Cafe Rio

7. Red Robin

8. The Pie

8 Things I Did Yesterday

1. Went in the Utah Jazz locker room.

2. Sat in Deron Williams' locker chair and held his shoes.

3. Walked on the "catwalk" at the Energy Solutions Arena.

4. Gave a presentation about innovation.

5. Went to dinner with Cass.

6. Watched my sister Brandy on Studio Five

7. Kicked Blake's trash at "Red Steel."

8. Went to bed way too early for a Friday night.

8 People I Tag

Michael George Thatcher

Albert Einstein

Deron Williams

Joel McHale

Chuck Norris

Peter Griffin

Jason Bourne

Gigi

Here you go!

I've had a few requests from some friends of mine to post the delicious Cafe Rio salad dressing I made a while ago, so here it is. It is a little thicker than the real thing, but it is as close as you're gonna get without buying it! I got this recipe from my sister-in-law Jane's ward cookbook.


Cafe Rio's creamy tomatillo dressing;


3 fresh tomatillos, cut into quarters
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 cup buttermilk (or make with dry buttermilk mix)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 package of dry ranch buttermilk dressing mix
1 cup fresh cilantro (about 1 bunch)
5 stalks (1/2 bunch of green onions with ends)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, crushed
4 tsp sugar or other sweetener



Combine well in blender and refrigerate for one hour.


I kinda improvised with some of the ingredients and added more or less of the ingredients depending on what I had and what tasted good. It makes a lot, so plan on eating a salad for the next few days!


Also, we had a really fun valentines day and holiday weekend- Saturday was really laid back, and then we went to a fancy dinner at Cafe Madrid. To tell you the truth, it was a little too expensive and I didn't enjoy the food that much- but the atmosphere, service and company was great! The Amazing Race started on Sunday, and we went over to Brandy and Dave's to watch the first episode. Jared wants to be on that show so bad, and I think it would be so fun, but so stressful. I like to travel- but not like that! On Monday we helped Jared's parents paint their bedroom a new fresh color, and then we went to a movie...Then it was back to the daily grind! I sure do love my weekends and the chance it gives me to catch my breath before another week begins!

Happy Birthday Jared!

Yesterday was my darling husbands birthday. He is now an older and wiser 24 years old! The birthday festivities went as follows:

He got to go to lunch with a good friend. (This good friend was also Jared's first mission companion. They even work together and have too much fun together.)

After work we went to the Olive Garden with family and friends. (We love the company of these wonderful people!)

We had people come over to our house for birthday cake and games. (I think catch phrase is the best game to play with a group of people. We sure did make a lot of noise!)

Jared was a pretty lucky boy and got a few gifts- Gift cards and dress shirts were the theme of the night. (He also got a miniature lawn gnome, which was his favorite gift- thanks Thatcher.)

I sure do love Jared and think he's the best! I hope you had a wonderful day!

Week in Review

I apologize for taking so much time off from the blogging world- time went so fast that I didn't realize I had been gone so long! Jared and I have had a fun week together...let me just give you a little update.

1. We spoke in church on Sunday, which always throws me for a loop. I get so nervous, and it takes me forever to prepare for it because I want so badly to say the right things. Jared, on the other hand, puts it together the morning of (and does a great job), and mocks me while I tell him I might throw up. (just kidding, he doesn't mock me, he just wonders why it makes me so scared.)

2.I had a lovely half a day off on Monday-which was really nice. I got a lot of work done in the short time I was there. You'd never believe how much work I can get done when I don't have adorable children telling me that they might throw up, that they forgot their lunch, or that there's a giant poop in the toilet that might not go down.

3. I made Jared and I a cafe rio salad for dinner the other night, and it was actually quite mouthwatering! I have a cookbook that has the recipes for the rice, beans and oh so delicious creamy dressing. I topped it off with some homemade guacamole and it was deliciouso!

4. I watched American Idol. I hate it when American Idol comes back on, because I love to watch it, but feel like it's a waste of my time. Especially when they have 2 hour episodes!

5.I drove home in some really thick fog/smog yesterday. It was actually really cool, because as I was driving down the freeway, all I could see were the taillights of those closest to me. I couldn't even see the huge green exit signs until they were right above me. It seemed as if they were appearing out of thin air!

6.We had some friends over last night for pizza and games, and it was a lot of fun. We played malarkey, scene it, and some old-school video games that made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe.

Now it's Saturday and a new week will be here and gone in no time. How does time go so fast?

The Other Room

We have an extra bedroom in our house, and it doesn't have a purpose. We have our bedroom, the office, and the... other room. I've been thinking about what we could do to that room to make it look complete, and this weekend we finished it! I thought that if we bought a little chair it would maybe feel more like a den or reading room. So, yesterday morning, we got up early and drove up to the avenues to pick up a peach (yes, peach) chair. I found it on ksl.com, and it is quite perfect for what I wanted it for. After that, we went to a really neat store called second hand chic in Sugarhouse and bought some accent pillows. This store was so cute! All of the items in it were used, but the collection of items were so detailed and beautiful and cool. I loved it! Now we have a reading room, that doubles as an art room ( which makes me think I should really start another project). What do you think about my chair?




On a different and more random note, I have an extremely large bruise on my knee. I have no idea where it came from, and it's driving me nuts! You would think I would remember a blow that hard-hard enough to make my knee turn purple- but I don't! Don't you hate that?