Jen's Hub

The fine art of experience enhancement for living a soul-satisfying life

2011-11-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

On this Thanksgiving, I am very grateful for what I have been learning over the past few years. Here are some of the results:

Experience is what expands our horizons, allows us to learn, and makes life worth living. I've listed a few things I've discovered about how to make the most of it. :)

Value experience over stuff. Clearing out the excess, both physical and mental, reduces stress and opens you up for new and enriching experiences. Unloading the majority of your material possessions and clutter can be extremely liberating. It frees up time, energy, and money which can be invested in life changing experiences instead.

"Stuff" also includes emotional baggage, which usually boils down to unnecessary relationship drama. Letting go of unhealthy relationships has been by far the most difficult for me. I’m finally coming fully to the realization that some relationships were unhealthy from the beginning, and with the way relationships change and evolve over time, some just become too incompatible after a while, and that’s o.k.

I don’t need to keep trying to continue a relationship that just simply isn’t working any longer, and hasn't been for years. To let it go peacefully and move on is in the best interests of everyone involved. When it comes to our personal relationships, we are naturally drawn to people who we feel can offer us the acceptance, respect, support, and love we need. Those individuals can and do change from time to time.

Experience and explore your inner world. It's fascinating! At least mine is. I guess that's all I can really attest to. For most of us it is largely unexplored territory. Who knows what treasures may be waiting to be discovered and experienced! For example, I love tuning into the guidance of my intuition, and following the path I want to be on. I love that I can feel my own personal power, and allow it to bring an infinite amount of joy into my life.

Refine your experience. As often as you do things the same way, you get the same results, whether you like it or not. Learn from your bad experiences, especially if they stem from your own ingrained, undesirable habits . Become aware of them. Learn from them. Do things differently. Move on to a world of better experiences.

In those kinds of situations it's sometimes fun to do or say the opposite of your natural inclinations and see what happens. Smile when you feel like frowning. Hug when you feel like throwing a tantrum. Sing when you feel like screaming. I've found the results to be not only incredibly empowering, but highly amusing as well. :)

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. 
--Albert Einstein

Focus on appreciation vs. expectations. If we are constantly focused on an expectation of how we think things should be, to the point of being unable to appreciate the reality we are living in, it obviously creates many problems. Everything is already as it should be in any given moment, simply because that’s the way it is. That’s reality. A focus based on expectations and perceived lack obscures much of the good that exists. A focus based on appreciating reality as it stands will find there isn't anything truly lacking after all. The best thing I can do for myself and others is to bring love to the reality I am living in. The best way to improve my reality is to appreciate it.

A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
--Albert Einstein

Learn something new. There are lots of ways to do this, of course. You could start by taking some classes or lessons. Read a book, perhaps? Also, be sure to make use of free online educational resources. Here's a list of some websites we use to supplement our homeschool. I've learned never to underestimate the joy that comes from learning and experiencing something new.

Travel. This one propels you into the fast lane of expanding your experience. From experiencing new food, people, nature, cultures, ideas, and languages up close and personal, you gain understanding at a deeper level, and it sticks with you. I prefer to stay a few months or more in each new place, depending upon my level of enjoyment. I can explore at a much more relaxed and enjoyable pace, without feeling pressured or rushed. I feel like I can really soak in the experience fully.

Practice emotional responsibility. Take responsibility for your own emotions and allow others to take responsibility for theirs. Blaming other people and circumstances for our emotions, and trying to manage the emotions of others, is counterproductive. It keeps us stuck in unpleasant cycles of experiencing emotional pain without being able to see a way to rise above it. When we practice emotional responsibility we are the ones in control of our own feelings and reactions.

Live in the moment. We are here now; that's what's important. Take time to experience just being in the moment and what that feels like. Feel your feelings. Pay attention to your five senses. Notice your breath. Relax tense muscles. Tune into your inner voice. Appreciate. Practice mindfulness. Soak up love.

Gain experiences that are different from your norm. To learn and grow in new ways, sometimes we are better off facing our fears than in constantly trying to insulate ourselves against them. Step outside of your bubble and explore, particularly if you think your bubble is the best one. We can't truly see where we are or where we're going until we allow ourselves to see the bigger picture. It helps put everything in context and even increases our understanding of things we thought we already knew.

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring 
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-- T.S. Eliot

Learn to savor contrast. This helps us avoid taking things for granted, and allows us to experience greater appreciation for what we have while we have it. The times when we are compelled to do without, are the times we come to fully appreciate what we had before. Along with that, we can learn to take notice of new things to enjoy in our current circumstances which may not have been available to us previously.

Focus completely on loving someone. Perhaps especially someone with whom you are currently experiencing conflict. Include loving yourself as well, which may be the most difficult at times, but also the most rewarding. Real, pure, freely given, freely received, and resonant, LOVE. That is all I really care about at this point in time. How much do I really care about myself and others? How much do I show it? How much can I and others feel that love? It matters. It may be the only thing that does.

In a nutshell:
Allow your experience of life to resonate in that sweet spot that feeds your soul and frees your spirit.

I know I'm not the only one who has learned some techniques in the fine art of experience enhancement. Please share your ideas below!

Homemade Bagels and Butternut Squash

2011-03-20T22:35:00.011-06:00

Bagels can be found in select places in Costa Rica. For example, Bagelman's, here in Escazu. The problem is, they are extremely expensive. We paid about $4.00 for one bagel with flavored cream cheese.

Now, thankfully, those days are over. I found my very own recipe for homemade bagels online. I tested out the recipe today, and was very pleasantly surprised. They are absolutely delicious! I think they taste much better than any bagel you would get pre-bagged from the grocery store. :) Yay!!!

Homemade Bagels

4 cups flour
1 T sugar
1 1/2 t salt
1 T vegetable or olive oil
2 t yeast
1-1/2 cups of warm water

Soak the yeast in the warm water for about 5 - 10 minutes. Mix everything together in a bowl. The dough should feel stiff, but add the extra water if it's really stiff, or you can't get all the dry flour incorporated.

Knead dough on the counter for about ten minutes, or until it is uniform and smooth.

Cut the dough into 8 equal sized balls, and let rest (covered) for 10-20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now, take each of the dough balls and using two hands, roll it until it is about as long as two hand widths. Make a dough circle by overlapping the two ends. Now take the two overlapping ends, and use your palm to squish/roll these two ends together. Once the dough is fused, you should have a perfectly circular bagel-to-be!

Let your bagels rest on the counter (covered) for about 20 minutes, and meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, and grease a large baking tray lightly. You can just rub a splash of vegetable or olive oil and rub it around.

After the 20 minute wait, your bagels will start to look puffy, and it's time to get them boiling! Add them as many at a time as you can to your boiling water without crowding them. Boil for about a minute, turn them over, and boil for another minute. Take them out a let dry for a minute and then place them on your oiled baking tray. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled.

Add the tray to the oven, and after 10 minutes, flip the bagels over, bake for another ten minutes; and they're done!

Let them cool for at least 20 minutes.

We like to eat bagels with soup and dip them, or toasted for breakfast with a spread of cream cheese. Flavored cream cheese is hard to come by here in Costa Rica, so we like to make our own by making fruit puree (strained, and with a bit of sugar added) and mixing into plain cream cheese. Tonight we had blueberry cream cheese, because I happened to have some frozen blueberries on-hand. So good!

You can add any toppings you like to these bagels. To make sesame, onions, poppy seed, caraway etc. bagels just have a dry plate ready with the seed or spice topping spread out on it. After the bagels have come out of the boiling water, place them face down onto the seeds, and then place the seed side up onto the baking tray. Bake and flip as for plain bagels.

Also, I am very happy to have found butternut squash here in Escazu. So, I decided to make some soup with it, and I'm very glad I did. We ate this with our homemade bagels tonight. Mmmm...it is a winner! :) See recipe below.

Butternut Squash Cream Soup

1 small butternut squash
1 regular onion, chopped
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
2 cups water
2 cubes vegetable bouillon
1 baked potato, cubed with skin removed
Salt, black pepper, and ground nutmeg, to taste
1 cup heavy cream

Cut the butternut squash in half with a very strong, sharp knife. Clean out the seeds, etc. Place cut sides down on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. If you don't already have a leftover baked potato on hand, then you could throw a buttered potato in the oven along with the squash at this point.

Heat up the butter and oil in a soup pan. Add chopped onion and cook until tender. Add the water, squash (removed from the skin and cut into pieces), potato pieces, vegetable bouillon, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Cook until vegetables are very tender. Pour soup into blender and make a puree. Place soup back into pan and stir in the cream. Heat well, but don't boil.

Variation:
I didn't have any carrots when I made this, and I didn't want to go to the store for them, but they would be good in this soup. Maybe add up to a cup of chopped carrots, and add them at the same time as the squash and potatoes. Cook until tender.

Got Carrots, Anyone?

2010-08-10T18:48:00.005-06:00

I have finally updated the design of my blog. Hallelujah!!

Also, I decided this recipe is just too good not to share, so here you go!

They are delicious served for breakfast with some fresh fruit, yogurt, and juice.

Carrot Muffins with Vanilla Creme Topping:

Ingredients
• 1 cup flour (1/2 wheat flour, 1/2 white flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, oil and brown sugar; beat well. Combine egg mixture and flour mixture; mix just until moistened. Fold in carrots. Spoon into prepared muffin cups.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes (No more than 20 in my small oven). Let cool before adding topping (see below).

Vanilla Creme Topping:

Ingredients
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 8 oz. carton whipping cream, whipped

Directions
1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer. Beat in brown
sugar, and vanilla. Add honey.
2. Continue to beat until light and fluffy.
3. Mix in the whipped cream.
4. Spread on tops of muffins. May also want to add a sprinkling of cinnamon over the
topping, and/or chopped cinnamon-sugar toasted almonds (see recipe below).
Store leftover topping in the fridge.

Cinnamon-Sugar Toasted Almonds:

Ingredients
1 egg white
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups unblanched almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
1. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until frothy; beat in vanilla.
2. Add almonds; stir gently to coat.
3. Combine the sugars, salt and cinnamon; add to nut mixture and stir gently to coat.
4. Spread evenly into greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan.
5. Bake at 300° for 25-30 minutes or until almonds are crisp (could possibly take a longer amount of time). Stirring once (or more) throughout the cooking process. Cool.
6. Chop some of the cinnamon toasted almonds in a food processor, and sprinkle over muffin topping as desired. Store in an airtight container.

For the love of chocolate and toasted marshmallows

2010-07-03T22:30:00.019-06:00

What do you get when you combine:

brownie bites

toasted marshmallows

milk chocolate chips

and

sweetened condensed milk?

Introducing...

Toasted Marshmallow Brownie Bites!!

If you are craving a more intimate introduction, please see below.

Try them out...if you dare. :) It is like two recipes in one. They taste completely different depending upon whether you eat them warm or cold. I made them as regular brownies instead of bites, but they are extremely rich, especially when warm. So, I thought they may be even better as bites, and cuter too. :)

I happened to have the large white marshmallows at home, so I just cut them into fourths, but if you prefer the easy way, just use the miniatures. I only have milk chocolate chips here, so that is what I used. You could probably use whatever type of chocolate you like best.

I kind of guessed on the ingredient amounts as I was typing up the recipe afterwards, so feel free to use a little less or more of whatever you suspect may need adjusting (ie. chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and/or marshmallows).

We had a late lunch yesterday, so we ended up eating popcorn as an appetizer for dinner and these were our main dish, followed up by a dessert of pineapples and mangoes, of course. :)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• dash of salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups white miniature marshmallows
(or 16-ish large white marshmallows, quartered), divided

Frosting:

• 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• dash of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:

Heat 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until melted. Stir in sugar, and cook, stirring constantly, until sugar melts. Cool 15 minutes (I just put it in the freezer for a bit).

Add eggs; stir until blended. Add flour, salt, and vanilla, stirring until blended. Stir in 3/4 cup mini marshmallows (or 8 large marshmallows, quartered), and scoop into miniature muffin tins (about a tablespoon each), lined with paper or foil cups (or lightly greased with butter). Or, you could spread it out in a small rectangular pan like regular brownies instead, just increase the baking time to 30-35 minutes.

Bake at 350° for 12 to 15 minutes (or until set and spongy); cool in pan on a wire rack, or you could just put in the freezer for a while to speed up the process, like I did. :)

Make the frosting: In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt 3/4 cup chocolate with sweetened condensed milk and salt. Cook and stir, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.

Remove brownie bites from the freezer. Arrange the remaining marshmallows on the tops of the brownie bites. ”Toast” them in the oven under the broiler until they are puffed and lightly golden. Remove from oven and spread tops with the frosting. Eat them! Immediately...or as soon as they cool off (just long enough so they don’t burn your tongue). :) This will give you the benefit of having the crispy crunch of the freshly toasted marshmallows. Delicious!...But very rich.

I like to store the leftovers in the fridge. The taste and texture are quite a bit different after that, but they are still delicious...in a cold way.

Happy Eating!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

2010-05-09T18:40:00.008-06:00

This is definitely blog worthy. I know it has been a while.

I love this beautiful flower arrangement from Brandon, Emily and Marie. :) They picked all of these flowers from our garden and made them into a beautiful arrangement! Wow, I think it is amazing all of the beautiful flowers we have right here in our own backyard. Those white ones smell heavenly. I put them right next to my bed, so I hope they will induce some wonderful dreams tonight.

I love my sweet little family. :)

Did you know they actually celebrate Mother's Day in August here in Costa Rica? I wonder if they will spoil me again in a couple months? Here's hoping!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Apple-Cinnamon Cheese Scones with Honey-Berry Glaze

2010-02-09T09:23:00.017-07:00

I made these delicious scones yesterday, and they were quite a hit. We gobbled them right up. I would highly recommend them, especially for breakfast.

1 Tbls. yeast
1/4 C warm water
1 C milk, scalded
1 1/2 Tbls. butter, melted
1 1/2 Tbls. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 C water
4 C flour (approx.)

Filling:

Soft white cheese (salty is good, I used a fresh white semi-soft type I found here in Costa Rica. It is called Montino), sliced.

Yummy apples, chopped (and peeled) and baked in a covered dish, along with 1/8 C water and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar, for about 30 minutes or until tender.

Topping:
Butter
Jam (we used mixed berry)
Honey

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add rest of ingredients and knead. Let rise until double (I covered the dough ball very lightly with olive oil and put it in a bowl covered on top with a dish towel). Punch down. Roll out. Cut in pieces, approximately 4x4 inches. Put a cheese slice and a spoonful of apples with cinnamon syrup over 1/2 of each piece. Fold over and seal well with fingers, so filling doesn't escape. Fry in hot oil (I used olive oil) on both sides until golden. Top with a little butter. Mix honey and jam together to create a glaze. Spread over hot scones.

Sorry, I don't have a photo of them to show you. I could only think about eating them at the time. I will try to remember to take a photo of the next batch and post it here. :)

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-11T15:13:00.002-07:00

Merry Christmas in 2009!

Another year has gone by already, and what a life-changing year this has been for our family! We hope and pray that this letter finds you in good health and happiness.

We started out 2009 with a six-week trip to Panama. While there, we explored the country, practiced our Spanish, enjoyed the culture, and grew closer together as a family than we ever thought possible. We also realized during our trip that we want to homeschool our children, learn to speak Spanish fluently, and live outside of the United States for a while. Yes, big changes. More on that below.

We have been enjoying homeschool. Emily is now 6 years old and is becoming a good reader. She loves to read anything she can get her hands on. Her favorite school activity, though, is still arts and crafts. Marie continues to melt our hearts with her sweet voice, and she loves playing anything with anyone. Both Emily and Marie especially enjoy computer games, and make-believe play together.

Jennifer feels like she's grown in many ways this year, and loves being able to spend time teaching the kids. Jennifer has continued to take voice lessons and loves to sing, as well as read. She has spent much of the last part of this year typing all her old journals and recipes she wants to keep, into the computer (we love Google Docs). She continues to keep up on her blog at http://jenshub.blogspot.com.

During the summer, Brandon participated in the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" with South Jordan Community Theater - his first musical theater experience since Jr. High. He played the part of Judah, where he got to sing a fun calypso solo. He made some good friends there and had a great time.

The family's businesses continue to flourish. Music Teacher's Helper now has over 850 paying subscribers, and Studio Helper has about 50. Brandon now takes more of a managerial role, relying mostly on his great teams for the day-to-day running of the businesses. Brandon doesn't do much freelance web programming anymore, either, since he'd rather spend his time on his own businesses and doing other things, such as being with his family, reading, and arranging hymns for the piano (which you can hear on his blog at www.brandonpearce.com/music).

In the later part of this year, after much thought, we chose Costa Rica as our new home for 2010, and we're getting very excited to make the move on January 6th. We have already sold our house in Utah, and most of our possessions, including a new car we just bought six months ago (2009 Infiniti G37xS). We plan to take only carry-on luggage with us to our new home, and we'll be renting furnished places while there. We hope to all learn to speak Spanish fluently, continue growing closer together, find opportunities to serve others, and focus on what's most important to us.

We've learned this year that having a lot of things doesn't make us any happier than we already are. Neither does focusing solely on accomplishing goals, nor relaxing day after day. These are all great and have their place, but don't necessarily increase our happiness in and of themselves. We've found that we're most happy when we try to stay close to God, take time to enjoy each moment of our lives as we live it, and be grateful for all we have, right now - especially our family - while not letting less important things distract us. So, we're slowing down and simplifying our lives, living with less, and trying to enjoy life to its fullest. And what better place to practice these changes than Costa Rica, the land of "pura vida" (pure life)?

To stay up to date with what's happening with us, please check out Brandon's blog at www.brandonpearce.com. He'll be posting regular updates. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
Brandon, Jennifer, Emily, and Marie Pearce

Banana Pancakes with Fresh Peach Sauce

2009-11-27T14:24:00.005-07:00

Banana Pancakes

We always have one or two extra bananas at the house which don't get eaten before they start to turn brown. I've used them for banana bread mostly. Here is a great banana pancake recipe to use them in as well:

1 C. flour
1 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 egg, beaten
1 C. milk
2 T. vegetable oil
one or two mashed bananas

Mix dry ingredients together and wet ingredients together seperately, then add the dry to the wet and mix.

Pour onto a griddle in small amounts and cook until light brown on the bottom. Flip and cook the other side till golden. Butter and serve with fresh peach sauce (recipe to follow).

Fresh Peach Sauce

We also love peaches in the fall, and we like to buy a whole boxful. We can't use them all in time, so I peel and slice the remainder and freeze them for use in the winter. We use them for peach cobbler, smoothies, etc. I found a great recipe to make fresh peach sauce also, perfect for pancakes. I use my frozen peaches and it turns out delicious. Here's the recipe:

1/2 C. water
3 T. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1 dash ground nutmeg
1 C. sliced, peeled fresh peaches (can use frozen, just cook a while longer)
1/8 t. almond extract

In a saucepan bring water, sugar, cornstarch, and nutmeg to a boil; boil for one minute. Add peaches. Bring to a boil; boil another 2-3 minutes (longer if using frozen peaches). Remove from heat; stir in extract. Serve warm.

Happy Eating!!

Gratitude

2009-11-25T13:08:00.004-07:00

In line with Thanksgiving, Brandon and I were asked to give talks in our Murray ward this past Sunday on the topic of gratitude. So, I thought it would be appropriate to share my talk as a blog post to help us prepare for Thanksgiving tomorrow. :) Here you go:

In President Monson's talk "An Attitude of Gratitude", he quotes a popular song from the 1940s,

Accentuate the positive;
Eliminate the negative.
Latch on to the affirmative;
Don’t mess with Mr. In-between.

He said,

"This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help.

We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues."

So, as I was preparing this talk I realized, we can be grateful for a lot of things in life, but there are some things that we have been given as our very greatest blessings, and those are the things that will bring us the greatest joy.

President Kimball said,

"Let us remember that our Heavenly Father has given us the greatest of all gifts.

'And, if ye keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.' ” (D&C 14:7.)

President Monson said, "I express my profound thanks to a loving Heavenly Father who gives to you, to me, and to all who sincerely seek, the knowledge that death is not the end, that His Son—even our Savior Jesus Christ—died that we might live. Temples of the Lord dot the lands of many countries. Sacred covenants are made. Celestial glory awaits the obedient. Families can be together forever."

Of the Savior, President Monson said,

"Let us follow Him. Let us emulate His example. Let us obey His word. By so doing, we give to Him the divine gift of gratitude."

D&C 78:19 says,

“And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.”

We should be grateful for what is right now, it is molding us into the people we will become. We are being molded moment by moment. Enjoy the process as it unfolds and be grateful for it.

In hindsight, I know I am grateful for times in my life that have been difficult because of the growth and learning that have come as a result, and of course I am grateful for the happy times too, but we do need both. Both types of experiences contribute to our overall happiness, and especially during difficult times we tend to draw closer to our Savior than we otherwise would, if things were always easy.

President Monson quoted the ancient Roman philosopher Horace who admonished, "Whatever hour God has blessed you with, take it with grateful hand, nor postpone your joys from year to year, so that in whatever place you have been, you may say that you have lived happily."

That reminds me that, our very life is a gift from God. Do we feel entitled to that gift or do we feel grateful for it? After all, of what have we to boast? We certainly cannot repay God for all the blessings he so lovingly bestows upon us, we are forever in his debt.

Are we givers of gratitude or are we givers of complaints?
Do we appreciate these, our greatest gifts, or do we neglect or even reject them, as we go endlessly searching for our happiness elsewhere?

President Faust said,

"A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being.

But there is a truism associated with all types of human strength: Use it or lose it. When not used, muscles weaken, skills deteriorate, and faith disappears."

President Thomas S. Monson stated: "Think to thank. In these three words is the finest capsule course for a happy marriage, a formula for enduring friendship, and a pattern for personal happiness."

President Monson also said, "Despite the changes which come into our lives and with gratitude in our hearts, may we fill our days—as much as we can—with those things which matter most. May we cherish those we hold dear and express our love to them in word and in deed."

So, I've actually been thinking a lot about these things in my life for quite a while now, and it leads me to the following question,

Do we fully appreciate our greatest blessings, or are we putting the majority of our focus on less important things instead, or sometimes even on the very least important things, without even realizing it?

If so, I really feel that we are taking our focus away from the source of our greatest joy.

I also feel that the extent to which our lives show our gratitude for our greatest blessings, is the same extent to which we will find joy and peace in our lives.

I wonder if decreasing and sometimes even eliminating some of the less important things from our lives, would enable us to more fully realize and appreciate our greatest blessings.

Steven E. Snow said,

"An old proverb states, 'The greater wealth is contentment with a little.'"

He also said,

"Gratitude may be increased by constantly reflecting on our blessings and giving thanks for them in our daily prayers."

President Monson said, "Our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings."

I feel that through being able to comprehend our greatest blessings, we allow them to increase. Gratitude attracts more reasons to be grateful, and the more we enjoy what we have been blessed with, the happier we will be.

I also believe the opposite is true. Ingratitude breeds more of the same, and along with that, misery and discontentment.

If our lives are not a testament to our gratitude for our greatest blessings, above all else, then what do our lives say about what we treasure the most, and does that make us happy?

Gene R. Cook said,

"True gratitude is the ability to humbly see, feel, and even receive love. Gratitude is a form of returning love to God. Recognize His hand, tell Him so, express your love to Him."

I love this quote by a well-known author, Melody Beattie, she wrote:

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Women at the Well

2009-11-25T12:48:00.006-07:00

O.K., so I guess journaling isn't all I've been up to lately...

I also sang this song for a young women program about a week ago, and when I came home that night, Brandon helped me make a recording of myself singing it in Garageband. I get extremely nervous singing in front of an audience, and my sound quality really reflects it. However, a recording is easier, because I don't have the audience to contend with to make me all nervous at the same time. :) Enjoy!

Women at the Well - sung by Jen by refinnejp

Journaling

2009-11-23T12:51:00.011-07:00

So I'm currently in the process of typing up my old journals into Google Docs, and I've written a lot, ever since I was eleven years old to be exact. Hence, no time for blogging, sorry. We've also moved, and are currently in the process of preparing to relocate to Costa Rica...

As I've been reading through my journal entries, I've found that they are none too exciting for the most part, and the funny ones are even more rare.

However, I did run across one tonight that may be worth sharing, so I thought I should share it, in an effort to update my blog (for those of you who are still faithfully waiting in anticipation). Afterall, like I said, my journal tends to be a bit boring, and it might be a while before another entertaining entry comes along. Here goes,

November 25, 1999

"It was so funny yesterday when we were walking to the museum [Prado] because I almost catapulted myself over a pole. At each corner they have about four small poles that come up from the sidewalk. They are spaced apart so that people have to walk in between them, as they walk onto the sidewalk from the street. Well, I wasn't really paying attention, but I was looking straight ahead, and the poles only come up to about a little above my knee. Anyways, I didn't see it, and I had my skirt on. So, my skirt closed in tight around the pole, and the force almost catapulted me over the pole onto my head. I looked so completely ridiculous as I was trying to find my balance, and at the same time trying to figure out what in the world was going on. I don't know, but I think it's kind of scary for a person as unobservant as I am to walk around downtown Madrid..."

[I'm afraid to say, the whole "quiet dignity" rule (for missionaries) took quite a flying leap at this point, as those of us who witnessed this unfortunate event couldn't control our hysterical laughter for quite some time afterward... as I remember it was only myself, my companion, and one elder who saw what happened. The other missionaries in our group thought we were just being unnecessarily loud and obnoxious. Who could blame them I guess...]

I've also noticed I tend to give myself lots of pep talks and advice throughout my journals. Whether or not it's good advice is still debatable. For example,

"Get over it! Yes, upsetting things will happen, but guess what? Life still goes on whether you're dealing well with it or not."

I do like this one however,

"Live to love and love to live."

Well, I guess that's about it for now. Hopefully I'll be back soon. :)

On Nest Building

2009-08-20T17:27:00.007-06:00

I came across this poem while I was in high school,
and I absolutely LOVED it.
I thought about it again recently and re-read it.
Now I love it even more.
Enjoy!

On Nest Building

Mud is not bad for nest building.
Mud and sticks
And a fallen feather or two will do
And require no reaching.
I could rest there, with my tiny ones
Sound for the season, at least.

But
If I may fly awhile—
If I may cut through a sunset going out
And a rainbow coming back
Color upon color sealed in my eyes—
If I may have the unboundaried skies
For my study
Clouds, cities, rivers for my rooms—
If I may search the centuries
For melody and meaning—
If I may try for the sun—

I shall come back
Bearing such beauties
Gleaned from God's and the world's very best.
I shall come filled.

And then—
Oh, the nest that I can build!

-Carol Lynn Pearson

Adventures in Water-skiing

2009-07-30T13:06:00.019-06:00

To continue in the same style as my last post, we've been having lots more fun in the sun. I guess July is a perfect month for water adventures here in hot, hot Utah. So, we've been taking our opportunities while the sun shines.

Thanks to my Dad and Michelle, we took a little break up at their Bear Lake cabin on Monday. Brandon and I have both water skied before, but not for many, many years. Here are some photos of us daring to take the plunge once again. :)

Notice Brandon's expression of utter concentration,
although he would tell you it's his "I'm gonna die!" expression. :)

Oh well, might as well die happy, right? :)

And this would be my expression of utter concentration, and blooming disbelief that I actually managed to get out of the water.

About now I'm thinking this is pretty fun, and maybe I should shake things up by cutting across the wake a little bit, just to keep things interesting, and to see whether or not I can manage it. :)
Turns out I can!

Here's the pro, Howie, showing us all how it's done. Way to go Howie!!

Marie driving the boat! Thanks Howie. :)

My oh my, what cute boating adventurists. :)

Marie is all smiles for her extra birthday celebration and cake, compliments of her Grandparents. :)

Thanks Grandpa Don & Grandma Michelle & Howie!!!
We LOVE you guys!!!

Marie's 4th Birthday

2009-07-26T17:37:00.011-06:00

Happy Birthday Marie!!!

This year, we slid away from our normal birthday party routine for Marie. We decided to go to a new water park in Draper called Cowabunga Bay, on the afternoon of her birthday. I haven't been to a water park in at least eight years, Brandon can't remember the last time he went to one, and the girls had never been to one before.

Cowabunga Bay was perfect for our little family!
(no, this is not a paid advertisement)

They offered:

*free life vests and innertubes

*lots of not-too-scary waterslides
(including a couple tiny ones for extra little guests)

*soft-serve twist ice cream cones with a sunburn
(red raspberry flavored powder sprinkled on top)

*a lazy river to float in

*lots of squirting water and fountains to play in

*nice chairs covered by large umbrellas for shade

*a large 2-3 foot deep (pretty warm) kiddie pool

We all had a lot of fun. Emily and the rest of us were daredevils and enjoyed testing out the waterslides. Marie went on one of the tiny slides with her Daddy, but didn't enjoy the splash in her face at the end. She opted to play in the lazy river, fountains, and kiddie pool after that. However, she had a BLAST, and even got brave enough to float in the water supported solely by her life vest
(a huge and very fun accomplishment for her, as you can see by her ginormous smile).

I've decided they also need to offer free bum pads for bony girls like myself. I got a bit of a sore tailbone from the excursion. Sad, I know...

Justin & Kennedy and Jessica & Pheobe joined us at the water park as well, and it was awesome to have them with us. Pheobe really loves the water, and she very happily showed me how she can swim by flapping her arms and legs in the water, all the while supported by her Mommy of course. :)

We took Marie to Toys-R-Us this year, and decided to let her pick out her own birthday present. It worked out alright in the end, although it was a bit sketchy for a while, since whatever toy happened to be right in front of her at the time was also her very favorite thing in the whole store...at that particular moment. She finally decided on a new Webkinz stuffed animal dog, and a Dora Mermaid bathtub doll.

Marie chose to go to IHOP for her birthday dinner and ordered the Create-a-Face-Pancake. She also got a cool twisty straw, which reminded us of our day at the water park and all those twisty waterslides. Then she got a delicious ice cream sundae with chocolate chips on top for dessert, compliments of IHOP. :)

The girls have also been participating in an edible art class through Granite Peaks Community Education. On the morning of Marie's birthday, they made an edible spider (oreo cookie body, colored licorice legs, and skittle eyes), a beetle (cheese cube body with crunchy Chinese noodle legs and antennae), and a caterpillar (banana slices held together with chocolate frosting stripes, and marshmallow heads). That pretty much also ended up being their lunch for the day. Lucky girls.

WE LOVE YOU MARIE!!

Let the Sunshine In!

2009-04-25T09:28:00.019-06:00

Easter is officially my favorite holiday of the year. :)

We had a very fun Easter weekend! We spent Friday night and all day Saturday up at my Dad's cabin at Bear Lake. Beautiful place. We played Blokus on Friday night. Very fun game. We went to Lava Hot Springs the next day, and stopped at a delicious pizza restaurant afterward.

Not to mention the delectable chocolate covered raspberries we snagged in the shop next door. My Dad and Michelle had a delightful Easter egg hunt for the kids before we headed home on Saturday night.

Thank you so much Dad and Michelle for the fun time!!!

Easter Sunday I taught Emily's Primary class for the first time. It is my new calling, and I love it!

Later that day we took a stroll around Temple Square to see the beautiful flowers. The girls are wearing their cute new Easter dresses from Grandma Alli. :)

Here are some photos from another absolutely gorgeous day earlier this week on Tuesday. Emily and Marie had fun out in the backyard that morning playing with their new bubble wands. We picked up their little butterfly dresses from Old Navy. Only $8 a piece!!

Happy Spring!!

Panama Cuisine

2009-03-03T07:16:00.011-07:00

Here are a some easy Panamanian recipes for anyone who would like to try them out at home!
We especially like the hojaldres. :)
Buen Provecho!

Hojaldres (Panamanian fried bread)

2 1-2 cups flour
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder

Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Combine the milk and oil and with a fork mix well into the dry mix. Knead for 5 minutes until the dough is elastic. Cover and let sit for an hour. Cut in to pieces (2" - 3") and stretch them with your hands and then fry in hot oil until brown. Serve hot sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, regular sugar, honey or syrup.

They are about the thickness of pita bread and the same general shape but about half the size. You can test the hot oil by dropping a small piece of dough in it, if it rises and browns the oil is hot enough.

Patacones (Fried Green Plantain)

3 green plantains
1 teaspoon salt
Oil

Peel plantains and cut into ½ inch slices. Fry in hot oil until golden. Place on cutting board and smash the slices with a glass bottle or rolling pin. Sprinkle with salt and return to pan to fry again. Fry until crispy. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately. Ketchup is optional! 6-8 Servings.

Tentacion (Candied Plantain "Temptation")

3 large ripe plantains
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cup water
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
½ teaspoon vanilla
Dash of cinnamon, optional

Hit the plantains on all sides with a wooden spoon to soften. Peel and cut into 5 pieces each. In a large skillet, melt butter and oil on high heat; add plantains. Fry until brown. Combine sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and water. Reduce heat to low and pour liquid over plantains. Continue cooking until the liquid thickens, about 15 minutes. 4-5 Servings.

Chicha de Papaya (Papaya Fruit Drink)

2 cups cut up papaya (peeled and seeded)
1 cup pineapple juice
¼ cup lime or lemon juice
1½ cups papaya nectar (or peach or apricot nectar)
1 cup ice cubes
2 cups sparkling water, ginger ale or 7-Up

Blend thoroughly in blender. Pour in a pitcher and add 2 sups sparkling water, ginger ale or 7-Up. Serve over ice and enjoy!

Arroz con Pollo (Rice with Chicken)

2 large chicken breast halves
2 chicken thighs
1 finely chopped onion
1 finely chopped green bell pepper
2 tablespoons oil
½ teaspoon achiote spice (or achiote substitute--see below)
3 cups rice
½ cup shredded carrots
½ cup whole green olives
2 tablespoons capers (optional)
¼ cup raisins
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
½ cup frozen peas
salt to taste
cilantro

Cook chicken with one-half of the chopped onions, one-half of the green bell pepper, salt and 4 cups water. Cook until tender. Let cool. Strain broth and add enough water to make 5 cups broth. De-bone and shred chicken. Set aside. Heat oil with achiote spice in a large pan; sauté remaining chopped onion and green bell pepper until tender. Add rice, carrots, olives, capers, raisins, Worcestershire sauce, salt and the 5 cups of broth. Cover and cook until rice is tender, 25-30 minutes. Stir in peas. Keep on low heat until ready to serve. Garnish with cilantro. Makes 8 servings.

[Achiote spice substitute: Mix 1½ tablespoons paprika, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, ¾ teaspoon dried oregano, 1 minced garlic clove, and ¼ teaspoon ground cumin.]

Sancocho (Chicken Soup)

1 stewing hen (2-1/2 lb), cut in serving pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
4 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
2 Tablespoons green pepper, chopped
2 lbs. ñame (yam), peeled and chunked (potatos can be substituted)
2" section of corn on the cob for each serving (optional)
salt to taste

Put chicken pieces into a stock pot with 2 quarts of water. Add onion, cilantro, oregano and green pepper. Cook for 1 hour. Add salt to taste. Add ñame, cook until ñame is tender. Add corn last 15 minutes of cooking. Served with steamed rice on the side. Serves 5 to 6 people. You could also add yucca to this recipe!

Tortilla de Maiz con Queso Blanco (Corn Tortilla with Farmer's Cheese)

2 cup masa (corn flour)
1/2 cup white farmer's cheese (grated)
1 Tablespoon oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix together all ingredients and form into disks 1/2 inch thick and about 3 inches in diameter. Fry in oil on both sides until slightly browned. Serve.

Carimañolas (Stuffed Yucca)

2 lb. yucca (also called cassava)
1 lb. ground beef
3 Tablespoons chopped green pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped tomato
1 hard boiled egg; chopped
salt, pepper and Tabasco to taste

Boil yucca until tender. Mash as you would mash potatoes. Meanwhile, cook all other ingredients except egg for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Add egg. Take 2 tablespoons of yucca and form a ball. Flatten to a circle. Add a tablespoon of meat mixture and form yucca around it and shape into a 3-4 inch roll. Fry in oil until lightly browned.

Yucca Fries

1 pound yucca
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbs. salt
1 1/2 cups oil

Peel yucca, cut in pieces and wash thoroughly. Boil until tender. Let yucca cool.

Slice as thick as desired (lengthwise, like french fries). Fry in hot oil until golden brown. Salt and serve hot.

25 Things

2009-02-04T11:41:00.005-07:00

I've been tagged by quite a few family members and friends now, so here is my list of 25 things about me. :)

1. I love to be warm, and therefore greatly dislike being cold.
2. I love to travel and vacation. Variety is the spice of life. :)
3. I rarely, if ever, throw temper tantrums in public. However, I threw a whopper of one a couple weeks ago, for no good reason! I think I was under unusual amounts of stress at the time. That is my excuse anyway. How embarassing!
4. I love to sing and dance, and I love to take advantage of those opportunities whenever they present themselves. :)
5. I snore really loudly, at least that's what I've been told by many people. Sometimes I even wake myself up!
6. I love to read blogs of family and friends. It's such a great way to keep in touch.
7. I love to try new foods and recipes.
8. I love to read fantasy/science fiction and historical fiction novels, but I need to learn to do it sparingly (or not at all), so I don't neglect everything else in my life at the same time.
9. I love any kind of beautiful fresh flowers.
10. I have the best family and friends in the whole wide world. :)
11. Sometimes I indulge in pajama days.
12. I enjoy being in Spanish speaking countries, so I can more easily practice speaking the language. I think it is fun.
13. I love experiencing the beauty of our world, whether it be in a warm tropical jungle, or on top of a high snowy ski slope.
14. My favorite drink is water. I also enjoy fresh fruit smoothies.
15. I love to type. I also love to write, as in penmanship.
16. I love to people watch.
17. Babies come out of me super fast. I was at the hospital for about an hour before my first baby arrived, and with my second, I had only arrived at the hospital 9 minutes previous to her birth! If I am able to become pregnant again, I hope I can get to the hospital in time.
18. I gain weight super slowly.
19. I love nice scents. If I go into a scented candle/lotion etc. area of a store, it takes a while to get me to leave.
20. There is almost nothing that alleviates my stress better than laying out in a swim suit on a warm sunny beach. It feels so nice!
21. I love to play sand volleyball. Not that I'm any good at it, I just love to play.
22. I love to eat good bread. Mmmmm...delicious!
23. My favorite restaurant is Settebello in downtown SLC, 260 South 200 West.
24. I love things that sparkle.
25. My favorite thing to do is to cuddle with my husband. :)

Brandon's Blog

2009-01-19T13:38:00.019-07:00

For those of you out there in the blog world who may not know yet...

Brandon has started a public blog about Panama,
and the upcoming vacation!

http://brandags.wordpress.com

He does an excellent job,
and I highly recommend you check it out!

Happy Travels!!

Gus-gus

2009-01-12T14:15:00.009-07:00

A little while ago, Brandon and I began hearing strange noises behind cupboards and drawers and such in the kitchen, mostly late at night. We decided we had mice living among us, so we bought some mouse poison not long after that. We haven't been hearing much from the tiny little critters since then. It has probably been about a week or so. However, as Brandon was coming up from his office for lunch this afternoon, he noticed something small and furry on the carpet at the top of the stairs. At first he thought it was just a little fuzzy toy of some sort, but upon closer inspection he realized it was a real, live mouse! It wasn't moving at all (I think it was just too scared). Brandon called me over to take a look. Then it moved a tiny bit, and we panicked, of course. We didn't want him to get away! So I ran upstairs to grab a plastic container for him. Without too much trouble, we successfully managed to trap him inside of it, although he did put up a bit of a fight!

So, here he is, the poor little fella:
Emily and Marie have affectionately decided to name him Gus-gus (from Cinderella), and Emily would really like to keep him as a pet. I just don't have the heart to do him any damage, so I think we will just let him go at a park near our house or something like that. :)

Christmas Performances

2008-12-25T23:43:00.010-07:00

Here is a photo of Emily posing on the stage at her dance recital.
Her group danced to "I'm Giving Love for Christmas"
from the Disney Princess Christmas Album.
She did so great!!
She was bubbling over with so much energy and enthusiasm,
the whole night!
She really appreciates every one of you who were able
to come see her perform!!

Here is Marie on the stage during her preschool Christmas program.
She looks just like I did at her age, even sticking out her tongue! :)
Aw, how cute!
I'm thinking Marie is turning out to be a little Mommy clone,
personality included.
That may prove to be a bit of a challenge in more ways than one!

Here is a picture of Emily during her preschool program.
I think she makes a really cute reindeer, don't you?
Her class sang lots of really cute songs too, and had some especially fun actions to go with them!

We have some videos too, but they are in a strange format, so we will see if we can get them on here eventually, or not.

In Loving Memory

2008-12-23T14:01:00.013-07:00

Kimberley Ann Mitchell Greene
January 23rd, 1956 - December 23rd, 2006

Decorating a Christmas Tree for Grandma Kim

Let's hug!

We love you Grandma Kim.

We miss you, and hope you are having a very Merry Christmas in heaven!

Festival of Trees

2008-12-07T17:21:00.010-07:00

I loved the Festival of Trees this year! Here is a picture of my favorite tree. It was blown glass. So beautiful!!

I also really love to see the gingerbread house displays.
They are so fun to look at!
I especially liked this one.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T12:59:00.022-07:00

First we had an early Thanksgiving with my side of the family! We had so many cute little kids and babies there with us!! Ryan & Jessica even brought their brand new baby, Phoebe. She was only one day old! The food was delicious, & Michelle is an expert decorator, so everything was very beautiful.

Thank you Dad & Michelle for getting us all together!!

Here is the wonderful family photo that Michelle took. We must all have very well behaved children, not a crying baby in the bunch!

On Thanksgiving Day, we had dinner at our house with Brandon's Mom (Grandma Alli) who came into town, and Brandon's sister Ashley & her family. We had some delicious food! Thank you Ashley for your yummy sweet potato casserole! Thank you Grandma Alli for getting us together for Thanksgiving, and for your great crafts & amazing photos! I loved those cute pumpkin name-place holders too. :)

Before dinner, we went to a park in our neighborhood & did pictures.
The following photos are all courtesy of Grandma Alli.

Kids & Grandkids

Our family with Grandma Alli

Sweet Kennedy & Emily

Cute Ashley & Brandon

Later that night, Grandma Alli took pictures of the girls putting ornaments they made together onto the Christmas tree.

Emily's ornament

Marie's ornament

Long Beach

2008-11-24T23:40:00.009-07:00

We spent a couple days at Long Beach while we were in California (one day longer than we'd planned due to our flight being delayed). We checked into a hotel right on the beach for our last night there. We also found a delicious French Bakery/Cafe in town, and ate there both days.

At the beach, both Emily and Marie were hesitant to get in the water at first, but once they discovered how much fun it was, they didn't want to leave. We made Mickey Mouse out of sand, wrote our names in the sand, and of course, played in the waves. It was perfect 80 degree weather, and the water was very cool.

Sea World

2008-11-24T23:27:00.008-07:00

We stopped by Sea World when we were in California also & had a nice time. Our favorite part was seeing the dolphins.
This bird was pretty cool too.

Disneyland

2008-11-24T11:47:00.012-07:00

We visited Disneyland at the beginning of this month! It was so much fun, although it started out very painfully for Emily. Right after we got out of our car at the SLC airport, Emily started screaming like something was seriously wrong (no drama queen act). We looked at her and noticed that her finger was part way in the door, and the door was shut on her finger. And the car was already locked! Brandon scrambled to find the key and unlock the door, and open the door so Emily could get her finger out. It looked awful! All blue and swollen with a huge dent mark to boot. Fortunately, we had some band-aids handy and we put one on so that she and we wouldn't have to look at it. That really helped calm her down, and even though it still hurt, she didn't cry about it the rest of the trip. And fortunately, by the time the trip was over, it had healed up to the point where it didn't look like more than a little cut, which we were relieved about.

We flew into Long Beach that night on Jet Blue (we got a great discount because Robin, Brandon's step-Mom, works there), and slept in our "castle" hotel (it looked like a castle, and was across the street from Disneyland). The next day we went to Disneyland. The girls loved it! Emily's favorite ride was the teacups. Marie liked the roller coaster in Toon Town (which Emily didn't want to go on, for some reason). One day in Disneyland was perfect for us, as we got to go on all the rides that the girls would have enjoyed, and it was an uncrowded time of year as well.

Here are some fun pictures!

Arches

2008-10-19T16:42:00.004-06:00

We went to Arches on Thursday. :) Wonderful scenery, company, weather, and exercise. And of course, wonderful pictures!

Delicate Arch

Double Arch

Marie & Mommy

Emily in her cave

We had to keep a very tight hold on Marie. Her approach to rock climbing was, " Let's go up there Mommy!", and she would point to the very highest spot on the rocks she could see. :) She'd get pretty upset when we'd try to reign her in a little bit.

Emily, on the other hand, is a very conservative rock climber. Actually, she seems to be hysterically afraid of heights. But, to her credit, that's probably quite a bit safer than Marie's approach. I think she still managed to have some fun though. :)

Memories of Seussical

2008-10-13T22:53:00.005-06:00

Seussical ended a week ago today, so I thought I would post some pictures as a memorial.
I'm the one with the blue hair. :)

Jojo

Mayzie

Grinch

Gertrude

Cat in the Hat

Horton

Well, that's all folks!! Thank you so much to all of you who came to see the performance!! Your love and support mean the world to me, truly. :)

If you'd like to see more pictures click here.

Heber Valley Railroad & River Rafting Trip

2008-09-28T21:55:00.006-06:00

Our family spent the day in Heber Valley a couple weeks ago riding the train and rafting the Provo River! Here are lots of fun pictures:

Sweet Emily with her Daddy

Eating lunch on the train

Beautiful scenery

Marie enjoying the river ride

Brandon having fun with the electronics

Sparkling river with a view

Ahh...just enjoying the ride

What a cutie pie

Click here if you'd like to see more pictures

On the Spot Photos!

2008-09-18T10:57:00.010-06:00

KEEPIN' IT REAL!

So, here's how it works...You are supposed to take pictures of all these items or places in your house AS IS! That is why this is called "KEEPIN' IT REAL". No cleaning or tidying...JUST TAKE THE PICTURES.

Favorite pair of shoes:

I'm not as big into the whole shoe fettish as most girls are, but these have served me well. :)

Kitchen Sink:Here you can see breakfast dishes on the right, and on the left we have a pan which I used to make popcorn in last night, along with the popcorn bowl underneath. :)

Refrigerator:

Laundry Room:
That pile of rugs on top of the dryer has been there for quite a while!

Any Bathroom in the House:

This would be the guest bathroom, and hence it is usually the best looking. :)

What your Child(ren) is/are doing right now:
Emily and Marie are playing with their stuffed animal mountain.

My Closet:
There you have it. Lovely?

My Favorite Room in the House:
I spend my relaxation hours in this room reading. Ahh...

I tag....Tina, Amanda, Nycole, and Krysta

Interesting Tidbits

2008-09-13T11:20:00.003-06:00

10 years ago I:
1. Graduated from Snow College with my Associates Degree
2. Worked at Convergys on their customer support team
3. Was preparing to serve a mission
4. Attended the Canyon Springs Singles Branch in Sandy
5. Vacationed in Washington State with my family

5 things on today's "to do" list:
1. Finish preparing my Relief Society Lesson
2. Finish preparing my Sacrament Talk
3. Help Emily prepare her Primary Talk
4. Perform in Seussical the Musical tonight
5. Make a fresh peach smoothie :)

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Popcorn, homemade on the stove with corn oil and popcorn salt.
2. Fresh peaches
3. Gelato
4. Brownie sundaes
5. Chocolate chip cookies

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Travel the world
2. Pay off mortgage
3. Invest
4. Donate
5. Turn my home into a personal spa retreat :) Ahhh...

5 places I have lived:
1. Sandy, Utah
2. Holladay, Utah
3. Murray, Utah
4. Everett, Washington
5. Las Palmas, Spain

5 jobs I have had:
1. Shopko
2. Feature Films for Families
3. American Heart Association
4. Convergys
5. Malt Shop

I tag...
1. Tory
2. Ashley
3. Kristin
4. Megan
5. Camille

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you've answered the questions on your blog.

Emily's 5th Birthday Party

2008-09-08T23:56:00.006-06:00

Thank you to everyone who made Emily's birthday so special!!

Opening presents!

Playing in the sandbox. :)

Carrying water from the pool to the sandbox...
(to make mud of course!)

The beautiful princess ice cream cake.

The cake, mid-demolition.

Our brave, and muscled ice cream cake demolition man.
The cake was quite frozen! Thanks Shaun!

Seussical the Musical

2008-09-03T14:33:00.005-06:00

Come one, come all to Seussical the Musical!! We have a great show!

I've been cast in the chorus as a who, hunch, and jungle creature. :)

It is currently playing at the Empress Theatre through October 6th.

Performances are Monday, Friday, and Saturday nights starting at 7:30.
There are also Saturday Matinees at 3:00 pm, on Sept. 20th and 27th.

The Empress Theatre
9104 West 2700 South
Magna, UT 84044
(801) 347-7373

Call the phone number above, or go to www.empresstheatre.com, to get your tickets!

It is a very kid-friendly theatre and show, so bring the whole family!

I hope to see you there!!

The Beautiful Northwest

2008-08-24T14:37:00.006-06:00

We vacationed in Washington with Brandon's Mom a couple weeks ago, what fun!

Here are lots of pictures!

Ah... Washington... green, misty, and cloud covered. Beautiful.

The rain forest (Brandon's favorite)

Emily enjoying abundant photo ops with the pretty green moss.

The tide pools (Jennifer's favorite)

Emily and Marie making Zen rock towers at Rialto Beach.

Jellyfish Marie at the Seattle Aquarium.

So gorgeous!

Emily's "mermaid pose" at a fountain in Victoria, British Columbia.

Marie with some incredible glass sculptures in Tacoma.

Breathtaking Butchart Gardens.

Me... per Brandon's request.

My favorites were the Begonias (see above)...

And the Dahlias. (above & below)

So pretty!

Brandon really liked the little fuschia flowers. (above & below)

Very cute and delicate!

Last but not least... of course we can't forget the food! Check out this yummy crab chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. :) Mmmm....very creamy and delicious!

Playing Photographers

2008-07-28T15:25:00.007-06:00

My family, aren't they cute?!!

Marie took this rather interesting photo of Emily.

Emily took this cute, yet blurry, photo of Marie.

Our Little Homemaker

2008-07-28T15:01:00.008-06:00

I have been very impressed this week by Emily's bed-making skills. She not only makes her own bed beautifully (without being asked), she also makes her sister's bed! Isn't she amazing?

Emily's bed

Marie's bed

Breaking News!

2008-07-28T10:19:00.004-06:00

Marie has officially been upgraded from wearing diapers to living life without them (nighttime included)!!! Congratulations to the big girl!!!

Desperate Potty Training Attempts

2008-07-25T17:47:00.010-06:00

Help anyone? Marie starts preschool on the 19th of next month, and she still isn't completely, you know, ...ready. So, after almost an entire week in big girl pants, and many mishaps later, I resorted to the permanent potty sit method. It doesn't come highly recommended, by the way. So after about half an hour on the big white throne, I brought her lunch in, which she promptly ate at the makeshift hamper table, then she promptly went right to sleep, still on the, well, ...you know, potty (see photo). Upon waking from her short nap, she has proceeded to sit there quite admirably for quite a large chunk of the day. To my knowledge, she's gone in the potty all of once during that period of time. I guess I should have tried this method yesterday, when she seemed to have no end of, well, ...you know, accidents?

My Mysterious Garden

2008-07-25T16:37:00.003-06:00

This lovely picture was taken by Brandon in our backyard garden. Such beautiful flowers!

Here are some more:

The flowers in all of the pictures above are very mysterious to me, because I didn't plant any of them! I think they came as a result of the late start I got on weeding the gardens this season. I guess I can't tell which plants are weeds and which ones aren't. So, as a result, I don't usually get all these beautiful flowers in my garden. I guess I'll have to study the leaves, and make sure I don't pluck them out next year. :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Marie!

2008-07-25T15:45:00.005-06:00

Marie had a backyard party with swimming in the kiddie pool, playing in an Octopus sprinkler, and playing in the sandbox. Thank you to all those who joined our celebration, we had such a fun time, and Marie was so happy!

Marie enjoyed a delicious pink ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery. It was all pink frosting outside with pink flowers, and inside there was chocolate cake and strawberry ice cream with rainbow sprinkles mixed in. She loved it! Whenever I asked her what she wanted for her birthday her answer was always the same, “Pink cake!” We also had pink strawberry lemonade, taffy, napkins, plates, utensils, cups, table cloth, party favors, balloons. Everything was pink! It is her very most favorite color, after all. :)

She sure got a lot of fun presents too! The present she's holding in the picture (above) is a Little Mermaid bathtub doll. She’s been taking lots of really long baths with it this week (sometimes twice a day!), just so she can play with it in the water. :)

We love you Marie!!

Anniversary Trip

2008-07-24T16:16:00.015-06:00

Considering we almost completely forgot our five-year anniversary last year, we wanted to do something special this year. :) We went to stay in the Courtyard Room at Johnson’s Mill Bed and Breakfast in Midway. It was so beautiful!

We made reservations for dinner that night at the Snake Creek Grill. We shared some seafood pasta, and for dessert, some rich chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream and fresh berries. It was all very delicious!

After a scrumptious breakfast on the patio the next morning, we drove around to find a trail we could take our mountain bikes on. We found a perfect trail at Dutch Hollow. It was an easy one and a half mile trail that overlooked the Midway and Heber Valleys and the Provo River. You can access the overlook through the Cottontail trail. Such a breathtaking view!

Unfortunately, we forgot our camera, but at least that way Brandon couldn’t take pictures of my numerous crashes along the way. :) The big rocks and bushes kept sucking me right in. I fell into the sage brush at least 3 times, two of which were within about a one-minute period. I also rediscovered that I don't navigate sharp turns very well either. Although, I'm very happy to report no twisted ankles or broken bones. :)

After our exhilarating bike ride, we followed a recommendation to have lunch at the Spin Café, which turned out to be a great choice! Brandon and I shared a seafood panini and some butternut squash soup. We ordered Gelato for dessert, creme brulee for me and vanilla-chocolate chip for him. Yes, as you've probably noticed, good food is always a highlight of any outing for me. :)

It was all such a great experience! I would whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who wants a fun anniversary trip. :) Many thanks to Ashley, Justin, and Kennedy for staying with our girls while we were gone!!

Happy Birthday to me!

2008-06-19T11:43:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday to me!! Emily asked me today, "How old are you now?" I said, "Thirty." She said, "Wow! That's old!...Really old!" All I can say is, "Yeah." Thanks Emily. Well, at least she remembered to tell me happy birthday this morning! That was nice. :)

Musical Theater and Kid-Friendly Recipes

2008-06-16T17:27:00.004-06:00

Well, it actually happened! I’ve finally been cast in a musical! I began auditioning for musical theater in April. Since then I’ve been to eight auditions, and I made callbacks at four of them (The Sound of Music, Twelve Dancing Princesses, South Pacific, and Seussical). I’m very pleased to report that I’ve been cast as one of the jungle creatures in Seussical the Musical!!! It has very fun music and a really great story. I know Emily and Marie will love it, and so will I! The first rehearsal is on the 21st of this month. I can’t wait!

I'm also taking dance classes this month, a tap class and a ballet class. My sister-in-law, Ashley, is taking them with me! The classes are two nights a week, great exercise, and a lot of fun!! I don’t have much patience for the learning part, but once I get past the learning curve I absolutely love it. :) I can’t believe it took me so long to get back into dancing. It is so fun and so stress relieving, and such great exercise! What was I thinking running up and down stairs, when I could have been dancing?!!

I stayed overnight at the hospital a couple weeks ago for a sleep study. I think I have sleep apnea because of my small jaw. It wasn’t the most comfortable night of sleep I’ve ever had. They had to draw some blood, and I almost passed out, and the bill is horrendous…but other than that…it wasn’t too bad. I may have to go back for one more night, but I think I'll just wait for them to call me about that. I'm certainly in no hurry.

I made up a great recipe the other day that I absolutely love! I made some crepes, and I had some instant vanilla pudding and some frozen blueberries. So, I made the pudding and I put about a cup of blueberries in the microwave for a few minutes before running them through the blender. Then I strained the blueberries (to get rid of the chunkies) and added them to the vanilla pudding. So, we had crepes with blueberry-vanilla pudding and powdered sugar on top. Then, my friend Debbie suggested that I add banana slices. So, then we had blueberry-vanilla-banana crepes. Mmmmm…delicious!!

And the best part? Emily and Marie were delighted to gobble them right up without any whining episodes. Granted, they are more like a dessert than a meal, but that’s o.k. every once in a while, right? Sometimes it’s just about keeping my sanity in tact, and everything else just slides somewhere into second place. You know, anything to avoid the crying and whining, to which I think I’m becoming very allergic. It’s beginning to cause severe fits of loss of patience and it kind of makes my hair stand on end. I think it comes from prolonged exposure over a number of years, about four and a half, to be exact. :)

I also made another extremely kid-friendly recipe this week, even healthier than the last one…chicken nugget casserole. One night when I was trying to be creative with our sparse in-house food supply (I don’t particularly enjoy grocery shopping), I vaguely recalled hearing about a recipe once-upon-a-time called chicken nugget casserole. So I hopped on the trusty old Internet and looked it up (how did we ever live without it?). And, Wahla! There it was, one of the easiest, most kid-friendly recipes you could ever ask for. Chicken nuggets, spaghetti sauce, cheese (we used fresh mozzarella), and Italian seasoning. Layer and cook in a baking dish for half and hour, and serve over hot cooked pasta of your choice (us, gemelli pasta), with kid-friendly vegetables on the side (our house, corn and/or peas). Enjoy!

Auditions

2008-04-21T13:18:00.002-06:00

Just in case you were wondering, I’m not even going to attempt to apologize for the time lapse between my first and only two blog entries. :) So, moving on…

I’ve had quite a momentous week. I actually went to audition for a couple of plays. Seeing as how I’ve only auditioned for about five things in my entire life, I’d say auditioning for two plays in one night definitely qualifies as quite momentous. I auditioned for The King and I, and The Sound of Music. I had to prepare 16 measures of a song and I also had to prepare a monologue, resume, and headshot. I only had about a day to get everything together.

Looking back, I think the most fun part of the whole experience was the time I spent practicing by myself, alone, before the auditions. I really enjoyed that part, and felt like I was really doing a fantastic job! Then, right before I left for the audition, I practiced in front of a live audience – Brandon, Emily, and Marie.

First of all, I couldn’t stop laughing during the monologue because Marie, of course being two years old and not understanding it was just an act, was getting so into it and excited and adding her own comments and exclamations of joy. Not to mention, Emily, being four years old, kept interrupting with really weird questions. Second, a couple of lines into both the song and the monologue, my mind went completely blank, and I just couldn’t remember what in the world came next! Finally, Brandon suggested I should just go get my paper with the words on it, and that instead of starting over every time I made a mistake, I should just keep going as best I could. So, needless to say, I left home a little nervous.

I went to the auditions with my voice teacher, so at least I wasn’t by myself. At the first audition the pianist played the whole 16 measures of my song in a minor key, which would have been just fine, if the song wasn’t supposed to be played in a major key! So there I was trying to sing the right notes with the pianist playing the completely wrong ones ... for the entire 16 measures. To my credit, I did keep smiling and singing the entire time, with only a few occasional confused glances directed towards the piano player. About half way through this tortuous experience one of the judges got this very disturbed and confused look on her face that lasted clear till the end of the song. She obviously suspected something was very wrong. When the song was finished, she asked the pianist if that song was supposed to be played in a minor key, at which point a light went on in the pianist’s brain, and he finally realized his mistake. We tried it over again at that point, and it went much better. I left the audition room with the pianist apologizing profusely behind me.

The next audition was for The Sound of Music. The song went well, minus the fact that I sang the wrong verse, but I didn’t get all panicky and freeze up or anything, and even though I didn’t think I sang as well as I practiced, I felt good about it, all things considered. Next came the monologue, which I felt I did quite well, considering that I didn’t have any uncomfortable blank-out episodes, and I felt like, overall, I was very expressive and entertaining.

A couple days later I got an email telling me that I’d made callbacks for The Sound of Music. I was completely thrilled, especially when I found out that one hundred and seventy people had auditioned, and only about thirty-seven people made it to the callbacks. So I went, of course, and didn’t really know what to expect. They had us take turns doing some singing and acting together. We did various speaking parts and songs from the play. It really was a very fun experience, and I was pleasantly surprised at how I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I would expect myself to be in that situation. I was also amazed at how talented everyone else was! So, I just determined to have fun while I was there, even though I most likely wouldn’t be chosen for the play. I do hope they send the results soon though, because the suspense is killing me! :)

Zucchini Bread

2007-10-16T22:36:00.000-06:00

Here is my first blog post. I decided to post something about Emily and Marie, since they are always pretty entertaining. I was re-reading this entry from my journal from a couple months ago, so I thought I would share it with you:

I am completely shocked by how much Emily and Marie like zucchini bread, especially Marie. She was eating (even licking) all the crumbs everyone else left on their plates! When I told Emily I was making zucchini bread, she acted very disgusted, like she would for sure not like it. Then she saw me making the batter, and it looked kind of a chocolatey color, so from that point on she decided she would like it. Sure enough, she loved it! Marie thought she would just dip her hand in the bowl while my back was turned. When I turned back around and saw her licking batter off her hand I said, "Marie!" All she could reply back was a little "Mmmhumm?" with a mouthful of batter. I thought it was very funny. :)