What The Dream....?!

Ok, so shouldn't dreams be made of sugar and spice and everything nice?? Or is that just wishful thinking? Cuz I swear I don't dream anymore.... oh no... I pretty much have nightmares. Or maybe just really really bad dreams? Like, why can't I just dream about little ponies or cute little talking puppies or KEITH URBAN something like that?

But see, even on lucky nights where I do dream about Keith Urban, they always end up evil! Keith always hates me in my dreams! Or if he doesn't hate me it ends up like this one dream I had where I was on stage singing with Keith Urban and my sister, Maranda, RUINED IT ALL! lol. She pretty much grabbed the microphone from me and chased me off. No matter how good my dreams seem... thet end up bitter. I've had several dreams where my brother is chasing me with a gun. Yes, a gun. And he even shot at me a couple times but luckily I dodged it. Oh oh, and did you guys know that I fly in my dreams?! I flap like a bird and fly!! Awesome right? WRONG! Because whenever I'm flying it's usually because a bad guy is chasing me. One time it was a witch chasing me. AND I swear, at least once a week I dream about being late to high school. Yes, I graduated 3yrs ago, and I still have nightmares about be late! WTH?! My dreams are sooooo real! I wake up with whatever feeling I had while I was dreaming. I can actually feel pain while I dream. Thats why I was so scared when my brother started shooting at me, cuz I knew it would really hurt! And to make it worse... I usually wake up sweating to death. I don't know if thats from the scary dream or from being hot. Or both? Either way, sorry Alex.... that must be kinda gross.

Well... the reason I bring up all this horrible dream stuff is because last night's dream topped them all! I dremt that I had gotten into a car accident and I had these HUGE gashes in the back of my head. I even remember waking up on the opertation table on my stomach and feeling the PAIN as they used the medical glue to close it up. For those of you that live in Mesa or know Mesa, it happened on Stapley and Southern. I was on Stapley facing north, about to turn east onto Southern and I pulled in front of someone. I even remember it was a green SUV that I hit (which I remember seeing the day before on the road. So whatever I see that day, ends up in my dreams). The wreck was so bad that I must have got a concussion and I didn't remember anything that happened after I got hit until I woke up in the hospital getting glued up. So Alex and my mom were explaining to me what happened with the other car and everything else. I even remember explaining to my BFF, Stacey, afterwards saying, "OMG, I thought I was dreaming that I got into a car accident, but then I woke up and I really did! I got into my first car accident! Look at the crazy gashes in my head!" Weird eh??! But, holy cow my head hurt soooo much in my dream! It felt like I just got stabbed like 16 times in the back of the head. I think what Alex told me is that I hit it where the selt beat meets up with the door. So anyways.... I think the weirdest part was when I actually woke up I had a headache! And I never wake up with headaches! SO idk if I got a headache because of my dream, or if I had that dream because of the headache. Haha... and laying in bed I actually was afraid to touch my head because I didn't wanna mess up the bandages. Then after a couple minutes I realized it was a dream. THEN the rest of the day, I was actually freaked out to drive. I kept getting nervous about being on the road again. I was thinking, "oh crap, I just got in an accident the other day, I have to be careful." Then I remembered AGAIN... it was just a dream!! Gosh dang, Malisa!

The moral of the story is Malisa is special and something is wrong with her head and her dreams are scary real. Most of her friends know that by now and if you didn't... well... now you do! (please don't stop talking to me).

Mmm Mmmm GOOD....

Beef Empanadas!

Alex and I started a little tradition that every Monday night is our "Try a New Recipe Night". I love it, and I actually look forward to it every week (plus Chuck is on that night as well, so it just turns out to be dandy!) There were a couple of people who wanted the recipe for these beef empanadas that Alex and I made about a week ago. They are really easy and I'm pretty sure they can be stuffed with anything. I want to try some apple pie filling or something next.... I think that would be delicious! Anyways....

For the crust:
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup water

Mix together flour, salt, and sugar. Add oil and water. Mix with hands. Form into large ball, then divide into 8 smaller balls.

Meat Filling:
1 lb ground beef
1 sm onion, finely chopped (Alex and I didn't add the onions because we both don't like em, so it's up to you!)
1 package taco seasoning
Pretty much whatever other seasonings you want =)

Brown meat along with onion and whatever other seasonings you added. Add taco seasoning and let simmer for a couple minutes.

Roll out 1 ball of dough until it is about 7 inches wide. Add desired amount of meat filling in the center of dough. (You could probably sprinkle some shredded cheese in it too. Alex and I didn't think of that till after they were cooked so I just put some on top.) Fold dough in half and pinch the edges shut to seal it. Place on cookie sheet and bake in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes (they should come out a golden brown). You can serve it with a side of rice and beans or whatever!! =)


P.S. the recipe in the book doesn't say to grease the cookie sheet, but I'm a freak and I have a fear of a delicious meal sticking to the pan so I lightly grease the pan for EVERYTHING I cook. I'm special. =)

P.S.S. also, the actual recipes says it makes about 15-20 empanadas, so I'm guessing they just make little midget ones. So actually, you could pretty much do any size you want, just use the meat filling accordingly so it doesn't run out or don't have a ton of it left over. Ya know?!

If you have any questions or ways to improve it, let me know!! =)

The story of US!

Well..... I'm trying to think of how I could put this in a nutshell without being too boring.

Alex is from here in Utah, but served in the Arizona Phoenix Mission. Towards the beginning of his mission he served in Flagstaff AZ in my Aunt Deb's ward. Well my aunt had posted a picture of him and his companion because she though his companion looked like my cousin. But I wasn't interested in the companion who looked like my cousin... I wanted to hear more about the cute elder next to him ;). After I said I wanted to start writing him, my aunt said he had just been transfered out of Flagstaff so she'd email a picture of me to him with my email so we could start writing. Just to be penpals. So we wrote for about 18 months before he went home to Utah. We had both already fell in love with each other through writing letters so when he got home in January of 09, he OF COURSE wanted to meet me =)! (Well, formally anyways. We had ran into each other at the Mesa Temple in December of 08. So i guess technically that was the first time. But he was still a missionary so we only shook hands of course.)Anyways.... So he came back January 17, 2009 and stayed that weekend at my house with his mom, step dad, and sister. That night, a big group of family and friends went out to the desert and we had a blast. We had hot dogs and chips and made Sobe bombs. It was somewhat awkward because Alex is flaming shy and said like 2 words to me. Lame! lol. My sister, Keta, dared me to walk by him and trip and fall in his lap. Needless to say, I'm shy too so that didn't happen. Looking back, I kinda wish I would have. Oh well...

So then the following day, the 18th, we held hands for the first time and had our first kiss that same night. Then on Monday the 19th, we had our first official date alone together where we exchanged the "L" word for the first time. I know, pretty fast right? Well, when you know... you know! The morning he left he came into my work and brought me a bouquet of my favorite flowers... red roses! So then he went home to Utah and I cried, and life was horrible, and blah blah blah. I already knew I wanted to marry him. =)

Then he surprised me the next month and came back to AZ for Valentines day. He gave me my first pair of diamond earrings! (I had him in the palm of my hand! hehe...) Then he left again back to UT and I cried and hated life without him and blah blah blah again. BUT it finally got better when he officially moved to AZ 0n March 6th and was living in my shed in the backyard. Yes, I know that sounds lame but it used to be a shed that we turned into a little guest room. Shoot... we both would have been ok if he was living in a BOX in my backyard... as long as we were together! =) Right, Alex? So then we dated and dated then on April 16th, he proposed with the most beautiful ring in the whole world!!We set the wedding date for July 11, 2009 (free slurpee day!), and were married in the Mesa AZ temple for time and all eternity!! We went to San Diego for our honeymoon for 7 days. We had soooo much fun! We ended up staying in 2 different hotels just for the fun of it. The 2nd hotel was in downtown San Diego and we were on the 17th floor i think. It was awesome. We went to the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Mission Beach, Coronado Beach... it was just the funnest week ever!! ;) AMEN!
Then in August, about 3 days after my birthday, we moved to Utah and lived with his mom and step dad for about 6 months. But after both getting jobs and having some money saved, we moved into our own apartment towards the end of February.

And so here we are now! Alex is a certified nurse's assistant (CNA), but currently working in Ogden making air filters. It's just a job for now. He is still applying at every CNA job he can just to get his foot in the door. I'm working as a nanny for two boys age 7 and 4. It has it's ups and downs but I'm satisfied with where I'm at right now. Loving life with my husband of almost 10 months, and taking each day as it comes.

Now that THATS out of the way, I can start blogging about more recent things! Just wanted to give ya a little heads up on the Nishijima family. =)

Blog Virgin!

Ok, so I totally have noooo idea what I'm doing. I'm new to this whole blog thing, but lately I've been checking out friend's blogs and I realized, "Dang, I wanna be cool too!!" SO here I am... being cool like everyone else! Hopefully I'll get some help from some people and be able to start posting soon! I don't even know what to post but what I do know is that I won't be posting my inner most darkest secrets like my crazy ex sister in law. Those should be kept in a journal or a diary or in a box with a lock and then blown up to pieces! Right? Anyways... hopefully, see ya soon! =)