WHY!?

Why is it that as I am getting ready to see all these beautiful things

 I get crazy TRAVEL ANXIETY 

not sleeping, clenching my jaw (sorry dad) and just crying all the time!?

 I get nervous about the flight, our housing, my clothes, being pregnant while there, making it home for Christmas. 

Why can't I just sit back and look forward to this anyone else have this problem- or am I totally nuts!?

My first snowman

We had a little snow storm out in Provo a few weeks ago-

 and I finally made my first snowman! 

As you can tell I was quite excited 

and we decided to get creative

 with the supplies we had in the house.

Questions Answered

Since announcing the baby's arrival many of you have asked questions... so here are some answers

When are you due?

Middle of May... one appointment it was May 22 and the second was May 16th

What are you having?

Not sure yet

maybe this Friday we will find out

Are you wearing pregnancy clothes?

jeans with elastic on them... what do you think

Are you going to keep working after the baby?

I am! Still trying to figure out how, but we are. 

I have heard it all from people on this answer...

I am doing that is best for me and my family 

How have you been feeling?

I have not thrown up too much... whew

I have been tired a lot and have had really bad headaches

however... that being said... it's much easier to go through it knowing it is for a reason

Was it a surprise? (I get this a lot you nosey people:))

Actually I say it's a blessing

In July my thyroid dr said it would take us "a few years" to have kids

hypothyroidism means you have low hormone levels

well uh... that was not a good thing to say

it took about 6 weeks after that

I truly feel this is a blessing, since who knows how my thyroid issues will affect future pregnancies

Babymoon?

Yes! We head to Europe on Dec 12 and also the Dominican Republic in February

Names?

Yup- you can ask me in person since it changes quite often

I am just sad T doesn't like the name Norah (sadface)

We are very excited and feel very blessed. 

I truly hesitated this and even announcing our little "shnug" (as T calls it)

there are so many things that can go wrong

and our heart truly goes out to so many of our friends and family who are having a hard time getting pregnant. So on that note- I probably won't post a ton of belly pics on here etc.

If you would like any of that crazy stuff (it still freaks me out to look down)

you can follow me on instagram at laolsen

Kate Spade. Need I say more?

So I was INNOCENTLY browsing the internet and all of a sudden this ad

which is usually annoying

popped up on my screen

It said  Kate Spade... up to 75% off

so I HAD to click

Disclaimer: This year I have been AWESOME with black friday- we bought three movies for $6

Usually I am at Banana Republic and athropologie waiting to buy stuff for my *small* wardrobe.

I digress

Did you know Kate Spade has diaper bags!?

So chose your favorite and call/ text/facebook T to convince him

 

classy, right!?

 In blue

 herringbone- really Kate? You're killing me

Love this color

So I know- they are expensive but I have to carry it everyday and it needs to be functional... and fabulous:)

A little change is coming...

Some changes have been happening around here

We go from reading educational material  to material that is TOO educational

Eating healthy  to anything I can stomach

Partying all night to  L going to bed at 9pm

Driving our student car to this mom-mobile... just kidding

Baby Olsen coming May 2013

We are THRILLED!!!

It's November

sorry for lack of pictures

 I can't figure out how to get my instagram pics on the blog

lack of tech skills

embarrassing, since I work for the office of entrepreneurship & technology

not much has been happening around the olsen household

t had a crazy paper due

so i was married to netflix for a while

i am sure t was wishing i was married to cleaning while he was gone

win some and ya lose some

went to vegas

love my niece navy, the rest of the fam is great too

paid too much for car repairs

still have many to go... but i prioritize by which is going to blow up first

i think we found a place to move

3 bedrooms people

i'll be back soon- promise, once our lives are worth publishing :)

Europe is in 40ish days, so expect plenty of bloggage after that

No right click!?

So here I am blogging from my BYU work computer

the right click stopped working =no pictures

it's ok there has not been much to take pictures of lately

I have had a few 60 hour work weeks

and Trent has been a slave to his desk reading 

we love grad school

Through it all I do try to find happiness in the little things

like

Vanilla Almond Milk- where has this been all my life

Movie: Life of Timothy Green - really sums up the type of parent I want to be

Greek Yogurt Jalepeno dip- makes my life

Conference- learned a lot, some talks were exactly what I needed to hear

Once Upon A Time on Netflix- corny writing but keeps me entertained

Park City- I have to "work" with the donors at Hotel Park City, Ruth Chris and Squatters

Anyways- not much... kinda embarassing

I don't even have cute outfit pics to show for myself.. worthless

My go to Crockpot recipes

I know

I haven't blogged in a while and I am posting about crockpots

But with working full time (and then some) I don't have time to put 2 hours into a meal everyday

I have had a few people over for dinner and they have asked for recipes

well, here ya go

(Click on the name of the dish for the recipe)

Chicken Taco Meat

Love this stuff for tacos,burritos or salad

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup 

Haven't made this exact recipe, can't find the one I usually use.But this is VERY similar

Beef Stroganoff

Not a huge fan of this stuff, but T is

Meatballs

Yum, these are great as appetizers (plus I hate the  little hotdogs and these are just as easy)

Orange Chicken

This tastes like I am sitting in Panda

* hint- use high quality orange juice. You're welcome.

Baked Potatoes (no link, made it up)

Wash potatoes

poke holes

rub a little Olive Oil and salt on the outside

Low for 6-8 hours

DONE

Curry (no link, made it up)

Chicken (Thawed, haven't tried frozen)

Carrots, celery, potatoes and onions

Trader Joe's Curry sauce over the top

Simmer on Low for 8 hours

Serve over Rice

Roast (no link, mom's recipe)

One roast (I have used Pork and Beef)

Celery, carrots, onion (whatever you want)

Salt and Pepper over the veggies

Put the roast on top of them

One Lipton Onion Soup Mix over the top of the roast

cover and simmer on high for 6-8 hours

People will rave.. trust me

25 Slow cooker recipes

Haven't tried a lot of these but the ones I have tried have been awesome

* Disclaimer: If you don't like any above, you probably made it wrong :) Jk, I not a fabulous cook and do not claim to be,

Optimism

 

Lately my life has been full of forced optimism 

meaning I have to work for it some days more than others 

 Work affects me too much

 I am awful at leaving it at the door when I leave 

so when 3am creeps around you can sometimes find me on my computer 

with White Collar on 

finishing emails that I can't stop thinking about

 I let people's negative energy affect me

 like someone who called yelling about lack of parking

 and then asked me to leave a meeting to go walk and find him a spot 

'cause that makes sense 

 Luckily I have an amazing husband who gets me and knows how to make everything better 

One day at a time

One amazing day at a time

Fall is coming

To celebrate the first day of college football season 

which means fall is coming

 I bought new boots!!

Here

 

 

Love them!

It took me forever to come around to skinny jeans

and then the skinny jeans tucked into boots took years to get used to

now.. it's my non work uniform

Thanks Uber Chic for Cheap

 great style, cheap clothes

Provo Food

T and I like to eat at "different" places

so says my mother

I will just say it

I HATE Olive Garden, Chile's and Applebees

What I do love is finding fun, new places to eat

Saturday night we decided to try Cubby's in Provo

I would give you the address but this is easier

it's in the same shopping center as sonic next to Little Cesears

yeah, now you know where I am talking about

Anyways YOU. NEED.TO. GO

It was amazing!

T ordered the Dragon Slayer Burger and Rosemary Fries

I ordered the Tri Tip Salad with cilantro dressing

My favorite part was everything is organic and local

You mean I can go somewhere and KNOW where my meat is coming from!?

It's a real thing people

Our whole meal was under $20

I'm a fan

Here is a great review

if you don't believe me!

Mushy

WARNING- mushiness will be oozing out of this post

but this blog has been lacking in the that category 

I just needed to proclaim to the blog universe my love for this man

 I LOVE this picture of him

I used to stalk him on facebook while we were dating

and I would look at this picture when I missed him

he is all I could have asked for in a husband 

example I have had a hard week 

so when I came home yesterday 

 I had flowers, a massage, dinner out,trip to target planned (my fav, don't judge, it's a magic place) AND a movie of my choice 

Now seriously WHO does that!? 

honestly I don't just love/adore/respect him for the things he does for me,

 but truly it is just HIM that I love

His goodness, patience, passion for life, humor, goofiness and talents are ALL things I love him for. 

Thanks for choosing me T

oh purses

oh purses... oh curses... get it?

Purses and I have a love hate relationship

they help me carry stuff and are a fashion accessory

but my cell phone ALWAYS gets lost in there

and the cute ones are SO EXPENSIVE

here are a few I found at the Kate Spade Surprise Sale

(can't figure out how to get the image on here)

Peacock

Spice

GoldenRod

don't you love the name!?

can I justify  buying it on the fact that they are $300 less than regular price!?

Someone help me plead my case to T

it will also help with my "I'm a working girl" look I am going for

Working Girl

It's official, I have made the switch

When I go shopping I look for more work clothes

than I do fun, regular clothes

Weird, I know

I feel like I am truly an adult

Doesn't mean my work attire has to look like this

 

I actually picked up a polka dot shirt to layer with

and it got me excited to spice up my work clothes

I passed on the gold shorts

similar here

So I am on the hunt-

fun work clothes

Now that I am ALMOST 20 pounds down

I am ready to shop

We are headed to City Creek this weekend afterall...

Sorry, T

Summer Days

I keep reading all of these blog posts about their exciting summers

Well, while we have had a good summer

It  has not been one for the books

We have been HOT

like REALLY HOT

which means we are LAZY

We need a house with AC

soon- but don't want to pay more than what we are paying for rent

So I have seen every nook and cranny of Hobby Lobby (they have great AC),  Sams Club, Costco, the Mall, Target and the Dollar Theater.

24 hour fitness can't figure out the AC- so I only go when I have to

Anyways so there is the reason for our lack of posting

Lack of AC

Dumb excuse... maybe... until you come and sit in our house at 5pm

Navy Bishop

Welcome to the world my beautiful, tiny niece 

We love you already! 

 Here are a couple of shots I took of the little thing yesterday

 I am smitten 

Watching her come into the world 

(without any fighting on her part) 

was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed 

not gross at all, like I had thought 

Just a pure little miracle

Yeah that's my sister, doesn't she look great for just having a baby!?

Our Mental Health Trip

T and I have barely spent time together this summer 

due to opposite work schedules

 so for his 25th birthday we went to San Clemente, CA

 You all requested pictures so here they are :)

Masterchef in the airport

if you haven't watched that show yet,

SHAME!

Our condo from the beach

3 min walk

We loved being in a real kitchen

and air conditioning

View from the balcony

First Day at the beach

Sunburns followed

Sunset

T is always hungry

Ocean Festival was there while we were there

Woody's lined the pier

I need one of those cars

Ariel and King Triton were kind enough to grace us with their royal presence

My floppy hat

that looks like an Indiana Jones Hat

but it's JCREW so I figured it was cool and trendy

We headed up to Balboa Island

Balboa bars had to happen

Here's the thing

When you are on vacay with just 2 people

it's REALLY hard to get pics of you both

the arm will be in most pics

I love balboa

I wish we could have paddle boarded there

Headed up to LA

this happened

I will never go to LA again

I will stick to Orange County

For T's birthday he wanted to go to a museum

naturally

It is AWESOME

True Story:

As this boy saw a Monet hanging there

He dropped my hand and RAN to it

I know my place

Beautiful views of the dreadful city

and the smog too

The Arm

Awesome gardens

We were really close to the teample

Trent had never been

That temple is huge

T wanted a breakfast burrito

we had to try out the place at the end of the pier

he ended up making him the wrong thing

T ate it anywaysio 

but then the cook brought him out another burrito with the right fillings

T was in heaven

One stop shop

good food 

fishing poles

memorabilia

T surfed

ask him how it went

found out later where he was surfing is home to 2 great whites

yeah... awesome

FHE at the beach

made some friends

parents of T's mission companion

they fed us twice and took us to their ward's FHE

and yes, my leg is popped there

weird I get it

We had a fantastic time

we need to do a trip every year

Europe up next!