Weekly Planning

This post is so very "married" of me.  

At the beginning of each school semester Braedon and I usually ask for a priesthood blessing. You can read about what a priesthood blessing is here. Last semester we got council through a blessing from Braedon's dad for us to start planning together and having family "meetings".  

Ever since then we have been doing planning sessions on Sunday night of every new week.  It has strengthened our marriage, kept us on the same page, and helped us establish goals that we couldn't accomplish on our own!  I really love our planning sessions and we feel like it definitely brings us closer.  I feel like a total mom whipping out our calendar and making notes but hey, I'm not ashamed!

We pattern our planning sessions after preach my gospel with a few modifications.  You can see what preach my gospel suggests here.

We use an app called CareZone (I know, I know) and we love it. You should get it. It has a calendar, a section for "to-do's", notes, medications, you name it. Plus it links to both of our phones so if either of us makes a change we'll get an alert.  Sometimes Braedon will write something cute in the middle of the week like, "7:00 Thursday: Dancing with Stef in the kitchen" and I'll get an alert that "Braedon has made a change to the calendar".  

Here is how we do our planning...

1. Start with a prayer together: this helps us get in the right mindset and have an effective session

2. Pull up the calendar (on CareZone) and map out what you have going on that week.  We include work, school, date night, and whatever else is set in stone that we can link a day and time to.

3. Set goals for the week/ semester or however else you'd like to do it.  One of our goals this semester is less stress, more fun.  We've tried to incorporate some tasks on our "to-do" list (which will come next) that will hopefully help us fulfill these goals!  

Yes our bedtime is now 10-10:30.  Again, this is such a married post.  

4. Set your "to-do" list.  This is probably one of my favorite features because you can check it off during the week when it's done and it'll send an alert to Braedon that I "finished" the task!  One of our "to-do's" this week included making each other a playlist of new songs we both haven't heard before. We're hoping this is a good start to "less stress, more fun".  

5. Companionship Inventory.  This is such a "mission" thing, but I actually really like it and it's helped us become a stronger team and push each other to be our best. 

 Basically it goes like this; first we talk about what the other person did really well the previous week, and the things we really appreciated.  This part is easy!  Next, we talk about what improvements the other person could make for the coming week.  At first, I was so uncomfortable doing this!  Who am I to tell Braedon what he needs to improve on??  It's kind of evolved into suggestions for accomplishing goals, minimizing stress, etc. You could think of it as a very non-threatening way to address any issues you might have. 

For example, Braedon has a new business venture that he's wanting to start so I gave him suggestions on how to get it flowing.  Braedon knew I was stressed last week and gave me suggestions that he knew would help me to overcome it this week.  These are things we do during the week but for some reason at this time it feels more meaningful and sincere because the focus is just on the other person.  

6. End with a prayer.  

Prayer is probably the most important thing for us to have a successful planning session.  It sets the tone, and gets us on the same page.  I honestly look forward to this little time together each week! No matter how "married" it may seem. Hopefully some of these ideas can be helpful for you too and if you made it though this post without falling asleep I applaud you!  

Marriage Pet Peeves

Moral of the story: we're not perfect. 

Braedon's pet peeve: 

//when I forget to squeegee the shower//

(happens a lot...)

My pet peeve:

//towels thrown over the shower, unfolded//

(just one fold vertically would suffice)

But you know what?  I still love him.  A lot. 

"It is so rewarding to be married.  Marriage is wonderful.  In time you begin to think alike and have the same ideas and impressions.  You have times when you are extremely happy, times of testing, and times of trial, but the Lord guides you through all of those growth experiences together" -Elder Richard G. Scott from the General Conference talk, "The Eternal Blessings of Marriage"

One of my favorite conference talks on marriage.  Listen to it, and grab some tissues!

Click here to watch the video

Thanksgiving In Cancun

I have to say, Braedon and I were pretty spoiled for Thanksgiving this year.  We got to spend the holiday on the sunny beach with our family by our side!  We stayed at an all inclusive resort which meant our days consisted of lots of limonadas, diet coke, tacos, (more tacos), and beach bummin.  Get ready for a picture overload, I'll probably be posting more pictures from this amazing trip for the next few days!  We are so grateful we got to be a part of the fun, but even more grateful for the memories made with the fam.  This is what our past week has looked like...

Tuesday: Braedon and I took the red-eye and I was giddy in anticipation all day.

Wednesday: Some much needed resting at the beach. ahhhh.  We met up with the family each night for dinner and played some doubles tennis after.  I got my butt whooped....the Murdock/ Parrish family are all pro tennis players.  Really wish I would have listened to my mom when she tried to get me to take lessons way back when!  

Thursday: The boys golfed, and the girls laid out... typical.  We had our Thanksgiving dinner as a family and enjoyed some tennis afterwards.  It's a good thing my in-laws are patient....I had so much fun learning how to play and I'd like to think my beginner status at least kept the games entertaining!?

Friday: You guessed it, another day at the beach.  We found this amazing little cafe that made crepes and filled them with whatever you wanted...I was in heaven.  Before dinner Braedon and I decided to play a few games of pool.  I'm proud to say he was impressed with my skills....I think he was expecting them to be more like my tennis abilities!  More on that later...

Saturday: Our last day :(.  We definitely made it count.  We swam with dolphins, read at the pool (ok Braedon studied, I laid out), got massages, and ate tacos until we were sick.  

Sunday: Why is it that coming home from a vacation to real life feels like torture?  Luckily my mom invited us over for Thanksgiving leftovers- can I just say she is the best cook? Mmm. Mmm.  Braedon's been studying all day for his tests this upcoming week, and I've been doing a little schoolwork/laundry.  Ok, and looking at all of our pictures and wishing we were back on the beach.  

Gabbi LOVED the pool and would not stop splashing her chubby hands while we swam.  The pool was freezing but it didn't seem to phase her one bit!  Love that little bug and her contagious giggle.  

Always studying....notice the tattoo?  Hand drawn by yours truly.  

I love my gorgeous sisters

Alright, this is how the pool games went.

Game 1: Braedon

Game 2: Stef

Game 3: Braedon

Game 4: we both cheated...

Braedon's winnings: Gets to take me out to a steak house and we'll eat ribs with our bare hands

My winnings: A Park City overnighter

  Braedon and I don't drink and every time we asked, "no alcohol please", we'd get some funny looks. That night at dinner we were a little slap happy and I think I had one too many diet cokes.  One of the hazards of an all inclusive resort.  I was laughing over something and spilled my food- to which the waiter remarked, "no more tequila for you!"  It just made me laugh harder!   

After we swam with dolphins we were walking back and got caught in a downpour.  We were already soaked from swimming and had forgotten towels.  I couldn't help it, I had to belt it loud and proud...

If you like pina coladas...

And getting caught in the rain...

If you're not into yoga...

If you have half a brain...

And yes I kept going....I think Braedon was either really proud or really embarrassed. 

Ok I'm not sure why I thought this was so funny.  You know how on cruises the maid will leave you with your towels folded into a monkey or some other (sometimes unrecognizable) animal? Well we came back one night and she had also decided to get creative with my blanket.  So cute.  

The Christmas tree was up in the lobby the day after Thanksgiving!  I guess I'd better follow suit and get going on mine.  Thanks for reading and I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I'm especially grateful for my supportive, loving, hardworking, and hilarious husband.  

Newlywed Dinners + Beating the Blues

Braedon keeps telling me that I need to start posting some "newlywed dinners", so tonight I'm taking his advice!  The point of a newlywed dinner is that it's inexpensive, simple, and easy- while secretly tricking your husband into thinking you're a gourmet chef.  Tonight I tried a new recipe, Spaghetti Squash Primavera. Braedon helped me with dinner, thank goodness, because it involved squash again and I was not in the mood for loosing a finger! 

This is a low calorie, light dish.  So if you're like us and always crave dessert, you won't feel too guilty after this meal.  

Ingredients:

1 medium-large spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise and baked

1 bag pre-cooked medium or large sized shrimp (you can also use chicken)

2 roma tomatoes

handful of spinach, stems removed

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the top off of the spaghetti squash and then slice in half lengthwise...like I've mentioned before, Braedon knows my track record with knives and was more than happy to help. Place the squash face down into a 9 x13 pan with 2-3 tablespoons water- obviously I couldn't quite fit the squash in one dish so I had to use two.  Bake in the oven for 50 minutes.  

While your squash is baking you can get everything else prepared, plus probably read a book or study!  Dice the tomatoes, and tear the stems off of the spinach.  Easy enough right? Simplicity is key for these newlywed dinners :).  I seasoned my tomatoes with a little garlic salt.  

The advantage to buying the pre-cooked shrimp is you don't have to worry about anything besides reheating it.  Just add a little olive oil (or butter or coconut oil) and let the shrimp simmer in a large frying pan.  I would start this about 5-10 minutes before your squash is done.  

When your squash is finished baking allow some time for it to cool; then scoop out the seeds and all the squishy guts!  Next, take a fork and run it along the squash width-wise to separate it from the peel.  While your doing this, just turn down your heat on the frying pan to low, and make sure there is enough liquid that your shrimp won't start sticking to the pan- but not too much that it's swimming!

I kind of just threw everything in but was wishing I had added the tomatoes and spinach first.  Once the squash was added it was hard to get the spinach to the bottom so it could wilt.  I would recommend adding them first. Then once the spinach is wilted and the tomatoes are warmed, add in your squash.  It doesn't need to cook long since everything is already heated!  Just add a little salt and pepper and you're good to go!  To be honest I served it with some canned mandarin oranges. So glamorous.  Like I said, cheap, fast, and easy!  You can't mess this one up. If you aren't a fish person just substitute the shrimp for chicken!  You could even use a rotisserie chicken and just peel off bite sized pieces to throw in.  

By the way, we will definitely have leftovers!  Perfect for lunch tomorrow.

On another note:

Today was just one of those days.  I got some disappointing news and was just being dramatic, you know, feeling all sorry for myself.  After dinner all I wanted to do was get in the bubble bath and eat Nutella strait from the jar.  Sort of surprised I didn't!  But instead, I blasted John Mayer throughout our speakers, sang along while making oatmeal cookies (I know, not much better than Nutella), and forced myself to do a Jillian Michael's "killer buns and thighs" workout. (slightly counterproductive) My sister is letting me borrow the video until she visits again in a few weeks, and I told her that wouldn't be a problem because I'd for sure have "killer buns and thighs" by then. HA! Guess I'd better get going.  

Also, Braedon slow danced with me in the kitchen after dinner today and I realized, life could be so much worse.  

Photo Cred: Angela Welch Young