I am

How heavenly does that look? Can you believe this is located in Arizona? This is my parents' house sitting in the beautiful Hualapai Mountains (pronounced wall-ah-pie) in Northwest Arizona and it is one of my favorite places to escape to. We call it Three Sisters Lodge.

 When my family moved back to Arizona from Virginia, my parents had a hard time deciding where they wanted to live. They didn't have anything tying them to a certain place and while all their children were in Phoenix, it wasn't really where they wanted to live. They decided they would build their own little home up in the mountains outside of the town we lived in before moving, on a patch of land they had purchased a long time ago. Little did we know that it would turn into not only a favorite place our immediate family, but one of the best get aways for aunts, uncles and cousins.

My mom designed the whole house with family get-togethers in mind. We each have our own bedrooms and since she raised three girls, the bathroom is Jack and Jill style with two showers and toilets in separate rooms sharing one double sink area. This is perfect because the three girls can all being getting ready by the sink and mirror and Todd can still take a shower.

I seriously love this house. You get up in the mountain air and something in your just relaxes. All you can think about is sitting on the deck looking at deer, laying by the fireplace reading a book or siting by the fire pit outside and laughing with family. There are many times we don't even head down into town. The wild life up there is ridiculous; deer and elk are regular visitors.

They have a tendency to come right up to you and see if you have any tasty morsels you would like share. They also have a tendency to eat my mother's garden leading to Mama McLarty chasing them off with a hose!

I guess this is time I let in you in on a McLarty family secret...we are by today's family standards major weirdos. Why? Because my family goes beyond loving each other and actually likes each other; like we actually enjoying spending time together and call each other friends. This includes having impromptu jams sessions in the loft.

Bet you didn't know I played a mean bongo set and Todd was a pro on the tambourine. But really, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love my family to death even if people think we are little bit on the strange side.

I was telling my mom the other day how much Three Sisters Lodge just feels like home. It is funny because even though I have never lived there, I still have it listed as "home" in my cell phone. I know I have my own house that is home, but I think it just goes to really show that home is where your family heart is.

I am off this afternoon to lovely Three Sisters Lodge to enjoy some Arizona snow and some relaxation.

Enjoy your weekend,

Mrs.J

It is that time

We had an incredible New Years Eve this year. Over the last couple of years, New Years has kind of become my holiday but this year I passed it on to my sister Laura. After hosting Christmas I was just exhausted and needed a little bit of break. Isn't it funny how you clean and prepare so much for company and after they leave you are left cleaning and preparing everything again?

Laura and Katie threw the best New Years Eve dinner party. Some of our good friends Brei and Garret even came all the way from New Mexico to celebrate with us. It was a fancy dinner party so we all dressed up and then enjoyed a dinner themed with luck and prosperity for the upcoming year.

We even were able to set off fireworks, which is surreal in Arizona. The girl's had a Debbie Downer neighbor who we are pretty sure just waited around until midnight to complain at anyone who dare celebrate. I guess she is one of those neighbors who just likes to rain on everybody's parade.

So now we come to that infamous part of the New Year in which we make goals for ourselves for things we want to get better at doing. I think Todd and I have some good ones this year and hopefully if we both push each other, we will be able to accomplish them. Without further adieu, the House of Jaramillo New Years Resolutions.

Todd
-Wants to get back into the habit of working out. We did pretty well there for a while and then remember this? Yeah, that kind of put the kibosh on any working out for a long time. I wanted to keep my bandage as clean as possible and I didn't think sweating in the gym for an hour would be good for it. Needless to say Todd lost his work out partner. Then when my arm was back to normal I hurt my food (I swear not an excuse, it was I get for loving high heels) and wanted to let it heal before putting too much stress on it. Now we are in good shape and ready to rock. It is a little hard having motivation right now because when Todd gets home it is already dark outside, I am hoping with longer days comes more action.

-Wants Heidi to learn how to golf. Before we got married Todd made me the promise of if he bought me golf clubs I would go with him to the driving range any time he wanted to go. I don't really know why I agreed, I guess I like new stuff. No, but for reals, I would love to learn how to golf. I went with him once to driving range and thought I would be the next Tiger Woods (minus the 30 mistresses, I need to find a new golf legend to compare myself to) and needles to say, I was not. So this year Todd wants to teach me how to golf. Being the incredible wifey I am, I think I will try and help him out by being a good student with a great attitude.

Heidi
-I mostly just have one major resolution that I think will help me reach all of my other goals. I want to try and be more proactive with my time. I have a habit of just shutting off during the work week and not really accomplishing things that need to get done until the weekend. The problem is then, I have a huge to-do list on the weekend and then we don't always find enough time to go play and relax. I think if I just make myself do a little housework every night during the week, I will be surprised at how much I get done. This resolution also comes with the fine writing that I will not watch as much TV. Television just sucks your motivation right out of your soul. The only show I have to sit down and watch really is Glee, everything else I am fine catching On Demand when I have some free time.

I really wish the days would start getting longer again. It is so hard to want to do anything when it is dark at 7 PM and there are still a few good hours of time in my day. Maybe we should start our resolutions in Spring and not the first few weeks on winter...Happy New Years!!!

What are you resolutions for this year?

Mrs.J

Perfect for that cold night…

Arizona has been way too cold for my liking this winter. I know I really can't complain when the rest of the country is in blizzard warning and I am bundling up for 58 degrees, but when your body lives through 110 degrees during the summer it can't handle anything below 65.

I wanted to make something yummy and warm for dinner last night and also had a bunch of leftover turkey from the holiday. I decided on chicken tortilla soup, and let me tell you, this soup is so beyond delicious. It also is pretty healthy for you since the base is just chicken stock and canned tomatoes. You top it with fresh cilantro, avocado, cheese and the best part, freshly fried corn tortilla bits.



Seriously? Like yum. This is probably the worst part of soup for you, but since you add just a few, it isn't too bad. The really problem arises when you try to keep yourself from munching on the cooling ones while you keep frying them up.

Do you like the fresh tortilla chips they serve at Mexican restaurants? You know, the fresh ones served still hot from being fried and nicely salted? These little strips taste just like that. So amazingly delicious.

 I would give you my recipe, but I mostly just cook my soups my taste. I really can't tell you how much of everything I put in there. I started by sauteing some garlic and onion, then added a box of chicken stock and a can of petite diced tomatoes. I let that simmer for a good hour and added seasonings to get a yummy flavor. When I had a nice soup base I added corn, black beans and the turkey. You really could put any veggies in there. Here are a few recipes around the blog block that are pretty close to what I made if you want to try it out.



Whitney in Chicago



Good Life Eats

I let everything cook on low for about 45 minuets while Todd and I rode our bikes to Quick Trip to buy a lottery ticket. The whole way home we talked about what we do if we won the money. Since we both were a little chilly after being out in the cool night, the soup was the perfect way to warm up.

You could probably cook this in the crock pot, but there is something about how fresh this soup tastes and I think it is best served on a night when you have some time to let everything cook right then and there.

Ahhh, so good!

Mrs.J