Summer Cookin'

I don't know what it is about Summer, but I love cooking "summer meals" more than I like cooking "winter meals"... call me crazy!

Of course, since starting the blog I've ventured out and have tried lots of new recipes. I will keep adding to the list and keep sharing with you, as well!
I'm all about quick meals. Right before dinner time is when Kess is losing her patience with me (or the other way around) and Matt is making his way home, so I don't have a lot of time to slave away over the stove.

Here are a few of our favorites so far!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps.
 I wasn't sure the hubby was going to like this, mostly because it's a lighter meal - he loved it. We ate the entire pan. I could did eat it out of the pan with a fork. No lie. *I ended up using ground turkey, because ground chicken was significantly more expensive than the turkey. I think it tasted great, so you have that option :)

Carne Asada 
Matt is a Carne Asada lover, so I decided to try my hand at it. I nailed it, in case you were wondering. This marinade is pretty quick to make, despite having quite a few ingredients. I only let this marinade for 15 minutes and it was insanely delicious - next time I'll pay better attention to the directions and let it sit longer. *I used pre-minced garlic - because it's easier.

Chili Lime Steak Rub
I actually used this one skirt/flank steak and diced the meat to make "street tacos". Add your favorite taco fixin's and some corn tortillas - perfect summer meal! This has a tiny kick, but nothing too spicy. Kess even had a bite or two with no issues - but that girl is a bottomless pit, she isn't too picky! ;)

Hope ya'll love these Summer favorites of ours. What are some of your favorite summer meals? I would love to try them!

The Purpose Behind the Name

This post as been a long time coming, and I've struggled to write it because I honestly can't remember every detail about how the name "Beautiful Effort" came about. I knew I wanted a meaningful name for my blog as I wanted it to resonate with my audience and to capture their attention, but I struggled to come up with something for a while.
With that in mind, let's start from the beginning, shall we?
In October of 2009 I started dating Matt. We fell fast and we fell hard. We spent every possible minute we could with each other. So naturally, we depended on each other for almost everything. At the time we were both college athletes, trying to prove ourselves and constantly seeking more playing time. I remember feeling like I was constantly falling short. One day Matt said to me, "Kierra, there is beauty in effort." From then on, that was something we would say to each other when the other was struggling. We have found this little quote of ours to be fitting for almost every facet of our lives.
Christmas Day 2009, I drove over to Matt's parents' house to spend Christmas morning with them. Matt gave me a Boise State jersey with my soon-to-be new last name on it. I gave Matt a hard copy of one of his favorite books and a tile plaque that said, "There is Beauty in Effort." Something for us to display in our new home... we knew we were going to get married, but we hadn't made it official yet. Little did I know, Matt had a plan in place and proposed later that day... Read our love story here...
As we grew closer, fell deeper in love and decided to get married. He promised me effort. To always try. To always give his best. And on the day we got married, we promised that to each other. To always communicate, to always give our best effort to our marriage, our lives, and our children.
Then life happened. We spent years finishing degrees, buying a home, starting a business, building careers, starting a family... life got hard. In hopes of building a better life for each other, our marriage was set on the back burner it seemed. When I was pregnant with Kess, Matt worked more than he has ever worked. He was pulling outrageous hours just to get a tiny bit ahead before Kess arrived. I was scrambling to be prepared for our little girl, wrapping up my clients before I started maternity leave, taking birthing classes - you name it, we were drowning in it. We were both exhausted. There was some distance between us and we both felt it. I began to worry about what this meant for our new little family and if it would ever be better.
On our 4th wedding anniversary, I came home from running errands to a beautiful bouquet of flowers on our doorstep. I got teary-eyed as I read the card. "There is beauty in effort. Happy Anniversary. I love you!" What an amazing reminder to put my marriage above all else. We both had struggled, we both had been working so hard to make our lives better, which is noble and all, but not enough when your marriage is taking 2nd place.
As I toyed with starting this blog, I was struggling to find passion, happiness and love. I loved my marriage, my husband and my daughter, but I needed a little something for me. I talked with Matt about starting a creative outlet, and as the blog came about I struggled to pick a name. I thought about how much effort this was going to take and how difficult it was to put myself out there and to step out of my comfort zone. Matt kindly reminded me, "There is beauty in effort..." And there it was. Beautiful Effort was born in February of 2015.
Thank you all for joining me on this journey, I have found a peacefulness in my life that I was looking for. I have found more joy in my life by just putting in a little bit more effort. I truly believe there is beauty in effort. We may not always succeed, come out on top, or win in this life, but that isn't the purpose of this life. We must try, we must put forth effort and we will truly live.
If you are new to reading Beautiful Effort, you can start from the beginning... The Purpose Behind the Words

Summer Bucket List

I've been trying to think of some fun things that Kess & I can do this summer - we will include Matt too! ;) ...when he isn't slammed at work! 

Without further ado... the Summer Bucket List 

*not listed in number of importance* ;)

1. Pool day #errday ... I can't pull that off, can I? OK, go to the pool as many times as we can!

2. Go to the zoo

3. Eat a SnoCone

4. Light off "mini-fireworks" on the 4th of July (before Kess' bedtime)

5. Make "mocktails" 

6. Take Kess on a bike ride

7. Blow lots of bubbles

8. Go on lots of walks/runs/stroller rides

9. Finger paint

10. Can our garden

11. Go to Hyde Park & get a treat at Goodies

12. Go to the Boise Farmers' Market

13. Walk on the Boise Greenbelt

14. Stand on the BSU Blue Turf

15. Go to the Fair

I will be posting on our Bucket List adventures on Instagram @beautifuleffort as we check them off our list! You can find them all under #BEbucketlist

What's on your Summer Bucket List? Share with us, we are always looking for a new adventure!

A Forever Family

The morning of May 2nd, Matt and I dropped our sweet Kess girl off at my sister's & headed to the Boise, Idaho LDS Temple!

Matt and I were civilly married May 14th, 2010 - so getting sealed in the temple has been a long time coming! It has taken us a while to study, learn and prepare for our endowment. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the endowment, it is an ordinance ceremony that helps us prepare for the afterlife. Part of the ceremony is a scripted reenactment of the fall of Adam & Eve. We also make multiple promises with our Heavenly Father. The temple teachings are done through symbolism, which is pretty incredible. 

Before this ceremony we were given our garments... (here is a little video that explains the garments that endowed Latter Day Saints wear.)

As we were waiting to go into our endowment, I felt eternally blessed to finally see Matt wearing all white. So clean, sacred and pure. 

The endowment session was pretty overwhelming - lots of information coming at you in a short amount of time. Matt and I didn't have much time to discuss what we had learned because we were set to be Sealed to one another right after. By this point, my sister has brought Kess to the temple, so she could be sealed to us after Matt and I were sealed together as husband and wife. 

Our sealing was incredibly spiritual and gave Matt and I such an uplifted feeling. We were very emotional, much more emotional than we were on our wedding day. I don't think either of us could believe that we were finally here; finally each others' forever. No longer "Until death do us part."

After we were sealed, one of the temple workers brought Kess in; Matt and I both lost it! She looked so beautiful in her pretty white dress. For those of you who have kids, you understand how much love you feel for your children - this was amplified by knowing that she would be ours forever. Kess was a little overwhelmed by our family and friends who were with us, and that fact that she hadn't seen Matt or I for a few hours. She didn't want to let us go. My mom held her during the sealing. Matt, Kess and I held hands as a little family of 3 and were sealed for all time and all eternity. What an amazing gift that is. I am eternally grateful for making the covenants that I have made, not only with Matt and my family, but with my Heavenly Father as well. 

The temple ordinances are extremely sacred, hence my vague description of the day. If you want to know more about eternal families, temple ordinances or the Latter Day Saint religion please feel free to ask me or go to mormon.org

*I'm bummed I didn't get a picture of everyone who came to our sealing! I should have slowed down & got a quick shot of everyone who made it - because you were all so important and instrumental in our journey to the temple! A huge thank you for coming to support us!*

 Matt's family - Mom's side

Matt's family - Dad's side

My siblings, parents and grandparents

Birthday Celebration

Last year, I celebrated my 24th birthday by going to dinner with Matt and starting our Hypnobirthing Class! I know, calm down party girl!

I knew this year would be even better because I have Kess here with me to celebrate instead of being 34 weeks pregnant! Little did I know that it would be one of, if not the funnest birthday I've had yet!

Saturday morning, Kess slept in about 30 minutes longer than usual (talk about a great birthday present!) Matt got up before me and started breakfast! I was treated to bacon, eggs and toast. I usually cook breakfast so this was a treat! After we finish eating we are sitting around the table & Matt tells me that he needs me ready to go in 30 minutes. I asked why, because we had already discussed going to the Farmer's Market after Kess' morniing nap. He said, "I booked you a Hot Stone massage & a manicure at Two Rivers. Your massage starts at 9:30!" Ahhh! This guy nailed my birthday present this year! I gave him a big hug and kiss, then skipped and squealed all the way back to our room to get ready! I hustled to get ready, but knew I needed to be cute because Matt & Kess would be meeting me for lunch after my spa day! 

I jetted out of the house, hoping I wouldn't be late. I hit some construction on the freeway, my local friends know that our freeway construction is a total pain in the... ya know! ;) I, of course, keep speeding through the construction zone and as I take my exit, I get pulled over. Frreeak! I haven't gotten a ticket since I was 19. Matt's gunna kill me! 

The officer walked up to my window and asked told me he pulled me over because I was speeding, and asked if I knew what the speeding limit was in the construction zone, I lied and said, "Isn't it 65?" I know it's 55... He said, "Well you were going 72, and the speed limit is 55." "Oh wow, yes that's a bit over, I'm sorry." And then asked where I was going to quickly. I laughed and blurted out, "This is going to sound ridiculous, but my husband booked me a spa day!" He laughed and said, "Ok, let me see your license and registration." I panicked a little thinking that now I'm really going to be late! The officer walked back and said, "It would be a really big bummer if your spa day cost you an extra $100. Slow down and have fun!" I promised to slow down & gleefully thanked him! I kept my promise and didn't speed the rest of the way!

My massage was heavenly! Carrying around Kess & trying to get back into an exercise routine have taken a little toll on my body, so the hot stones felt so great! After my manicure I met Matt & Kess at the Grimaldi's (Coal Brick-Oven Pizza.) Neither of us have been, so we had to give it a try! We really like it! Not our favorite pizza of all time, but we would go back again!

We got home and Kess girl took her afternoon nap. Matt and I decided to nap, too! (another birthday present!) After we all woke up from our little snooze, Matt told me that my day wasn't over yet. He & Kess were going to hang out for the night & I needed to be ready because my ride would be here by 4:30! What??

I hustled to get ready, Matt and Kess help me pick out an outfit. There is a knock on the door. I know who it is, because I saw a brief text on Matt's phone when I handed it to him a few weeks ago. I still didn't know what exactly what was going on... My sister Santanna was at the door! YAY! Girl time!

I kissed my 2 favorite people and we left! Santanna told me that we were going to have some girl time and get some dinner at Barbacoa! I am pumped because Santanna and I don't get too much girl time together - we usually have 2 little ones in tow ;) 

We get to Barbacoa and Santanna tells them that she has a reservation for 2 under Kierra Kaiserman & one of the hostess' tell the other that our table is outside and to the left. She leads us to our table and as I turn the corner my mom, mother-in-law and my friends shout "Surpirse!!" Oh my gosh! I was so happy and so shocked! It was so much fun to have most of my friends all in the same place! We got to chat and laugh hysterically, share bites from each other's meals! Such a blast! Santanna made cupcakes from scratch, which were delicious! We finally wrapped up the meal with plenty of pictures! I truly needed this day! Matt put so much effort into giving me some much needed free time and Santanna planned the best girl's night! 

 My sweet friend Macey dropped by, even though she had a soccer game to play in! 

 My mother-in-law, momma & sister

I was pretty excited about this cotton candy! 

I spent my official birthday (today) with my Kess Kess, hung out with my momma, sister and mother-in-law a little bit throughout the day. I rented a Redbox movie and Matt brought home Chinese food. We are planted on the couch, sending emails, writing blogs and watching our movie!! 25 is shaping up to the pretty dang great!

Memorial Day Weekend

We took advantage of our long weekend to get our yard ready for Summer! I'm sitting here, Monday evening... exhausted!

Actually, our weekend was perfect! Matt was able to get off work relatively early, which is always a treat! We had a sitter come stay with Kess. This was the first time we left her with a sitter that wasn't family - she did phenomenal and so did the babysitter! Matt and I spent our date night at the temple. I've been dying to do that for years! It was so special to finally go back since our sealing. We made it to the last session and we the last few in the Celestial Room! It was amazing to be able to talk with Matt in such a sacred and quiet environment! Truly a spiritual night! *A post is in the works about our Sealing Day, I'll get that finalized soon!*

The rest of the weekend was spent doing all of our yard work, reworking some sprinklers in our system, pouring some concrete, planting our garden and all of our flowers. We even got around to staining our garden fence and planter boxes. Our shed/garden project took us forever last year - Matt was actually working on it the day I went into labor with Kess! It was nice to wrap it all up.

We spent about a zillion dollars at Home Depot buying all of our supplies and plants! I now have beautiful planter boxes and a strawberry plant, too! I'm pretty dang excited about that! (Once you're excited about your plants... you know you're getting old)

We only had sacrament meeting on Sunday due to our gym floor being refinished (It was kind of  totally awesome) We got Kess home in time for a good morning nap and got to relax most of the day!We drove out to Melba to visit my Grandpa Sho's grave. I hadn't been out there in forever and Matt had never been out there - which is kind of sad to me since we've been married for 5 years, but he's been slammed for those 5 years. It was very peaceful and really good to be out there.

I hope you all had a fantastic Memorial Day & enjoy your short work week!

Wedding Anniversary #5... and being forced to be trendy

We celebrated our 5 year anniversary yesterday! We keep it pretty simple for anniversaries, typically we do dinner and give cards - no gifts. This year was just the same and it was perfect! We asked Matt's mom to watch Kess and then we took off to downtown Boise. We were planning on going to Barbacoa and figured it wouldn't be too crowded with it being a Thursday night - but we forgot that the Luke Bryan concert was last night, so Barbacoa had an hour and a half wait.

We decided to head to the Brickyard. We had been there before, but the last time was years ago and it was a dinner for Matt's job. So this time we were super excited to have it be just us two. We walked in and it was quiet, relaxed and definitely more our scene! We were sat at the booth in the back, right next to the piano where someone was playing all the right classics. 

We decided to spare no expense for dinner, which we rarely do... and since we don't drink, it's easy to not go overboard with the price, but last night we made up for it in dessert! 

We both ordered steaks, which were phenomenal. They also have a salad chef who tosses your salad table side. I highly recommend the Green Goddess dressing. This place is perfect for having a very relaxed, romantic evening. They take their time with each course, so if you're in a hurry - don't go there ;) Matt and I had plenty of time to chat and reminisce over the last 5 years. And just stare lovingly into each others' eyes... ;) hahaha

After we finished our dessert, which was the most amazing dessert ever, we sat back and enjoyed the piano music for a little while longer. The pianist began to play a song that Matt used to play for me while we were dating. It was pretty fitting for the evening. 

Live piano music = heaven

They give you free muffins for breakfast, too!

Listening to the piano music, he could have sat there all night

We then drove back home, thanked Matt's mom for taking care of our little girl & changed into our comfy clothes, and watched the Scandal Season Finale! It was the perfect evening! 

Now... for a little laugh. You all know that this blog is about me sharing my life and helping me step out of comfort zone, to do, wear, try, say things I wouldn't typically do. Sometimes you choose to branch out - sometimes you're forced to. 

Kess has these little toys that suction to surfaces and then she can rattle and play with them. Well for the past few days we have been suctioning them to our foreheads. She thinks it's hilarious. We've even been sticking them to her little forehead. Yesterday I stuck one of those dang toys to my forehead and Kess was getting a kick out of it. She tried to pull it off and it didn't move, so I lifted one of the edges and it came right off. Didn't think anything of it. About 20 minutes later we walked back to her room to get her ready for her morning nap. We pass a mirror on the way to her room... I caught a glance of myself and panicked. I had a huge bruise/hickey on my forehead from that dang toy! All to make my baby laugh!

Knowing that I had a hot date planned with my hubby that night, I freaked out googled "How to get rid of a hickey"... OK I'll admit I knew a few of them ;) I used some doTERRA oils, a few of my new tips I had learned and while it lighted and started the clear away... it just wasn't enough. You all probably think I'm being dramatic & it wasn't that bad - the heaviest of makeup couldn't cover that thing! Thank goodness that I live near a target... I ran over & grabbed a fedora. 

I've loved the fedora trend for a long time, but felt like I wasn't cute, cool, or trendy enough to pull that look off. Well, now I didn't have a choice. I sure has heck couldn't go to dinner with a hickey on my fivehead! And you know what... I loved the hat and a lot of other people did, too! Even my hubby! ;)

So sometimes as much as we try, we still aren't great and climbing out of our comfort zone and if you're lucky - you'll be forced to, like me! ;)