Kitty Kitty

I always had cats growing up, so when the next door neighbors cat starts hanging around, I just have to adopt it. This cat comes a running every time our car pulls up in the driveway. I'll let him in, but the whole time he is in the house he is following us around and wanting to be played with or petted. He is just the sweetest cat. He wants to be involved with whatever I'm doing, as you can see in the bottom picture he is helping me cut the blanket I was working on. He loves sleeping on the end of our bed. If he could he probably would stay inside all day, but we only let him stay in for a bit each time. He is the cutest thing though, messed up ear and all.

The cutest idea

My friend Camille got married a couple weeks ago and her wedding was beautiful. I love the little details she put into everything. I thought I would post a picture of how beautiful she was also. The second and third pictures are pictures of small tables she had around the reception. They included pictures and candies in her colors. I loved how she had different kinds of candies on each table. The use of different frames and candy dishes was a good idea, so you don't end up with 10 of the same vases. It was a wonderful wedding.

Driving to the Wedding

Meghan and I were traveling to Burley for a wedding and we both hate wearing dresses. The fix for that is to wear shorts under it. It was wonderful to be able to slip the skirt over the shorts and be ready for the wedding, or slip the skirt off for the 2 1/2 hour drive home.

Friday's Recipe

Ham & Broccoli Shortcut Stromboli

1 pkg refrigerated pizza dough
1 can cream of celery soup
1 c. cooked chopped broccoli
2 c cubed cooked ham
1 c shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Unroll dough onto greased baking sheet. Set aside.

Mix soup, broccoli and ham. Spread soup mixture down center of dough. Top with chees. Fold long sides of dough over filling and pinch to seal. Pinsh short sides to seal.

Bake 20 min or until golden brown. Slice and serve.

Loren and I have also tried it with a broccoli cheese soup and we loved it. Experiment with all kinds of soups, veggies, and meats. It's all up to you.

Haircut

Loren's hair has gotten a little too long over the past couple months. One night we decided to give him a trim. I used the clippers on the bottom half and then used scissors on the top and in the fade in. I think it turned out pretty well for my first male haircut. Look how much hair I cut off though.

Little Dress

For a Relief Society activity they taught us how to make little girl dresses out of t-shirts and fabric. I made one at the activity, but didn't like how they cut off the t-shirt. So I came home and tried one for myself. I even made a pleated skirt. The dress came out much better then I expected. I ended up giving it away as a gift, but I've learned something I can do for my girls.

Wheat Bread, Pizza Dough, and Sauce

Sorry this recipe wasn't up on Friday, but life got busy with work and all and I haven't been home until now. This is a staple for Loren and I. We haven't bought bread since we've been married, and this is the recipe we use for pizza crust and cinnamon rolls.

Wheat Bread

All ingredients at room temperature.
11-12 oz Water
1-1/2 t Salt
1-1/2 T Oil
3 T Honey
2 c Bread Flour
2 c Whole wheat flour
2 t Active dry yeast

Measure all ingredients into bread pan in the order listed. Select the whole wheat setting on Bread Maker and press start. For pizza crust or cinnamon rolls, select dough setting on Bread Maker.

While I'm on pizza I'll go ahead and post our homemade pizza sauce.

Pizza Sauce

1/2 onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic
1/2 t anise seed
1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
1 c tomato paste
1 t garlic powder
1 t Italian seasoning
1 t ground coriander

Add all ingredients into blender and puree until smooth. Add to sauce pan and simmer for 20 min on low.

Friday's Recipe

My good friend Desta has been doing flash back Fridays, and I thought it was a great idea to do something on the blog as a regular addition. Loren and I love to cook, so I thought sharing a recipe every Friday would be great and it allows us to try new recipes also. We love this Cheese Chicken Tortellini Bake. It makes so much, we are able to eat on it for 2 1/2 meals. Try it out, it is Yummy!

Cheesy Chicken Tortellini Bake

Pasta Mixture
1/2 c chopped onion
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 1/2 jar white Alfredo sauce
2 packages (9 oz each) refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini
1 1/2 c cubed cooked chicken
1 c milk
1 c water
1 c frozen peas
1/4 t black pepper
1 t basil

Crumb Topping
1/4 c fresh Parmesan cheese
2 T margarine, melted
1 c bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 400. Heat oil over medium-high heat; add onion and garlic. Cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in pasta, tortellini, chicken, milk, water, peas, and black pepper. Heat until mixture just comes to a boil; remove from heat. Stir basil into pasta mixture.

2. Meanwhile, for crumb topping, melt butter, stir in bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.

3. Spoon pasta mixture into baking pan and sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake 15-20 min or until edges are bubbly and topping is golden brown.

It's almost 6 months!

Loren and I got married on March 29th, 2008. On the 29th of this month, Loren and I will have been married for 6 months. I can't believe how fast time goes. Married life is wonderful. I love knowing he is coming home from work to be with me. I don't know what I would do without him. Our life together has been perfect.

My sewing days

After several months, I'm done. One day while I was at home not working I decided to do a sewing project I saw on a friends blog. I pulled together all of my scrap fabric and started sewing. After two spools of thread later and at least 3 months later I'm finished. Sewing five pieces of fabric together in 1/2 strips and then cutting each strip, takes way longer than you would think. I think it turned out great. Instead of giving it away for a baby gift, I'm going to keep it for myself. If you ever have time to sew check it out http://www.craftandfabriclinks.com/chenille/chenille_blanket.html

Visiting Teaching

I've been in my ward for 7 months. I received a visiting teaching route about 3 months ago, and have come to love the woman I visit teach. They are woman I wouldn't have gotten to know if not for visiting teaching. They have taught me much. Since I've received a job, I'll have to switch to an evening route, but I'm happy I got to meet them. It's sad to think that people don't do their visiting teaching. I haven't been visit taught since college (about 4 years now). Knowing there are woman out there like me that have not been visit taught and need a friend or a helping hand, is devastating. For all my friends and family - please do your visiting teaching. You will gain a friend as well as blessings.

Gone Shooting

Our friend got a 9mm and we went out to the range to do some shooting. I've never shot a 9mm, but for my first time I did pretty well. The target was out about 25 yards, and out of 16 rounds I hit the paper 7 times. I'm a better shot with the revolver, but we didn't have any ammo for it. Loren better behave, or else.

Our New Wyatt

I have 1 niece, 3 nephews, and a new Wyatt. I got to see him for the first time when I went back to Kansas. He is so adorable and made Loren and I baby hungry (we are still waiting though). It makes me sad that I'm not going to be there when he grows up, but I'm sure he will love visiting us in Idaho. Parker, Tanner, and Hunter adore him. He is the new addition to the family, but he makes the Pettengill family complete.

Saying Good Bye to the Jeep

Since we have 3 cars now, Loren and I decided to sell the Jeep. I've had it for the past 4 years and have loved it. It has been a great car, but I know if we want to get into a house this next year, we've got to make sacrifices. The Jeep really doesn't get driven all that much since we have a car for town driving and a truck for country driving. It was great taking it out to the mountains for drives.

Weird Cats

When visiting my mother this past July, I got to see how crazy all of her cats are...well I guess they are not her cats. The big fat one in the sink is Indie and he is my sister Tracy's Cat. The other two, Minnie and Buddy, are my niece's cats. These cats follow my mother around all day and run to the bathroom when she is getting ready. They love to drink the water out of the faucet. They won't go outdoors unless the door is kept open. The fat one lays down to eat and uses his paw to scoop the food towards him. These are weird cats.

New Job

I received the call on Wednesday at 5:00pm. I got the Administrative Assistant position with Dickinson Frozen Foods. They have just moved their corporate office to Eagle Idaho. It is a beautiful office overlooking a pond with a fountain and a beautiful park near by. I'll begin work on September 15th. I'll be organizing all their files (if you know me, I'm very excited about this), answering all phone calls, making PowerPoint presentations, and arranging meetings and travel plans for the president. It has been too long looking for a job and I feel very blessed to have finally received one.

Our Open House

Since we got married in Idaho, we wanted to have an open house in Kansas for everyone who didn't make it out. We didn't want the usual open house, so we decided to have a Hawaiian Luau. We had a ton of fun. Everything from our clothing to the food was Hawaiian themed. It was wonderful to see family and friends I haven't seen in years. Thank you all for coming and spending this special evening with us, it wouldn't have been the same without you.

Fishing

Fishing is an activity Loren and I enjoy. This picture is from our previous camping trip, but since we went fishing over the labor day weekend I thought I would include it. We drove over to St. Anthony (North of Rexburg) and stayed with his parents. Saturday we got up and out on the river. It started pretty bad when I was climbing down the bank I slipped and fell. I bruised my hip and arm, and ended up getting a rash on the other arm. But the day ended great. I ended up catching around 9 or 10 fish, but only kept 2 (we couldn't keep the small ones off the line). We only took 3 home for my father-in-law to smoke. So in the end I out fished the boys 2 to 1.