Last Weekend...

I am currently working on a different post where I share some very personal and deep thoughts and feelings, but... you know what??? I do not yet feel ready to hit publish. So, instead I am writing a different post for the day about the highlights from my weekend. Hold on to your seats because there is one thing in particular that you just won't believe. (Trust me on this one!)

This last weekend my sisters Shauna and Amy came up for a visit. I always love having visitors and am consistently asking members of my family to come up for a weekend. We had great plans for the weekend and I was ready to spend time laughing, talking, eating and simply being with family. What brought about the whole visit was a Mindy Gledhill concert that was taking place on BYU-I campus. So when my sisters got here we jumped in the car and headed to the concert. It was a great performance by "Mindy and the band". (Amy that's for you!) And I loved bantering back and forth with Amy about the going ons around us. It reminded of when she and I used to be roommates and do all sorts of fun things together all the time. I loved Mindy's performance. It was the perfect reminder to me of several things: 

1- Do what you love.
2- Do what makes you smile.
3- Make others smile.
4- Don't let yourself or anyone else hold you back from pursuing your goals, plans, and seemingly impossible dreams.  

Her music is such a great reminder for me to continue to love life. I find her inspiring and am falling more in love with her music. If you haven't heard of her or haven't ever listened to some of her music, you should! You can listen to a few of my favorites here, here and here. (Thanks to MDill for purchasing some more of her music!) Following the show, while Mdill and Shauna were waiting to purchase some of her sweet tunes,  Lara and I entertained ourselves for quite a while trying to capture the best version of this picture that we possibly could.

Yeah.... I was laughing so hard I was crying. We aren't weird, we just know how to have fun! 

On Saturday we had plans to go to Yellowstone and visit a few of our favorite places there. Yellowstone is a childhood favorite. I remember going there what seems like every summer. We would all pile into our maroon and silver astro van and stay in West Yellowstone at "The Dude" motel. Over the next few days Mom and Dad would drive us all around Yellowstone showing us all of the beauty to found there. I think the only way they could get us to behave in the car was to tell us to look for animals out the window. I distinctly remember pulling over on more than one occasion because there was an animal in the field only to find out it was a log or rock or something. I think each of us 6 kids was guilty of this at one point in time. Yellowstone was definitely a favorite and continues to be. We had a great time driving through and reminiscing about times we had been there before. We also loved the beautiful weather, each others company, and a lot of laughs. There were several incidents throughout the day that make me laugh every time I think about them. One that I'm going to share includes an older couple with a bumper sticker that read "I'm retired. Go around me." We had been following this car for quite some time when one of us noticed there was a cat... yes A CAT sitting in the back window. I was busting a gut. It just kept getting better. The cat had a harness on. I laughed harder. We began to come discuss the cat in the window, it's owners, and how far they had travelled. (I believe they had South Dakota of Kansas plates?) When I thought we were all done laughing about it I was sorely wrong. I looked up and saw the cat in the window and began laughing all over again. I laughed so hard I snorted. That's how you know something is really funny, if I snort. Well here's a pretty grainy picture that just doesn't do it justice. 

So, we continued to follow this car because we (mostly I) insisted that Shauna didn't pass it. We went on talking about something which I don't remember. All of a sudden Amy yells, "There's two!" that's right folks not only was there 1 car in the car there was 2!!!! Picture evidence below. 

When we finally decided it was ok to pass them one of the cats was in the backseat staring out the window at us as we went by. Soooo funny. I think one of the best quotes from the day was "Even if those are the only two animals we see today, I'll be happy!" Yes the quote came from me, but it was still funny. 

The rest of the day was just as fun and a great way to spend a Saturday. Below are a few pictures from the day. (They are phone pictures, so not the best, but I still need to download real pictures from the day.) 

First time in my life...

Well ladies and gents there is a first time for everything, and today a big first time event happened for me. In my quest to work on and improve myself I have decided that when I just have to have a snack I'm going to do my best to make it a healthy snack. (But I do keep a bag of chocolate chips handy just in case I need to call in reinforcements.) Last night I decided to cut up the celery that somehow made its way to my refrigerator. If you know me, you know I have a more than a dislike for celery, and that I have a fiery hatred for celery. I can't stand the stuff. Anyways, I cut up the celery into smaller pieces thinking that I would sneak it into Mdill's lunches throughout the week and hope that he would either eat it or throw it away and tell me he ate it.

Today as I was working on laundry, lists of to do's, meal planning, etc... I went to the refrigerator and the celery was the only vegetable that was washed, cut up, and ready to eat. So, I grabbed a ziploc of it, got a spoonful or two of some buttermilk ranch, started snacking, and didn't stop until the entire sandwich bag of celery was gone. I found myself enjoying the celery. Even if it was due to the delicious buttermilk ranch then so be it. I ate celery and plan to eat more. Maybe one day I will even be able to celery plain, but for now celery dipped in ranch is a start.

My quest to work on me is well on it's way and I'm getting back into the routine of being me and working on me. More on that later. For now try out this delicious recipe (recipe below) for buttermilk ranch. Courtesy of Ina Garten from the food network. Link to the delicious recipe

Or, if you hate to follow links, here is the recipe: 

Ingredients:
3 scallions white and green parts, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
11/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon good olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
1cup good mayonnaise
1/2 cup Greek-style yogurt, such as Fage Total
1/2 cup buttermilk, shaken

Directions: Place the scallions, basil, lemon juice, mustard, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Puree for 15 to 20 seconds to make a smooth mixture. Add the mayonnaise, yogurt, and buttermilk and blend until smooth. Transfer the dressing to a container, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour for the flavors to develop.


This takes about 10 minutes to make and yields about 3 cups of dressing. 


A few things that may be helpful:
1: I don't own a real food processor so I simply used my blender and it worked fabulous. 
2: Do not use any flavored greek yogurt. The first time I made this we only had vanilla flavored greek yogurt in the fridge so we used it. NOT GOOD! Be sure to use plain yogurt. *Blonde Moment for sure* 
3: Eat on top of salad, as a dip, or just lick it off your fingers! (It's really that good.) 

Yet again....

A short post about my lame blogging skills and what I plan to do to improve them!

Here I am yet again looking at my blog and thinking how lame my blogging skills are... Yup! That's right only 4 posts this year. That being said I officially proclaim that in the blogging world I apparently suck, but in the real world where things really count I'm pretty awesome! I have been up to all sorts of shaningans throughout the year and I'll do you and me a favor and not overwhelm you will a billion pictures of my life. Instead I will tell you this, I have revamped the goals I made for myself at the beginning of the year.
So... What does this mean for my blog? I AM going to be better at blogging. It's not for you, (whoever you are) but rather I am doing it for myself. For the next 4 months I am going to be focusing on me and working on improving myself. Part of the way that I am going to do this is by writing about it. I know that I do best when I can write about what I'm feeling, thinking and doing. I've been slacking in this department because it is sometimes easier to not express what I am feeling than to be honest and true with myself.  So, instead of worrying about what I think, you think, or what anyone thinks I'm just express myself the way I know I would like to.

Sooooo.... Look forward to regular postings of where I am at and how my 4 months of self improvement is going.

Just sometimes....

Sometimes... just sometimes when I walk home from school, work, church or pretty much anywhere, I really get to thinking. That tends to be a problem for me. When I think, I think to much and too hard about things which are special to me, things I am grateful for, things I would change if I could, things I would never change, things I love, things Heavenly Father must be thinking, things that I would do if I had the guts, things I would guess to be right but are probably wrong, things, things, things.... I'm telling you it starts to get pretty complex.... All this thinking always brings me back to how vass this world is and how vass our Heavenly Father's plan is.
I love it.
It leaves me with a grateful heart, a wondering mind, and usually a few tears rolling down my cheeks.

Life is awesome.

phew....

Do you ever just have those days where you feel totally and completely overwhelmed? Where you just want to laugh, cry, sing, dance, curl up in a ball and hide?

Me too! That's been my life all week long. Today has especially been one of those kind of days. I've hardly slept. Thought a lot. Felt overwhelmed and inadequate. It's really been a roller coaster ride of a week.

That's life. Really it is.

One of the best parts about life is that in the coming weeks and months life is going to be wonderful. I feel so abundantly blessed and I know my Heavenly Father is 100% aware of me. I'm excited for the future and look forward to continuing to find joy in this lifelong journey.

The big "phew" of today was when I cam home from church meetings and my sweet husband and older sister Shauna had made the most delicious lunch. It was really such a relief. Sounds silly, I know. Lunch really is such a simple thing, but it was the perfect gesture that helped subside my feelings of being overwhelmed. Who knew that fajitas could work such magic?

Well, bring it on life... I'm ready!

Confession

I have a confession I need to make.... I'm crafty. Yes, you read right. I'm crafty and I know it. I usually try and deny it but I have decided that I would LOVE to blog about my constant projects. So, the first step in that process is overcoming the state of denial I'm in. I love crafting away and constantly having some sort of project to work on.  Phew... ok I'm out of denial.

My most recent project was a scrapbook for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. And let me tell you... it was a HUGE project that was finally finished at 2:45 a.m. the night before the big party. (Thanks for the help on the finishing touches Mom, Shauna, Amy, Heather, and Michael!) I believe it was a huge success. One of the reasons I have decided that I should share projects - past & present - on my blog is because they are really a part of who I am. While making the giant scrapbook my heart was very full and overwhelmed. I was able to talk/message/email all of my family and realized how truly blessed I am. I felt honored to be a part of my family and very honored to be a part of our family's legacy. So... here is a little peak at one of my favorite pages, the finished project, and my lovely grandparents and husband. 

 With all that being said... you can look forward to many more future posts about projects, ideas, tips and all other sorts of stuff I have to blog about. (This will most definitely help with my bloggers block!)

I will...

 I've been thinking a lot lately, about making the most of:

#1 Where I am at in life.
#2 Time.
#3 Enjoying the trials that the Lord throws my way.

Life has a few distinct phases. Birth, childhood, teenage years, young adult, adulthood and before you know it you are doing 5,000 piece puzzles and watching your favorite old T.V. classics. Life really is short. So, that is exactly why I want to enjoy where I am at in life 100%. I will never be in this same place or situation again. That being said... I have ALOT to do in order to enjoy this phase to it's fullest. Let the fun continue!

Right along with making the most of where I am at in life, I've decided that I'm only going to live this moment once, this hour once, this day once... so I am going to be happy with where I am at and let the journey shape me as I go. I will move forward in time, progressing, growing, and becoming who I want to and who I should be.
 
Finally, right along with the first things I want to make the most of is trials. All throughout my life I have had quite the handful of trials and experiences that have shaped me into who I am. One thing about me, whether you believe it or not, is that I like to keep things to myself. When I am having a hard time, struggling with something, have questions, or something is just flat out not right in my life, I really like to keep to myself and have SUCH a hard time exposing myself to the human elements of advice, judgement, opinions and all those things that come with it. (And, that is not about to change, I can tell you that!) But, I have decided that no matter the trial, no matter the heartache I am go through I will remember that the Lord knows me best. He knows my weaknesses, He knows my strengths, but most of all he knows exactly what I can handle. Because he knows it, I know it. Plain as that.

With all these seemingly simple, yet complex and difficult things that have been on my mind lately, I have come to realize that I must "Learn to love the skies I'm under". And that is exactly what I will continue to do!