Spring Shoot Modeling for Calder Photography

If you follow me on Facebook, you'll see I've been constantly tagged in photos by Calder Photography from our wedding and my bridals (which I need to upload on here... reminder*). The owner, Aneisa Calder, is a good friend and coworker of mine. When Aneisa began working at the law firm as our receptionist, she was really taking off in her photography business. As the youngest employees in the organization, we immediately bonded, and then became a lot closer when we let our guards down and let our weirdness flow freely. 

After seeing some of her work, I immediately knew I wanted her to be a second shooter for our wedding. Austin Berenyi did our engagement photos and when I heard he had started branching into videography, I knew I HAD to have him do our wedding video, which left me in need of a second photographer for the wedding day. As a woman, it's obviously more fun to have a girl friend (who actually is a professional and can also fix your hair and makeup) do your bridals, and I fell in love with them.  Now, at work we always joke around about how she'll do my maternity and family photos whenever the times come for the rest of my life.

Now to the point of this post... Aneisa asked me weeks ago if Brian and I would be models for her for a couple's shoot at Antelope Island. Since April is almost here, wedding/engagement season is about to start in full swing. Wedding season means engagement photos and Aneisa wanted a more rustic/desert-like feel to add to her portfolio and show more variety, so we agreed! Saturday we met up at the beach area and shot all around the island and the Great Salt Lake. 

I'm attaching a few of my favorites, but to see the full shoot, you can visit:

http://www.calderphoto.com/#!Jessica-Brian-Spring-Photos/ews9b/56f2b5400cf23c800ad01161 

Photography: Calder Photography

Make-up Artist: Rebecca Renae Artistry

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Recipe: No-Bake Nutella Cheesecake

Not to be confused with the No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake. This one is my favorite, to be honest. Super easy and SO YUMMY. 

Ingredients: 

Crust: 

- 24 Oreos

- 1/3 c. butter

Filling:

- 13 oz. Nutella

- 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)

- 8 oz. Cool Whip

Topping:

- Cool Whip or Whipped Cream

- Chocolate sprinkles or crumbled Oreos

Directions:
-Scrape the filling out of 24 Oreos and set the filling aside.
-Take the 48 Oreo cookie halves and break them into crumbs.
-Take 1/3 c. melted butter and mix with the cookie crumbs, then place them on the bottom of a pie dish and pat down to make the crust.
- Combine nutella, cream cheese, and 8 oz. cool whip and mix with a hand mixer until smooth and all chunks are creamy. Pour onto crust and smooth it down.
- Top with cool whip or whipped cream, then sprinkle chocolate sprinkles (or more Oreo crumbs) on top.

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Recipe: The EASIEST Chicken Pot Pie

This has become one of my new favorite dishes. Since Brian and I work until 5 (on the days he's not in school all day), by the time we go to the gym and get home I'm usually tired, lazy, and not in the mood to cook unless I'm trying an exciting new recipe. 

Some days you just need a semi-healthy, filling, quick meal. This has become that meal! Especially when I cook chicken at the beginning of the week, I'll cook a whole package so that we have some already cooked for salads and other recipes like this one. This is impossibly easy and yummy.

Ingredients:

- 1 package frozen mixed veggies
- 1 cup cut up, cooked chicken
- 1 can (10 oz) cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup Bisquick
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 egg

Directions:

- Heat oven to 400ºF. Mix vegetables, chicken and soup in ungreased glass pie plate, 9x1 1/4 inches.

- Stir together remaining ingredients with fork until blended. Pour on top of chicken-veggie mixture.

- Bake 30 minutes or until golden on top

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Recipe: No-Bake Cream Cheese Peanut Butter Pie

This is SO YUMMY. I've been in a pie-making mood lately and since we've had a few occasions to bring desserts to family functions, I made this recently and we couldn't get enough!!

Ingredients:

Crust: 

1 1/4 cups salted pretzels
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar

Filling:
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

Chocolate Whipped Cream:
3/4 cup roughly chopped dark chocolate
2 cups heavy whipping cream
Chocolate shavings or chocolate sprinkles

Directions:

For the crust: Pulse the pretzels in a food processor until finely ground (I used my nutria-ninja blender).  In a large bowl, combine the pretzel crumbs, butter and brown sugar. Mix and press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Cover and refrigerate.

For the filling: Combine the cream cheese, peanut butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl and beat with a mixer until smooth. Add the whipped cream. Spoon the filling into the pie shell, cover and return to the refrigerator.

For the chocolate whipped cream: Put the chocolate and whipping cream in the top of a double boiler over medium heat. Whisk until melted. Cover and refrigerate. Once cooled, beat the chocolate cream with a mixer until thick and spreadable.

Cover the pie with the chocolate whipped cream. Garnish with chocolate shavings or sprinkles. 

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Recipe: Healthy Spinach Lasagna Rolls

This recipe has become a favorite of mine and Brian's, and since it's yummy AND healthy, I tend to make it a lot. Since it's just the two of us, we don't have to buy a ton of cheese so it's not too expensive. I loveeeee Italian food, more specifically, CHEESE lasagna, CHEESE ravioli, CHEESE stuffed shells, and these :) They're easy and relatively quick to make. I found the recipe on Pinterest, but it's from www.skinnytaste.com.


Ingredients:

• 9-10 lasagna noodles, cooked (I like the oven ready noodles because they take less time to cook!)
• 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
• 15 oz fat free ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg
• salt and pepper
• 2 cups red spaghetti sauce
• 9 tbsp part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.

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24th Birthday Weekend

So far, not a ton has happened in March. The first Saturday, I went to the temple with our young women from church. That afternoon, Brian and I went to Lowe’s and got all the necessary ingredients to start our garden, AND we bought a grill!! We have been looking for a good grill at a decent price since we bought the house. Since we got it in September, we patiently waited through the winter to grill and now that we have it, we use it probably 3-4 times a week. 

Going back to the garden, I’ve started all the seeds indoors since Utah weather is bipolar but now they’re all sprouting and I don’t have enough room for the flowers and seeds indoors, so the weather better warm up soon. Also, we’ve decided we might have to build garden boxes since the location in our yard I wanted to use for the garden has lots of random gravel in it..

 Last week, Brian had off for spring break so he dug up all the ugly bushes up front for me so that we can start landscaping and finish up the last house project I plan on tackling for a long time. 

For my birthday weekend, Friday night we got home and adamantly jumped into spring cleaning. Every room was transformed and I am confident you could have eaten off of any surface in the house. It was so satisfying to get it all done.

Saturday the 12th, Sabra picked me up bright and early and we had the annual girls brunch for my birthday, this year at Ruth’s Diner in Salt Lake City. They have a cute little outdoor patio which was just barely warm enough for us all to sit out there. Sabra, Kate, Cibely, Jordan, and Jessica were all able to attend and it was so nice to catch up with everyone.

After breakfast, Sabra and I went to City Creek to do some damage shopping while we waited for Brian and Randy. We made reservations at Sundance Resort zip line for 2 PM. The zip line is the 3rd longest in the United States at nearly 2 miles long. The vertical drop is 2100 ft, which is the most vertical drop of any zip line in the USA. We did the Outlaw span, which is 3,871 feet long and the average fastest speed is between 60-70 mph. It was such a rush!! Brian took a video as he went down so I will have to find a way to load it on here for you all to see. In the meantime, I’ll include pictures of the beautiful scenery.

After the zip line, Brian and I took the long way home to go through Park City and do some MORE shopping (he knows the way to my heart) at Tanger Outlets. On our way home we stopped at Outback Steakhouse to gorge on blooming onions and yumminess. 

Sunday, I taught in Young Women’s and Brian had some meetings after, so I got to lay around like a lazy bum all afternoon. That evening, our friends (and neighbors) Craig and Mikelle came over and we grilled steaks and teriyaki chicken and pineapple kabobs. It’s so nice to have them over, and to have great people in our neighborhood and ward! 

Monday, I officially turned 24. How did that happen? It was a great day. Brian and I went to iHop early so I could get yummy breakfast crepes, I went to work for half a day, got lunch with Brian, went and got manicures and pedicures with Brian’s mom. That afternoon I worked from home in sweats, then we went out to dinner with Brian’s parents at Olive Garden that evening, before coming back to their house for cake and presents. After the heavy meals we’d eaten all weekend, I was craving something lighter (and Italian). Brian spoiled me with new clothes, running shoes, a new camera, and a few other things. Lucky me!

I will spend the rest of the year waiting until my next birthday so that I’m 25. I hate even numbers… But we have so much to look forward to this year! We recently bought our flights home for my friend’s wedding and my mom and stepdad’s birthdays in May, and bought tickets for a 5-day cruise to the Bahamas in September! We’ll combine it with a trip to Florida to see my family since we leave out of Orlando on the cruise. I’m so excited for Brian to see the Bahamas! It’s by far one of my favorite travel destinations thus far in my life. 

I think that’s all I have to report on right now… We bought a new dryer, if you consider that exciting. We also sold Brian’s car and got our tax return on the same day, so I consider that a major win! Brian has a little over a month left of school for this semester, then it’s just one year left! He has a list of schools for his Master’s Degree picked out and we have a plan. Now we just need to be patient until it gets a little closer to application time! Waiting is the hardest part, especially when I’m so excited to get out of Utah for awhile!! All in good time I suppose. In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy how wonderful our lives are now. :)

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