ARRRRRIBA!!!!

PARTE UNO: FIESTA!!

A few weekends ago, two of my roommates and I went to a Club Mexico Fiesta on campus.

We really wanted to go salsa dancing and we heard about this and decided to go!!

Oh and if you dressed up 'mexican' you got a dollar off your admission fee.

We DEFINITELY decided we wanted to dress up.

But dressing up was actually harder than we thought. We didn't know if dressing mexican required a big sombrero or a big colorful, flowy dress or if we should paint our eyebrows on and wear really dark lip liner (sorry, I promise I am not racist, just after being bff with David, who always made fun of himself for being mexican, I kinda got into a habit). but seriously we didn'w know. We didn't want anyone to think we were making fun of them or get offended.

So we tried our best. I put on an authentic mexican skirt my parents brought me back from a cruise they went on. Then Sarah liked the color combo and we practically matched. We wore red lipstick and Amanda even wore dark eye makeup. haha. She was trying to look cheap HAHA!

We get to the door, and they gave Sarah the mexican discount no problem and didn't want to give it to me!! I was like, "We're wearing the same thing!! AND MY SKIRT IS FROM MEXICO!!"

Needless to say, I saved a dollar that evening.

We had a blast dancing it up and even got to see a Mariachi band perform and take our picture with them!!!

I love my roommates!! We have so much fun!! I have so many more pictures of different adventures but I can't get them off my camera! So for now, you have to deal with the ones from my phone and the ones I stole from Amanda. But I promise to post them as soon as I get them!!

Oh and these are only two of my awesome roommates (Sarah is on the left, Amanda is in the middle). Leisl, Christy and Jen are the other 3. I love them!!!!!!

PART TWO: CHEF HEATHER

As some of you may know, I have never been huge on the cooking scene. NOTE: This in no way reflects my opinons of food; only my desire to make it.

Well, once in a blue moon I might enjoy baking, mostly so I can lick the bowl, but never do I cook. Linda has been trying to get me to practice for years and I just have never had any interest or desire. Marissa is the chef of the family and I leave it to her.

Moving out on my own, you would think that I would be obligated to learn, leaving me with two options: cook or die. Welllll I found a way around that last semester-- tortillas and cheese. I made quesadillas like every day. I got addicted to tortillas themselves, eating them plain on a regular basis. I also got addicted to eating spoonfuls of peanut butter. No wonder I put on weight. But hey, it was quick and easy and pretty darn cheap.

Well after putting on weight and getting super bummed about it, I went home for the summer and remembered how much I liked real food; even vegetables! I got a lot better with my eating habits (mostly....no, entirely because Linda would save me a wonderful plate of food every night, just waiting for me when I got home from a long day at work). I started working out a little more and lost a little weight.

When I moved back up to school, I decided this year was going to be different. I enrolled in a dance aerobics class and have been going to the gym regularly (about 3-4 days a week). Also, I have been buying a little healthier food.

BUT! The biggest change is that I have been trying to actually cook lately. For some reason I decided I want to try. It's not every day but maybe once a week. Linda has been emailing me new recipes and I have been trying them out. KR and I like to cook together and it's been fun to have more than just myself to cook for. Plus, it doesn't hurt to impress him a little while I'm at it ;) What's that saying? The way to a man's heart is through his stomach? Um. True. Haha.

Anyways, here are a few of my recent test drives of the recipes. It's been a blast and I'm actually really proud of myself. They tasted just like Linda's!! yay!!!

I actually made this over the week my family was out of town. Just came up with it, no recipe! BBQ Chicken Pizza!!!

Oreo Ice Cream Cake/Pie? It has a oreo crust, cookies and cream ice cream, chocolate syrup, caramel, and whipped cream and cookies on top!! It was my roommate Jen's birthday so I made cake and it was a hit!!!

Green Enchilads!! They had a creamy sauce with green chiles and chicken!! SOO GOOD!! One of my favorite foods!! KR and I made this one together. :)

Even I was impressed by this one. Although it make look bland in the picture (I know a good food presentation needs more color and variety of texture) it was soo good! KR had a long day of meetings and church one Sunday so I made him dinner. I made baked chicken, with a batter and real mached potatoes. It was so good and really easy. My roommate Leisl had some chicken so I shared the batter and she loved it too! WOO!

I just love this picture. It's blurry but it's candid. See, I was so proud of the cake I made for my roommate, that I wanted a picture. But then someone suggested I take a picture with the cake but I felt silly because it was Jen's birthday, not mine. I felt all embarassed and so bad because I was taking the spot light but we were all busting up after about a minute. It was funny. I guess you might have had to have been there....

Oh and here's just a random picture of KR and me after a fireside with Jeffery R. Holland!