Fighting Fish

We went camping at Hyalite Reservoir this weekend. Okay, actually it was only Saturday night. The thing about camping for one night is that it is pretty much the same amount of work as camping for multiple nights, which is a bit annoying.

When we got up to the lake we set up the tent and blew-up or new raft. The raft was a lot smaller than Brian had initially thought. He was embarrassed to even put it out on the water but we got her out their! If we both sat on our bottoms on the floor of the raft and crossed our legs there was barely room for a small tackle box and two fishing pools, none-the-less our cooler that held like 6 beers. I thought it was pretty funny...Brian not so much (This is where I would usually insert a picture of Brian crammed into the raft but my camera ate like half of my pictures!)

After we were out in the boat for about 20 minutes it started to rain pretty hard so we booked it to shore and tried to hide beneath a pine tree. This is when all hell broke loose! As we were standing under the tree we could see the hard rain coming toward us from across the lake. We took off up the hill to find shelter and saw that their was a youth camp with cabins that was not open yet. We hide under the eves of one of the cabins. Brian and I got under the cabin just in time because it started to hail like crazy.

I wanted to break into the cabin and get our young love on blockbuster style inside but Brian informed me "we don't break the law." So I pouted and then took this picture (that didn't get eaten by the camera) of us!

After the storm blew over we nixed the raft and just fished from the bank for the rest of the day. Brian was saying that he had never fished for trout with worms in a lake (Montana style, and fly fishing gods please don't strike us down with your wrath!), so I was telling him how my dad and I used to fish, which made me a little sad but we started catching fish!

The rest of the day was spent in our camping chairs by the lake fishing and drinking beer.

This is what we caught:

They were small little suckers but they fought hard and we still had fun just catching fish. as the sun was setting we got some great pictures of the action.

My First DIY

So last weekend I decided to try my first attempt, since my wedding, to pull a little at home/Martha Stewarty DIY project. We have been needing a coat rack by the door for some time. I blogged below about a project that I found that I really liked, and tried it this weekend. Here is the end result.






I thought that it turned out pretty well. The wall definitely needs something else on it, I want to get a shelf with some baskets to go on top of it. I went to a store in town called Ro Sham Bo, that specializes in nice papers and stuff like that. Then I went to Home Depot and got everything else that I needed. The paper was $3 a sheet (I got two in case I really messed one up), the board that I covered was a shelf for about $4 and then I bought hooks (which was the most expensive thing at $4 a piece) and spray adhesive. I spent around $30 on the whole project, which I felt was decent.


The project took me about 2 hrs. Not including drying time since I also covered the paper with Modge Podge to protect it. It took us longer to find studs, center the coat rack, and drill screws into the wall (sorry landlords!) then it took me to make the coat hanger. My handyman came out in full force (see this post to understand the full story!) and was pretty sure that the screws did not even end up in the studs!


What I might do different:

• I am not sure that the paper I picked actually fits with our decor, even though I really love it. I had my 9 month old niece with me in Ro Sham Bo and she was getting cranky so I picked one that I really loved and even at the time I wasn't so sure about how it would fit in our house.
• I would probably also spend more time finding fancier hooks that complimented the paper better. When I got to home depot they didn't have the selection that I wanted and I didn't have time at the moment to run around anywhere else to see what the selections were. I was so excited to do the project that I just bought the ones that I thought would work the best. It looks fine but they definitely don't and any wow factor.

All in all I am happy with the project, and can't wait to start my next one!

The Weekend

This weekend was great I got pretty much everything done that I thought I was going to plus some.

I made Brian's special dinner. We had amazing lasagna, salad, and garlic bread. I also made him homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream cake. It was great! I got the lasagna recipe off of all-recipes.com. It is called Linda's Lasagna but I have changed enough of it to call it Brittany's lasagna. I have put the recipe at the end of this post. Here is the link to recipe for the ice cream cake from Martha Stewart: Mint Chocolate Chip Cake. The chocolate cake was probably the best homemade one I have made and it was so EASY! I used two 9x13 pans, which didn't work very well, to thick even when cut in half, and I only used green ice cream.

This weekend we also bought outdoor furniture for our little deck. We put them out their on Saturday afternoon and then it rained on Sunday before we even got to use them! When we got home Saturday night Brian looked outside and said "I really like our new chairs!" I just laughed and thought, "that's great hun, I am glad you approve so much!" Here they are in the rain this afternoon, I also like them.

We went to out hometown stock car races on Friday night and then also went up to Hylite Reservoir on Saturday night. On Saturday afternoon at like 3 we decided to pack up the grill and what we were going to have for dinner and take it up to Hylite. When we got up their the lake still had ice on it but it was pretty warm. We sat and drank beer and talked and ate. It was the perfect evening!

Amazing Lasagna

INGREDIENTS
1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon white sugar

6 ounces ricotta cheese
6 ounces cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg

9 lasagna noodles
1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS
1.) In a large saucepan over medium heat, add crushed garlic cloves and onion, cook until translucent. Add beef and cook until brown. Drain. To the beef and onions add tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, water, oregano, salt, pepper and sugar. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 1 hour.
2.) While sauce is simmering, blend cottage cheese, ricotta, Parmesan and egg until smooth. Set aside.
3.) Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
4.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
5.) Spread 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover sauce with 3 noodles. Cover noodles with one-third of remaining sauce. Top with half the mozzarella. Place another layer of noodles and one of sauce over the mozzarella; top that with the cottage cheese mixture. Top with remaining 3 noodles and remaining sauce.
6.) Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella on top and bake 15 minutes more, until golden and bubbly.

You know he loves you when he calls you cute after...

five hours of hellacious cramps! Yeah that's right 5 hours of writhing in the bed or on the bathroom floor, cold and hot sweats, 5 IB Prophen, a very short bath, and last but certainly not least stabbing pains in my uterus and lower back. So after all this my hair has dried matted on the back of my head (from my short bath) and I look generally hung over, he calls me cute! I am not sure it I am lucky or married to a crazy!

I used to get awful cramps before I went on birth control in college. I would get some sort of cramps every cycle but they were not always writhing on the floor ones. I went off birth control in February and this is only my second period since then. The first one wasn't to bad. This one actually made me think the following things:

1. I am so going back on birth control, having a baby is not worth this!
2. I could totally have a baby contractions and birth can't be any worse than this!
3. If I just stabbed myself would it make the cramps go away?
4. I wonder if my OB would prescribe me, oh say, some CODEINE to help with the pain of cramps until we at least start trying to have a baby next January?!

Anyway, I am better for now but will definitely exceed the daily recommended dose of IB Prophen to make sure I stay off the floor!

Things I am doing this weekend:

Today is my Friday and I have a four day weekend due to a holiday off tonight for Memorial Day. I am excited for the extra day even though we are not doing anything special. These are some of the things I hope to get done.

I have been wanting to put a coat rack by our door for awhile and this one is perfect. All I have to do is find a wallpaper/wrapping paper that I love and go to town! If you also love this you can find the complete DIY directions here at

Design Sponge.

I am going to make this meal for Brian tonight as a celebratory dinner for his new job. He loves my lasagna and I haven't made it in awhile so he requested it. I will try to post my recipe and take pictures.

He also loves mint chocolate chip ice cream cake so if I am feeling extra motivated I might try and make him a homemade one.


We are also hoping to do this (if the weather is nice):

and maybe a little hiking in the Bridger mountains!

I am so proud!

I couldn't decide what to title this post it was either the above or Reasons Why I am Happy. BUT the main reason why I am happy is because I am so proud of Brian. He got a permanent full-time job with his fire department! It is so exciting to see him work hard for something and get it.

Brian getting this job means a lot for us. It means we will be staying in Bozeman for the foreseeable future. It means some relief in the financial area and a light at the end of the tunnel to get our debt paid off. It also means that we will be buying a house in the next couple of years. AND...maybe...having a BABY!! That is exciting. I am not sure if we are ready quite yet to start trying but it feels good to know that when the time comes we will be financially prepared.

Possibly have graduated from the honeymoon stage...

I think that we have officially graduated from the honeymoon stage. I can't decide whether it is that we have been together longer now or it is a stage that all newlyweds go through. The past couple of weeks Brian and I have been pretty disconnected from each other. Every time we get busy and don't get a chance to spend some quality time together and reconnect this happens but it is for more like a couple of days not what seems like weeks.

It is a sort of scary place to be and it is hard to admit sorta out loud! I have never felt before that every phone conversation with any person triggers some sort of annoyance. But that is what it has been like off and on for a couple of weeks. Some factors that are contributing to it:

• My constant lack of sleep and crazy schedule.
• Brian's difficulty with including me/communicating what is going on at work and in general.
• Brian's new command schedule with keeps him committed 7am-7pm Mon-Fri.
• My friend's temporary separation with her husband (she is also the first good friend that I have had since being with Brian, so also adjusting to hanging out with someone else besides him.)

I think that all of these have made me need him to make an extra effort to show me how he feels (which sounds lame and insecure). We have hit that point where our feelings aren't so new and fresh so we both aren't going the extra mile. I know that it has been awhile since I have gone out of my way to put on a piece of lingerie!

This weekend, even though I was gone for a bachelorette party I think that we really did connect much better. When I got home from Billings on Sunday afternoon, Brian admitted that he had felt that we hadn't really been connecting lately. Just hearing him say that meant the world to me. It shows to me that he is in tune with us and can feel the same things I can, even if he doesn't show it as much as I do. Then we went for a walk and cooked dinner together. It was the perfect Sunday night at home, no distractions just him and I. It helped me to remember why I love him so much. He really is an amazing and loving man! This whole thing has been a good reminder to both of us that a relationship is something that does not always come easily but takes work and it is hard work at times! It is totally worth it though!

Hooligans

This past weekend Brian and I house-sat/baby-sat for my 3 favorite hooligans! We showed up at their house on Sunday morning at 4:30 AM so their parents could catch an early morning flight and stayed until I dropped hooligans 2 & 3 off at Grandma's on Monday morning around 9AM. Lets just say that it was a long and fun 24 hours.

On Sunday morning Brian and I went back to sleep as soon as the parents left. Once the kids woke up I got up and made pancakes for them while Brian continued to sleep...little stinker! I watch the hooligans once a week, and last year actually baby-sat a lot for a couple of different families. I always try to take the kids out to the fire station and let them crawl around in the truck and even go for rides (hey it is one special thing I can offer!) On Sunday morning Brian took the kids for a ride and even let hooligan 1 who is six sit in the front seat. Her eyes were so huge with excitement, it was making us laugh pretty hard.

Later in the day we took the kids to a movie and ice cream. With my crazy schedule I hadn't gotten a chance to sleep more that 4-5 hours at a time in the last couple of days so I was tired and the kids were obviously bouncing off the walls. Brian grilled burgers for dinner and then I bathed the kids and put them to bed.

The next morning I got up and got all the hooligans up, feed, ready, and off to school/grandmas.

We learned a couple of lessons in those 24 hours:
1.) Water bottles without spill proof lids are never a good idea in the car!
2.) If you say we can have ice cream later...you have to have ice cream later.
3.) No matter how much you think you won't, you will be that parent who sends your kid to school with wet tennis shoes because they were left out in the rain and said child refuses to wear anything else.
4.) Having three kids, a dog, rabbit and two tubs of baby chickens is A LOT of work!

Our 24 hour stint with the hooligans was exhausting but we enjoyed every moment and really can't wait until we have started our own family!

Catching Up: April

It has been a couple of weeks since I have posted. I will give a short update on a couple of the last weekends and post some pics along with it!

We went to LA for a college roommates wedding April 3rd-7th. A college roommate of mine came with us. I had a blast reconnecting with her and also watching her and Brian get to know each other better. We went to Santa Monica one afternoon and then had dinner in Larchmont Village, which is just a couple of blocks from my grandparents house where we stayed. Between beers, margaritas and wine we were all pretty lit by the time we got back to the house. The wedding was beautiful, it was great to see Candy and her now husband again! On the way back we dropped Rachel off at the airport so that she could fly to Indianapolis and Brian and I drove to Vegas and stayed the night. We enjoyed Vegas for the night. Brian took me out to a very nice dinner at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant at the Venetian and then we went to see the Phantom of the Opera. We decided that we would probably never actually go to Vegas on vacation, there was just to many people and Brian thought that it was "fake."

The next weekend was Easter so we went down to Gardiner on Saturday night and then to church on Sunday morning. It was nice to see everyone from church. It has been kind of hard going to church lately since it has been so long...I definitely feel very guilty (but that is a whole different post!) It was nice to see my parents and Bobbie and Addison. My mom made her delicious Easter brunch, and sent us home with left-overs!

April 17th-19th we went to Spokane, WA so that Brian could take a written test for the Spokane Valley Fire Department. We were hoping that if the permanent job with Rae and Sourdough fire departments falls through then this would be a good second option. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it will work out. We stayed the whole weekend at Angela's mom house (Angela came with us.) I enjoyed being back in Spokane. I really love that city. It is so pretty with all of the huge pine trees and rolling hills. I got to have my first (out of many I suspect) excursions to Cabellas. Good thing I like camping and fishing! We got a little raft, a pair of waiters for me, a fishing pole stand, an axe, and a water container for camping. I couldn't believe that Brian spent the money, it was fun watching him shop since he usually is pretty restrained!

The last full weekend of April we just hung out at home. It was a very busy month and we definitely needed the downtime. I had fun traveling around and getting out of Bozeman a little. It helped to cure the major cabin fever that I was feeling.