He's got a way

Today I was driving in the car and this classic came on the radio:

First of all, I love Billy Joel's voice :)

Second, I love the lyrics...and I couldn't help but switch them around a bit in my head...so that it was "HE's got a way." As I sang along with Mr. Joel, just swapping the she's for he's and the her's for him's, my heart smiled because it describes many of the feelings I have for my sweet Adam.

Later while cooking dinner, I youtubed the video and played it over and over (I tend to do that with songs, a lot)...and when Adam came home he said, "I sang this song in High School." Of course I about melted into a puddle on the floor thinking of my sweetheart singing those lyrics. Adam then picked up a very happy-to-see-daddy Brooks and he danced and sang to him on the other side of the counter, while I finished prepping dinner. After a minute or two I told him how I actually thought of another version for it..."He's got a way"...a huge, handsome smile slid across his face and then he walked over to me... the three of us danced...it was for no more than 30 seconds, but it was heaven.

I just listened to the song again and typed up the lyrics with those minor changes...goodness they give me butterflies :)

(based on Billy Joel's "She's Got A Way")

he's got a way about hm

i don't know what it is

but i know that i can't live without him

he's got a way of pleasing

i don't know why it is

but there doesn't have to be a reason anyway

he's got a smile that heals me

i don't know why it is

but i have to laugh when he reveals me

he's got a way of talking

don't know why it is

but it lifts me up when we are walking anywhere

he comes to me when i'm feeling down

inspires me without a sound

he touches me and i get turned around

he's got a way of showin' how i make him feel

and i find the strength to keep on goin'

he's got a light around him

everywhere he goes a million dreams of love surround him everywhere

he comes to me when i'm coming down

inspires me without a sound

he touches me i get turned around

he's got a smile that heals me

i don't know why it is

but i have to laugh when he reveals me

he's got a way about him

i don't know what it is

but i know that i can't live without him anyway

My Adam sure does have a way about him...and I love how he has a way with our son. Adam is giving Brooks his bedtime bath as I type this, and I can hear them both laughing :)

little letters

Naomi over at Rockstar Diaries (love love love her blog) has done this sweet series called Little Letters...and today seemed like a great day for me to write a few myself...while enjoy a glass of this:

Dear dark chocolate almond milk,

I'm more of a milk chocolate kind of girl, but you are DIVINE.

Dear snow,

You are beautiful and I love you. However, I think it's best that we part ways for now...and I'll see you around next Thanksgiving, m'kay?

Dear sweet stranger,

Thank you so much for going out of your way to dry off a cold, wet grocery cart at the store today so my boy's buns didn't get wet :)

Dear cherry tree,

I love that I can see your buds!! Can't wait to see those blossoms...

Dear Fred Armisen and Kristen Wiig,

You are my favorite SNL peeps. Thank you for making Adam and me laugh EVERY.TIME. you perform :)

Dear Orange Leaf,

Thank you for opening the doors to your wonderful business of soft-serve frozen yogurt, just a few blocks away from our home, a lot sooner than expected. (woohoo!) I promise the next time it's sunny out, Brooks and I will be there filling our bowls to the brim :)

Dear creative bloggers out there,

Thank you for your inspiration...keep on postin'! :)

Dear Brooks,

I love you son. Why do you all of the sudden have this crib-phobia?...it's making nap time a bit difficult lately. But I do love that I get to rock you to sleep more often :)

Dear Allrecipes iphone app,

Your meal spinner rocks my world.

Dear slow-cooker chicken stroganoff, garlic french bread, grilled veggies, and strawberry-coconut smoothies,

You are going to make one tasty dinner tonight.

Dear Adam,

Thank you for letting me pretzel my legs around yours every night before we go to sleep. (yes, pretzel is indeed a verb in this case)

xo,

Haley

peek-a-boo to the rescue

It's on days like today,

when I feel like my head is going to explode from all of the coughing and dark clouds are pouring down rain outside,

that playing peek-a-boo with my little man makes everything better.

Paint samples and a Lunch date

Yesterday Brooks and I went to a paint shop to get some samples...we're painting our whole first floor, and we couldn't be more excited!! But I am so far from being an interior decorator...here's to hoping it turns out how we're envisioning it! :)

Here's the color scheme we're going for...

The after some hard work, little B and I had a little lunch date. Right next to the paint shop there is a cute little sandwich/soup/donut shop called Tasty's...and boy did it hold up to it's name!! We shared a bowl of some hearty chicken noodle soup, and I thoroughly enjoyed a chocolate-coconut donut.

Is my date not the cutest??

Pure Love and Desires

I mentioned a couple times in my last post that we were able to enjoy General Conference...I look forward to the months of April and October every year to be able to hear words of wisdom and hope from the wise men and women who lead our church.

Two of the talks that really touched my heart were by Elder Richard G. Scott and Elder Dallin H. Oaks.

Elder Scott's message was filled with emotion and love.

He spoke of his beloved late wife Jaenene who he misses with all of his being. Yet he has hope, and finds happiness, because he knows that he will be with her again, and they will never part because of the sacred covenants and promises they made in the temple on their wedding day. Elder Scott shared some sweet stories of how they wrote notes and messages of love for each other all through out their marriage...and how after the death of his sweet wife, he found all of the notes he had written her, kept safe in plastic coverings. He knew that she treasured his love for her.

"Pure love is an incomparable, potent power for good."

It was an absolutely beautiful message. And I'm grateful I get to walk hand in hand with my Adam...growing in love, forever, a united power for good.

{ one of my favorite photos from our groomals, April 2008 }

Elder Oaks spoke about desire.

It was a beautiful message, encouraging us to

"...search our hearts for what we really desire, and how we rank our most important desires. Desires dictate our priorities. Priorities shape our choices. And choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and ourbecoming."

What a statement!

After listening to his inspiring talk, Adam said that he wanted both of us to write down our desires...then we'd talk about them and discuss how we'll help each other to achieve them. We've talked about what we want in life numerous times...it's always such a comfort knowing that I have my Adam who is with me every step of the way to reach my/our goals. But when Elder Oaks put it in the context of desires, it was put in a different light for both of us. We're going to reach deep down, and express even more our hearts' desires...personally, and as a united couple. We worked on them last night, and tonight we're going to discuss them. I cannot wait :)

You can watch Elder Oaks' talk here, and Elder Scott's talk here.

And if you want access to all of the general conference talks (video and audio), click here.

I'm so grateful for technology that makes it all so accessible! :)

scenes from a wonderful weekend

F*R*I*D*A*Y

Park with cousin Ashton and friends

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wrestling tourney

(Adam's team took 6th at Districts!!:)

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celebration dinner for South Davis Junior High at Texas Roadhouse

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one fantastic Friday

S*A*T*U*R*D*A*Y

German Pancakes covered in cinnamon syrup, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries

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General Conference (world wide broadcast of our church leaders giving uplifting and inspiring messages)

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watching Sharla (sister-in-law) sing in Conference choir!

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me & the boys in PJs til' 4pm

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spaghetti feast at the Kjars

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piano and the harp...i love a music filled home :)

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one stupendous Saturday

{ Sharla is in the green shirt...middle row, 3rd from the left }

S*U*N*D*A*Y

mint herbal tea

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another day of uplifting conference messages

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baby blessing

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incredible hail storm

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dress up with cousin Kalia (Harry Potter anyone?)

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snuggles and sweet dreams

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watching family home videos

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one super sweet Sunday

It was so fun watching old family videos of the Kjars!! From Christmas morning 1988 to the Kjar sisters in clogging competitions. Such wonderful memories that I was so glad to get a taste of. I couldn't help but capture/record this part of my sweet husband...Adam was just 2-years old, kind of bashful, but cuter than cute as he sang "Jingle Bells" with his beautiful Mama!!! And he looks so similar to Brooks! Oh I can't wait for next Christmas...maybe Brooks will be singing carols with us :)

But it's spring time now, so bring on the SUN!

a SUNNY walk...to get the goods for mini cheesecakes. oh yes.

Yesterday it was GORGEOUS outside. Alleluia!

So I jumped at the opportunity to take a lovely walk with little B in tow to the grocery store. I needed some ingredients to make mini cheesecakes for the sweet women I visit teach. We took the long way there, and soaked up every sign of spring...oh life was good :)

And I couldn't resist the mini Haagen-Dazs sorbet calling out to me as I walked through the freezer isle to get to the dairy section. Those tiny containers of icecream/sorbet never let me down when I have a craving for something sweet...and today, it was raspberry. Brooks and I thoroughly enjoyed sharing it's sweet/tart goodness :)

Then onto the cheesecakes! My friend Lindsey makes the best little cheesecakes that are so good and so easy!

I googled a similar recipe to hers...and chose one from allrecipes.com. Then I jazzed it up a bit...

MINI CHEESECAKES

Ingredients:

6-7 oz. of Nilla Wafers (use a little more than half of the 12 oz. box...)

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese

3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

toppings (strawberries, chocolate, cherry pie filling, etc.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line mini muffin tins with miniature paper liners.

2. Crush the vanilla wafers, and place 1/2 teaspoon of the crushed vanilla wafers into each paper cup.

3. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. (I used a hand mixer, on the highest level, and it took about 7 minutes). Fill each miniature muffin liner with this mixture almost to the top.

4. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool.

5. Top with desired toppings.

- diced strawberries sweetened with sugar

- drizzle with white and milk chocolate

- cherry pie filling (21 oz. can)

I'm not a huge fan of the canned pie filling...so for half of them I melted some white and milk chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup each) and put the chocolate in ziplock bags with the tip cut off, and drizzled/piped the chocolate on top. And for the other half of the cheesecakes, I diced up some strawberries (about 8) and tossed them with some sugar (about 2 tablespoons).

Both kinds were delicious!

And the forecast today is supposed to be even better :)
Hope it's sunny wherever you are!

HAPPY FRIDAY!