And Now a Word From Kristen

2 things.

2012-01-31T11:48:00.004-07:00

1. I swallowed a less than half-way dissolved cough drop today. That was fun/it felt weird and I'll be fine if I never do it again.

2. My color personality used to be blue/white. That was when I took the test like a year and a half or two years ago. Guess what I am now. Blue/RED! Having taken the color code test two times in the past like five weeks (one of which was last night as an activity with my FHE group) and getting the same result both times confirms it. That's right, folks. Watch out. I'm a massive blue that is getting more and more aggressive and becoming motivated by power more and more by the day.

Do you know what is one of my favorite things to make?

2012-01-30T08:30:00.006-07:00

Ice cream!

So what do you do when you have a lot of whipping cream you need to use?

Make two batches of Ben and Jerry's sweet cream ice cream, of course!

This cute girl was my helper.

I did one batch with crushed Mint Oreos.

And the other with Reese's Minis.

Let me tell you how it is super delicious.
Both of them, really.
But I have to say I think the Mint Oreo version was my favorite.

So, here is the sweet cream base recipe:

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy or whipping cream

1 cup milk

Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about one minute more. Pour in the cream and milk and whisk to blend. (Makes 1 quart).

Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and let it thicken up before you add any mix-ins.

It should take about 15-20 minutes.

As soon as it's thick and creamy, throw in whatever you want!

I did probably 1 1/2-2 cups of crushed Mint Oreos. I didn't measure, though. Just put in as much as you want. If you don't like your ice cream loaded, put in way less than I did! The amount I did was quite a bit because that's how I like it!

For the Reese's Bites batch, I just poured in the whole bag. (I usually make a Reese's PB Cup ice cream with the Sweet Cream Base with the regular Reese's, chopped. I think I prefer that method because then the peanut butter mixes throughout the whole thing. This one was pretty good too, though.)

As soon as it has all mixed in, pour it into a container with a lid and put it in the freezer.

Or, if you prefer soft serve, you can eat it right away!

And let me just tell you once again... If you don't have a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, you need one.

Pumpkin Caramel Monkey Bread

2012-01-21T21:10:00.001-07:00

First of all.

I hope all of you snow lovers around here are happy.

Second of all,
I made this tasty bread tonight.

(Photos courtesy of my cool cousin Amy)

Make it. You will love it too.

To me, the pumpkin flavor doesn't seem super strong, so if you don't like pumpkin... I don't think you would have a problem with this bread. It was even so good that I drove to my parents' house in the streets covered in white death to share it with them and with my sister who was over visiting. (In all truthfulness, though, I should admit I didn't know the roads were as bad as they were before I left). I stayed about two and a half minutes before I had to leave due to the anticipation (and yes, anxiety) of the drive back. I know I sound crazy, but I promise you I don't think I am. I just have had bad experiences with snow.
So here's what I think you should do. Make this.. and don't go outside.

Here is the recipe (originally from Food Snots):

1 package quick rise dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup warm milk

1 cup solid-pack pumpkin

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

2 eggs, beaten

4 1/2 – 5 cups all-purpose flour

Caramel

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Assembly

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, melted

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk, pumpkin, butter, sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Beat in eggs and dissolved yeast mixture. Add 2 1/2 cups of flour and mix until just combined. Add the remaining 2 – 2 1/2 cups flour until dough is no longer sticky.

At this point either change to the kneading attachment on your mixer or turn onto floured surface; knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Place dough in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning once to coat entire surface of dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Meanwhile, make caramel by combining butter, heavy cream, brown sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook, continuously stirring, until caramel has reach 210-215 degrees F (about a minute after boiling). Pour half of caramel into a greased 10-inch fluted pan. Sprinkle half of the pecans over caramel.

Punch down dough and shape into 40 balls (about 1-inch diameter). In a small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Place melted butter in another bowl. Roll balls in butter, then roll in sugar mixture.

Place 20 balls in the pan over the caramel. Top with remaining caramel and pecans. Roll remaining balls in butter and sugar and place over balls in tubed pan. Let stand for 20 minutes.

Place fluted pan on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool bread in the pan on a wired rack for 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Serve warm.

I just want you to know

2012-01-05T15:00:00.002-07:00

that I love this song.

Who couldn't love Duran Duran?

And it's a wonder I wasn't born in a different decade. (The end of 1989 doesn't quite count as the decade of the 80s in my book). I guess I have an old soul.

Because there's nothing quite as strange

2011-12-27T17:30:00.002-07:00

or as great as an 80s music video...

I share this with you now.

Candy Cane Biscotti

2011-12-26T08:00:00.004-07:00

Let me tell you about this.

It's lovely. And it's a treat.

And it is called candy cane biscotti.

Here's what you do.

Follow the recipe to make the dough, first of all.

Then mix in the candy cane pieces. It should look like this:

Divide the big ball of dough into four even sections.

Form each section into 9" by 1 1/2" logs.

Bake it at 350 degrees F for 18-20 minutes, then remove it from the oven. It will have puffed out like this:

Let them sit for 10 minutes, then cut each 'loaf' in 1/2" diagonal slices. Like so.

Place each slice on one of its sides.

And then put them back in the oven at 325 degrees F for 15 more minutes.

You have to give them some time to cool so they harden a bit, then you can eat them with hot chocolate!

Or just eat them by themselves. They're good either way.

We left some out on Christmas Eve for Santa to eat with some mint hot chocolate.

Here's the full recipe, from Annie's Eats.

Ingredients:
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
3 large eggs
2/3 cup finely chopped peppermint candies, plus extra for garnish
*14 oz. white chocolate

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir briefly with a fork to combine. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until well combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one a time, mixing well after each addition. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Fold in the 2/3 cup crushed peppermints with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated.

Evenly divide the dough into 4 portions. Form each into a 9″ by 1½” log on the prepared baking sheet, spaced evenly. Bake until the cookies are light golden brown on top, about 18-20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet. Reduce the oven temperature to 325° F.

After the logs have cooled for 10 minutes, use a sharp serrated knife to cut the logs into ½-inch slices on the diagonal. Arrange the cut pieces on the baking sheet, laying on one of their cut sides so one cut side is facing up. Bake for 15 minutes more, until the cookies are light golden brown and crisp. (They may seem a bit soft, but will firm as they cool.) Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Once the biscotti have cooled, melt the white chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Dip one half of each cookie in the chocolate, shake gently to remove the excess, and transfer to a baking sheet or work surface lined with wax paper. Sprinkle with extra crushed candy canes while the chocolate is still wet. Let stand at room temperature until the chocolate has set completely. Store in an airtight container.

*(As you can see from my pictures, I did not coat mine in white chocolate. I found it unnecessary. But I'm sure it'd be fun if you want to take the time to do that!)

minty double fudge oreo crunch cookies

2011-12-19T14:13:00.001-07:00

I used this double fudge oreo crunch cookies recipe the other night and turned it minty.

Let me first tell you about how the dough tasted a lot like brownie dough. And I love brownie dough.

I put in crushed mint Oreos and mint m&m's.

I think it could have done without the mint m&m's just because the mint of the m&m's was a different mint of the Oreos. Still good, though.

I love cookie scoops. They make my life easier.

Here they are all baked and everything

Unflattering pictures, I know, but it was very late in the nighttime and this really was as good as it was going to get.
Could I have possibly waited to take a picture until day time and take the time to plate them and everything?
No.... I think not.

But do make them if you want a delicious cookie. They taste much better than they look here.

Minty Double Fudge Oreo Crunch Cookies
makes about 30 cookies
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mint m&m's
1 cup crushed mint Oreo cookies*

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Add flour, cocoa powder and baking soda and mix until combined.
Fold in m&m's and crushed Oreos. Refrigerate dough for 2-4 hours (or more). When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Roll dough into balls or scoop with a cookie scoop and set on baking sheet.
Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Let cool completely.

*(I doubled my recipe and used almost a whole package of mint Oreos.. I think it tastes better with more, so put in as many as you want!)

I painted!

2011-12-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

For the very first time.

It's nothing fancy and it wasn't even my own idea. But you have to start somewhere, right!?

So. Here it is.

I thought it was pretty fun. I'll even do it again one day.

Another hobo.

2011-12-01T19:58:00.001-07:00

This is basically the same bag as the last one I made, with some minor changes.

As you can see, I didn't belt this one. I did add a magnetic clasp on the inside and I used rectangular rings to hold up the strap instead of d rings. It was a good choice. And also. I don't know what I was thinking before. It's not the fact that it was 100% cotton that the last one was so flopsy... it's that it was thin cotton. So this time I used thick cotton! Canvas. The lining is duck canvas, so pretty darn stiff. I love it.

Here is the back... Not that it's much different than the front.

Besides this pin.

And here is a view of the inside, which has a plethora of pockets.

A couple more views of the front.

And we're done.

So...

2011-11-13T16:37:00.001-07:00

I finished my quilt top!

Now I just need to get the backing and batting, tie it, and bind it. So... there is still quite a bit left. But the part that takes the longest and is the hardest to do is done!

I'm going to show you how to make crazy quilt squares in case you haven't done it before and are dying to know how it is done. :)

This is how I do it.

1. Cut out all the squares of all your fabrics. You can do them any size you want. Mine are 8 1/2 x 8 1/2.

2. Stack four squares (each one different patterns of fabric) on top of each other.

I do a couple at the same time (keeping them separate until the end so they match up) to make it go a little faster.

3. Line up a ruler diagonally across the stacked squares, leaving about an inch of room uncovered on one corner and one inch covered on the opposing corner.

4. Cut all four squares along the edge of the ruler. (Before I had a mat and rotary cutter, I just cut an approximated diagonal line, without using a ruler, across the squares with scissors. It works just fine. Doing it this way just makes it a little bit more precise and it's a little faster.)

This is what it will look like after it's cut.

5. Mismatch the squares. (Take the top piece of fabric from one side and put it on the bottom of the stack).

6. Place right sides together, and sew together one square at a time. (1/4 inch seam allowance).

Like so.

7. Iron each square flat, then place the four squares of each stack in their separate stacks again. (Like I said before, it's easier to match them up later if you keep the stacks separate when you do more than one at a time).

8. Repeat steps 3 and 4.

9. Mismatch the squares again. I like to mismatch them completely so that each square has four different patterns.

10. Put the mismatched sides right sides together, making sure the seams in the middle of each side match up. (Pin the seam so it doesn't move out of place when you sew it).

11. Sew them together same as before, 1/4 inch seam allowance.

12. Iron them all flat.

See the uneven edges?

13. Cut them off.

So they are even.

And after going through this process many many times, you will have a big stack of squares with which you can construct your own crazy quilt.

I'm making this quilt

2011-11-08T12:15:00.001-07:00

see?

And it is not almost done. But you can kind of tell what it will look like as a quilt with these squares next to each other, right?

I'll tell the truth. I really only work on it when I feel like it... So it's taking a while to finish. I'm almost done piecing the individual squares though!

The Belted Bag

2011-11-04T11:16:00.001-06:00

I'm a fan of the hobo style bag, so this is what I did for my first design. I already had this fabric, which is why I used it, but now I know for next time not to use 100% cotton if I don't use interfacing because it's not as stiff and sturdy as I would like it to be. I also won't use D rings to attach the handle to the bag again. They never stay horizontal like they should. Next time I'll have to use rings that are symmetrical.

You can kind of tell from this view of the inside how I made a million pockets, all designed for something specific to place in them. I hate losing things inside of my bag. This way, everything is organized and easy to find. I also sewed in a trigger hook on one side of the bag to hook my keys onto, so now I never have to search for them!

And here's a view of the back. Two belt loops on the front, two on the back, and I just tacked the belt on with a needle and thread in a few places so it would stay in place.

There's this thing

2011-11-03T18:02:00.000-06:00

how I'm taking a statistics class. I'm pretty sure everyone in the world already knows this because that's how many people I've told, but I'm actually quite surprised at how much it differs from my expectations of how it would be. My math skills are much lower than sub par. And math classes have always been my most dreaded subject. So there's no way I could enjoy a statistics class, right? So thought I. But. I was wrong. I don't hate it like I thought I would. I even find it a bit.. shall I go so far as to say.. fascinating. (Feel free to gasp).

Why am I telling you all this? Who knows really, but it seems I'm incapable of telling a story without prefacing it with another. And I also give way more information in the story than people need to know to get what I'm saying. Sorry about that. But now that I've gotten the preface out of the way, I'm going to tell the real story. If you're bored, go ahead and bow out. I won't be offended.

So. In stats class yesterday, we were learning about prediction errors. There are two kinds. Type 1 and type 2. Type 1 error is when you reject H0 (the null hypothesis) when H0 is true. Type 2 error is when you fail to reject H0 when Ha (the alternative hypothesis) is true. For those of you who aren't as into statistics as I currently am, don't worry... a perfect knowledge of these things isn't necessary when I finally get to the point. After learning about the two prediction errors, we were discussing which error is more serious, (and we learned that it just really depends on the situation and what is the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis), but my teacher brought up an interesting scenario where we could decide our own opinion on which error we thought would be more serious. In this scenario, the H0 (which is basically the original hypothesis) is that The Book of Mormon is the word of God. The Ha (the alternative hypothesis - which one develops in order to disprove H0) is that The Book of Mormon is not the word of God. So, in this case, which error would be more serious? Type 1, where you reject The Book of Mormon as the word of God when it really is? Or type 2, where you fail to reject The Book of Mormon as the word of God when it really isn't? If you believe H0, you would probably say that a type 1 error is more serious. If you don't believe H0, though, you might say that type 2 is more serious. How about with this second scenario though? It's put a little more simply this way. H0: there is a God. Ha: there is not a God. In this case, which error is more serious? Type 1, where you reject the null hypothesis that there is a God and there really is? Or type 2, where you fail to reject the hypothesis that there is a God and there really isn't? It's probably easier to think about it this way... would it be a more serious error to: a) live a good life and do good things and then find out that there is NOT a God when you die, or b) live a life that isn't good and not do good things and then find out there IS a God when you die?

There's a saying that goes around (which the girl I was sitting by brought up in class) that goes something like:
I would rather live my life as if there is God then die and find out there isn't, than to live my life as if there isn't a God then die and find out there is.

And that concludes my food for your thoughts on this day. I am so proud of you if you made it through to the end.

We're going to change some things around here.

2011-10-31T09:47:00.000-06:00

And by we, I mean I.

I've given it some thought. Not a lot, but some. And I think I will continue to use this blog for my crafty purposes. (Crafty as in literally craft-y... not the 'I'm going to take over the world' kind of crafty.)
How about let's just say creative. Crafty has negative connotations.

First of all, let me just tell you this. The changes will most likely be slow. I'm trying to figure out what to do with old posts and how to update the look of the blog to the way I want it to look. And let's face it. I am not going to spend ALL of my spare time figuring it out. So it might take a while to get it all done.

Anyhow.

Look how I made myself into a cartoon.

I made it for something I was going to do on the blog. I think I might make something a bit different, though. Something a little less model-esque. It's not quite the feel I was going for. Still fun, though.

It's that time again.

2011-10-28T11:42:00.003-06:00

I'm giving a violin recital on November 5th! I will be playing the Tschaikovsky Violin Concerto and Zigeunerweisen (Gyspy Airs) by Pablo de Sarasate. Anyone that wants to come is invited. Anyone that does not want to come is not invited. If you would like to come, let me know and I will tell you the time and the place.

I've been thinking...

2011-09-28T20:12:00.005-06:00

I'm not quite sure what the purpose of my blog is. I remember why I started it. I was bored in between calls when I worked at Pinnacle, and since this was one of like two websites that worked there, I took advantage of it. Since then, I have taken it in a few different directions, quite unintentionally. It's been just kind of like whenever I feel like putting something up, I do. And usually completely random things. I don't use it at all for journal purposes because I already keep a written journal. Anyway. The point is, I haven't decided what I want to do with it from here. I love recipe blogs, so starting one seems like an obvious choice. I also have another that I started a couple of years ago and I think I will use it to post designs that I create. (Mostly bags, probably). Why am I sharing this information? I'm not really sure of that either. I guess I just want you to know why there is a serious lack of direction here if you read this blog of mine.

Hmm.

Well, folks. That's all for now.

It's national ice cream month!

2011-07-18T17:08:00.006-06:00

Did you know?
If not, I suggest taking advantage of the last two weeks left!

Here's what you should do...
Make Ben & Jerry's recipe of light chocolate ice cream.
Refrigerate for longer than an hour so that when you put it in your ice cream maker, it will get thicker and turn into ice cream instead of staying completely liquid. (I say this from my own experience. Charlotte and Amy and I learned this the hard way).
After letting it churn for about fifteen minutes or until it starts to thicken, add the following:
Heath Bar bits
white chocolate chunks
chocolate covered almonds
peanut butter cup chunks

Let it continue to churn for about another ten minutes or until thick and creamy. If you're like me and prefer your ice cream frozen over soft serve, you will then transfer it to a container with a lid and store it in the freezer for an hour or two. Or until you want to eat it.

After doing all this, what will you get?
Something very similar to this:

One of the most delightful flavors of ice cream you will ever taste, in my opinion.
It is GOOD.

And just to make your life easier, I suggest
using this kind of ice cream maker:
Trust me. If you don't have one, you need one.

Whatever you do, just remember it's national ice cream month! So go eat some ice cream!

Something I love.

2011-06-15T10:31:00.003-06:00

Sinding Suite in A minor - Masayuki Kino Violin

Writing two eight to ten page papers in the same week...

2011-06-06T20:55:00.007-06:00

Pretty sure I would rather stick a fork in my eye. I can't wait until Thursday when the paper writing nonsense of this term is behind me. Writing papers seriously stresses me out. But... I am excited for it to almost be the end of this term! It went by pretty fast!

Truths shared by my astronomy teacher.

2011-04-04T14:33:00.008-06:00

Top 10 reasons why it is easier to go to the temple than to go to BYU:

10. Temple workers won’t make you go home and shave.

9. You can walk on the temple grass.

8. There is always enough parking.

7. Your vehicle will not be ticketed.

6. Construction is finished.

5. No tuition increase at the temple.

4. Temple workers won’t get in trouble if everyone passes.

3. They want you to come back year after year.

2. The final exam isn’t for a very long time yet.

1. If you can’t go yourself, someone else will do the work for you.

For anyone that would like to know...

2011-02-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

I will be giving a violin recital on the 19th. I'm playing the Bach Partita #3 and the Franck Violin Sonata. Anyone that would like to come is invited.
However.
If you do come, please don't listen to any recordings of these pieces played by professionals before then.

Burned... Again

2011-01-24T14:15:00.002-07:00

This is the most awkward looking picture ever. Let me tell you why. It's extremely awkward to pin your arm straight back and then take a picture of your right arm with your left hand. If you are right handed.
And now that we've gotten that settled, let me now explain why my arm looks GROSS. I have burned myself every Sunday for the past three weeks. The burn that is close to my elbow looks like rash or something, but it's not. It's really a grease burn from three Sundays ago. Last Sunday I burned my left pointer finger on the side of a pan because I grabbed the edge of the pan instead of the handle. WHY would I do that? I am not three years old. I should know by now that the edge of the pan gets very hot... I clearly wasn't thinking or paying attention... I also got burned on Friday. Just a little burn on the back of my thumb because I got too close to the pan. Yesterday I was making pork for dinner, (my very first time cooking meat that wasn't chicken!), and while I was browning it, I once again was sloshed by grease, creating the little pink circle burns that you see closer to my wrist. I have never before been burned that many times in so short an amount of time. You would think that would turn me off from cooking, but instead I actually have found I really enjoy it almost as much - or maybe even just as much - as baking.
I'm just hoping from all of this that I have learned my lesson to pay closer attention to hot things that will burn my flesh, so that this will not keep happening.

2011-01-05T16:28:00.004-07:00

Look at that sun!

This is from yesterday. Did you all see it and how bright and orange it was as it was setting last night!? If you did then you probably know that it looked even brighter and oranger in person than in the picture. I loved it. It made me feel like it was warm... probably because I saw it from inside and not outside. I did not feel like it was warm as I was walking to my class this morning. My face kind of felt like it was going to fall off because it was so cold. But that's okay. As long as the sun keeps shining brightly enough to melt some ice, I probably won't even mind being frozen.
Speaking of the sun... I'm taking astronomy this semester. It was kind of an unexpected addition, but I think it will be interesting, and I'm pretty sure it fulfills the rest of my science credit. Thank goodness. And hopefully by the end of the semester, you can ask me practically anything about the night sky and I'll be able to tell you the answer. Yeah. We'll see if that actually happens...

Heavy Snow = Death and Destruction

2010-12-21T12:36:00.006-07:00

Does anyone else think there is too much snow, or am I the only one? You have to change your whole life around the snow when there is so much of it. And it does weird things to my nerves. Last night I had a dream that my car alarm was going off. I woke up in a start, thinking the dream was real and I jumped out of bed, grabbed my keys, and unlocked and re-locked my car with the remote through the window. It took me a couple minutes still after that to realize that the alarm really wasn't going off and disturbing the neighbors in the middle of the night. Luckily I went right back to sleep, but still... it was weird. This is what massive amounts of snow does to me. And I don't have many pleasant memories of being out in it, either. Last year, when we went to Idaho, I had to drive home in the snow covered freeway by myself from Layton. I was 70 percent sure I was going to die. Obviously I did not. But now it is winter again and it is particularly bad out there today. And sure, it is pretty, and it makes it feel more like Christmas. But I just hope it will all melt from the streets and sidewalks VERY soon.

(Of course, the one day I want to take a real picture is the one day I don't bring my camera--I had to take this with my phone).

I love to bake.

2010-12-06T16:01:00.008-07:00

I like cooking too, but my favorite is baking.
I have a little problem sometimes, though. If I try to hurry too fast, I make a mess.

See:

Yes. That is my foot. Printed in flour. I believe there's a little cocoa sprinkled in there too.

This is what happened to the counter:

And it got all over the KitchenAid as well.

That time that I made the huge mess I was making cookies. For some reason I always forget to take pictures of the actual food. Maybe because it's always dark when I finish and the pictures never turn out right. The attempt always frustrates me. Oh well. All that matters is that they tasted good.

2010-11-29T10:33:00.002-07:00

I'm like the luckiest person ever. I caught another cold. And also have flu symptoms again. This is after almost two weeks of being better from the flu and cold which turned into sinus infection, then flu again, followed by a weird allergic reaction or something which made me all swollen for a few days. I just am a target for germs I guess. I don't know what's up, but I don't like it.
Sorry about the complaining. I'm done now.
And I will say that being sick does make me more grateful for having good health. I really do realize how blessed I am to not be plagued by diseases and such and not even be sick all that often. And I'm sure I will get better someday. So I can be glad about that.

2010-11-11T14:26:00.001-07:00

Such pain! I would like it to go away.

Another great class...

2010-10-21T16:55:00.000-06:00

So here's how this goes. I'm writing this because I love my New Testament class. I learn new things every day as I read from my packet and then pair it with my New Testament reading, and I love going to class because Todd Parker is the best. This is the third class I've taken from him. (The other two were the first and second halves of Book of Mormon). And I just think that he is so wise. He got a lot of his information directly from Robert J. Matthews, (who was his religion professor when he was a student at BYU), which has also given me an appreciation for Robert J. Matthews and for the things that he did for the Church. (He was responsible for obtaining the Joseph Smith Translations from the RLDS church that we now have in our LDS Bible, for the Bible Dictionary, and for many of the footnotes in the Book of Mormon and Bible). Since the RLDS church still has the book of Joseph Smith Translations, we are still missing many, but Brother Parker put some of those into our packets, and since the JST is so helpful in correcting things that were taken out or changed in the Bible, I think those are also super interesting.

These are a few of many things that I either got from my packet or from class that I really liked or thought were enlightening:

Celestial people don't enjoy watching violence. And if you do, it might be time to re-evaluate.
-Todd Parker

Matthew 5:41 - Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile go with him twain.
JST - not included in LDS Bible - from "Inspired Version" changes this to - "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him a mile; and whosoever shall compel thee to go with him twain, thou shalt go with him twain."

Matthew 5:39, 40 - Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other and if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also
JST from "Inspired Version" changes this to - "And unto him who smiteth thee on the cheek, offer also the other; or, in other words, it is better to offer the other, than to revile again. And him who taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. For it is better that thou suffer thine enemy to take these things, than to contend with him. Verily I say unto you, your heavenly Father who seeth in secret, shall bring that wicked one into judgment."
(This is Jesus' counsel to missionaries not to revile, or contend, or waste a lot of time in court that would prevent them from preaching).
-Todd Parker

Matthew 6:10 - Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven
"When He answers yes, it is to give us confidence. When He answers no, it is to prevent error. When He withholds an answer, it is to have us grow through faith in Him, obedience to His commandments, and a willingness to act on truth. We are expected to assume accountability by acting on a decision that is consistent with His teachings without prior confirmation. We are not to sit passively waiting or to murmur because the Lord has not spoken. We are to act."
-Elder Richard G. Scott

Matthew 6:14, 15 - For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you
Forgiveness Flour
When I went to the door, at the whisper of
Knocking, I saw Simeon Gartner's daughter,
Kathleen, standing there, in her shawl and her
Shame, sent to ask "Forgiveness Flour" for her
Bread. "Forgiveness Flour," we call it in our
Corner. If one has erred, one is sent to ask
For flour of his neighbors. If they loan it to
Him, that means he can stay, but if they
Refuse, he had best take himself off. I looked
At Kathleen . . . what a jewel of a daughter,
Though not much like her father, more's the
Pity. "I'll give you flour," I said, and went to
Measure it. Measuring was the rub. If I gave
Too much, neighbors would think I made sin
Easy, but if I gave too little, they would label
Me "close". While I stood measuring, Joel, my
Husband came in from the mill, a great bag of
Flour on his shoulder, and seeing her there,
Shrinking in the doorway, he tossed the bag at
Her feet. "Here, take all of it." And so she
Had flour enough for many loaves, while I
Stood measuring.
-Anonymous

Matthew 7:13, 14 - Enter ye in at the strait gate . . . and few there be that find it
"I'd like to append to them the fact--and this is a true gospel verity--that everyone in the Church who is on the straight and narrow path, who is striving and struggling and desiring to do what is right though is far from perfect in this life: if he passes out of this life while he's on the straight and narrow, he's going to go on to eternal reward in his Father's kingdom.
If you're on that path and pressing forward, and you die, you'll never get off the path. There is no such thing as falling off the straight and narrow path in the life to come."
-Bruce R. McConkie

Matthew 7:23 - Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you
Another JST not included in the LDS Bible - "Then will I profess unto them, ye never knew me."
To believe that Christ doesn't know us denies his omniscience. The reality is that we don't know him. He knows us better than we know ourselves.
-Todd Parker

All things testify of Christ:
Why a brass serpent on the pole? The word "serpent" in Hebrew is similar to the word "Messiah".

Moses' first plague - turning water to blood
Jesus' first miracle - turning water to wine

Moses' last plague - death of firstborn
Jesus' last miracle - resurrection of the firstborn

In Moses' time, when offering up sacrifices, it had to be a lamb, firstborn, unblemished.
Jesus is the lamb of God, firstborn, unblemished.
- Todd Parker

A comparison, given by Robert Norman, between the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ, which shows that all things typify Christ:

Book of Mormon:

Coming forth declared by an angel - Moroni
Came to restore in time of Apostasy
Laid away in stone receptacle
Taken from receptacle by Joseph Smith
Came forth after stone rolled away
Angel oversees coming forth from receptacle
First one to see (Joseph) forbidden to touch
Attested to by the 12 witnesses
The word of God
Teaches fullness of Gospel
Keystone of our religion

Jesus Christ:

Coming forth declared by an angel - Gabriel
Came to restore in time of Apostasy
Laid away in stone receptacle
Put into receptacle by Joseph of Arimathea
Came forth after stone rolled away
Angel oversees coming forth from receptacle
First one to see (Mary) forbidden to touch
Attested to by the 12 witnesses
The word of God
Teaches fullness of Gospel
Cornerstone of the Church

Matthew 5:21, 22 - Whoso shall say to his brother raca shall be in danger of the council
The word "raca" in Aramaic literally means "empty head". Christ is obviously teaching against the use of words that would be abusive, degrading, or used for derision. Note: "without a cause" in 3 Nephi 12:22 account is deleted from the Matthew 5:22 account. We shouldn't get angry even if we have a cause.
-Todd Parker
Isn't that kind of funny? That raca means empty head? I think it is...

Ahhh... Rain

2010-10-07T16:00:00.003-06:00

What a glorious sound. I love rain. It makes me want to bake cookies and pie. And go puddle jumping. I love when it rains in October. Fall and rain are the perfect mix.

Just in case you didn't know, this month is also the best of all food holidays. It's National Apple, Caramel, Cookie, Pasta, Dessert, Pizza, and Popcorn month. And this Saturday is National Dessert Day! I expect everyone to take this very seriously and eat dessert then. Please. I just want your life to be happy.

2010-09-15T23:33:00.001-06:00

Mom-
So that you are no longer frustrated by my lack of a picture of my new (really not so very new and not new to me anymore) car on my blog, here it finally is.

And for anyone else that cares... I love it and I am so glad I got it.
The end.

2010-07-21T15:07:00.006-06:00

One of my online classes always includes several fake dialogues in every lesson. It's always very cheesy and I find it peculiar that they even feel the need to add fake dialogues to the lessons. But. One of the ones I was reading today mentioned something about a specific IKEA commercial and although I have recently discovered I don't love IKEA as much as I used to, I do still like it, and I found the commercial so I could see what it was all about. I keep on watching it and it gets better every time. Here it is for your own viewing pleasure.

Human Development

2010-06-22T09:05:00.023-06:00

I just had my last human development class last week. It was a lot of reading, hard tests, long classes and a couple difficult papers packed into the six weeks, but it was worth it because I also learned a lot. My teacher was Larry Nelson, and I think that he just has to be the best teacher for this subject. He shared a lot of personal experiences which really helped the concepts tie into real life, but what I liked most of all is that he tried to get us to think critically. He challenged our perceptions and opinions so that we would understand why we felt certain ways, and if it was for the right reasons. It was a really good class and I learned a lot of interesting things. Here are some of my favorite things that I learned in class:

1. Divine worth means that we are all sons and daughters of God with the potential to become like him. This does not EVER change. Worthiness can change, but worth cannot.

2. Self-esteem is our distorted view of divine worth.

3. Children think lovable = worth being loved. They need to know that their parents love them no matter what. The most important things to focus on are their effort, progress and process.

4. Emotions are physical feelings that come with a physical body. If you think about it, this probably means that we didn't really feel emotions before we came to earth because we couldn't feel anything physically without a body.

5. Play is the most important thing that a child should be engaged in. The greatest amount of cognitive, emotional and social knowledge will come with play. These different types of play are:
Functional play - Simple, repetitive motor movements with or without object.
Constructional play - Creating or constructing something.
Make-believe (pretend) play - Acting out everyday and imaginary roles.
Games with rules - Understanding and following rules in play activities.

6. Instead of teaching children to have masculine or feminine characteristics, we should be teaching them to have Christlike characteristics. THEN they will be "socially competent".

7. Temperament is a physiological response, not a behavioral response. The behavior is what follows the physiological feeling.

8. Shyness is also physiological, not behavioral. The behavior of acting shy is what follows the physiological feeling. A person born shy will always experience higher levels of cortisol and stress. Anything they do to decrease this masks their shyness as a physiological response, but if they are born with it, it is always going to be there.

9. The different parenting styles are authoritative, permissive, authoritarian, uninvolved and oversolicitous.

Authoritative parenting - A parenting style that is demanding and responsive. A rational, democratic approach, in which both parents' and childrens' rights are respected.
Includes:
- Make reasonable demands for maturity
- Enforce them by setting limits and insisting on obedience
- Express warmth and affection and responsiveness
- Listen patiently to child's point of view
- Encourage participation in family decision making
- Inductive reasoning (e.g., reasoning about consequences of actions to self and to others)
- Good natured/easy going
- Involved in child's life (school, homework, activities, etc.)

Outcomes of authoritative parenting:
- Lively happy mood
- High self-esteem and self control
- Less traditional gender role behavior
- Social and moral maturity
- Academic achievement and educational attainment
- Perspective taking skills
- Consequential thinking
- Friendly assertive sociable behavior
- Peer acceptance
- Emotion regulation
- Lower levels of internalizing and externalizing behaviors
- Better communication skills

Permissive parenting - A parenting style that is responsive but undemanding. An overly tolerant approach to child rearing.
Includes:
- Nurturing and accepting, but avoids making demands or imposing controls
- Complete independence in decision making

Outcomes of permissive parenting:
- Impulsive
- Disobedient
- Rebellious
- Demanding
- Dependent on adults
- Poor persistence at tasks
- Poor self control and school performance
- Delinquency
- Drug use

Authoritarian parenting - A parenting style that is demanding but low in responsiveness to children's rights and needs. Conformity and obedience valued over open communication.
Includes:
- Very little give and take
- Cold, harsh, unresponsive, even rejecting
- Parent centered
- Forceful
- Physical punishment (spanking)

Outcomes of authoritarian parenting:
- Anxious, withdrawn and unhappy mood
- Hostile and angry when frustrated (emotional dysregulation)
- More misattributions of hostile intent
- Fewer social strategies
- Externalizing disorders (e.g., aggressive, disruptive, etc.)
- Peer rejection
- Lower communication competence

Oversolicitous- a parenting style that is over protective and over controlling.
Includes:
- Not allowing children to make decisions for themselves
- Not allowing children to try new things

Outcomes of oversolcitous parenting:
- Anxiety
- Social fearfulness
- Social withdrawal
- Negative self-regard
- Peer rejections

As I'm sure is obvious, authoritative is the best parenting style.

10. Spanking: Places your child at risk for all of the things on authoritarian list. It does not benefit the child, and also doesn't improve behavior unless you only want your child to obey you in your presence.
Spanking destroys the atmosphere of the home.

And now here are some pictures from my textbook.

First of all, here is the cover of the book.

Take a closer look at the picture on it.

I think it is strange.
And this is what I wonder. Why is the shark in an open pool? Why does the girl in the front have her hand up in that position? Is she about to stick it in the fish tank? Why does the woman in the back in the orange shirt have a mustache?

These pictures are just funny and make me laugh. And the captions too.

Except this one makes me sad.

And the little girl in the picture looks like Craig's niece.

These are pictures of things that are just interesting and informative.

This one is mostly just funny

And last of all, here are two quotes we read in class that I liked.

"Charity given out of duty, without expectation of return, at the proper time and place, and to a worthy person is considered to be in the mode of goodness." -Bhagavad Gita

"Ethics, too, are nothing but reverence for life. That is what gives me the fundamental principle of morality, namely, the good consists in maintaining, promoting, and enhancing life and that destroying, injuring and limiting life are evil." -Albert Schweitzer

I have a serious addiction

2010-06-18T16:16:00.008-06:00

to these.

How can I help it? They sit close to me at work.
But don't worry. I'm sure I'll get sick of them soon.

2010-05-19T08:50:00.003-06:00

Primary is fun for me because I get to hear all the funny things that kids say. It's great.

This last Sunday, the five year old girl who gave the prayer included, "bless that we can stay at church for a long time."

Then in sharing time, the person giving the lesson shared a story about someone who was baptized in the ocean. After that, she asked,
"why don't we get baptized in the ocean?"
"Because the ocean is too big." (This was a five year old girl).
"We also don't have any oceans nearby, do we?"
To that, a four year old boy said, "and we don't have the Sand Dunes to walk on the sand, either."

They are doing the 4th Article of Faith for the scripture this month. Remission is a hard word for them. The person reading it in Junior Primary said "third, baptism by immersion for the remembrance of sins." And in Senior Primary, "third, baptism by immersion for the missions of sins." It was pretty funny. They both got immersion right though! That's a hard one, too.

2010-05-04T16:26:00.005-06:00

This was in the chapter I was reading from my textbook the other day.

The answer to the question on that page is yes, which is probably not surprising at all, but when they studied specific types of lessons in correlation to intelligence test scores, this is what they found.

Apparently I should have taken voice lessons as a child...

Just kidding. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have wanted to, seeing as how I don't sing alone in front of people. This is interesting though, isn't it?

2010-02-25T16:46:00.003-07:00

Over the past few days, I have been listening to different recordings of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto, trying to get ideas of what I think sounds best and how I want to play it. I decided that my favorite violinist for this concerto is Heifetz. I have listened to it so many times, but I am still amazed at how perfect and easy it sounds when he plays it. It is a good motivation for me to practice. I sometimes get frustrated at how it can be so hard to play it and never sounds anywhere near perfect, but I really do love it. I sometimes forget that when I don't spend enough time doing it. I also go back and forth, preferring violin or piano more, depending on which I am less dissatisfied with. Mostly, though, I just really love them both and I love to play them.

If you want to see Heifetz playing the Tchaikovsky, click here. I have mostly only listened to performances instead of watching them, but I really liked this one. If you ever happen to hear me play it, please forget that you ever heard Heifetz play it, as it will not sound nearly the same even when I have learned it all the way.

You really don't need to say anything to me...

2010-01-15T15:40:00.007-07:00

Really. Please don't.
I know that it might be weird for these construction people to be working all around me all day while I'm at work, and I'm just sitting here for them to talk to. But I really don't want to humor people that say weird things to me anymore, even though they are just joking. For example. The other night, the electrician was leaving and he walked past me and said, "When I die, I'm going to come back as a receptionist. We can trade, so you can be an electrician." He came back five minutes later because he forgot his ladder, and he said, "It was your turn to remind me..." I guess it was a little bit funny, but next time I will be fine if he just says goodbye like a normal person. The next day, we had the alarm company over getting the door frames on both sides of the front desk being worked on to have the alarms installed. One of them was looking at the candy in the bowl and said to me, "Does this Milkyway have my name on it?" Saying it once was not so bad, but then later, he said, "Is this Hershey's mine?" This morning, "Is this Milkyway mine?" And now there is someone here cleaning out the utility closet who felt the need to ask me about the company. I explained to him what we do, and he asked a few other random questions like how high the cost runs for our software and that kind of thing. I have no idea. He really thought I should know, so he asked if I could ask someone. I said no. Good thing our sales person is not here today otherwise I don't think I could have gotten out of it.

The Best Day of My Life.

2009-12-04T13:45:00.003-07:00

Not everyone knows this about me, but I have become increasingly hostile towards Facebook. I joined about two years ago, not really knowing what it was, I was just bored at work. It was fine at first. Just something for me to look at when I couldn't find anything else to do. However, the more friends I was connected to, the more I grew to dislike it. I found that more and more people would update their status, saying something vague just so people would ask questions, and it was clearly only a cry for attention. While this may be acceptable to some people, I find that there are few things that bother me more. So, as I found myself starting to complain about Facebook and truly loathe the idea of social networking, I decided it was time for me to cut it out from my life. I waited for a while, trying to find the perfect time to rid myself of the plague on my life only because I didn't want everyone in the world that I know to think that I hated them, assuming that I had disfriended them instead of them knowing that I had deactivated my account. Then I realized one day how it doesn't even matter. I just wanted to do it and be done. So yesterday, I said goodbye. And today was the day. I did it. I deleted my account. I am no longer a member of Facebook, and I feel fantastic about it.
In case you are all now wondering what happens when you deactivate your account, and how to do it, I will tell you. First of all, you look under "Settings" and then you click "Deactivate". Then it takes you to a new page, where it tries to suck you back in by telling you that specific people will miss you. I was not swayed. Then it asks for the reason why you are leaving. I'll just tell you now, "I hate Facebook" is not on the list of options. So I chose "other". It then asks you to explain further. This is what I wrote.
"I have no use for Facebook in my life. Any of the people I truly care about, I keep in touch with without Facebook. People that update their status regularly, I find annoying. Every time I would log into my account, I found myself becoming irritated with the people that were my "friends". Deactivating my account is going to not only make me very happy, but I believe it will also improve the quality of my life. And I am being completely serious. So thanks for allowing me to be a part, but this is really goodbye."
And that was the end of it. It was a little anticlimactic as the page it took me to after that told me that I just had to log in using my same information again, and I could just choose to have everything back to how it was. I wanted everything to be destroyed with no hope of any sort of recovery, but whatever. All that matters is that Facebook and I are over.

Are you all ready for my exciting story of the day?

2009-11-03T17:22:00.003-07:00

Okay. It's really not that exciting, but I want to share it. I was downloading a picture off the internet today at work, and for some reason, the picture did not show up. This keeps on happening to me, so I just decided to delete it. I cannot leave anything in the trash folder longer than a couple of seconds because it bothers me, so I right clicked on the recycle bin, and clicked "delete" without even thinking. A message flashed across the screen. I didn't really read it because I was trying to do something else and I'm used to closing error messages, so it was my automatic response. As soon as I closed it, my recycle bin disappeared. I have no idea where it went. It cannot be found. It no longer exists on my computer. This does not make any sense to me. How can you be allowed to delete your recycle bin? I don't think that it should even be an option... It's crazy. So now I just have no idea what will happen the next time I delete something. I guess I will just have to wait and find out.

I'm in love

2009-08-28T12:15:00.007-06:00

with my new MacBook Pro. I ordered it last Friday, and it came yesterday! It was extremely exciting. Even though I haven't even had it for a whole day yet, and haven't been in a place to use the wireless, I love it so much. I have absolutely no remorse over buying it.
I bought it now because Apple was doing the student discount deal where you get a hundred dollars off the laptop, and it comes with a free iPod Touch! It's a pretty sweet deal. I've been waiting for quite a while to get it, so it is like a dream come true to have it now. :)
Just look at it. It is so beautiful.

Recipe...

2009-06-17T11:34:00.000-06:00

Sorry, I didn't even think of it before, but here is the recipe for the profiteroles.

Profiteroles

1 recipe Cream Puff Paste
Creme Patissiere
Chocolate Sauce

Drop Cream Puff Paste by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden and puffed. Cool away from drafts.

Cut top off each cream puff; pull out and discard soft dough inside. Fill bottom halves with about 1 tablespoon Creme Patissiere, and cover with top halves. Arrange cream puffs on a serving platter, and drizzle with Chocolate Sauce.

Serve immediately or cover and chill. Yield: 4 dozen.

Cream Puff Paste

1 cup water
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs

Combine water and butter in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Add flour and salt, all at once, stirring vigorously over medium-high heat until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms a smooth ball. Remove from heat, and cool 4 to 5 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly with a wooden spoon after each addition; then beat until dough is smooth. Shape and bake pastry immediately according to recipe directions.

Creme Patissiere

5 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine egg yolks and sugar in a heavy saucepan, stirring with a wire whisk until smooth. Add flour, and stir until blended; gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. (Mixture will appear to curdle; continue to stir and it will become smooth.) Reduce heat to medium-low when mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Continue to cook 3 more minutes, stirring constantly. Cool to lukewarm; stir in butter and vanilla. Cover and chill 2 hours.

Chocolate Sauce

1/2 cup whipping cream
1 (4-ounce) package sweet baking chocolate, chopped. (I just used semi-sweet chocolate chips).
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat whipping cream in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until hot (do not boil); remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until melted. Stir in vanilla.

It seems like a lot and not very simple... It's not like the easiest thing ever, but I didn't think it was as hard as it looks. Like I said before, it just takes some time.

Profiteroles

2009-06-02T13:52:00.007-06:00

These are delicious. They're not hard to make, just a little time consuming and slightly tedious. I think it was worth it though. I have so much fun trying new recipes. I ate one the night before I put the chocolate sauce on it, and it tasted okay, but the filling is kind of pasty because it has flour, so I think it's the chocolate sauce that makes all the difference.
Yum.

YUM

2009-02-24T17:54:00.002-07:00

Cold Stone has a new flavor of ice cream. It is.. are you ready for it?... Chocolate Cake Batter! I love the original Cake Batter flavor, but I must say. The Chocolate Cake Batter is even better! I had it with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in it, and it was possibly the most delicious ice cream I have ever had. I highly recommend it.

Ummm... Where's my Pillow?

2008-12-16T13:17:00.005-07:00

I have been in the process of cleaning my room for about a week and a half now. I haven't had much time to clean during the week because of work and school.. So anyway, since I'm still in the process of cleaning, my stuff is everywhere, including on my bed, so I have been sleeping on the couch. A couple nights ago, I slept on the couch just like normal, but something really weird and kind of creepy happened that night. I woke up because my nose was all stuffy and I couldn't breathe. Why couldn't I breathe? Because my pillow wasn't under my head, so I had no elevation. Thinking it must have fallen off the couch or something normal like that, I checked all around me on the floor and the other end of the couch, but my pillow could not be found. I got up, feeling extremely annoyed. I wanted to go back to sleep, but I had to have my pillow. I don't know where the logic was behind this next move, but I went in my room to see if it might be in there. It wasn't. Feeling even more annoyed and slightly crabby, I went in the kitchen. You're probably thinking that it doesn't make any sense for me to even look in the kitchen, because why would it even be there? Why, indeed. Considering that pillows are not usually in kitchens, you can imagine my confusion as I saw there, propped up on one of the kitchen chairs, my pillow. As soon as I saw it, I stopped moving, not comprehending why on earth my pillow was there. A few thoughts ran across my mind as I was trying to find an explanation for this odd scenario. Did Mom take it from under my head while I was sleeping and randomly put it in the kitchen? No.. probably not. Did I really have it when I went to sleep? Yes.. I sure did. Could anyone else have taken it from me while I was sleeping? Well, considering how the doors are always locked, Mom and I were the only ones home, and I probably would not have slept through someone doing that...... that's not very likely either. So, how did it get there then? The only possible explanation I can figure is that I walked in my sleep, which kind of creeps me out. As far as I know, I have never sleep walked before in my life, so I have no idea where this random night of sleep walking came from.

Shocked and Dismayed

2008-10-24T13:33:00.003-06:00

I just took this Which Halloween Candy Are You? quiz, and here were the results.
Wax fangs?? I have never even heard of these before. Why would this even be one of the options? Who wants to be wax fangs?

Necklace Giveaway!

2008-10-22T15:37:00.011-06:00

My sister, Rosie, makes the cutest necklaces and sells them in her etsy shop. She is doing a giveaway this week, so visit her etsy shop blog to enter!
Here are a few examples of the necklaces she makes:

Autumn

2008-10-01T15:30:00.021-06:00

I am so happy that it's finally Autumn! This is my very favorite time of year. It's never too hot or too cold, the colors are beautiful, and the evening Fall air smells fantastic. Halloween is also one of my favorite holidays, and not just because it's my birthday. I'm not a big fan of the creepy scary stuff that gets associated with Halloween, but I do love seeing all the little kids dressed up in their cute costumes and all the fun decorations outside. It's just such a fun holiday. I couldn't imagine celebrating it any other season than in the Fall. It's perfect.

What the Random...

2008-09-22T13:16:00.003-06:00

I got stung by a bee today! I had just walked across the street from the parking lot to the same side that the Marriott is on, and I felt something sharp on my thumb so I shook it off, and when I looked down I saw a dead bee! I don't know if the wind blew a dead bee into my hands, or if it was alive and died after it stung me. Either way, what the heck! It was really windy and kind of cold. Why was there a bee out there in the first place?

Blondies

2008-08-20T13:19:00.007-06:00

I watched Nancy Drew, the movie, yesterday and there is a blondie in it. I was craving them the whole day after that. I found this new recipe last night so I made them and they were so yummy! I added a few extra white chocolate chips than it calls for, but I followed everything else exactly as it's written. This has to be one of my new favorite desserts. Seriously. So good.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 sticks softened butter or margerine
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 t vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut 18" length foil and fit foil into length of 13 x 9 " baking pan, pushinig it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside.
4. Whisk softened butter and brown sugar together in medium bowl until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Using rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in chocolate and turn batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula.
5. Bake until top is shiny, cracked, and light golden brown, 22 to 25 min; do not overbake. Cool on wire rack to room temperature. Remove bars from pan by lifting foil overhang and tranfer to cutting board. Cut into 2" squares and serve.

Not Again!!

2008-08-12T14:50:00.003-06:00

About two months ago, I was sitting at my desk, just doing something on my computer. Without any warning, the screen went blue, and said something like, "Internal error. Preparing to discard memory." What?!?!? Why!?!? Needless to say... I freaked out. During this time, many thoughts were going through my head. "Did I push a wrong button?" "Does my computer have a virus?" "Why me!?" I proceeded to let everyone around me know what had happened. This was definitely not okay. We restarted my computer, and everything seemed to be back to normal, but about a half hour later, the same thing happened. Obviously, something was wrong. The IT guy here at work came and took a look at it for me and found that my hard drive was too full or something like that. I was going to need a new one. We had some new computers coming in, but it would be about a month before they would be available. Until then, I would have to float around and use other people's computers when they weren't here. It had been almost a month and I can't tell you how much I missed my desk! I just wanted to be back in my normal spot. Finally, the day came. I had a new computer. I could go back to MY desk. It was one of the best days of my life.
About a week later, I had just gotten home from work, and I set my phone down on my bed. It lit up, which meant someone either sent me a message or someone was calling me. Nope. It just decided to turn off. By itself. You're probably thinking, "was this a normal occurence? her phone just randomly decided to turn off sometimes?" Nope. It didn't. Ever. With a puzzled look on my face, I turned my phone back on. "Well, that was strange," I thought. Someone had sent me a text message earlier, so I was responding now that I had a chance to. One problem. Every time I pushed the "send" button, it went back to the main menu. Holy heck! What's wrong with my phone!? I called Charlotte in my state of anxiety to ask her what I should do. She suggested that I turn my phone off and back on, then try it again. Oh, duh. Why can I never think of these things? In my troubled state, I turned my phone off, then pushed the button to turn it back on. I waited. Waited some more. Nothing happened. Well, maybe my battery meter was off, and it suddenly died, even though it said it was almost fully charged. So I plugged it in to charge it. Nothing happened. Oh, great. I had plans to go play tennis with a friend, so I didn't have time to deal with it right then, so I just left it. When I came back from playing tennis, my phone was lit up again. This time the screen was black with white writing on it, and said something to the effect of, "Booting error." Since I had no phone to call customer service on, Andrew was very nice to call them for me, and he worked everything out with them. Turns out this kind of thing had happened on my particular type of phone many times. Nice. They gave me three options for my new phone. I could get a new phone that was exactly like my old one, or I could choose between two other Motorola phones. The other two they offered me were older than my phone, and I had not heard great things about them, so I didn't really want those. Plus, I really loved my phone, and I hadn't had any problems with it before then. Granted, it was a pretty BIG problem, but still... My phone was the best option. So I stuck with the same kind of phone, and haven't had any problems since. I just hope nothing like that will happen to it again.
Here comes the big kicker. Yesterday, sitting at work again, my monitor started doing something funky. I don't really know how to explain it. It just started going fuzzy between dark and bright. Yes, that does sound weird, and yet I say, dark and bright. After a couple minutes, it stopped, for which I was grateful. It was annoying! However, a couple minutes after that, the left half of my screen went dark. Not completely dark, but I had to squint to see anything. It looked like I was wearing dark sunglasses, while only looking at my monitor. Oh, brother. I tried tightening the cords attached to the monitor, tried everything I could think of, but it would not be fixed. It was dying. My beautiful, big, flat-screen monitor. I came in to work today, hoping and praying that it would somehow miraculously be fixed. It wasn't. I had to get a new one. Sadly, this story does not have a happy ending. I do have a new monitor, and it is very bright and clear.. but it is much smaller and just not as cute as my old one! I know, I know... at least I have a working monitor, and it is still very nice, but I still just miss my other one! Why does everything keep breaking on me?? I find it very irksome!

Ikea!

2007-10-05T17:56:00.002-06:00

For our Wednesday young women activity, we all went to Ikea! Some of the leaders disguised themselves, and scattered throughout Ikea. The young women were all in groups of three, and we had to find the women disguised to find which sentences they had from the Strength of Youth pamphlet. They all had really good disguises, so that made it a whole lot more fun. That is probably my favorite activity that we have done pretty much all year. I had so much fun. Now I want to go back to Ikea in my own disguise just for fun. :)