{Cheap Tip}

If you are like my husband you probably do not like steak just cooked plain. I on the other hand love it plain because then I get to use A1 which is the second love of my life:) I have found that it is really easy to get Jeff to eat steak if we marinate it in something good before. And this is where these beauties come into play. {dun dun dun}




They are 99 cents a bottle at your local smiths and you do not need a lot of sauce to make your food extra yummy. We have used these for four meals already and this particular brand has about 6 or 7 different flavors. Some of the things that we have tried these on in the past are steak, pork, chicken and hamburgers and they made every one of them taste really good and different. So that is a easy cheap trick that adds a little more pizazz to your normal meals.

Baked Summer Squash

So because of Jeffs recent layoff I am trying to be a better cook and try new things so that Jeff and I are not eating out all of the time. I am going to try and post the things that I make for dinner and maybe even how I did it so that you can see and either make it or add your own spin to it. I am also going to give reviews of things that I make because it will most likely be the first time I have made something. So last week we started this and we made yummy pork chops, cheese and zucchini pizza (we even made the dough) we had hamburgers with corn on the cob, crispy chicken and Navajo tacos. I wish I would of thought of this for my blog sooner because then I would of showed you how we did it all. My recipes are going to be semi home made like the show on food network because I don't always have the means and the stuff that I need to make everything. Rhodes rolls is all that I have to say because those have provided a lot of yummy dinners for Jeff and I. I just want to add another side note and just let everyone know that sometimes my food might seem pretty plain and that's because my husband is picky picky so a lot of the time I try to make things we both will eat because I am far from picky.

So my first little recipe that I tried was one from the lady at the farmers market that sold this summer squash to me. Chandee and I went to the farmers market that is at thanksgiving point and we got some pretty good stuff along with this little beauty.

First I cut it open and took the seeds out of it. They like to fly everywhere so I would suggest the scraping them out in the sink not the garbage because you will have a bigger space to work with. Then I put it on a cookie sheet and added butter and brown sugar inside to add yummy flavor.

I baked it for about 10 minutes at 375 degrees. When the ten minutes were up I rolled the squash back together, wrapped it in tin foil, poked hole in both sides of the squash and cooked it for 10 more minutes. I think that I could of wrapped it together in the first place and cooked it for 15 min instead of baking it in two halves and it would of turned out just the same.

My Review:

I feel that this was pretty good. The taste was a little strong for me but I think it would be good to eat every once in a while with dinner. I would not eat it every day though that is for sure.

Donna Jene Cooke

Donna Jene Cooke "Dharma C" Our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend-passed away peacefully at her home in Chandler, Arizona on the morning of August 14, 2009.Born in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 14, 1969 to Paul and Elva Soderstrom, she was the second of four daughters. She married her high school sweetheart, David Grant Cooke, on February 2, 1985. Solemnized May 15, 2001 in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple. Together they have raised four wonderful children. Donna was eagerly anticipating the birth of her first grandson. Donna's husband and children are the loves of her life. Nothing gave her greater joy than being able to have her family together for boating, camping trips, holidays, and random get togethers. For her, laughter truly was the best medicine. She also loved the time she was able to spend with her granddaughter Brianna. They loved playing board games and going to Build-A-Bear together. Donna's home is a testament to her love for her family, as she was constantly taking pictures and adding new photographs to her collection. Her love and devotion to her family is truly a gift from the Savior, and her greatest legacy. Survived by her husband, Grant, four children: Joshua (Anna), Cammie (Brandon), Trevor and Kody, granddaughter Brianna, parents Paul (Elia) Soderstrom, and Elva Cline, sisters April (Jack) Riggs, Bonnie (Doug) Stephan; her faithful companion, Malone; preceded in death by her sister, Teresa Pixton.

Donna is my mothers best friend and she has been like a mother to me. Her funeral was beautiful and it was so great to see the family and be a part of it. I am going to miss her like crazy but I know that I will be able to see her again and that gives me peace. Donna is one of the best people I have ever met and she has raised the greatest family. We will miss you Dharma thank you for the memories that we all have in our hearts. Love You!!!

FLoRiDa 09 & BiRtHdAyS

We went to Florida and we are now back and ready to tell the tale. We had a great time and we will be going back for sure. We stayed in a great hotel that had two pools with slides and ships that you could play in. There was a bar that we would get daquiris from and it was funny to see their faces when we asked for them virgin style ha ha because they don't get that at all so they would stop and stare for a second and process it and them make our drinks. We both had a birthday during our vacation and it was a great present going to Florida. For my birthday we were packing and getting all of the last minute things we needed for our trip. That night we went to dinner with my family cause Ken came home from Japan for a couple weeks. :) For Jeff's birthday we went swimming and played miniature golf and then went to dinner at ESPN CLUB. We then went shopping at the outlets. I have major picture overload so enjoy.This is a picture of Jeff getting his spray tan for our trip ha ha right when he was getting undressed to get in the booth he got a call and it was an interview so he could not call them back later so he was walking around with no pants on and he was trying to be all serious and I was cracking up cause the site of it was just so funny.My Birthday dinner with my yummy Blondie from applebees {LoVe It} I have now found another great dessert though because of Britt and Matt it is the Molten Lava thing from Chili's {iT iS FaNtAsTiC} Sarah came along to dinner with my family and got me some cute shoes that wore in Florida the whole time.Then the trip began and we were so excited to get going. This is a picture of us on the plane getting ready to take off. The rest of the pictures are in a random order from our trip. Jeff getting ready to kick some trash ha ha this was at the outlets.

In Sea World they let the flamingos go on a morning stroll and we were lucky enough to stroll with them.

We also got the chance to feed the dolphins in Sea World which was a lot of fun cause they come right up to you to get the fish.

THE SPORTS DOMINATOR this is a store that Jeff really wanted to go to and let me tell you it was ghetto for sure. I had to take a picture of the front just to catch some of the ghettoness but it is one of those you had to be there kind of things to really take it all in. I just love the huge wrestler with a little little head ha ha too good.

We also had the opportunity to go to the Orlando temple and it was so beautiful. We were by far the youngest people in the temple and in our session there were only 18 of us. It was small but I loved every second of it because it was just so pretty and I think it is number one on my list of temples as of right now.

Hanging out by the pool which is what we did a lot. My great tan line to ha ha cause I had two different swimsuits that I wore and they did not match up at all. {Too Funny}

Note the man in the background with a speedo right above my head ha ha perfect pic that's for sure. I could not believe the speedos that people had. I saw old men, fathers and little kids in speedos and they do not do anyone justice and they do not hide ANYTHING!!!

The Shamu show and note my hair man Florida really kicked its butt because of the heat and humidity. I even had curly hair at some points and for those of you who don't know my hair is straighter then anything it has no curl at all.

Jeff in front of the ESPN club sign for his birthday dinner.

The plane ride home that seemed to take triple the time then getting to Florida because I was spent and ready to be home. This is a picture of the clouds outside of my window that I thought looked really cool.

{JuLy FuN}

We went to the Real Salt Lake game on Friday with Mar and Andy it was a ton of fun. We had to park all the way in the boondocks but that was ok because we had a good time. The game was pretty good the only sucky thing was that right when we got up to get a better spot for the fireworks Real scored and I was cracking up because we were so close the whole time and then right when we turned our backs they scored.

{Ha Ha}

The Fireworks were pretty cool they had some good music to it that we all sang to and that was pretty cool. The picture below is the only cool one that I got and I think that Jeff even took this picture. So I have added some pictures below of the event and I dont understand why I can't take a decent picture but have a look see.

July 5th was our friend Matts Birthday so we went over there and had some pizza with Matts friends Ryanne and Braden and they were pretty fun. We watched some TV and played some

CaTcH PhRaSe

{Woo Woo}

I love that game. It was crazy fun we were getting so into it and of course the girls won because we RoCk!!!. Happy Birthday Matt and thanks for the good time!!

{ZoO, We LoVe YoU}

So this post is a long time coming because we went to the zoo like a month ago ha ha. We went with Britt and Matt and it was fun. We had a good time looking at all of the animals turn around and show us their bums. {hee hee}. My favorite part was the train ride because my feet were so tired from walking all day long. So the pictures that I have on here are all in no particular order but here they are.

Why can't I just do a normal face in a picture I really dont get it.

This monkey was funny becasue he had all of these branches in his little cage but he wanted the ones on the outside. He also had something hanging out of his butt that freaked us all out.

Britt you asked for a new post...You got it!!

So a lot has happened since the last time I blogged. I am going to start out with Mariannes Bachelorette party. It was really fun getting together with a bunch of girls that I have not seen in a little while. It all started with Britt, Margie and I decorating our Marriot hotel room. It was so fun we started taking pictures of us jumping on the bed when we realized that their were stains all over the sheets so we called down and they sent this lady up that did had a silly accent. She started flipping out because she thought that we had ruined the room and we were trying to explain to her and then finally she got it and she called down to get us some new sheets and stuff. Then we went to California Pizza Kitchen which is also known as CPK which I learned from Britt that day. We made a shirt for Mar that said "Suck for a Buck" and we put lifesavers on it for people to suck off obviously. Mar had surgery the day before so she was not feeling very good so after dinner we just went back to the hotel and chatted all night. Here are a couple pictures of our adventures.Britt and I on the bed just having a good time :) Ha Ha I love it she looks like a karate girl.Margie and I jumping on the bed and I love how her hat instantly turns into a chefs hat.

Sarah making fun of me and the mean faces I don't know how to make. All of the girls outside of of CPK (ha ha great name right Britt)

The next event was Mariannes wedding dinner and her wedding which was beautiful. They had a dinner the night before and it was yummy food and good company. I sat at a table with Sarah, Chase, My Hubby, Britt, Matt, and to of Mariannes friends from SUU that we got to know pretty well.

Sarah and I smooching Mariannes brother.

All of the girls and I think I had like five pictures of us and at least one person was not smiling in each one so this was the best.

This one makes me laugh cause Sarah and I bailed on the pictures so this is Britt and Mars WTF face. HA HA!

I decided to jump back in.



This is our prom picture. We are pretty much all married and as you will see in later pictures Sarah will for sure be next. :)


Mar and Andy are married!!!! I got the picture right at the perfect moment cause the video guy and photography were in the way so I am pretty proud of this pic.

Mar looked so beautiful and they just looked so happy it was great.Mar faked everyone out when she was throwing her bouquet. Guess who caught it???? It was Sarah so she is for sure next. :)

Catt and I just hanging out and soon after this pic was taken we started dancing the night away.

We decorated their car and we did a pretty good job if I say so myself. I wish I would of gotten a better pic but my camera was acting funny. So besides Mar and Andy getting married another good thing happened we realized how much fun it is to hang out with Britt and Matt. We hung out this weekend we went to dinner and then came back to my house and played some games and roasted marshmellows. We realized that our husbands are not boy scouts and the only way a fire would ever happen is if Britt and I tried to make one. That did not work so we recruited others to help us while our awesome hubbies just sat on the sidelines watching the action. HA HA great times Britt and I even had to pick dry grass in the dark that we were so sure was full of spiders. We survived though and after all of this we finally had a fire and made the smores I had been waiting all night for. YIPEE!!!

This is getting pretty long I know so if you are still reading then you are either dedicated or bored. Jeff and I were asked by a family in our ward to babysit their four children for a whole week. They have three boys ranging from 1st grade to sixth grade and little three year old girl. Their house was pretty sweet they have slides by their stairs, a rock climbing wall, laser guns and just a big house to say the least. We agreed to this and I have to tell the truth I was pretty nervous going into it and when we started out the first day I was a little overwhelmed. I have zero children and I am not planning on any for awhile so this was quite an adjustment even for just a week. It made me realize how lucky I am to have Jeff by my side because sometimes I would get pretty overwhelmed and Jeff would just talk me through it and even give me little breaks. It was not hard the whole time it did get easier as the week progressed.

This is the family that we watched and they are for sure a handful but I actually enjoyed it very much.


This is the snake costume that Jeff got in to scare the kids and it worked but it made me crack up. I tried to take video but my camera died. UGH!!!