Ryan

Since early Friday morning (early as in 2 am) until late Friday night (about 12 pm) worry, fear, heartache, and horrible scenarios crossed my mind multiple times. I have been taught to have faith, and that when troubled times come to exercise my faith in the Lord, but whenever I am faced with a test of my faith I find myself failing. As may of you may know my little brother-in-law Ryan is currently serving in the Sendai Japan mission and the devastating earthquake and tsunami that occurred there on Friday is what has been testing my faith this weekend. After praying for Ryan and his safety, I did feel peaceful and there was part of me that actually knew that he was okay, but for some reason that wasn't enough for me. I needed to hear it from an actually human telling me that they had talked to Ryan and they knew he was okay. That peaceful feeling inside of me was the Lord telling me that Ryan was safe and that I had no need to fear He knew this was going to be very difficult for the families of our loved missionaries and so He gave us comfort and I overlooked it. I am so happy and joyous that Ryan is safe! I am aware of my Savior and his love for his servants, he takes care of them and protects them the best way that he can. I hope that I can learn from this and recognize the spirit and Lord telling me what I so desperately need to hear. I know that Ryan is actively helping the Japanese people, his heart is truly too big for his body and his is the strongest young man I know. He is smart, sensitive, faithful, and brave. This disaster will not stand in his way or discourage him. Ryan is so very optimistic and I look up to him so very much. I love him. I am so happy, my joy greatly exceeds all my pain I felt! Thanks for all the prayer and hope you gave to me and my family.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day! There are so many people out there who really hate this holiday, but if you ask me...I love it! and it isn't just because I have somebody to share it with, it really is just a cute fun holiday and honestly I miss the days of making Valentines boxes in school and giving Valentines to ALL of my classmates! Why not share it with everyone right?
Anyways this year My friend and I tried our hands at this wreath that really wasn't too hard after all that yarn was finally wrapped around the wreath (we couldn't find a straw wreath anywhere and I really think that would have been LOTS easier!)

This is my only picture since my last post...I really need to be better at using my camera!
Hope you all have a fabulous Valentines Day!

A New Dish!

On Sunday, I tried a new recipe it was SO delicious that I decided to share it with all of you! It was not only the most yum ever, but it was so easy to make. It had a sort of sweet taste, it kind of reminded me of Rumbi ... and who doesn't love Rumbi?

You can find the recipe (if you would like to try it) here: Mango Chicken and Coconut Rice.

A Time For Resolutions...

When I was a little kid my mom would force us all to come up with at least 5 New Years Resolutions and we would sit as a family and all recite them to one another...dumb. Ever since that little ritual ended I haven't set another Resolution, and I wonder why? Well this year is going to be different, I am in need of improvement and I have 5 Resolutions to discuss:

1. Be a better member of my Church.

2. Cook at least 3 meals per week.

3. Be patient.

4. Wake up on time.

5. Be frugal.

Now I haven't given these Resolutions a lot of though, but I have given them little thought over a long period of time. These are all things that I have need to improve on for quite a while. Starting with #1 I need to be better at attending my meetings every week diligently and participating, I would also like to magnify my callings (including visiting teaching), and be more valiant in my scripture study and personal prayer. Honestly #1 can really be never ending, but 2011 will be the start! For #2 I would like to cook more! I know I get off work late, and Eric is sometimes just at school all night when I finally do get home so it does make this difficult, but I figure if I start with a meal planning system on Sunday and decide which days I am going to cook then Eric and I will be able to coordinate our schedules. #3 I have learned about myself this year that everything in my life has to be a "quick fix" and sometimes that doesn't happen and it becomes extremly frustrating to me and I just let it get me down too quickly, This year I'm going to be patient because I know that patients IS a virtue! #4 Now I could have said that I wanted to wake up early...but Saturday is MY day, so I changed it to wake up on time. I just want to not feel rushed each morning as I get ready for the day. I want to have plenty of time to get ready, eat breakfast, and if you have heard how cold it is in Logan...warm up the car!! #5 This is where it gets more tricky, I love to spend money when I have it. As soon as I get the opportunity to get then next thing on my "want" list I'm up for it, but right now I'm thinking about my "need" list and I'm determined in 2011 to save for those needs!

Wish me luck!

Christmas is Here!

We put up our Christmas tree, actually we did it a while ago...right after Thanksgiving! I have just been under the weather so therefore I'm just getting to this blog, in fact, I took this picture of the tree while sitting on the couch! Oh well! So we usually use my parents flocked tree and I LOVE it, but it is always a HUGE mess and Eric always has to do the brave project of the stringing the lights and looks like he has been in blizzard when he is finished, because of this, we decided to use my parents (apparently they buy and rent out trees?) pre-lit tree. It still looks pretty, but I do love and miss the flock!!

And since I just can't wait for Christmas I thought I would make these yummy spritz cookies! It was my first time using a cookie press so it took a while to get the hang of it, but they do taste amazing!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Yay For Crafts...and Cake!

Craft Night has officially begun in Logan! Since moving from Orem I realized that I really missed my craft night/girls night, so I took matters into my own hands. Even though one of us girlies couldn't make it, we still had a good time and successful craft! We did have to make this a 2 day event...which wasn't too disappointing, we like to see each other and have a good excuse to do so! Check out my beautiful cranberry wreath...or should I say chanberry (if you know me, you know that I can pretty much quote friends when talking about ANYTHING) even a cranberry wreath!

Our next idea is a Christmas advent calendar, watch for our cute design idea...we are pretty excited about it!

Also Eric had a Birthday, Shout Hooray! Eric is 25 years old! Chloe, our niece, said he was now like an old Grandpa...YIKES! I made this banner to greet Eric on his special day! (it is still hanging in our home because I am not going to lie I was a little proud of it and I couldn't stand just letting it hang for one day!)

Funny Story about the German Chocolate cake... so for like a whole week I kept asking Eric what kind of cake he would like for his Birthday and he kept saying "Whatever you want, I don't really care." Keep in mind Eric doesn't really care too much for desserts generally. I usually know exactly which cake I want! Well finally the day before I decided to ask once more and he replyed with a German Chocolate cake and I was excited I said "Oh that sounds good I didn't think you would like that." and he said "Oh I didn't think YOU would like it." Funny because you can still learn something after 3 years!!

Eric and his cake, can you believe this guy is 25 years old?!?


Blowing out the candles!

Eric had a happy birthday and now we are very excited to our family for Thanksgiving!!

Fun Day Out

Since today was Columbus Day I had the day off! Ahh the joys of the financial industry! So I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with my two best girls, Mrs. Stephanie and her sweet little Miss Ella. It was So Much Fun! Ella has learned so many new words and things each time I see her, She's so smart! We started our afternoon with lunch at Costa Vida, YUM! Ella enjoyed watching the TV that showed people surfing, which she she then would say "Water" and she would say "Hi" and wave to other patrons enjoying their lunches, they would smile and think "That the cutest girl EVER." Yeah, she is! We then decided to make some fun of our dear city. We started at D.I. but didn't find much excitement there, so we traveled to Ross, and that is where our real fun began! We just went about the isles looking at this or that. Ella found a pillow that was "Soft" so she decided to take a short nap on it "shhhh" she would say. Then we found the hair pieces and decided to try them on Ella, even though they were made for adults. It was fun, and even the ugliest ones look SO adorable on her, right? here is a photo shoot of our fun...

We then spent some time at The Hobby Lobby and Sugar and Spice and our day ended when Ella began twirling her hair indicating it was time for another nap!

Thanks Stephanie and Ella I had such a fun day!!