Cookie Baking Day

I don't know if this is the national Cooking Baking day or not, but I decided to bake cookies today. It sure was a process. This is the first time that I have done it on my own. Mom is still recovery so she slept during most of the time that I was baking, and although Lindsey is back from school, she wasn't feeling very well today either. I couldn't have our family go without cookies at Christmas so I decided to just make them myself. I made the usual sugar cookies and also spritz cookies. I also made Chocolate Candy Cane cookies, which turned out fabulous if I might say so myself. Then I made Peanut Butter with a Hersey Kiss in the center of the cookie. The last time I made Peanut Butter cookies, I was a lot younger. I misread the directions and used 5 Cups of milk instead of 5 Tablespoons of milk. Needless to say the cookies were ruined, and we got to eat peanut butter cake. Although this happened when I was about 12, the memory still haunts me, especially as I attempted the infamous cookies today. Don't any of you worry your little heads, the cookies turned out this time, although I still had to add extra flower to the recipe in order for it to be the right consistency. This might be my last post before Christmas, so I wanted to take the opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! May you find joy as you spend the day with family and friends!

Happy "National Lemon Cupcake Day"!

When I found out that today is "National Lemon Cupcake Day" I got so excited! I LOVE lemon cupcakes! Saturdays are the perfect day to make lemon cupcakes. Also if any of you are keeping track, today is 3rd day of Christmas. That means you don't even have to plan dinner tonight. You can have three french hens and for dessert, eat lemon cupcakes. Can a meal get any better? I submit that it cannot! I hope you all had a good week. It was a long week for me. I have been taking care of my mom who is recovering from surgery. It hasn't been bad, it just means that I don't get to take my daily nap after I get home from work each day. She can't drive yet, so I have been driving her around. On Wednesday, my day off, she had three doctors appointments, and then we finished some Christmas shopping. It was tiring day for both of us. Mom is doing great though, she just gets tired quicker than normal. I'm excited for Christmas! I can't believe how quick it is coming. For those of you from Utah, any ideas on what a family of four can do on Christmas day for fun? I guess these are all my random thoughts for now, so I will end now, and talk to you all later!

A Day to Remember

Sixty-six years ago today was a day that will live on in infamy. It was today, in the early morning hours that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor catapulting the United States into World War II. As I think about what happened today, 66 years ago, I remember again how grateful I am for those men and women who willingly sacrifice their lives in defence of freedom and liberty. Twenty-one ships in the U.S. Naval fleet were destroyed in the attack. It devastated the Navy. More than ships were lost though. The deaths reached to number 2,350 with 68 civilians. Another 1,178 were injured.

Miracles happened despite the terror and destruction. The United States banded together, and despite losses, ended the war in 3 1/2 years. I think that the real miracle is that now, 66 years later, there is no animosity between these two nations who were at war. We live peaceably with one another, and even work together.

One of my favorite Christmas songs is "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day". The third verse says, "And in despair I hung my head, there is no peace on earth I said. For hate in strong and mocks the song of peace on earth goodwill towards men." This reminds me of the world today. There is little peace and it seems that the conflict in the Middle East will never be resolved. But the song continues in verse four by saying, "Then peels the bells more loud and deep, God is not dead nor doth He sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth goodwill toward men."

How grateful I am that God "is not dead nor doth He sleep". I see an example of this with what has happened between Japan and the United States. Who would have thought on that December morning in 1941, that Japan and the United States would become allies and friends. I am grateful for this time of year when we get to remember those who have sacrificed themselves for the freedom of others. Especially the ultimate sacrifice of the Prince of Peace. I pray that a remembrance of His birth in this season will give us all true reason to celebrate. Someday, because of Him, there will be peace on earth, and goodwill towards all men. May each of us work harder in our own lives to spread that peace and goodwill as He would do.

Wear Brown Shoes Day

It has just come to my attention, that tomorrow (December 4th) is "Wear Brown Shoes Day". I know that it is late, and I'll be headed to bed in just a minute, but I wanted to make sure that everyone out there is aware that they should wear brown shoes. Really, I almost always wear brown shoes, but tomorrow, I will specially wear them in celebration of a fabulous holiday. If you are reading this, and it is the 4th, and you are not wearing brown shoes, then I encourage you to change. Who knows, maybe your whole day will become brighter!

Sarah's Belly

My sister Sarah is pregnant with a baby girl, like I stated in my previous post. My sister-in-law Brandon said that the picture in the letter-man's jackets is the first belly picture she has seen. I decided to post a better picture of the belly. This one has Lindsey and the belly. (Sorry Sarah, but I don't know how often you read this blog, so I might just get away with you never knowing!) It was taken the day before thanksgiving. I have also included some Christmas decoration pictures for my nephew Talmage since HoneyGram and Papa (aka my Mom and Dad) don't quite have their blog up and running yet. I hope that you can all enjoy though.

Happy "Square Dance Day"!

I'm not going to write about square dancing even though it's that day; I just couldn't think of a good title. Anyway, I just thought I'd wish everyone a happy almost December. I hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving, and from what I have read, it sounds like most of you have. I travelled to Washington for the holiday. It was fabulous to be among family and trees again. I forget how brown Utah really is. I enjoyed the moisture in the air too. We had dinner at my sister Sarah's house. It was fun to watch her play hostess and she did a marvelous job. We also got up and went shopping at 3am. We actually left at 2:30 so that we could be in line at 3:00. My dad and I were in charge of the ToysRus run. We weren't very successful. The main object we were going for, the store only had four. Then I couldn't find another thing, and by the time I did, they were all gone. It was very stressful. The rest of the day, Dad and I took care of the waiting in line for everyone else and running bags out to the car. I don't get paid until the 1st, so I didn't do any shopping for the people I have to buy for. The day was fun though. The picture is of sisters (Sarah and Lindsey), niece (Sierra), and I shopping. The picture was taken at about 10am, so we had been at it for about 7 hours. It was quite a day!

Later that day we went to Sarah's ultrasound to find out her baby's gender. It's a GIRL!!! I'm so excited. I know that people were hoping for a boy, but I was secretly wanting a girl. We went baby clothes shopping that afternoon. It was fun to pick out clothes, and Big Sister Sierra became giddy as she picked out outfits. She informed her mom and dad that she would be spoiling her sister.


This other picture is a picture of my sisters, brother-in-law Brian, and I wearing our Letter-man's jackets. Really, we aren't all stuck in high school, but there is a strong cross-town rival between Puyallup High School (Brian's school), and Rogers High School (mine and all of my siblings school). Since 1983, Rogers has only beat Puyallup in the annual football game 4 times. One of those 4 times was this year. My sister Lindsey and I celebrated by showing up on Sarah and Brian's doorstep in our Letter-man's jackets singing the Roger's fight song. We had to get our picture taken while we had them out. Who knows how many more years it will be till we get to celebrate beating Puyallup again.

Well, that is the best update that I can give. I hope that you are all well and happy! And if you are in the mood, enjoy some good ol' Square Dancing!

I've Been Tagged

I was going to just ignore the whole tag thing, but decided that the sooner I did it, the sooner I would be done with it. So here goes:

1. The most aweful sound in the world to me is feet (with or without socks on) rubbing on carpet. This is worse than nails on a chalkboard for me. Even just thinking about it right now is making me cringe. It is really something that can't stand.

2. I have actually logged onto LDS singles.com before. I know, it's pathetic, but I haven't met anyone on there, and in reality, I don't think I've talked to anyone on there.

3. If there is a food that I could eat everyday and be happy, it would be nachos. Not just any nachos, although I'll take what I can get, but my favorite nachos are found in the Auburn, WA Supermall. There is a little Mexican place in the food court that has the BEST nachos I have ever had. Since moving to Utah, I have been in search of nachos that compare, and I have yet to find some.

4. During one of my summers in between semesters at BYU-I, I worked at a Pie Factory. I spent 10 hours a day watching pies go by on conveyor belts, loading dough into the machine, and pressing the dough into pans. Each night I would come, and wonder if I would ever be completely dough free again. To this day, I can't look at Pumpkin Pie without feeling a little ill.

5. I like to look through an buy really old books. I think the oldest book I have is from the 1920's. I especially like old History books because I like to see how History has changed since the books were written. It is also intriguing to me to see how the era a book is written in changes the way history is percieved. (I know, I'm a nerd)

6. My secret ambition is to someday be the First Lady. So if any of you know a single guy with political aspirations, send him my way!

So I guess I am now supposed to tag someone. The problem is that all of the people I know that have blogs have already been tagged. So I am going to tag 6 people who I think need to create blogs: Jessica, Lindsey, HoneyGram, Sarah, Jill, Sierra. So you six, create a blog, and then list 6 things about yourselves, and then tag 6 other people!

Happy National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day

Today is the one day a year set aside in honer of cleaning out your refrigerator, so slap on those rubber gloves, maybe get a nose plug and get get to work creating a leftover concoction for dinner. I made the mistake of telling my mom what today is, so now I have to add that to my list. Our refrigerator really isn't that bad though. It is funny how little we have in it with only 3 of us home. There are few nights when all of us eat together, and a lot of time we will grab a bite to eat on our way somewhere. Often Mom and Dad only go shopping for food when one of my siblings come to visit (so I'm inviting anyone who would like to come to come NOW!). Despite the lack of food in the refrigerator, that doesn't mean we don't have interesting things in there. Because we don't get in it a lot, we forget about the stuff that is in there. I looked in it today, and the weirdest/grossest/oldest thing in there is some old bagels. They've been in the back of the refrigerator for over a month, and are kind of stale. I don't know that they are necessarily bad, but I don't have the guts to eat it. So I'm curious... What is the weirdest/grossest/oldest thing you found in your refrigerator today? Think about it, let me know, and have fun cleaning!

Happy "National Pizza With The Works Except Anchovies Day"!

Today is National "Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies" Day. It is a pretty fabulous day for those of you who don't want to cook. You can celebrate buy ordering pizza. "The Works" means that you splurg and get more than 1-topping. I would go as far as saying that you probably need to order at least 3-toppings in order for it to qualify. Personally, I don't want to order pizza tonight because in the past week and a half I've had way too much pizza, and that just doesn't sound good any more. So instead of celebrating that, I think I will take a moment to celebrate Veteran's Day, since I missed posting about it yesterday, and today people are observing it anyway. I think that Veterans are not appreciated like they should be. I have such a love for the men and women who willingly put their lives on the line in defense of liberty and freedom. The scriptures say that "greater love hath no man than this, that he lays down his life for his friend." The scripture is referring to the Savior, but that is what soldiers are doing everyday. They show Christlike love every day as they sacrifice for their country. I am so grateful for the service they have rendered, and continue to give each day. So thank you to Veterans and military people out there. You are doing a great work, and I love you for it.

Happy Forget-Me-Not Day

So today is "Forget-Me-Not Day" so even though it is probably in reference to the flower I thought I would take this opportunity to remind everyone about me, and to not forget about me. I am single, (I realize I have stated that a lot on this blog) no I am not depsperate, but when any of you come across a handsome, eligible Mormon boy, don't forget about me, and send him my way! Also if you are wanting to spend money on someone, don't forget about me (my birthday is in August, Christmas is coming up, my half birthday is in February, but really I will accept presents any time of the year)! Whenever you see, read, or hear anything about Harry Potter, remember me! They are pretty much my favorite books ever, and I love answering questions about them, discussing theories, and hearing new bits about them (although the recent thing with Dumbledore I am choosing to ignore, so I won't talk about that -- for those of you that don't know what I am talking about, consider yourself blessed). When you travel to Utah, and I know that all of you will eventually, remember me, and visit! In conclusion, just because I live so far from me, Forget-Me-Not, and I will be sure to Forget-you-not too.

Happy "National Bittersweet Chocolate With Almonds Day"!

For those of you looking for something to celebrate, let me give you two today! Today happens to be my mother's birthday, so a big shout out to her. I won't tell you how old she is, but for those of you that are going to ask anyway, she is 29 (yeah, I know I have a sister older than her!) If your not in the birthday mood, you can celebrate National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day. So go out and buy a dark chocolate almond bar. Perhaps a Mounds bar would suffice. Personally I'm not a fan of bittersweet chocolate, and almonds in chocolate are about as good as pickles in ice cream, so I think I am going to celebrate the birthday. I love a good birthday cake and ice cream (minus the pickles). Plus Dad is taking us both out, so I'm a fan of that too. That's why he gets to be in the picture with Mom. So thanks Mom, for being born today so I don't have to settle with eating bitter chocolate with nuts today!

Alligator vs. Crocodile

Which do think would be scarier to come across an alligator or a crocodile? Personally, I would rather not run across either. If I'm not mistaken, I could totally be, it's happened once that I was, anyway, I think that crocodiles grow to be larger in size than alligator, so that makes me think that a crocodile would be scarier to meet. Although alligator are pretty fast, and that makes them terribly frightening too. Either way, a big lizard thing that can eat me really creeps me out. I would much rather come across an alligator like the one in Tom Sawyer's cave in Hannibal, Missouri. I was there during July with some people from the branch. This alligator wasn't a real one, so don't worry -- that is why I can smile in the picture and not scream in terror. It was a piece of the floor of the cave that really did look like an alligator. I took a picture of it, but that picture didn't really turn out. So you just get to see me and the sign. If you would like to see it, I encourage you to go visit Hannibal. It is a wonderful little town. If you decide to visit, I would suggest reading Tom Sawyer before you go, although, I hadn't read it, but since visiting I have and it was absolutely delightful to read. I was able to visit almost every scene from the book while in Hannibal. Anyway I've talked enough, so what would you rather? Alligator or Crocodile?

And then there were two...

So I went to my friend Jill's wedding today. It was wonderful, and I love the guy she is marrying because he was my hometeacher, and he is pretty fantastic. As I was sitting waiting to go into the sealing room, I was talking to my friend Serena. As we were sitting there, I realized that of the original 6 who were in Riviera 7 at BYU-I only two of us remain single. Crazy! It seems like only yesterday we were waking up at the crack of dawn to still the dock at Rigby Lake, dressing up to make the most random movies, and pulling the couch out to the balcony to sing to Serena's guitar. Now while Serena and I get to do pretty much anything we want with our enourmous teaching salaries, most of my beloved roommates and changing dirty diapers, chasing after crazy toddlers, and loving every minute of it. I makes me so happy to see all of my beloved friends, who are as dear to me as sisters all so successful and happy, so even though today is the National Day of Chaos, here's to all the wonderful memories (some of which are on video somewhere) that we created together!

I'm getting this figured out....I think

Okay, so my brother emailed me to tell me that no one could put comments on my posts. It just goes to show that I am totally illiterate when it comes to doing these computer things. I think that I have it set up properly now, but I guess that we will have to see!

Happy "Plan Your Epitaph" Day

I know that that sounds kind of morbid, but I've been on this kick about a holiday everyday of the year. Looking online, that is the holiday I found for today, and you know that everything you find online in true. So something to think about. So something to think about- what would you want you're epitaph to say? I think I would want it to say something like "Lived long, and loved every minute of it." Maybe I would just want the basic "Beloved wife, mother, daughter, friend", although "Here Lies Stepha" would suit me just fine too. I think that I will let my family and friends decide what to put on it. It is just such a final decision and I'm not that decisive. If you read this and have an idea of what you would want on your own, please, let me know.

Hello Everyone!

This is my first attempt at a blog, and I am not exactly sure how all of this works, but I decided to give a try since it is so hard to keep in touch with everyone. Just a little bit about what I am doing now: I am living in Utah, working for an alternative high school in North Salt Lake teaching math. I was just called as the Activites Coordinator in my ward, and am pretty nervous about that. It is unknown territory for me, I'm had no experience with it. I've loved living in Utah for the past year. I've made some great friends and have had so much fun with them. I went to Disneyland with a group of them in March, in June I volunteered as an EFY councilor, and in July I went with my Single's Branch to Nauvoo. I am enjoying the new experiences I am having while I am still single.